This ever happen to you? (many images)

Hi there!

I recently went up to my paradise (well, it feels like it's mine) in Swedish Lapland for a 4 day long ski tour on my own. I just had to go because the winter has been totally dreary where I live. No snow, no ice, no sun, no skiing, no skating, no shooting – just dark, grey and dreary.

Lapland was as beautiful as ever with plenty of snow. The fabulous mountains were there as always, the weather was good and bad as always. Everything was great, except – I never got any inspiration to be creative with the camera. I was surrounded by my favourite subjects but I didn't feel like taking pictures. Does this ever happen to you?

Maybe the light wasn't exciting enough, or maybe I was simply too tired since this was the first time on skis for a long time.

Of course, I forced myself to take at least some pictures. Here are perhaps the most successful results from my pathetic efforts:











Then I got home. The sun was shining and the Liverleaves (Hepatica nobilis) were in full blossom in the forest close to my home. I have always loved the Liverleaf, partly because it's a very beautiful little flower, partly because it's one of the very first spring flowers. And you know what? Suddenly I had lots of inspiration and started shooting like crazy.

Let me add that the Liverleaf is also a flower that is surprisingly difficult to photograph, and not only for me. Reputable nature photographers have written long articles on how they have been struggling with the Liverleaf. It contains both blue and red pigments, which means it looks blue in the shade and purple or even reddish in sunlight. The problem is, people want to see it as blue or almost blue (the translated Swedish name is Blue Anemone). It was close to impossible to get the colours right with slide film. It almost always turned out too red unless it was shot in total shade which made the whole picture blueish.

It's so much easier with digital, but still not easy. If you adjust the white balance to get a warmer tone, you'll get reddish flowers.
Here are some of my attempts that I'm happy with:

















I love that last one although the flowers are a little too reddish. And finally, while I was shooting the flowers, a little frog came passing by:



All images taken handheld with the D200. 18-200 VR for the Lapland pics and Tamron 90 for the flowers and the frog.

Regards
Lasse

I don't think you have anything to worry about -- these are all truly excellent photos!

Thanks Peter, very kind of you. But I was really disappointed with myself after the Lapland trip – and rather pleased after a few sessions with the Liverleaves.

Regards
Lasse

Lasse,

which program do you use to get the picture-book effect?

I think except when there's a white out (strong wind or snow storm), I always enjoyed shooting while skiing. But can't say I have enough experience as I only had DSLR with me on ski slopes for a total of perhaps 10 days, spanning 2 years.

I do like your first and last 2 shots. The shots you took during skiing are beautiful and offer a totally different perspective than your other shots. You can try to increase the color saturation and adjust the tone curves if you wish to make the ski photos pop a bit more. With D300 I usually just select VIVID picture control mode and be done with it. But this is just my personal taste...

I didn't dare carry a DSLR while on skis until couple years ago when I mastered my skiing skills. Since then 35mm f/2 was always the one and only lens I carried due to its small size and short length (physical and focal). Camera was D70, then D300 when I upgraded last year. Attached are two from my last trip to Mammoth ski resort at the end of last year. This winter has been great for skiers in California, especially compared to last one. With combination of two activities I love- skiing and photography, I'm not complaining!





Photobug

Hejsan Lasse,

Absolutely there are times when you lug the camera and never take picture or don't have the desire to compose. I am sure since the Swedish winter has been quite warm with little snow, a trip to Lapland had your focus on enjoyment of skiing.

Did you use a polarizing filter? This would have helped bring out more of the blue sky in the landscapes.

Below are 2 pics from 3500 meters in the Swiss Alps this winter.





Great job on the flowers and frog! The nice part is you can now starting thinking about the long days towards mid-summer! Walking around Stockholm can be very motivating itself.



Steve

No, that has never happened to me.

But I wish it would.

richygm said:

Lasse,

which program do you use to get the picture-book effect?

Click to expand...

You mean the frames? I make them with a one button press in Photoshop CS2. Takes less than 0.5 s to complete on my old PC. I created an action that includes several steps:

1) expand canvas size 0.05 cm with black extension colour (to get a thin black frame)

2) duplicate layer

3) expand canvas size 3 cm with grey extension colour (you can choose any other colour if you want)

4) apply drop shadow (layer/layer style/drop shadow). Settings: Blend mode Multiply, Opacity 75 %, Angle 135, Global light, Distance 87, Spread 12, Size 131

5) Flatten

Sounds complicated but, as I said, all the steps can be recorded in an action and be assigned to a function button.

Please note that I run the action before downsizing for the web. It might make sense to do it after downsizing but then you'll have to adjust the settings.

After that I run another action that downsizes the image, converts to sRGB and sharpens. I have a few variants of that action with different output size and different sharpening technique.

Regards
Lasse

Photobug said:

I think except when there's a white out (strong wind or snow storm),
I always enjoyed shooting while skiing. But can't say I have enough
experience as I only had DSLR with me on ski slopes for a total of
perhaps 10 days, spanning 2 years.

I do like your first and last 2 shots. The shots you took during
skiing are beautiful and offer a totally different perspective than
your other shots. You can try to increase the color saturation and
adjust the tone curves if you wish to make the ski photos pop a bit
more. With D300 I usually just select VIVID picture control mode and
be done with it. But this is just my personal taste...

I didn't dare carry a DSLR while on skis until couple years ago when
I mastered my skiing skills. Since then 35mm f/2 was always the one
and only lens I carried due to its small size and short length
(physical and focal). Camera was D70, then D300 when I upgraded last
year. Attached are two from my last trip to Mammoth ski resort at the
end of last year. This winter has been great for skiers in
California, especially compared to last one. With combination of two
activities I love- skiing and photography, I'm not complaining!

Click to expand...

Thanks Photobug. Actually, I'm just a tour skier. My downhill technique is terrible and I would probably be scared to death in your slopes. I'm usually skiing 20-25 km a day with a heavy backpack and I'm sleeping in small huts far away from electricity and tap water.

My picture taste is perhaps also a bit different from yours. I don't like clear blue heavens. Heavy, dark clouds or fogs or really bad weather is more my style.

Regards
Lasse

seknsak said:

Hejsan Lasse,

Absolutely there are times when you lug the camera and never take
picture or don't have the desire to compose. I am sure since the
Swedish winter has been quite warm with little snow, a trip to
Lapland had your focus on enjoyment of skiing.

Did you use a polarizing filter? This would have helped bring out
more of the blue sky in the landscapes.

Click to expand...

Hej seknsak,

Some great landscapes you found in the Alps! Personally I'm not a big fan of polarizers. I don't really like the "post card" effect with dark blue heavens. A lot of "pop", yes, but it doesn't look natural to me. I don't even like wearing sunglasses for the same reason.

seknsak said:

Great job on the flowers and frog! The nice part is you can now
starting thinking about the long days towards mid-summer! Walking
around Stockholm can be very motivating itself.

Click to expand...

Thanks! May and June are fantastic months in my part of Sweden. Just wish I didn't have to work during that period.

Regards
Lasse

ergoe said:

No, that has never happened to me.

But I wish it would.

Click to expand...

Thanks for looking. Not sure if I understood your message but I take it as a compliment.

Thanks for showing. Nice photos, I can see much skill and an eye for a good macro. Bluebells have that colour problem. Vic

On my last ski trip, the problem on the first day was that the sky was too clear and blue--no interesting clouds to provide changing light, just blue sky and white snow:



After a bunch of panorama shots, I'd captured what there was to see, and concentrated on skiing. I had such a good time the first time I went skiing with my camera



that I found the pictures I was getting this time very disappointing.

But then, when I got home from the recent trip, I bought my D300, and the most interesting subject I could imagine was the blooming tree outside in my yard:





So yes, it happens to me too!
--
D Brown in Los Angeles
http://www.pbase.com/debunix
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debunix

Actually it's the first time I went to site of the first image (top of the whole resort). My skiing skill wasn't good enough until then to be able to go down from there. It's very windy and cold. But the scenery itself made it all worthwhile. There're better shots but I don't have them with me. Wish I've shot more though...

What surprised me from these exercises was that at ski resorts 35mm f/2 seemed to be the only lens I ever need. This is a surprise because standard and mid-tele zooms are what I use every day.

Dark clouds or fogs? No wonder you're not too excited about the ones you got. LOL! Then we do have very different tastes. But I haven't encountered such conditions since I brought DSLR with me on ski slopes. Maybe I'll like it too. Wonder if you have any images to share?

Best,
Photobug

Lasse Eisele said:

Thanks Photobug. Actually, I'm just a tour skier. My downhill
technique is terrible and I would probably be scared to death in
your slopes. I'm usually skiing 20-25 km a day with a heavy
backpack and I'm sleeping in small huts far away from electricity and
tap water.

My picture taste is perhaps also a bit different from yours. I don't
like clear blue heavens. Heavy, dark clouds or fogs or really bad
weather is more my style.

Regards
Lasse

Click to expand...

Quote "Of course, I forced myself to take at least some pictures. Here are perhaps the most successful results from my pathetic efforts "

The only thing that's pathetic is your opinion of your photographic abilities, the images are excellent !

thanks for sharing.
cheers
tony
http://www.pbase.com/wildoat

Well I live in the middle of the Prairies (Canada) where the land is as flat as a pool table. I feel this last winter has been brutal - we have had quite a bit of snow, high winds and weeks on end of -30 to -40. Winters like this I always ask myself why on earth I live where I do - I see the pictures you took of the mountains and it just re-enforces that same question!

Good luck and good shooting, it looks like your enjoying the spring and have found that inspiration again!

--
http://stringfellow.smugmug.com

I don't mind late evening sun:







And, OK, I sometimes like clear sunny days, but preferably with some clouds to add character:





Regards
Lasse

Thanks Vic. Yes, Bluebells have the same problem, but not of similar magnitude, according to my experience. I have even been able to shoot Bluebells with Velvia film and get reasonably accurate colour. Velvia and Liverleaf was a totally impossible combination, however. Of course, there are different species of Bluebells and some are certainly trickier than others.

Seems like we've had very similar experience. Good to know that I'm not alone.
I like that second pano, it has some character that the first one is missing.

Regards
Lasse

--
Lou Dallara

http://www.louisdallara.com