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| Group |
Round |
C/R |
Comment |
Date |
Image |
| 14 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Hello Darcy,
I am branching out to other groups. I am in Frederick, but grew up in Longmont. I noticed St. Vrain Photography Society in town. May have to consider joining.
Great composition of this group and the colors are brilliant. Your second version almost make the image "posterized" and the darker background does promote the colors of the petals. Nice highlights on the center of the petals as well. Soft feel to the entire image. The close up of the petals and tightness of focus definitely create a nice Bokah to the background. |
Aug 27th |
1 comment - 0 replies for Group 14
|
| 17 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Sheldon,
This is a fantastic image of sunrise. Well done sir! Colors are spectacular including the second version which really brings the morning to life. Sunburst is the icing on the cake and the layering provides the absolute detail of the canyon for sure. Remember, the early worm gets the photo. |
Aug 27th |
1 comment - 0 replies for Group 17
|
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
You absolutely make a great point about the rock. I love this discussion and the ability to "see" the image. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Yet, another great app I'll have to look at Richard. I completely understand the correlation between ISO and exposure speed, and agree especially with hummingbirds. Fast little buggers. Thank you for the subliminal suggestion for Adobe filter DeNoise AI. Love learning new things. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Amazon, Here I come. I've seen these and really like them. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
I think we are planning for 2 weeks next year in the fall. This is where we did our honeymoon, so it is extra special after 31 years. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Hi Madhu,
I have thought about purchasing a reflector or making them. If I were setting out to do this for a day or planned shoot, I definitely like the concept of reflectors; Only if the insects would cooporate :).
Most of my shooting is in open meadows or forests and I try to limit the amout of equipment I carry if out hiking. Not to say, I couldn't do it in my backyard though. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Hi Cheryl,
One piece of advice I have been taught by several instructors is to definitely use the exposure compesation and I generally decrease all my images by 1/3 as well as try to set my exposure as close to the ISO as possible to get the best light and quality. Also, using a lens hood on days like this is a a must to help keep the light from blowing out the subject. Granted it dosen't happen all the time, so practice makes perfect. |
Aug 27th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Larry, I went back and cropped a bit more. Is this what you were suggesting? I cropped a bit more off the right side to take the blurred flower bud out and tightend up the bottom edge with the leaves. |
Aug 15th |
 |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Richard, Spectacular capture sir! There is a lot of detail. Colors are bright and the capture of flight all make this a great image. I definitely like the cropped version. There is a little fuzziness to the back of the head and neck. The catch light in the eye is an added touch.
With you high ISO, it does add a bit more noise to the subject and background. I wonder if you were to smooth this out a smidge and add some sharpening the background would be a bit smoother and then add some texture to the hummingbird. They are truly ellusive and hard to shoot. Amazing capture! |
Aug 15th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Madhu, gorgeous capture of the waterfall and the slow shutter and ND filter definitely adds to the enhancement of the "cotton candy" effect. I concur with several regarding the "washout" of the upper left hand of the photo. This is distracts the viewer from what you were really shooting....the water fall.
Decreasing the highlights would really bring the brightness down as well as bring out the detail in the rock face and colors of the deep green trees as well as the rocks in the forground. Great exposure at 6 sec as it really gives the image a soft feel. I played with this a bit and cropped out the left side of the image and pulled the focus intently on the waterfall. I kept the rocks in the foreground to a certain degree, and then also did a little geometric manipulation and rotated the image horizontally to the left which really brought the waterfall into perspective. |
Aug 15th |
 |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Cheryl, I just purchased another class from CreativeLive by Franz Lanting about "The Art of Seeing" I am looking forward to viewing it as it will discuss this very issue.
I too see something and will start shooting, but is it really what I wanted to shoot. Part of my preparation for a possible shoot now is to research the subject I want to capture and really think about what I want to portray in the image as Richard states about "looking for a place to stand" within the image. I wholeheartedly believe that as it takes you to the place and allows you to be a part of the image and story being told. |
Aug 15th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Agree Michael... I want to go back for sure. It's always been my "go to" place when traveling to other parks. |
Aug 15th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Cheryl, Everything about this image is what I love about Yellowstone. You have captured nature for what it is and the enhancements accentuate the details vividly. Beautiful capture of the side lighting with the softness of the fog for me encapsulates what Yellowstone is. Pure, Raw, and Natural!
Part of the noise you mention in the sky is both from your ISO as well as the light diffraction from the fog. Since you mention this is a sunrise shot, I presume you are shoot South to North with East on the right side of the photo. the trees in the mid-range that are highlighted with sunlight is placed very nicely.
You don't mention if you were using a tripod, which may have helped with some of your focal length to where you would have been more stable to adjust the length, and also may have been able to open up to f/8. One thing I have learned from my time with other professionals and through classes I've purchased with Franz Lanting is that aperture of f/8 - f/11 are pretty good for DOF, Focus, Diffusion, etc...
Your original is pretty dark. I probably would have trialed a couple differnt ISO settings, but then also opened up the aperture and possibly decreased my shutter speed to 160th or 140th, just to play with the lighting.
Regardless, This is a very nice composition. |
Aug 15th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
I would really like the discussion on Hyper-focal distance Larry. A concept for me I struggle with and continue to learn about. |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Wayne, this the terrace is a difficult place to shoot and I feel you have captured some great colors for sure. I think you have hashed this out in your mind and eyes a bit. You are correct in that there is a significant amount of "washout" noted, especially in the foreground. Cropping this down a bit, may help alleviate this and bring the eye to the center. You have this with 2/3 land and 1/3 sky, so I may suggest changing this a bit and adding more sky.
The follow up image is definitely more appealing visually and provides greater detail in the lines and curvatures of the terrace. Yellowstone is one of my favorite National Parks and capturing the colors is an important aspect for me. Well done sir! |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Michael, this is a very stunning image. I really like the composition and the reflections are so smooth they transition beautifully. Your changes in LR add so much detail and color which is justified for this stunning image.
I am sitting in the Kayak, completely still and can feel the breeze, and sunlight. I love the capture of the glacial snow as well. Stunning Sir!! |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Congrats Michael... You did it! |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
It was one of those days where the sun was high, hot, and bright. Definitely lucky. This was the better of the 5 images I shot with the bee and the flower more focused and sharp. I agree, I wish the bee would have been more in the foreground than behind the petals. Great eye! I did crop out the bottom of the frame and the left side, which did bring in the bee a little closer. |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Hi Richard, I dabble with macro and really do like it for flowers, insects, rocks/lichen, which allows me to really bring out the subject. I am also continuing to learn about it and want to use it for some of my nature photography.
I may have to invest in a new lens... Awe, Darn. |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
I could have used my 150-600 mm which I could have stayed a few feet back. This would have allowed me to open the aperture up a skosh more to f/16 - f14 maybe. Being it was busy around the petals, I was able to get close and I don't have to worry about being stung. |
Aug 6th |
| 67 |
Aug 19 |
Reply |
Thank you so much Michael for the great tips. Along with Larry's suggestion, I did crop a bit more from the bottom and left side and brought the bee closer. I will definitely work on the background and see what you are saying. I tried to darken the area just behind and to the bottom right of the bee and have to play with this a bit more. |
Aug 6th |
5 comments - 15 replies for Group 67
|
| 89 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Very nice capture here Gary. A rare find in the wild. I have yet to see them.
A couple suggestions - Composition is very good and gives good detail with the slight off-center feel. Rule of thirds is well defined here. Nice focus on the eyes on both owls and the color variations is an added feature along with the catch light in the eyes. Light - Overall, a bit washedout with the sun. Being it was sunny and bright, and using a tripod you could have likely gotten by with and ISO of 200 and shutter of 180-200. So, you can definitely use a slower exposure speed (Tv) for shots like this.
Noise - with ISO at 800 you will pick up a bit of noise and it is evident here especially at the tops of the heads and the background. Cropping out the left side of the image will bring the owls into the frame more as it appears to be a lot of dead space on the left.
|
Aug 27th |
| 89 |
Aug 19 |
Comment |
Hello Margaret. Beautiful reflection and calm water in the foreground. Color of the bill is soft and well defined. It would be good to see a little bit more in the foreground from the cropped image. The birds head seems a bit fuzzy and has noise along with the background water.
You may want to try removing some of the noise or reduce the ISO, which you didn't mention in the description. I presume this was a handheld shot. The extender can also distort the image as well. I did play with some adjustments to the image using Lightroom including reducing the highlights to -10, increase the contrast to +12, increased shadows to +25. I left the exposure, whites and blacks at 0. With color I increased the orange to bring the bill outmore and the red for the distal end of the bill. The Orange also brought out the shadow of light on the chest on both the bird and the reflection in the water. With effects, I increased the texture to +16 bringing out the feathers and then decreased the clarity to -53, softening up the image. No vingetting. In Detail this is where you can see a difference - increase the noise reduction softened up the head and the background water bringing out the ripples in the water, as well as increased sharpening ot 17.
I was looking at the histogram and was able to move it a little bit closer to center from the right. This seemed to reduce a bit of the brightness as well. It's just another perspective. |
Aug 27th |
 |
2 comments - 0 replies for Group 89
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9 comments - 15 replies Total
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