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Archive 2012 · From The Side

  
 
RustyBug
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · From The Side


Horseshoe Bend ... pano stitch shot from the side revealing position from where it is classicly shot. My tripod @ left is "centered" at the edge of the overhang about as far as I dared place it ... especially with other people coming along to shoot from the same vantage point.

This was a 6 vertical shot handheld pano with the Oly 18 shot from a side ledge probably about 15-18 inches wide. I offered to move for a couple other shooters to let them climb out to where I had reached ... but they passed 'cause they had much more sense than I.

Unlike the portraits, this is more in my comfort zone.

This is a draft from the jpgs, so I've got a bit of haloing & artifacts, no worries ... mostly looking at aesthetic feedback from the side perspective, although if someone can clue me at smoothing out my sky a bit more, that would be appreciated.







Edited on Aug 10, 2012 at 12:41 AM · View previous versions



Aug 09, 2012 at 11:36 PM
ChrisCoy
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · From The Side


That gives me anxiety just looking at it. I'm terribly afraid of heights.


Aug 09, 2012 at 11:41 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · From The Side


The circled area is as far out as I could go on the ledge, but the lined area above it was "jutting" into my back, so I couldn't do a "swivel" for the pano as that was pushing me forward just a wee bit more than I was comfortable with.







Aug 09, 2012 at 11:50 PM
RustyBug
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · From The Side


ChrisCoy wrote:
That gives me anxiety just looking at it.


That's a "compliment" I don't get everyday.
I strive to "take you there" (wherever there might be), so I appreciate you "feeling" it.

I always get anxiety when my wife looks at the pics ... cause then she always finds out how dumb her husband really is.

Seriously though ... I move very, very slowly and am incredibly cognizant of maintaining balance / counter balance. A smart man would have a partner and be tethered ... but I am always flying solo, and not always so smart.





Aug 09, 2012 at 11:52 PM
ChrisCoy
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · From The Side


It's a gorgeous photo, but seriously it makes me have to take a breath. I didn't notice the tripod upon first look. Then I read your description, and when I went back to look - I could just imagine the gust of wind that would blow me, and the tripod right on down the side of the ledge....


Aug 10, 2012 at 12:07 AM
Camperjim
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · From The Side


wow, so this is in your comfort zone? Even at a glance I can tell where you were standing would be outside of my comfort zone. Looks more like a few sand grains away from instant death. Great photo. I have little to give as critique or suggestions for improvement except the lower part of the sky is pretty bright and the image would probably work better with that part of the sky a bit darker.


Aug 10, 2012 at 12:49 AM
AuntiPode
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · From The Side


Consider using content aware fill to remove the tripod. The banding in the sky may be a jpeg artifact.







Aug 10, 2012 at 02:58 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · From The Side


Very good processing for the deep shade. I wondered why you left your tripod in the shot?

Like all canyon shots, this is a tough place. When the light gets to the bottom its harsh, when it is in your face like at sunset you have the sun to deal with. The best light I have seen from here was late afternoon or sunset with a storm to tame the DR.

I have been on ledges like that, but always by mistake. Did you use a polarizer? That or the natural sky gradient are tough on stitches.



Aug 10, 2012 at 09:16 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · From The Side


Thanks guys,

+1 @ banding jpg, I just played with the smaller jpgs in 8bit on this for draft/concept. Also, this is but one of them. iirc, I bracketed exposures in different pano sets, so I might have some opportunity for "mix & match" with the sky ... but this is the first one I tried to work with.

The tripod was intended to be part of the point ... but I was wondering @ a diff crop would work better with the tripod ... maybe sans Horseshoe Bend, but with it being such a prominent photographer's "point" that so many have stood on ... I kinda want to include both.

Seing it without the tripod also is interesting, as now, it rebalances things toward the bend and the ledge. At a minimum though, I think the removal of my vest is likely a good thing.



Yeah, this isn't a highly recommended vantage point, from a safety perspective, and not for the faint of heart. There's a backstory to this kind of thing.



Many years ago (1980's), I was down in Australia (Albany) and went out with a tour company called Mountain Goat Tours (iirc). When I called them, I asked if there would be opportunity for me to bring my camera gear, and they said "Sure". So, I show up with 27 pounds of gear (all I own at the time). Fourteen miles over and around three peaks we go.

We make the ascent to the first peak and have lunch in the clouds, then on the way to the next peak, we have to traverse down a ravine. Well, with 27 pounds on your back, it doesn't take much to get "top heavy" going downhill ... and I flip down this cloud dampened ravine and slide for about seventy five to one hundred feet, much like the scene in Romancing The Stone. Relatively unscathed other than my pride, we move on to the second peak.

To reach the third peak where we would resume our ascent, we had to "walk" (i.e. hug the mountain) about 1/4 way around the second peak on a ledge that was only 6-10 inches wide in parts and VERY gravelly with nothing wider that 12-18 inches. Roughly 1/2 an hour around this ledge. It was there that I came to realize why the tour group called themselves Mountain Goat Tours.

By the time we reached the place to resume our ascent on the third peak (nearly twelve hours since our day started), the group was so worn, tired & stressed by the treachery we had traversed (unknowingly when we signed up for the tour), we opted for descent.

Once again, 27 pounds on your back and a descent (now with weak legs) rendered me into an accelerated state, rolling downhill like like a tumbleweed until a friendly sapling was kind enough to retard my descent, so I could wait for the group to catch up. By this time I had no longer had any pride, so nothing was hurt.

BTW ... the pics from the tour ... no chance to unpack/shoot other than lunch on the first peak (which was swallowed in cloud fog) and a few shots of others traversing the ravine.

Ever since then, I've had this "thing" about places that only a "mountain goat" oughta be ... very precariously understanding my footing & balance in conjunction with my camera gear. Likely doesn't make sense, but it is what it is.

My biggest fear about things like this, isn't me ... but rather some 'bonehead' coming along and startling or bumping me (another story in the Blue Ridge Parkway) while I'm doing my "balancing act".

Ya win some, ya lose some ... but even if you don't come away with the pic, you were there.



Edited on Aug 10, 2012 at 11:59 AM · View previous versions



Aug 10, 2012 at 09:23 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · From The Side


The tripod was set in place and had been "leveled" for my "classic" pano shot to come ... waiting for the shadows to recede and better reveal the bend, which would be about another hour or so. It took me about 20 minutes or so to level my tripod for the pano at the center point ... I wasn't about to move it before I took my "classic" pano. So, with about an hour to kill ... I headed for the ledge.

Horseshoe Bend ... is Horseshoe Bend, but I was rather taken by the point at how many people must have stood exactly where my tripod was set, so I went wide enough to include it.

Unfortunately, I was on a timetable and needed to leave by 9:30 (or 8:30), so you make the best of what you've got to work with and go for it the best you can.




Aug 10, 2012 at 09:35 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · From The Side


Looking forward to the shot from the tripod. Not that this one is not a keeper in its own right but having been there, I know how hard it is to get the traditional shot.

That's another thing about this location, it is a stop while on some grand tour and as such hard to dedicate an entire day to it. Then there is the 1/2 hour slog in deep sand to get to the overlook, and when I was there, several boats in the river.



Aug 10, 2012 at 09:44 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · From The Side


+1 @ the slog through the sand ... yowsa, that's a chore. At least on the way there it is downhill and you have the anticipation of arrival.

The return is uphill, it's even hotter than when you got there (assuming morning or midday), you're drained from the shoot and you've got nothing to look forward to but a hot car waiting for you.

But ... it's worth it, even if "just to see".

Here's the link to my earlier post as shot from the tripod vantage point. I've since upgraded from CS3 to CS6, so it'll likely get reprocessed someday ... hey, if it was good enough for AA to reprocess over the years, I figure I can take my time with it too.

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1119554/0?keyword=horseshoe#10690891








Edited on Aug 10, 2012 at 11:56 AM · View previous versions



Aug 10, 2012 at 09:53 AM
ben egbert
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · From The Side


You still did a good job with the shadows. Not much you can do with the sharp transition at the bottom, you can bring up the shadow detail all you want but it will still have a transition.

This is still a very good shot, you have some clouds in the sky, some canyon wall and the sweep of the river in a very amazing place.



Aug 10, 2012 at 11:04 AM
RustyBug
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · From The Side


Thanks,

Other than the "time of day" shadows on the river ... I really wanted to get a farther overhang perspective. But, as you can see from the other shot, my tripod column was extended at max and there are the laws of physics involved that without some serious cantilever counter-balance weighting ... well, I "pushed my luck" about as far as I dared.

I really wanted a "full circle" shoreline from an extended overhang perspective, but couldn't quite get there without that sense of "not worth it" kicking in. Without a cable release ... I had to 'reach out' to trip the shutter, as my remote (IR) wasn't picking up the signal from where I could stand. "Reaching" ... virtually NEVER a good thing for maintaining balance or steady footing.



Aug 10, 2012 at 11:45 AM





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