Those famous for shooting some terrific landscapes (i.e., Mahesh, DonH, etc.), what would you consider your most important landscape "tools", besides your camera bodies?
I am planning a trip with a couple of other FM-ers to the Tetons/Yellowstone for the fall colors in September. What can you suggest, besides early morning/late afternoon light, that would help produce some fantastic images? We are shooting with either a Mark II and/or 1D. What is that essential gear? Also, what workflow processing tips can you provide that would help to maximize the images potential?
If this is not asking too much, I would love to see your images as shot (no processing) and the after/post processing of that same image to see what was done to get it to that museum-quality look. All of the quality posts here are after some amount of post processing - what did it look like going into the computer?
"Essential" lenses: 17-40 f/4 L & anything that will get you 400mm
Cable release, sturdy tripod (use mirror lockup also), grad ND filters, polarizer; something to upload your images onto (laptop, ipod, etc.). Something to make sure you have a level surface both for tripod and the head (especially helpful for pano stitching). Always shoot in RAW.
As far as the pre-processing image...I will kindly decline as I, like many "artists" hesitate to show any "unfinished" work.
"Essential" lenses: 17-40 f/4 L & anything that will get you 400mm
Cable release, sturdy tripod (use mirror lockup also), grad ND filters, polarizer; something to upload your images onto (laptop, ipod, etc.). Something to make sure you have a level surface both for tripod and the head (especially helpful for pano stitching). Always shoot in RAW.
As far as the pre-processing image...I will kindly decline as I, like many "artists" hesitate to show any "unfinished" work.
Mahesh,
Thank you for that - appreciate it. As far as posting your "pre-processing image", I understand your point. However, I am very interested in learning how you guys get to that final image. I have so much to learn and everytime I see these jaw-dropping images, I know they did not come out of the camera that way and some work was involved. If you cannot show me one example, then can you please help to point me in the direction of where to learn these post-processing techniques? I am definitely no PS expert and tend to learn by reading/viewing what is posted here, or in other forums. I look at some of my images and see great potential but do not know where to start to get it looking like I want. I always shoot in raw mode and custom white balance for my critical work but sometimes that is not enough.
Also, thanks for the equipment list - I have most of that covered but a couple of things popped up that I hadn't thought about.
Mahesh pretty much covered the equipment suggestions, except that shooting with a camera that doesn't have a full frame sized sensor, you might want a lens wider than the 17?
Also, usually, expose for the highlights and/or bracket to extend your dynamic range.
Gear is important, and lots of folks will tell you all about that.
Your ability to hike, climb, lay on your belly in the dirt, get up early, skip a meal to be at the right spot for sunset, PLAN AHEAD, and maybe have an off road vehicle, all help. Get to know your gear well beforehand, so you can concetrate on the shot with all your energy.
Just thought about this after my post - if I post one of my images straight from the camera, would you take a crack at it and fill me in on what you did? I know this is asking a great deal but I am sure many others here can benefit by it, as well.
I am desperate to learn so here is the challenge - what would you do with this (no issues from me by working on it and reposting it) to optimize it to the point where it would be very presentable in a print? This was shot with a 10D, in raw mode about 8 months ago - nothing done with it - straight from the camera.
I agree with Mahesh's list although I use a 16-35 (essentially the same as a 17-40).
When I go to a new location, I use the afternoons, which most often have bad light, to scout out new sunrise locations. I consider it VERY important not to lose a sunrise opportunity. I then get to that location and setup my tripod at least 30 minutes before sunrise. Oftentimes, the very soft pre-dawn light produces real photo ops.
WRT post processing, experiment, experiment, experiment. Nothing will take the place of countless hours at the computer honing your techniques. In the past I've picked up techniques from various sites on the web and tried them. Some I discard, others I incorporate into my work flow. There is no "magic pill" here, just a lot of work.
Mahesh mentioned leveling. I try to observe this rigorously. It really hurts to have to level a shot later and lose a lot of it because of the resulting crop. Instead, I try to find a firm surface for the tripod, I then level the head (I have a Manfrotto 3502 for this), then, with the camera on the ballhead, compose your scene then level the camera with a hotshoe-mounted spirit level. Once you've done this, you can pan anywhere in your scene and everything will remain level. It's very easy at that point to take multiple shots and stitch them together later (if you observe the other good habits of exposing for a pano that is: manual exposure, CWB, no refocusing or changing of exposure).
First of all, I am in the "others" group of your title. I am far from famous for my lanscapes and certainly not one of the folks who should be giving too much advice, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Here's a link to two I recently posted so you can get an idea of my limited abilities
I think there are some easily improved areas of this photo.
"A" is your foreground. It is not particularly interesting. The colors don't jump out. I think the water to the right might have made a better foreground - i.e. if you were 10' to the right shooting up into the flow , but I don' t know if that was possible.
The water is very well done, but other stuff in the middle of the photo - area "B" - doesn't look pretty at all.
The "back of the photo "C" just kind of fades off. The upper left of the photo holds my eye in, but the upper right doesn't. If there was something beautiful there freat, or maybe a tighter crop.
It would be nicer if there was a line or flow through the photo - maybe of the POV was a tad higher so that one could see the water as a continuous flow. As is the lower part of the falls feel disconnected and just goes off to the corner.
In your processing / bracketing the shadows under the falls are done well - excellent dynamic range.
Is there a better picture of this falls? - it always seems to be that a better photographer can find the picture from a place that I cannot. It seems to me, without having been there, that this is a pretty falls, with with less than ideal surroundings. Maybe some tighter crops?
Again - not trying to be too critical or overstep my bounds or portray myself as anything special. Others have told me why my photos needed improvement on this board and there has been little better for my photography. Just trying to return the same favor to others.
Not quite up to the standards of some of the accomplished photographers on this site, but just thought I'd give your image a quick try... tough scene to display well on the web with the shadows and trying to sharpen the detail in the foreground, but here goes...
- adjusted levels so that the information was contained within the histogram
- reduced the saturation in cyans
- increased the saturation of reds, yellows and greens
- sharpened at medium level in Fred's sharpening action
- selectively sharpened top half of the image using unsharp mask
- burned corners slightly with large soft brush
Hope this helps, and am looking forward to seeing how others might improve the image...
Great post! I couldn't have expressed the questions better myself. And, as one of your partners in crime for this trip, I really look forward to the continued feedback from the contributors. There's certainly tons I can learn to make this the best photographic experience yet.
I really like Jeffrey's suggestion, by the way . . . . take Mahesh, DonH, and the like with us!!!
I took a stab at your photo. I am by no means a photoshop expert. I am a fan of the velvia look, I usally try a little DV pro to see what it looks like. I added level 4 of Dvpro and a curves adjustment then sharpened. Hope you like
Hope you don't mind me putting in my 2 cents on why Grad NDs are useful.
Bracketed exposures work just fine if there is no wind and nothing in the scene is moving. Imagine trying to blend waving leaves or moving clouds. It is true that you can use layers and masks to just select the leaves (or clouds) from 1 layered image but then you have potential blending issues.
A single image, if it can be successfully captured with an acceptable range of light, avoids all these issues.
One other thing: avoid purchasing screw-in grad NDs. They have a fixed transition zone right in the middle of the filter. This orientation most often does not work for compositions that are not perfectly centered. To solve this, use 4"x6" grad ND filters from Coken or Lee. These can be adjusted to place the transition zone anywhere within the picture. Of course, this requires the purchase of a system to support them but it's only money.
I had checked B&H, where I get most of my stuff, but made the mistake of doing a search for spirit level. They and many other sites are looking for "bubble level".
DonH mentioned being on location and setup 30 minutes ahead of time. For fall colors in the Tetons you might want to be on location an hour before sunrise. Last September, at the Oxbow Bend turnout there were 30 to 40 photographers setup and waiting 30 minutes before sunup. Fortunately, I arrived over an hour before sunrise and was the second person there.
I am most definitely in the category of not so famous landscape photogs, but I took a shot anyway.
Boosted saturation on greens, reds, and yellows,
Curves adjustment for better contrast
Sharpened only the rocks,
Slight Blur to area behind the falls in the middle
Cropped out some of the foreground
