Mark, thank you for sharing the technique, especially how the stack function can be used to deal with moving foliage when shooting a waterfalls in low light. I ran into the same situation, trying to capture a waterfalls near dusk, in a ravine, in the Fall of 2010 in Pennsylvania. I think I shall go back now, armed with your technique.
Sometimes this forum has little jewels of knowledge, and this is one of them.
David Ralph wrote:
Mark, thank you for sharing the technique, especially how the stack function can be used to deal with moving foliage when shooting a waterfalls in low light. I ran into the same situation, trying to capture a waterfalls near dusk, in a ravine, in the Fall of 2010 in Pennsylvania. I think I shall go back now, armed with your technique.
Sometimes this forum has little jewels of knowledge, and this is one of them.
Dave Ralph
No problem. Hope it works out for you. Just take A LOT of shots! I don't feel that sharing is a detriment in any way. Give and you will receive.
Wow! tremendous image and such a wonderfully informative and open writeup - I feel like I just took a Photoshop tutorial!
This board has a number of very accomplished shooters, but not as many who are willing to share the details of how they got the shot and even less who go on to cover any of the techniques that were required to produce the final image. Your post scores full A+ grades on all 3 counts - a fantastic image, and great explanations of the details required in the capturing and post processing steps.
As you can see from the many posts above, such extra effort when posting is very much appreciated by many of us. Thank you so much for sharing this in such a selfless way!
another_mikey wrote:
This board has a number of very accomplished shooters, but not as many who are willing to share the details of how they got the shot and even less who go on to cover any of the techniques that were required to produce the final image. Your post scores full A+ grades on all 3 counts - a fantastic image, and great explanations of the details required in the capturing and post processing steps.
ML
Thanks ML.
I'm not sure why (people don't share as much as you are describing here)? Some have blatantly told me I might be "creating my own competition." I don't see it that way. "Give and you will receive" is how I see it. I have been at landscape petal to the metal for exactly 9 years now (first SLR in AUG of 03 - and shot up to the Canadian Rockies the next day!) with the aim of selling higher end fine art gallery prints increasingly. It is such a difficult road to climb, most never will (and I don't suggest that they should!). So, if I share something that helps another photographer and they have the discipline to actually try it out and work on it and make it their own, hats off to them because most never will - AND - I know I won't ever run into a scenario where the information I shared creates competition that hinders me (will never happen). Maybe a few people on the boards will improve their work? Great.
I just want to give a big thank you for how you explain everything. I had been trying to work with focus stacking and not having very good luck, but I was doing it manually using masks. I have CS6 and didn't see those edit functions you described. I went back to one of my failed attempts using the original raw files and was very pleased with the results. I need to invest in a PS course since I was able to obtain the program via student copy while taking different college courses.
Winginhunk wrote:
I just want to give a big thank you for how you explain everything. I had been trying to work with focus stacking and not having very good luck, but I was doing it manually using masks. I have CS6 and didn't see those edit functions you described. I went back to one of my failed attempts using the original raw files and was very pleased with the results. I need to invest in a PS course since I was able to obtain the program via student copy while taking different college courses.
Both CS5 and CS6 have the function. Glad to hear it was helpful. I think the technique is finding its way into many photographers workflow these days due to the ability to overcome previous camera / lens limitations...
I love the image except for one bit. the stack up of all the images looks as if it created a sort of moire pattern in the falling water. I see two very faint horizontal bands in the falls. I've not been to this location so I don't know if it's caused by water hitting a feature or if it from the image stack up.
kscott_99 wrote:
I love the image except for one bit. the stack up of all the images looks as if it created a sort of moire pattern in the falling water. I see two very faint horizontal bands in the falls. I've not been to this location so I don't know if it's caused by water hitting a feature or if it from the image stack up.
Kevin.
Hi Kevin, thank you for the feedback. To tell you the truth, I am not sure what you are seeing? The water was not part of the stacking/blending technique as just one file for all water was erased in. Could be Jpeg compression or something? On my monitor I can't see it. Even if I could, I'm really not that scrupulous about my web images as they are mainly loose trial runs for the critical print. Maybe this close up will help us see what it might be.
I'm not sure why (people don't share as much as you are describing here)? Some have blatantly told me I might be "creating my own competition." I don't see it that way. "Give and you will receive" is how I see it. I have been at landscape petal to the metal for exactly 9 years now (first SLR in AUG of 03 - and shot up to the Canadian Rockies the next day!) with the aim of selling higher end fine art gallery prints increasingly. It is such a difficult road to climb, most never will (and I don't suggest that they should!). So, if I share something that helps another photographer and they have the discipline to actually try it out and work on it and make it their own, hats off to them because most never will - AND - I know I won't ever run into a scenario where the information I shared creates competition that hinders me (will never happen). Maybe a few people on the boards will improve their work? Great. ...Show more →
For the record, a number of us are happy to be completely forthcoming about the techniques we use in our photography, particularly as they apply to post processing. I often write about these things at my blog and post tips and techniques here when appropriate.
I adopted a philosophy some time ago holding that if I'm unwilling to reveal a technique I probably should not use it. And technique itself is simply technique - it is what you do with it that really matters in the end. In other words, ones vision and how to create work based on that vision is far more important than any specific technique to the success of the work. (Which is not to say, at all, that technical knowledge and skill is unimportant.)
gdanmitchell wrote:
For the record, a number of us are happy to be completely forthcoming about the techniques we use in our photography, particularly as they apply to post processing. I often write about these things at my blog and post tips and techniques here when appropriate.
I adopted a philosophy some time ago holding that if I'm unwilling to reveal a technique I probably should not use it. And technique itself is simply technique - it is what you do with it that really matters in the end. In other words, ones vision and how to create work based on that vision is far more important than any specific technique to the success of the work. (Which is not to say, at all, that technical knowledge and skill is unimportant.)
I am not sure anyone is suggesting that no one is forthcoming about laying out their techniques. At least what I am reading into the feedback here in this thread, I think people are just expressing that they feel not very many people explain how they developed their photo(s) they post, and when we put in that extra effort to try to lay some of that out, people really appreciate the additional learning material.
Did you happen to take any other comp's?
Just I have seen this exact one several timse once you know who first posted it.
Normally I expect you to be very original...
Did you happen to take any other comp's?
Just I have seen this exact one several timse once you know who first posted it.
Normally I expect you to be very original...
Thanks man.
Good point and question.
I have tried just about every conceivable comp the location will allow over the course of three trips here (and IMO there is not a lot of options because there are a lot of obstructions here to deal with) and I settled on this one as my favorite of all the "test" shots. This is quite different from the shot that went a long way in popularizing the location (by Marc) but then again I have not kept up on the forums and how others have shot it. It would make sense that a lot of the shots are similar though. I did not want to go vertical because they don't sell nearly as well as horizontals (and I used to shoot about 80% verticals). I admit, lately, my approach is moving a lot more toward shooting as a service to the public via the gallery prints vs shooting for my own musings or uber originality to try to impress and get tour/workshops... Although the workshops are going great it has always been my main passion to bring big beautiful quality pieces into peoples homes increasingly (vs living out in the field). Now that I am at this 9 years, I am simply shifting toward the service of the public but still hopefully bringing my own brand of excellence to the table.
