Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images - FM Forums

Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda

FM Forum Rules
Landscape Posting Guidelines

FM Forums | Landscape Photographer | Join Upload & Sell

Archive 2013 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Hey all, I have really appreciate the great comments and suggestions for the image I previously posted here from my quick Alaska trip. The more I reflect on the trip the more positive I become about it. In the end it was an amazing experience that placed me out in another incredibly beautiful part of the country. I'm blessed for the opportunity and can't wait to return. If you care, there is a longer story and some wildlife shots here: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1240285

As previously promised, here are a few landscapes (seascapes?) from this trip. I'll call this part one with more coming soon. As I prossed through these, I found myself processing a bit more than usual but I'm really happy with the number of keepers. I usually don't do many HDR type images, but the first is one from 3 images.

Very little sunshine on this day. This was a period of about 30 minutes.

I was blown away by the blues in the glaciers. The overcast really brought out the color

Grey, misty, foggy and wet was the order of the day.

Edited on Sep 13, 2013 at 11:09 PM · View previous versions

Sep 13, 2013 at 07:07 PM

dbehrens
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

All good pics and good representation of what Alaska has to offer.
#1 is a great composition but IMO shows some HDR character - however I think you have the terra firma portion done quite nicely.
Hard to tell but I wonder if #3 might benefit from some highlight recovery in the sky to bring out some more shades in the sky.
2, 4 and 5 are my favorites.
Dave

Sep 13, 2013 at 08:40 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Thanks for the feedback Dave. I will take a look at the sky, but I don't think there is a lot to pull back. I think there are some sensor goobers I need to get out of that corner as well.

Cheers

Sep 14, 2013 at 12:59 PM

JimFox
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Hey Mike,

It looks like you had a great time, and #1 is just an incredible piece of work. A wonderful composition and great work with the HDR. If only all HDR shots could look this good. The others are all nice, but #1 really jumps out. I am guessing you were on a boat for that? What was the name of that area, do you recall?

Jim

Sep 14, 2013 at 01:07 PM

Ektar25
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

The first one would be a stunner in B&W.

Sep 14, 2013 at 01:32 PM

Dave Bachrach
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Mike,

I really like #1 the HDR and as Ektar25 suggested it would look good as a B&W too. As someone who lives on the Kenai Peninsula I can appreciate your weather and low light frustration. Definitely bring your 300mm f2.8 for your next trip up here!

Sep 14, 2013 at 02:12 PM

dsjtecserv
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Nice set of images; you went to some great places. My favorite would be number 1, and I don't even see any significant signs of HDR. But two things bother me about it: The multicolored flare blobs, and obvious brush marks in the sky. The first would need a lot of careful cloning, but I think it would be worth the trouble to remove those distractions.

For the sky, it is clear where you brushed to lighten the brighter clouds; even the color the adjacent blue sky is altered. You could use a softer edge brush, or use a luminosity mask to select just the brightest areas. Or, in this case it might work to select a color range, selecting shades of blue, and then invert the selection so that that anything that isn't blue is selected. By confining your brushing to the sky through this mask, you would brush only the clouds and have a soft edge where they intersect the blue sky. Again, the extra effort would be worth it for this nice image.

Dave

Sep 14, 2013 at 02:26 PM

Charlie Shugart
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Mike- A nice set.
Weather in a northern marine environment can (and often is) rainy and cloudy and has dull light. As a traveler and photographer- you just deal with it- or wait for it to change (which you couldn't).
#3 looks like Cataract Falls- on the Northwest Glacier Tour. If so- you took the best of the offered tours, IMO.
Charlie

Sep 14, 2013 at 02:29 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

JimFox wrote:
Hey Mike,

It looks like you had a great time, and #1 is just an incredible piece of work. A wonderful composition and great work with the HDR. If only all HDR shots could look this good. The others are all nice, but #1 really jumps out. I am guessing you were on a boat for that? What was the name of that area, do you recall?

Jim

Thanks Jim! Yes, I was on a boat. The sun cleared t just the right time for use to dry out a bit and see some real color. I was pretty spectacular and the version presented here is pretty close to my fading brain. As for location, if I am looking right it's a point between what's labeled as Bulldog Cove and Porcupine Cove not too far outside of Ressurection Bay.

There were a bunch of birds on the cliffs in the area, but most were up pretty high and I didn't get much insofar as images of them. This one made up for it.

Cheers

Mike

Sep 14, 2013 at 06:05 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Ektar25 wrote:
The first one would be a stunner in B&W.

Thanks for the tip. As soon as I get a chance I'm going to take it for a spin in Silver eFex Pro. I think it probably will look good in BW but I had not considered it much because I've loved the color version

Mike

Sep 14, 2013 at 06:06 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Dave Bachrach wrote:
Mike,

I really like #1 the HDR and as Ektar25 suggested it would look good as a B&W too. As someone who lives on the Kenai Peninsula I can appreciate your weather and low light frustration. Definitely bring your 300mm f2.8 for your next trip up here!

Thanks Dave. I appreciate your comments, especially as a local who knows the area. I'm going to try the BW conversion as soon as I can, and without question...the 300 will be with me next time. It wouldn't break my heart to have even more

Sep 14, 2013 at 06:08 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

dsjtecserv wrote:
Nice set of images; you went to some great places. My favorite would be number 1, and I don't even see any significant signs of HDR. But two things bother me about it: The multicolored flare blobs, and obvious brush marks in the sky. The first would need a lot of careful cloning, but I think it would be worth the trouble to remove those distractions.

For the sky, it is clear where you brushed to lighten the brighter clouds; even the color the adjacent blue sky is altered. You could use a softer edge brush, or use a luminosity mask...Show more →

Thank you for the comments Dave, and I also appreciate the tips. The interesting part however is I don't think I touched the sky at all other than some spot removal in the upper right corner. I need to go back and look at the history on the file. I did do a little additional tweaking on some of the rock faces but that's all I remember. I will certainly look closer.

I hear you on the flare. I've looked at that over and over...does it work, does it not, ack and forth and back and forth again. In the end, I thought it actually added some character. I will certainly think about a removal however. I am also going to look at some other frames and see what might be there. All in all I've been pretty happy with this.

Very much appreciate your tips and comments!

Mike

Sep 14, 2013 at 06:09 PM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Charlie Shugart wrote:
Mike- A nice set.
Weather in a northern marine environment can (and often is) rainy and cloudy and has dull light. As a traveler and photographer- you just deal with it- or wait for it to change (which you couldn't).
#3 looks like Cataract Falls- on the Northwest Glacier Tour. If so- you took the best of the offered tours, IMO.
Charlie

Thanks Charlie. Totally agree with you on the weather. In fact, I usually welcome it and strongly prefer the nasty conditions. I think this time around I looked my mindset into some preconceived notions of what I wanted. Shame on me. In the end however, I am thrilled its what I was able to produce. I am still going through the shots and finding different things I like.

I think your are right about the falls. It was near the Northwest Glacier and flowing heavy. It was pretty cool when the captain pulled the now of the vessel right up next to the wall. Close enough to touch some of the stronger flows and those few brave souls who dared were loving the soaking they got while up close. I was on the fly bridge ans got several shots. In the latter part of the series, you can see the water drops all over my filter. Thank you Canon for 1d series bodies and sealed L glass

. I even managed to get a few handheld long exposures with some good water movement shown. Thanks again for your tip to take the longer tour...it was well worth the 9 hours and incredibly comfortable on a lightly filled 100' ride.

I will post a second set soon. Glad you liked these!

Sep 14, 2013 at 06:21 PM

kmunroe
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

nicely done Mike.. i especially like #1

Sep 15, 2013 at 05:17 AM

martines34
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Wonderful landscape captures.

Thanks for sharing.

Sep 15, 2013 at 06:22 AM

Slabshaft
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

#1 has some very nice composition indeed. I really would consider starting over on the editing without HDR and maybe consider black and white. That heavily processed doesn't seem to fit the rest of your style. The natural colors around Kenai are often pretty dull, and B&W works well in lieu of trying to pump saturation/HDR. I think B&W will help show off the composition. It will also help hide the lens flare.

Sep 15, 2013 at 10:17 AM

Michael H
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Alaska - Kenai Peninsula (re: Whirlwind trip) new images

Thanks guys.

Slabshaft...thanks for the thoughts. I'm posting a B&W version right after this.

Mike

Sep 15, 2013 at 08:33 PM


FM Forums \| Landscape Photographer \| Join Upload & Sell

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.