Yesterday after what feels like aeons since I took a photo for "me" I finally had an opportunity to get out with my camera and new tripod. After a month wait my new RRS legs came in the mail and I have been eagerly wanting to use them. After driving around aimlessly I ended up at one of my favourite spots on the shores of Lake of the Woods. With all the recent rains the lake is super high. So much so it is flooding in areas. The beach is under water as well as the rock piers I often photograph at. While walking along the flooded beach looking for a photo opps I found this unique piece drift wood. It almost looks like a creature of some sort. It was large enough that I could "plant" it in the lake and the waves wouldn't knock it over or move it while exposing. It made for a great subject to shoot and since the water made most of my spots un-photogenic I decide to spend a few hours and wait for sunset. My goal when leaving the house was long exposures so that is what I worked on. Before sunset I got a few shots as there were some nice movement in the clouds.
All single long exposures! Lee Big Stopper, Lee 0.9 ND and Lee 0.9 GND used on these photos except the last two where just the 10 stopper and GND were used.
Thank you all so much! In absence of any real interesting landscapes out here I am often forced to get creative. I was lucky and found this very cool drift wood. Had I not, I am not sure I would have even taken any photos and would have just gone home!
tjny wrote:
Wonderful images, Scott, all!
Are there any blends here or they are single exposures?
Thanks.
Thank you! These are all single exposures. I added what filters I used to the original post. When at all possible I prefer to use filters vs multiple exposures.
Great imagination here. #2 and 3 are my favorites I think.
You have your camera hanging upside down? I tried that once, man my neck sure hurt afterwards trying to twist and turn to see everything upside down...
Beautiful - I love them and really appreciate the background information! Your efforts really paid off and what a great day with your new tripod!
Your setup shot brings to mind a question I've wondered about. Obviously stability in your shots is not in question! Is it better to have the wide legs with two sections or to collapse the tripod down to one section (maybe that would eliminate room to weight down the tripod)? Great Work - Thanks for sharing!
Great imagination here. #2 and 3 are my favorites I think.
You have your camera hanging upside down? I tried that once, man my neck sure hurt afterwards trying to twist and turn to see everything upside down...
Jim
Thank you Jim. I've done this a lot and you learn to operate your camera upside down. Thank goodness for live view. When possible I get down and use the view finder though. The advantage is I can get closer to the ground this way than laying the tripod legs flat out.
jek-wy wrote:
Beautiful - I love them and really appreciate the background information! Your efforts really paid off and what a great day with your new tripod!
Your setup shot brings to mind a question I've wondered about. Obviously stability in your shots is not in question! Is it better to have the wide legs with two sections or to collapse the tripod down to one section (maybe that would eliminate room to weight down the tripod)? Great Work - Thanks for sharing!
Jim
Thank you Jim. It boils down to a few things for me. One being I use a center column. I also use this tripod for my real estate shoots and the ability to quickly change the height of my camera is essential. The downfall is I have a tripod with a center column. So that means laying the tripod flat on the ground is not an option unless my center column is fully extended. It is quick to flip the column upside down and allows me to get lower than without a column installed so that is a plus. I just have to use my camera upside down though. Another advantage to this set up is less damage to the tripod as the legs are not laying on debris or rocks. I like to work quickly as I hate wasting precious time when light is peaking and for that reason I also bought a levelling base for my panoramic work. Now I just get the tripod close to level and a quick adjustment of the levelling base and I am ready to make panoramas. No more cursing up a storm trying to get level on rocks and uneven surfaces.
Alan Brock wrote:
#1 for me is the best. The strong side lighting makes the image.
#5 is good with the leading line but looks like you clipped the top of the tripod; may want to work on that...
Thanks Alan. My wide angle lens for my BlackBerry was at home.
aFeinberg wrote
1st one for sure. w/o that bts shot i would have guessed a much larger tree. very cool. 5min will do wonders eh?
aF
Thank you Aaron. Yes I love the long exposures but don't try them often enough. This time I set out with that goal in mind and actually stuck to it.
ckcarr wrote:
Great Scott!
(or, Egad!, in old timey language!)
Excellent, although I'm partial to number two (using my down and dirty quick look technique). I think it's the sky and color of the sea.
Thank you Craig. #1 was taken a couple hours before sunset and the second was taken when the golden light started. Which is why the colours are different.
