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Archive 2019 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

tmiller9
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Congratulations to tmiller9 for winning Feature Thread of the Week with 12 votes - View Previous Winners

I learned a lot taking this shot.....

I learned you can stick the front element of your lens right up to ice formations and still get things in focus. Just takes a seven shot focus stack - first one at f22. All at 13mm.
I learned that it pays to always bring a table top tripod with you - This space was just wide enough to stick my camera into. A regular tripod would never have made it.
I learned that in -17C - your camera gets really cold - and ANY moisture will instantly stick to it. I also learned that the LCD looks really wonky too.
I learned that when you stick your camera less than an inch above moving water - you really should be careful.
I learned that if you dip the front of your camera into the water - ice will immediately form on the bottom half of your lens element, the bottom of your camera will have a protective ice covering - and you will be unable to take it off the table top tripod (yup, that froze too)
I learned that Nikon and Sigma's claims of weather sealing - are in fact true. Slow and careful thawing procedures- no issues!
I learned that in spite of all this - I would come back and do it all again (yes, I froze the camera again) the next day.

This was a shot I had in mind for my trip this year - glad I was able get it - and learn from it.

Thanks for taking a look. CC always welcome

Todd

Feb 12, 2019 at 08:41 AM

amacal1
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

This shot deserves some kudos. So... kudos! Very cool image and very cool lessons learned.

Feb 12, 2019 at 09:35 AM

krautland
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

tmiller9 wrote:
I learned that in -17C - your camera gets really cold - and ANY moisture will instantly stick to it. I also learned that the LCD looks really wonky too.

This 100%. I just returned from -39.5C (Inner Mongolia) and while I, too would do it all over again the effects of extreme cold on gear are worth further elaborating on. I found touching my carbon fiber tripod painful after it being outside for mere seconds. The same is true for the camera body - serious gloves are in order but make operating a camera tricky in itself.

The 1DX MkII never once let me down while my iPhone gave up multiple times. It seems like I got about 50% less out of my Canon batteries on these cold days but that was to be expected.

Feb 12, 2019 at 10:01 AM

Arka
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

I know that spot well! Got some hoar frost on the edges too!

Great image!

Feb 12, 2019 at 03:03 PM

Gregg B.
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Cool image Todd. I really like the ice formation in front and above the river. As far as lessons learned....Why did you take the first shot of all seven (for focus stacking) at f/22? Did I understand this correctly? Was the first shot at f/22 and all consecutive shots at say f/11?
Also, were you standing in the water to get this shot?

And what lens did you use? I suspect it was Nikon 14-24 but you also have Sigma 12-24mm....

Feb 12, 2019 at 04:08 PM

tmiller9
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Gregg B. wrote:
Cool image Todd. I really like the ice formation in front and above the river. As far as lessons learned....Why did you take the first shot of all seven (for focus stacking) at f/22? Did I understand this correctly? Was the first shot at f/22 and all consecutive shots at say f/11?
Also, were you standing in the water to get this shot?

And what lens did you use? I suspect it was Nikon 14-24 but you also have Sigma 12-24mm....

Thanks Gregg;

I shot the first at f22 in order to squeeze out as close a focus point as possible (diffraction be damned!). I then adjusted the lens to f13 without adjusting focus and started a "more traditional" focus stack exercise. Brought them all into PS, aligned them and then stacked them. I then manually blended in the weird spots (I find there are always a few of those when letting PS do the focus stacking). Honestly, not sure if the first one at f22 really makes a difference - but at least it seemed to make sense at the time.

I used the sigma 12-24 for this one.

I had one foot in - and one foot out. The opening was pretty small - not much room to work with. Water was only a couple of inches deep - so no big deal.

Feb 12, 2019 at 06:23 PM

DaleBerlin
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Sweet shot nice details.

Feb 12, 2019 at 08:45 PM

keepclicking
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Todd, excellent image!

Feb 12, 2019 at 10:00 PM

dalite
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

I'm singing to the tune of Canadian Sunset

. A very interesting perspective and thanks for the tips.

Feb 14, 2019 at 04:04 PM

01Ryan10
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Holy crap that's an awesome image Todd!

So...i'm guessing the crack in the ice was right next to solid ground? Did you walk out there and "fall" through the ice into the water, (even if it was only inches deep of water)? Did you have to stand in running water, or were you standing over the crack like the Colossus of Rhodes?

Feb 14, 2019 at 08:44 PM

Jred
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Very nice shot!

Feb 14, 2019 at 09:00 PM

Kane Engelbert
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

This is a really cool shot. Nice comp. I can appreciate your motivation to make this one happen with all of those moving parts, freezing temps, rushing water, switching up camera settings...then taking it into post and working all sorts of magic to pull this one together. The only thing I wondering about is the ultra wide13mm foreground meshed with a HUGE mountain. Theres a perfect plane here for a perspective blend as well. Was the mountain shot at a longer focal length?

Feb 14, 2019 at 09:27 PM

tmiller9
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

01Ryan10 wrote:
Holy crap that's an awesome image Todd!

So...i'm guessing the crack in the ice was right next to solid ground? Did you walk out there and "fall" through the ice into the water, (even if it was only inches deep of water)? Did you have to stand in running water, or were you standing over the crack like the Colossus of Rhodes?

Thanks, Ryan!

This was shot in a very large "meadow" - with many small tributaries of water. No real areas to fall through - the water just isn't that deep. I had one foot in about 2 inches of water - the other was in snow. This whole area was pretty small.

Todd

Feb 15, 2019 at 08:56 AM

tmiller9
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Kane Engelbert wrote:
This is a really cool shot. Nice comp. I can appreciate your motivation to make this one happen with all of those moving parts, freezing temps, rushing water, switching up camera settings...then taking it into post and working all sorts of magic to pull this one together. The only thing I wondering about is the ultra wide13mm foreground meshed with a HUGE mountain. Theres a perfect plane here for a perspective blend as well. Was the mountain shot at a longer focal length?

Kane - thanks so much for your input and comments!

This was shot in a very large meadow - with the specific location pretty close to this mountain. The mountain is actually pretty large. While I did shoot the entire scene at a very wide angle - I did end up cropping quite a bit of it out (~20-25%?) - primarily due to the fact that the extreme wide edges were still out of focus and didn't add much - plus I couldn't get my camera level (too tight a space to work with). End result was (probably?) a perspective that led to your question? It's one of my favorite spots in the Rockies - and one which allows for a lot of really cool perspectives. I have a few others from my three visits here (will post soon) - all in an attempt to test my weather seals!

Feb 15, 2019 at 09:05 AM

guidostow
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Bravo! Fabulous image! Extra points for having the stuff to go back and do it again after the "adventures"!

Feb 15, 2019 at 02:49 PM

girvincn
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Awesome story - the result was well worth it, too!

Feb 16, 2019 at 07:42 AM

docsmiles17
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

very nice perspective. Your hard and risky work paid off well.

Feb 16, 2019 at 10:21 PM

chez
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Killer shot. Well seen and processed.

Feb 17, 2019 at 07:24 PM

mhsinca
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Wow....amazing.

Feb 23, 2019 at 12:29 AM

tmiller9
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Lessons learned in the Canadian Rockies

Thanks everyone for the kind comments, feedback - and votes. Really appreciate your taking the time to take a look at - what is - one of the more adventurous images I've taken! Thanks again

Todd

Feb 23, 2019 at 09:32 AM

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