This one looks like a ship (island/rock) that ran into the rocks and is sinking, with only it's bow sticking up above water. The chain almost looks like its anchor line.
Hmmm...did the doctor show those splotches on the charts to anyone else
Thanks Randy! I noticed the chain before at sunset but the tide was too high to get a clear shot of it:
Luckily the tide wasn't quite as forceful the next morning.
Not fair! I don't get beaches like that here at all! :cry
Wonderful series. I can't decide which one I like the best, they are all sooo good.
Ana
Thanks Ana! Trust me I'm well aware of how lucky I am to live so close (close enough that I might drive there on a whim at Saturday morning at 2AM to catch sunset like I did a few days ago - more on that later ).
Great shots
Gtreat shots Ron ...I loved everyone one of them, can't really pick a favorite. But isn't that a beautiful part of the world.?? I used to live on Vancouver Island, and took the ferry to Port Angeles everyday, and drove to seattle .
The Pacific Northwest is a wonderful place, one of the best in the world. and I miss it very much living all the way over here in Australia.
don't get your knickers ina twist, it doesn't feel good and makes you walk funny
I'll be heading up to the Olympic Peninsula this April, I'm very excited, and these photos sure do make me want to visit the Ozette region that much more!
Pentax K20D 14.6mp Body : Pentax *ist D 6.1mp Body : Pentax ZX10 Body : 180mm Sigma Macro EX lens : 18-55mm Pentax SMC DA Lens : 28-200mm Sigma Lens : 50-500mm Sigma APO DG EX lens : Pentax AF-500FTZ flash : Sigma EX 2x Teleconverter.
Breathtaking, Ron. There's so much to enjoy in them.
Hard for me to look at them in one way because they show me how long the road is ahead of me, even if I could ever match your talent. There's a lot to be learned from them. You have given some hints about your gear and technique, any chance of something in the way of a tutorial (unless it already exists?), be it ever so brief? Or can you suggest where I could go to get some help with this style?
Thanks for any help, and of course the beautiful pics!
Breathtaking, Ron. There's so much to enjoy in them.
Hard for me to look at them in one way because they show me how long the road is ahead of me, even if I could ever match your talent. There's a lot to be learned from them. You have given some hints about your gear and technique, any chance of something in the way of a tutorial (unless it already exists?), be it ever so brief? Or can you suggest where I could go to get some help with this style?
Thanks for any help, and of course the beautiful pics!
Neil
Thanks Neil! My biggest tip is to take photos over and over and over and learn from your mistakes and successes.
As far as general advice for landscapes, I almost always use a polarizer (95% of the time, brings out the colors, protects the lens from moisture, and can act as a general ND filter to increase exposure times to show motion in waves, water, traffic, etc.) and often a 3-stop or sometimes a 2-stop GND to darken the sky relative to the foreground. I hand hold the GND filters as I often switch between a wide (16-35) and normal (24-105) zoom lens and it's a pain in the butt using the Cokin holder. Occassionally I'll stack them and create a 5-stop GND filter.
I often bracket 2 stops in either direction (to possibly merge to HDR later, though I often throw away the two extra exposures).
To make the colors stand out I often under-expose by a stop or so, I don't care if that gives me more shadows at the expense of colors.
I generally make sure the main object is the object in focus, I don't try to do any funky circle of confusion or DOF math in my head. For wide angle shots it's almost always preferable to have the foreground objects in focus.
I always use manual focus for landscapes without exception, and often use live view to make sure I have the focus nailed. If I want "most" of the photo in focus I'll shoot around f/13-f/16, if I want a long exposure or diffraction ("Muench") stars I'll use f/22. Obviously I'll shoot at the largest aperture for narrow DOF, and stop down around 2 stops from that if I'm interested in peak sharpness.
I almost always (95%) shoot in aperture priority, sometimes manual and sometimes bulb for > 30 second exposures (I'll often take a test shot at ISO 3200 and do the math to calculate the correct exposure duration at ISO 200 or ISO 400).
I always shoot on a tripod, with a RRS BH-55 ball head which I love (see the gear link in my signature for more info). I use a remote release and shutter lock up though for long exposures it's not strictly necessary (but no more difficult so might as well).
I'm a high volume shooter, I usually don't obsess over a single composition and wait for the one perfect moment and then leave. I'm constantly experimenting, trying different shots, and if I see one that I think will really work, I'll go back there at the peak time. If I get to a spot an hour before sunrise, I'll experiment with long exposures because otherwise I'll just freeze my butt off waiting. Usually by taking a lot of shots it helps me find the compositions I want. Some people can do that in their head, usually I need a camera. And I don't care if my hit ratio is low, it's the number of quality shots that counts not the number of crappy shots that come in between
As far as non-camera stuff, shoot your subjects at the peak time, for landscapes this is generally before sunrise and after sunset (and the light is different in all four directions, so look around, don't assume you have to shoot at the sun in order to get the good light). Once you see how much better the photos are at this time you'll rarely want to shoot during the middle of the day.
I would also say it's definitely worth going to the same spot several times, don't feel that because you've shot a location before that there's no value in returning, often there's *more* value in returning.
As for post-processing, I always do a levels adjustment (often dragging the middle point to the right to increase the colors, or the white point to the left, and sometimes the black point to the right - experiment, but levels are probably the biggest bang for the buck adjustment you can make). I'll occassionally do curves also (often on a specific channel to bring out the reds, magentas, etc.), and I sharpen as the last step.
Anyway, that's most of it, adjust to your own tastes and needs, everyone has their own approach what I described above is just how I prefer to work. I'm still learning all the time and don't profess to know what I'm talking about, but I do think the most relevant advice is to keep on shooting. Experience is by far the best teacher.
If you have a question on a specific shot I'd be glad to answer it (assuming I remember how I took it).
That's fantastic information, Ron! "Straight from the horse's mouth" like that makes it so believable and also more motivating and less daunting. I've put all your advice in my head.
Very generous of you to share your wisdom and write so fully. Thank you!
That's fantastic information, Ron! "Straight from the horse's mouth" like that makes it so believable and also more motivating and less daunting. I've put all your advice in my head.
Very generous of you to share your wisdom and write so fully. Thank you!
Neil
No worries. Like I said, I don't pretend to be an expert on anything, and there's certainly many ways to approach it and you should find what works best for you.
The other piece of advice that I forgot was to neglect friends, family, and other "important" commitments and just focus on photography. I've been doing that for about a year and it's starting to pay off
No worries. Like I said, I don't pretend to be an expert on anything, and there's certainly many ways to approach it and you should find what works best for you.
The other piece of advice that I forgot was to neglect friends, family, and other "important" commitments and just focus on photography. I've been doing that for about a year and it's starting to pay off
I know these beaches well, Ruby is a few hours from my house. You are right, both are worth many returns. Ruby changes all the time, just amazing light, especially if the sunset breaks through fog, and is absolutely spectacular under a full moon if not a little creepy with all the pounding surf and wildlife walking down the beach. With your mark II it would be a great place to test those higher ISOs ;-))
You really have to get to Shi Shi and Point of Arches:))) And Ozette (Cape Alava) is just incredible. It takes a backpack trip to do it justice. There is a crescent beach about halfway between the two trails (the three-mile boardwalks), marked on the north end by a petroglyph of an orca whale carved into a rock (wedding rocks), where the forest stops at the beach's edge. Great camp spot. I was there on a full moon and a minus tide, the tide pools stretched out for a half-mile. Possibly the most primeval, raw, and stunningly beautiful experience of my life. During the day you might catch site of the sea otters, and you'll see lots of the dwarf spotted deer in the area, raccoon and maybe bear.
I also recommend Cape Flattery during whale migration. Perhaps not the best photo site since you are stuck up on the cliffs but just something worth seeing. I once saw a gray whale and baby just feet off the base of the cliff where I was standing as they swam through the clear green waters, spouting, in and around the headlands and into the coves.
Further south, Ecola State Park in Oregon at Cannon Beach is just a great place and not too far down the coast.
By the way, if you are looking for good workshops in the area I can't recommend anyone more than Marc Adamus (the first picture on his website is Shi Shi/Point of Arches area). He does coastal, cascade and Columbia River Gorge trips every year. I honestly think he knows the location of more Gorge waterfalls and cascades than anyone else alive. Great guy, good teacher, one of the best landscape photographers out there and he will show you the most amazing places at the right times.
Great tips on photos, I've always done pretty much the same and you can't beat those 4x6 Singh-Rays for handholding. One thing though ... just one little technique tip in the landscape forum (sorry Schmoo!) ... the levels adjustment in photoshop will work, and it's a tempting easy fix, but it was designed for grayscale photos. For color you will get better results, especially for printing, if you stick with RAW adjustments and curves on adjustment layers in PS. At least that conforms with everything I've read from Kelby et al, and my own experience.
Great tips on photos, I've always done pretty much the same and you can't beat those 4x6 Singh-Rays for handholding. One thing though ... just one little technique tip in the landscape forum (sorry Schmoo!) ... the levels adjustment in photoshop will work, and it's a tempting easy fix, but it was designed for grayscale photos. For color you will get better results, especially for printing, if you stick with RAW adjustments and curves on adjustment layers in PS. At least that conforms with everything I've read from Kelby et al, and my own experience.
Hey I got no beef with people giving great shooting advice to one another on here! Please by all means let 'er rip so I have more to add to our stickies at the top of the forum. I am sorry to see that Marc Adamus's tours are already full, although I don't have time at all this year to go on one. Bookmarked for 2010!
I have to say, +1 on the adjustment layers. I haven't used the levels tool much because it tends to wash things out too much for my taste.
I have little enough experience with ND filters, but I see some fantastic results from you guys in this forum!
I know these beaches well, Ruby is a few hours from my house. You are right, both are worth many returns. Ruby changes all the time, just amazing light, especially if the sunset breaks through fog, and is absolutely spectacular under a full moon if not a little creepy with all the pounding surf and wildlife walking down the beach. With your mark II it would be a great place to test those higher ISOs ;-))
You really have to get to Shi Shi and Point of Arches:))) And Ozette (Cape Alava) is just incredible. It takes a backpack trip to do it justice. There is a crescent beach about halfway between the two trails (the three-mile boardwalks), marked on the north end by a petroglyph of an orca whale carved into a rock (wedding rocks), where the forest stops at the beach's edge. Great camp spot. I was there on a full moon and a minus tide, the tide pools stretched out for a half-mile. Possibly the most primeval, raw, and stunningly beautiful experience of my life. During the day you might catch site of the sea otters, and you'll see lots of the dwarf spotted deer in the area, raccoon and maybe bear.
I also recommend Cape Flattery during whale migration. Perhaps not the best photo site since you are stuck up on the cliffs but just something worth seeing. I once saw a gray whale and baby just feet off the base of the cliff where I was standing as they swam through the clear green waters, spouting, in and around the headlands and into the coves.
Further south, Ecola State Park in Oregon at Cannon Beach is just a great place and not too far down the coast.
By the way, if you are looking for good workshops in the area I can't recommend anyone more than Marc Adamus (the first picture on his website is Shi Shi/Point of Arches area). He does coastal, cascade and Columbia River Gorge trips every year. I honestly think he knows the location of more Gorge waterfalls and cascades than anyone else alive. Great guy, good teacher, one of the best landscape photographers out there and he will show you the most amazing places at the right times.
Thanks for the comments and tips! Yeah, I really do need to get out to Shi-Shi/Point of Arches, that's on my list, I'm going to try and do it this year hopefully before summer. I've seen some great photos from that spot. Camping out on the beach sounds like a lot of fun...
Your moonlight shot is incredible!
I'm a huge fan of Marc Adamus' work, he does the northwest proud.
Great tips on photos, I've always done pretty much the same and you can't beat those 4x6 Singh-Rays for handholding. One thing though ... just one little technique tip in the landscape forum (sorry Schmoo!) ... the levels adjustment in photoshop will work, and it's a tempting easy fix, but it was designed for grayscale photos. For color you will get better results, especially for printing, if you stick with RAW adjustments and curves on adjustment layers in PS. At least that conforms with everything I've read from Kelby et al, and my own experience.
Interesting. Yeah I mostly do adjustments in RAW and levels and curves adjustment layers (I don't do any destructive edits, usually by creating a copy of the background layer but sometimes by using "smart filters" too). I don't know anything about printing - actually, I don't own a single print of any photo I've taken. I don't have a color managed workflow and I'm sure all my photos would look like crap printed out until I educated myself.
"As far as non-camera stuff, shoot your subjects at the peak time, for landscapes this is generally before sunrise and after sunset (and the light is different in all four directions, so look around, don't assume you have to shoot at the sun in order to get the good light). Once you see how much better the photos are at this time you'll rarely want to shoot during the middle of the day."
Ditto, ditto, ditto!!
This is my worst problem--I usually end up shooting at midday or early afternoon and I have a LOT of throwaways. When I went out on Sunday to shoot on the river, it was 1615 when I arrived and 1715 when I left. The light change in that hour was significant and the setting sun was really nice at the tail end of my hour. (FYI, I was shooting on the banks of the Guadalupe River, north of San Antonio.)
Those who take advantage of the prime shooting hours can be richly rewarded, as Ron has shown.
"But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)
Comments
Thanks Randy! I noticed the chain before at sunset but the tide was too high to get a clear shot of it:
Luckily the tide wasn't quite as forceful the next morning.
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
Very nice.
Wonderful series. I can't decide which one I like the best, they are all sooo good.
Ana
SmugMug Support Hero Manager
My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com
Andrew
Thanks Ana! Trust me I'm well aware of how lucky I am to live so close (close enough that I might drive there on a whim at Saturday morning at 2AM to catch sunset like I did a few days ago - more on that later
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
Gtreat shots Ron
The Pacific Northwest is a wonderful place, one of the best in the world. and I miss it very much living all the way over here in Australia.
Well done, Ron
http://ront.smugmug.com/
Nikon D600, Nikon 85 f/1.8G, Nikon 24-120mm f/4, Nikon 70-300, Nikon SB-700, Canon S95
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Hard for me to look at them in one way because they show me how long the road is ahead of me, even if I could ever match your talent. There's a lot to be learned from them. You have given some hints about your gear and technique, any chance of something in the way of a tutorial (unless it already exists?), be it ever so brief? Or can you suggest where I could go to get some help with this style?
Thanks for any help, and of course the beautiful pics!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
Thanks Neil! My biggest tip is to take photos over and over and over and learn from your mistakes and successes.
As far as general advice for landscapes, I almost always use a polarizer (95% of the time, brings out the colors, protects the lens from moisture, and can act as a general ND filter to increase exposure times to show motion in waves, water, traffic, etc.) and often a 3-stop or sometimes a 2-stop GND to darken the sky relative to the foreground. I hand hold the GND filters as I often switch between a wide (16-35) and normal (24-105) zoom lens and it's a pain in the butt using the Cokin holder. Occassionally I'll stack them and create a 5-stop GND filter.
I often bracket 2 stops in either direction (to possibly merge to HDR later, though I often throw away the two extra exposures).
To make the colors stand out I often under-expose by a stop or so, I don't care if that gives me more shadows at the expense of colors.
I generally make sure the main object is the object in focus, I don't try to do any funky circle of confusion or DOF math in my head. For wide angle shots it's almost always preferable to have the foreground objects in focus.
I always use manual focus for landscapes without exception, and often use live view to make sure I have the focus nailed. If I want "most" of the photo in focus I'll shoot around f/13-f/16, if I want a long exposure or diffraction ("Muench") stars I'll use f/22. Obviously I'll shoot at the largest aperture for narrow DOF, and stop down around 2 stops from that if I'm interested in peak sharpness.
I almost always (95%) shoot in aperture priority, sometimes manual and sometimes bulb for > 30 second exposures (I'll often take a test shot at ISO 3200 and do the math to calculate the correct exposure duration at ISO 200 or ISO 400).
I always shoot on a tripod, with a RRS BH-55 ball head which I love (see the gear link in my signature for more info). I use a remote release and shutter lock up though for long exposures it's not strictly necessary (but no more difficult so might as well).
I'm a high volume shooter, I usually don't obsess over a single composition and wait for the one perfect moment and then leave. I'm constantly experimenting, trying different shots, and if I see one that I think will really work, I'll go back there at the peak time. If I get to a spot an hour before sunrise, I'll experiment with long exposures because otherwise I'll just freeze my butt off waiting. Usually by taking a lot of shots it helps me find the compositions I want. Some people can do that in their head, usually I need a camera. And I don't care if my hit ratio is low, it's the number of quality shots that counts not the number of crappy shots that come in between
As far as non-camera stuff, shoot your subjects at the peak time, for landscapes this is generally before sunrise and after sunset (and the light is different in all four directions, so look around, don't assume you have to shoot at the sun in order to get the good light). Once you see how much better the photos are at this time you'll rarely want to shoot during the middle of the day.
I would also say it's definitely worth going to the same spot several times, don't feel that because you've shot a location before that there's no value in returning, often there's *more* value in returning.
As for post-processing, I always do a levels adjustment (often dragging the middle point to the right to increase the colors, or the white point to the left, and sometimes the black point to the right - experiment, but levels are probably the biggest bang for the buck adjustment you can make). I'll occassionally do curves also (often on a specific channel to bring out the reds, magentas, etc.), and I sharpen as the last step.
Anyway, that's most of it, adjust to your own tastes and needs, everyone has their own approach what I described above is just how I prefer to work. I'm still learning all the time and don't profess to know what I'm talking about, but I do think the most relevant advice is to keep on shooting. Experience is by far the best teacher.
If you have a question on a specific shot I'd be glad to answer it (assuming I remember how I took it).
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
Very generous of you to share your wisdom and write so fully. Thank you!
Neil
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
http://danielplumer.com/
Facebook Fan Page
No worries. Like I said, I don't pretend to be an expert on anything, and there's certainly many ways to approach it and you should find what works best for you.
The other piece of advice that I forgot was to neglect friends, family, and other "important" commitments and just focus on photography. I've been doing that for about a year and it's starting to pay off
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
hahaha
Yes, it's a real escape, I know!!
http://www.behance.net/brosepix
I know these beaches well, Ruby is a few hours from my house. You are right, both are worth many returns. Ruby changes all the time, just amazing light, especially if the sunset breaks through fog, and is absolutely spectacular under a full moon if not a little creepy with all the pounding surf and wildlife walking down the beach. With your mark II it would be a great place to test those higher ISOs ;-))
You really have to get to Shi Shi and Point of Arches:))) And Ozette (Cape Alava) is just incredible. It takes a backpack trip to do it justice. There is a crescent beach about halfway between the two trails (the three-mile boardwalks), marked on the north end by a petroglyph of an orca whale carved into a rock (wedding rocks), where the forest stops at the beach's edge. Great camp spot. I was there on a full moon and a minus tide, the tide pools stretched out for a half-mile. Possibly the most primeval, raw, and stunningly beautiful experience of my life. During the day you might catch site of the sea otters, and you'll see lots of the dwarf spotted deer in the area, raccoon and maybe bear.
I also recommend Cape Flattery during whale migration. Perhaps not the best photo site since you are stuck up on the cliffs but just something worth seeing. I once saw a gray whale and baby just feet off the base of the cliff where I was standing as they swam through the clear green waters, spouting, in and around the headlands and into the coves.
Further south, Ecola State Park in Oregon at Cannon Beach is just a great place and not too far down the coast.
By the way, if you are looking for good workshops in the area I can't recommend anyone more than Marc Adamus (the first picture on his website is Shi Shi/Point of Arches area). He does coastal, cascade and Columbia River Gorge trips every year. I honestly think he knows the location of more Gorge waterfalls and cascades than anyone else alive. Great guy, good teacher, one of the best landscape photographers out there and he will show you the most amazing places at the right times.
I am very keen to invite you to participate in my site if you are interested
http://www.themesoftime.com
Hey I got no beef with people giving great shooting advice to one another on here! Please by all means let 'er rip so I have more to add to our stickies at the top of the forum. I am sorry to see that Marc Adamus's tours are already full, although I don't have time at all this year to go on one. Bookmarked for 2010!
I have to say, +1 on the adjustment layers. I haven't used the levels tool much because it tends to wash things out too much for my taste.
I have little enough experience with ND filters, but I see some fantastic results from you guys in this forum!
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
Thanks for the comments and tips! Yeah, I really do need to get out to Shi-Shi/Point of Arches, that's on my list, I'm going to try and do it this year hopefully before summer. I've seen some great photos from that spot. Camping out on the beach sounds like a lot of fun...
Your moonlight shot is incredible!
I'm a huge fan of Marc Adamus' work, he does the northwest proud.
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
Interesting. Yeah I mostly do adjustments in RAW and levels and curves adjustment layers (I don't do any destructive edits, usually by creating a copy of the background layer but sometimes by using "smart filters" too). I don't know anything about printing - actually, I don't own a single print of any photo I've taken. I don't have a color managed workflow and I'm sure all my photos would look like crap printed out until I educated myself.
Good information to know though, thanks!
Photo Gallery | Blog | I'm Unemployed!
Ditto, ditto, ditto!!
This is my worst problem--I usually end up shooting at midday or early afternoon and I have a LOT of throwaways. When I went out on Sunday to shoot on the river, it was 1615 when I arrived and 1715 when I left. The light change in that hour was significant and the setting sun was really nice at the tail end of my hour. (FYI, I was shooting on the banks of the Guadalupe River, north of San Antonio.)
Those who take advantage of the prime shooting hours can be richly rewarded, as Ron has shown.
Lauren Blackwell
www.redleashphoto.com
like #3 best!
phil
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