Am I happy for this little detour away from Wildlife forum.
Very impressive images Joel
Love the colors.
I was playing around with the idea to visit Zion for the fall colors,
now I don't have to anymore after seeing your images
Actually, now I'm inspired :ivar
Hey, Russ! How ya doing man?
You know, the great thing about landscapes is that they don't run away when you try to take their picture!
Let's hook up for a shoot sometime. Bosque season is coming up.
thanks for the info, I'm definitely going to put it on the list. Sounds like time is of the essence for a day trip. Assuming you could bring it, is camping in the area overnight allowed?
Chris, there are two campgrounds right in Zion. There are also numerous hotels in Springdale, maybe 20 minutes away. I stayed in St. George which was an hour away and has tons of places to stay. I'm guessing that camping along the river is forbidden, but man would that be awesome.
thanks for the info, I'm definitely going to put it on the list. Sounds like time is of the essence for a day trip. Assuming you could bring it, is camping in the area overnight allowed?
I camped in the Watchman Campground at $13 a night just inside the park at Springdale. There is also a 6 site primitive campground in the Kolob Terrace section of the park on the way to the trailhead.
As far as I know, there is no camping in the canyon itself, and I don't think I would want to try if there was *any* chance of rain. The high water mark on the canyon walls was about 50ft above our heads.
My favorites are the first two, I'd like to see the first without the HDR treatment though.
Ok, here you go. This mainly a single image, with the upper left quadrant hand-merged from a darker frame because it was in the sun and blown out (especially that dead tree). Interesting exercise.
Ok, here you go. This mainly a single image, with the upper left quadrant hand-merged from a darker frame because it was in the sun and blown out (especially that dead tree). Interesting exercise.
Single image version
HDR version for comparison
I like the colors on the single image better, the tree is a darker green and it looks more natural against the canyon wall, and it also appears to be a little crisper and sharper (single exposure and not quite as saturated which can cause a loss of definition - the yellow trees specifically). I don't think in this case that tonemapping was necessary for this photo, you bracketed and got the dead tree under control and that's perfect. They both appear to be a little over sharpened for the current size.
I stopped doing automatic/tonemapping HDR when I got a 5D MII and noticed way too much noise in Photomatix (could be fixed in later versions). It also took forever - even on a decent computer - with the huge raw files. I've found that I can usually do what I want with a single exposure (often with the help of a GND filter) and if not just manually blend exposures.
If you disagree with any of this read my signature
Also - I don't mean to sound like I don't like this photo, as I do like it. I wish I had taken a horizontal comp of this spot like this. I was a little overwhelemed with the scenery though, I hadn't ever seen anything like this. I told Danny at the time "I think this is the coolest @#$#!$! waterfall I've ever seen." We were in a rush to get to the subway but stopped dead in our tracks when came upon this.
Great shots of a beautiful spot.
When we were at Zion for a shootout, we weren't allowed in this area due to the threat of rising water.
Now I see what I missed.
The color difference is partially due to using autocolor which I tried because I thought the original was too red. That made it too cool, so I backed it off 50%. I'm guessing they'd be a lot closer otherwise. I was actually surprised at how close I got them. What it really needs now is some manual merging with the overexposed frame to lighten the shadows and bring out the wispier water flows that got lost in the single version.
They look oversharpened to you? That's the one problem I have with Smugmug autosizing -- I'm still trying to figure out the right amounts. I thought these looked pretty good, but I'll try a little less next time.
Haven't seen any noise issues with the 5DMII images in Photomatix. I'm converting to TIFF in ACR then importing those into the latest version of Photomatix. I did have to repair some funny artifacts it created in this shot, so the single version is looking like a win all the way around, once I do some more work to it. I'm getting better at hand merging, something I know Nikolai will appreciate. I'm not ready to give up on HDR completely though as there are some things it definitely does do better, and sometimes merging the two versions can give you the best of both worlds.
Great shots of a beautiful spot.
When we were at Zion for a shootout, we weren't allowed in this area due to the threat of rising water.
Now I see what I missed.
Thanks, Dave! Sounds like you're due to go back. What time of year were you kept out? We were thinking of doing a spring shoot there next time.
Chris, there are two campgrounds right in Zion. There are also numerous hotels in Springdale, maybe 20 minutes away. I stayed in St. George which was an hour away and has tons of places to stay. I'm guessing that camping along the river is forbidden, but man would that be awesome.
-joel
dang I was hoping I could hike down there and camp out for a couple days to take my time and get that really good light!
Hey Joel, when I was in Moab, I visited a local photo gallery, and your first shot (almost exactly) was on sale for $1K. Tom Hill, I think was the photographer. It was a very large print poorly framed.
Hey Joel, when I was in Moab, I visited a local photo gallery, and your first shot (almost exactly) was on sale for $1K. Tom Hill, I think was the photographer. It was a very large print poorly framed.
Tom Till is a famous Utah photographer. You can find his images in many of the official State of Utah travel materials. With that said, I don't know much more about him or his work...
Hey Joel, when I was in Moab, I visited a local photo gallery, and your first shot (almost exactly) was on sale for $1K. Tom Hill, I think was the photographer. It was a very large print poorly framed.
Hey Dan, thanks for the info and for thinking of me. I think you, me, and lots of us here in Dgrin have images that could sell. All it takes is the right marketing.
I hadn't heard of Tom Till, so I did some googling and found his website. He's a large-format kinda guy, like a Michael Fatali, only on a larger scale, and with less gimmicky processing. He's been around for a long time and has huge portfolio of stock images from around the word it seems.
Beautiful, all of them. The best time ever is getting a good hike in and taking excellent pictures.
Thanks, Sublim3. I completely agree. It doesn't get any better than a good hike in beautiful country with good friends and practicing your photography and some beautiful landscapes.
Hey, welcome to Dgrin! Look forward to seeing you around.
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You know, the great thing about landscapes is that they don't run away when you try to take their picture!
Let's hook up for a shoot sometime. Bosque season is coming up.
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Chris, there are two campgrounds right in Zion. There are also numerous hotels in Springdale, maybe 20 minutes away. I stayed in St. George which was an hour away and has tons of places to stay. I'm guessing that camping along the river is forbidden, but man would that be awesome.
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
I know, I was pretty speechless myself when I saw his comment. :wow
Link to my Smugmug site
Link to my Smugmug site
I camped in the Watchman Campground at $13 a night just inside the park at Springdale. There is also a 6 site primitive campground in the Kolob Terrace section of the park on the way to the trailhead.
As far as I know, there is no camping in the canyon itself, and I don't think I would want to try if there was *any* chance of rain. The high water mark on the canyon walls was about 50ft above our heads.
Single image version
HDR version for comparison
Link to my Smugmug site
I like the colors on the single image better, the tree is a darker green and it looks more natural against the canyon wall, and it also appears to be a little crisper and sharper (single exposure and not quite as saturated which can cause a loss of definition - the yellow trees specifically). I don't think in this case that tonemapping was necessary for this photo, you bracketed and got the dead tree under control and that's perfect. They both appear to be a little over sharpened for the current size.
I stopped doing automatic/tonemapping HDR when I got a 5D MII and noticed way too much noise in Photomatix (could be fixed in later versions). It also took forever - even on a decent computer - with the huge raw files. I've found that I can usually do what I want with a single exposure (often with the help of a GND filter) and if not just manually blend exposures.
If you disagree with any of this read my signature
Also - I don't mean to sound like I don't like this photo, as I do like it. I wish I had taken a horizontal comp of this spot like this. I was a little overwhelemed with the scenery though, I hadn't ever seen anything like this. I told Danny at the time "I think this is the coolest @#$#!$! waterfall I've ever seen." We were in a rush to get to the subway but stopped dead in our tracks when came upon this.
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When we were at Zion for a shootout, we weren't allowed in this area due to the threat of rising water.
Now I see what I missed.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
They look oversharpened to you? That's the one problem I have with Smugmug autosizing -- I'm still trying to figure out the right amounts. I thought these looked pretty good, but I'll try a little less next time.
Haven't seen any noise issues with the 5DMII images in Photomatix. I'm converting to TIFF in ACR then importing those into the latest version of Photomatix. I did have to repair some funny artifacts it created in this shot, so the single version is looking like a win all the way around, once I do some more work to it. I'm getting better at hand merging, something I know Nikolai will appreciate.
Link to my Smugmug site
Thanks, Dave! Sounds like you're due to go back. What time of year were you kept out? We were thinking of doing a spring shoot there next time.
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
dang I was hoping I could hike down there and camp out for a couple days to take my time and get that really good light!
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We were there in mid May.
Maybe contact a Ranger and see if there is a typical date that they open that area up.
Basking in the shadows of yesterday's triumphs'.
Ive been looking at the nps gov sites, reading the water run off charts, and Im sure April & May will be a delight....
https://zionpermits.nps.gov/index.cfm
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http://danielplumer.com/
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Tom Till is a famous Utah photographer. You can find his images in many of the official State of Utah travel materials. With that said, I don't know much more about him or his work...
I hadn't heard of Tom Till, so I did some googling and found his website. He's a large-format kinda guy, like a Michael Fatali, only on a larger scale, and with less gimmicky processing. He's been around for a long time and has huge portfolio of stock images from around the word it seems.
Hey, look what I found. This might give you an idea the next time you visit the Mittens in the snow.
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
mitcht.smugmug.com
I agree. These shots are off the charts!!
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Nina
http://nina-ludwig.smugmug.com
http://ninaludwig.com
Thanks, Sublim3. I completely agree. It doesn't get any better than a good hike in beautiful country with good friends and practicing your photography and some beautiful landscapes.
Hey, welcome to Dgrin! Look forward to seeing you around.
Link to my Smugmug site
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site
Thanks, Nina an welcome to Dgrin! HDR can be useful to make up for bad light. And it's fun.
Cheers,
-joel
Link to my Smugmug site