Sick of these yet? (Rainier)

coscorrosacoscorrosa Registered Users Posts: 2,284 Major grins
edited August 12, 2010 in Landscapes
I don't have any roadkill or affectionate marmots (but the season isn't over yet!).

These are a few shots in chronological order from a recent group outing to Rainier.

#1: This was actually taken two days before the group trip while I was scouting and verified that yep, the wildflowers aren't out and the trails in the higher elevations are still snow covered! It should give some perspective on how massive the mountain is.

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#2: Reflection Lake. This shot works better with wildflowers. But they weren't out yet. Sorry.

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#3: Falls Creek Falls, one of many roadside creeks and waterfalls.

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#4: Sun beams over Lower Tipsoo Lake:

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#5: Sunset at Sunrise (see what I did there?). More clouds than color, so I converted to B&W

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#6: Lupine (I found one in bloom!)

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#7: Edith Creek

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#8: Here's that doe...

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#9: Travis and schmoo wanted to see Seattle, so we headed up there after breakfast for an afternoon tour before shooting sunset.

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#10: There are three classic vistas in Seattle, Kerry Park (which we visited but the light wasn't going to be good at sunset), the 12th ave bridge (above), and West Seattle from Alki Beach looking across the sound:

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#11: After Seattle, we drove back to the mountain, Danny and I shot the Milky Way for a few minutes while other parties favored sleep.

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#12: When we awoke for sunrise, there was cloud and mist all over the place, great for forest shots, macros, waterfalls, etc., so some of us went up a trail to try and capture it:

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And that's it! There's a lot I left out, but most of it's not related to photography :D

OK, one more shot, extra small because it wasn't quite in focus and the noise was ridiculous (the cloud cover made ISO 4000, f/2.8, 30 seconds about 3 stops under exposed!).

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Comments

  • RobbugRobbug Registered Users Posts: 132 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    Awesome! I wish I could have kept on goin with you all. #7 is a fav!

    I see it wasn't just me with ISO issues and noise plus the weird red glow at the horizon and to the right. Oh Ron. I have no patience for masks in photoshop. Just thought I'd let you know.

    Great set!
    www.refractivephotos.com

    The Holy Trinity of Photography - Light, Color, and Gesture
  • schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    Eeeeeeexcellent, amigo! I see what you mean with the cooler tones in the Seattle shot. Thanks for hauling our buttes up there and for introducing us to George. thumb.gif

    Like Rob, I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one with reallyreallyreallyreally noisy Milky Way shots. So even that little cloud cover can block enough light to make it tricky(er than usual)?

    The bw shot is perfect for bringing out all the different things in that scene. The river all the way down there - wow!
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited August 11, 2010
    Excellent set, Ron. Like the cityscape and the milky way shots the best.
  • jamesljamesl Registered Users Posts: 642 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    What can I say? Awesome! thumb.gif
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,942 moderator
    edited August 11, 2010
    Not sick of them yet :D

    Can you stack to reduce the noise? Not sure that works because of the star movement.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • furiousfartfuriousfart Registered Users Posts: 102 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    Wow! Really amazing, makes me want head out and see it all myself.
  • sgonensgonen Registered Users Posts: 178 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    I'm sick! - that is after seeing these and looking at all of my shots :D
    Great stuff as usual and once again thank you so much for putting up with us and organizing such a great trip.
    I'm a big fan of Rainier now - what a place!
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
  • kris10jokris10jo Registered Users Posts: 284 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    i love the sunbeams in #4, and 7 and 10 are just beautiful. They're all beautiful.
    Kristen
  • coscorrosacoscorrosa Registered Users Posts: 2,284 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    Robbug wrote: »
    Awesome! I wish I could have kept on goin with you all. #7 is a fav!

    I see it wasn't just me with ISO issues and noise plus the weird red glow at the horizon and to the right. Oh Ron. I have no patience for masks in photoshop. Just thought I'd let you know.

    Great set!

    I've said this to Danny (Seidman) a million times, but cameras suck. They suck less now than anytime in history but they still suck. If I could take a properly exposed Milky Way shot with no noise that would make life so much easier. I hate creating masks manually too.
    schmoo wrote: »
    Eeeeeeexcellent, amigo! I see what you mean with the cooler tones in the Seattle shot. Thanks for hauling our buttes up there and for introducing us to George. thumb.gif

    Like Rob, I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one with reallyreallyreallyreally noisy Milky Way shots. So even that little cloud cover can block enough light to make it tricky(er than usual)?

    The bw shot is perfect for bringing out all the different things in that scene. The river all the way down there - wow!

    You're just fortunate you caught George while he was briefly on Earth, as he's stuck in the Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum he only makes brief appearances on our planet (but long enough to climb Everest).

    And yes the cloud cover ruined everything, ISO 400 f/2.8 for 30 seconds should be fairly bright but was still severely underexposed. It might have been better to give up on the static shot and do like 3-5 5-minute exposures instead and blend them together. If cameras were good, the cloud cover would have added to the shot.
    kdog wrote: »
    Excellent set, Ron. Like the cityscape and the milky way shots the best.

    Thanks Joel!
    jamesl wrote: »
    What can I say? Awesome! thumb.gif

    Not as good as your storm shots, but maybe the weather will improve when I'm on Rainier all by myself :D
    ian408 wrote: »
    Not sick of them yet :D

    Can you stack to reduce the noise? Not sure that works because of the star movement.

    Yes, that's definitely one approach, to stack them and blend (1/2 opacity on the second from bottom layer, 1/3 on the third from bottom, 1/4 on the fourth from bottom, etc.), since noise is more or less random, you would average out the noise. You would have to align the frames at each step so the stars wouldn't move (and then mask out and paste in the Mountain again). It's a painful tedious process. If you have static subjects it would work a lot better. In this case the clouds were moving way too much to make that practical.
    Wow! Really amazing, makes me want head out and see it all myself.

    Thanks! It's definitely something you should see if you get the opportunity.
    sgonen wrote: »
    I'm sick! - that is after seeing these and looking at all of my shots :D
    Great stuff as usual and once again thank you so much for putting up with us and organizing such a great trip.
    I'm a big fan of Rainier now - what a place!

    Thanks Shimon, Rainier is in my backyard and close enough that I can hit it before or after work, I realize how fortunate I am. And then there's Mt. Baker, Olympic National Park, the Palouse, the Columbia River Gorge... Good spot for landscape photogs.
    dlplumer wrote: »
    7, 10, 11 clap.gifclap bowdown.gif

    I think you got the best wildlife photo on this trip :D
    kris10jo wrote: »
    i love the sunbeams in #4, and 7 and 10 are just beautiful. They're all beautiful.

    Thanks!
  • Sexy6ChickSexy6Chick Registered Users Posts: 948 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    Sick of your pictures? Never! That black and white is fantastic! #7 is beautiful and #11 is just epic. Just wonderful work as always.
    ~*Natalie*~

    A lover of all things photography.

    Olympus E-500

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  • IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited August 11, 2010
    How could anyone ever be sick of Rainier. Now that St Helens is a stump, IMO Rainier is the most beautiful mountain in North America. So many features.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
  • AndManAndMan Registered Users Posts: 1,252 Major grins
    edited August 12, 2010
    As always wonderful images Ron.
    Edith Creek and the Seattle shots stand out for me, and of course the Milky Way shot - I'm glad you listened to Ron when he was advising you how to shoot it.
    Peter

    www.andmanphotography.com

    Facebook Fan Page

    "Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment." Ansel Adams
  • squirl033squirl033 Registered Users Posts: 1,230 Major grins
    edited August 12, 2010
    great stuff, as usual, Ron... i really like # 7 and #11... Edith Creek with the mountain in the background is beautiful, and that shot of the milky way rising vertically above the peak is simply amazing. what settings did you use for that?

    looks like Falls Creek Falls has really dried up... i was up there about a month ago, and it was flowing a lot heavier - got some real nice shots of it...
    ~ Rocky
    "Out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone, and take back something worth remembering..."
    Three Dog Night

    www.northwestnaturalimagery.com
  • kpagekpage Registered Users Posts: 31 Big grins
    edited August 12, 2010
    Any pictures of seattle won't ever get old to me.

    Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful pictures!
    Just a girl playing with a camera trying to learn as much as she can.
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