mornings in the Boundary Waters

2quick2clique2quick2clique Registered Users Posts: 27 Big grins
edited September 19, 2011 in Landscapes
Had an opportunity to take a long weekend along Lake Superior and up into the Boundary Waters (bordering Canada in northern MN). This was about 3 weeks ago, right as it was beginning to turn to autumn....

What a blissfully quiet place! If you ever want to commune with the outdoors and nature - - wow...


But... had a great time. and took my 'small' setup (one D70, and one 28-70). I've been trying to force myself to work with a single setup to learn it, and develop more skills rather than rely on a bunch of toys.

I've rarely posted on here, so please let me know if I'm breaking social rules or something.....


Shot this on Baker Lake, about 7am.


DSC0483-XL.jpg





Shot this the last morning, as I was leaving to come home.. about 7am, watching the sun come up over Lake Superior (Temperance River State Park for you Yankees)..

DSC0006-XL.jpg




My biggest weakness is composition, and its always a bit of a frustration to me.


I was somewhat happy with this one, but really wasn't used to my lens setup, and fudged the time a bit too short, so I missed out on the best effect (I think that was a 5 or 10 second shot)....

DSC0077-XL.jpg


Thoughts? Would love some C&C here..

I realized this trip (just over 6,000 photos shot) that I have a tendency to get the shot crooked, but also that my composition issues are still not improving.. how do you get better at that?

A link to some of my other stuff from this trip, for those who are bored....

Comments

  • squirl033squirl033 Registered Users Posts: 1,230 Major grins
    edited September 15, 2011
    that second one (sunrise) is fabulous, though it appears it might be ever so slightly tilted to the right...
    ~ Rocky
    "Out where the rivers like to run, I stand alone, and take back something worth remembering..."
    Three Dog Night

    www.northwestnaturalimagery.com
  • grimacegrimace Registered Users Posts: 1,537 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2011
    Nice work on the 2nd image!!
    -Adam
    www.adamstravelphotography.com

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  • EiaEia Registered Users Posts: 3,627 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2011
    the 2nd is my favorite; so peaceful and beautiful - isthough the rock in the foreground a bit blurry? Maybe the only place to stand?
    ~AnnaMaria~ My little life in God's big universe
  • Doug SolisDoug Solis Registered Users Posts: 1,190 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2011
    really nice set. I also like the second image but would consider cropping out the sky to just above the tree on the left, but it looks very nice as is too.
  • byoshibyoshi Registered Users Posts: 353 Major grins
    edited September 17, 2011
    Compositionally, for example the 3rd pic I would like to see the horizon less centered. I do like captures taken along a coast because the leading lines draw the viewer out to the background element however there is no real background element of interest. Anything from dramtic clouds to a nice sunset would have helped. You could probabl crop the top a bit above the treeline.
    Landscape and Nature photography
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  • 2quick2clique2quick2clique Registered Users Posts: 27 Big grins
    edited September 19, 2011
    byoshi wrote: »
    Compositionally, for example the 3rd pic I would like to see the horizon less centered. I do like captures taken along a coast because the leading lines draw the viewer out to the background element however there is no real background element of interest. Anything from dramtic clouds to a nice sunset would have helped. You could probabl crop the top a bit above the treeline.


    thx for the thoughts.. i've got 4 or 5 versions of this shot, and hve been playing with them. Will go back and play with that some more. - maybe toss up another version of it.

    I'd have loved to pull an awesome sunset into that shot, preferably about 15% off the center line. It might've been hard to pull of at 7:15am though... mwink.gif

    I guess it's a rookie mistake (despite having a camera of some sort for 30+ yrs) - - i tend to drop the horizon dead center on many shots. have been working on composition a bit, but yeah, that takes work

    so.... i jumped into lightroom and did what you said - recropped a bit.....

    thoughts?? is that too extreme?

    DSC0077-L.jpg

    OR

    DSC0077-2-L.jpg

    OR

    DSC0077-3-L.jpg


    honestly, to me, this was a rather weak shot, due to the bland nature of the sky, but it was interesting how the sunrise was playing off the rocks in the foreground....
  • 2quick2clique2quick2clique Registered Users Posts: 27 Big grins
    edited September 19, 2011
    grimace wrote: »
    Nice work on the 2nd image!!

    thx..

    I had gone on a week with no tripod, no beanbag, nothing to use for long stills.. it was bout 55F, and the only thing handy was my sweatshirt. So I took it off, balled it up, and used it as a beanbag for my camera. nothing like the cold morning to wake you up fast - shooting in just a tshirt...

    That was a 25 second exposure, with the camera sitting on my sweatshirt, on one of the large rock formations.

    I was amazed how fast the lighting changed - - I only had a very few minutes of optimal lighting to get the morning colors, before the sun was up..


    someone asked about the foreground - - yes, that's actually the same rock the camera is on - - which is why it's out.. i might go back and re-enlarge to remove that (and some sky as well).....
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