Day Trip to Hearst Castle

mmroden

Hi Everyone,

My lovely wife and I took a day trip up to Hearst Castle in the middle of the California Coast. It's an excellent day trip, if you get a chance to go.

There's a pretty fantastic pool there:



A great view hampered only by lens flare:


Lots of spectacular statues:



and the ultimate indoor pool, as if the outdoor pool wasn't enough:



And when you're done, you can contemplate the sunset on Vista Beach:


Hope you liked!

(also, I'm experimenting with watermarking, so please let me know what you think of how I did that).

arroyoshark

Your lovely watermarking sort of spoils the enjoyment of your images. Why not just link to some low-rez images instead.

mmroden

Those are the low-res images; smugmug is applying the watermark to every image.

The watermarks are an experiment, as I said, so any improvement suggestions are welcome. Would a change in position help? Or a change in the transparency? The 'small' images still have the watermark, which seems to mean that I have to have it if I'm going to use it.

I wouldn't even bother, except I've gotten wind of people who're downloading my images and using them as their own, which is very annoying.

photocat

Try the right down corner. I put mine there, and they seem less intrusive.

mmroden

How's that?

Do you find that edge watermarks are more easily croppable?

Phyxius

Oops! I forgot where this was posted in and critiqued. Deleted!!
Looks like a nice trip and I wouldn't mind having that be my summer house

mmroden

Now I'm curious to see your critique, but I guess it doesn't apply

Yes, this house truly was a monument of what you can do if you have more money than God. It seems to me that Hearst did it right; nowadays, I think you would have to have a converted oil platform with helicopter landing pad and underwater observatory to have the equivalent. And that would be a good use of money when you have billions, as far as I'm concerned.

Art Scott

It is a great seriesthumbthumbthumbthumb...your water mark is in the standard position just as if you had hand signed it and then scanned the image in....it may be a tad overpowering but nothing like this guys: HERE ......I decided not to post pic just that link...... HERE

so it seems one must have a gallery of really low rez pics that are not watermarked to beable to eneter into challenges without watermarking to take away from the photogs work.

mmroden

Hi Art,

Thanks for the kind words

Yeah, I don't think I can do a watermark that, um, severe, yet. But I'll keep it in mind

There's more at http://mmroden.smugmug.com/gallery/2121345, which I suppose I should have said in the first place.

ian408

These are gorgeous shots. I don't know if you know this but there are
several different tours that offer some pretty cool looks at other things
Mr. Hearst owned or had installed.

Thanks for the look!

schmoo

Nice series and I am amazed at those beautiful pools.

I dont think your watermarks are too bad at all. I haven't yet played with the concept of watermarking but I would think that the lower corner is pretty unobstrusive. However I have no idea if people are that ballsy to just crop it out if they want to use your photo - I suppose if someone was that desperate and obnoxious, they can do anything.

mmroden

Ian: Glad you liked the shots Yes, I know there are other tours, but I was informed that we were done for the day after the first one. Besides, it gives us a reason to go back.

Schmooo: I think you might have missed my center-placed watermarks, which were what was causing the commentary. I also loved the pools, and their even more fantastic up close. As in, "Ooops, did I fall in totally by accident while wearing a bathing suit? How'd that happen?"

Tee Why

The watermark doens't bother me.
As for the place, I heard they only have guided tours, do they allow enough time for photography? or are you shooting and moving to keep up with the tour?

Mickey57

Hi Mark:
The pictures are very nice. I really like the first one. The watermark is ok but I too feel that it would be less distracting if it were a little smaller. I guess it depends on what you are trying to accomplish. As a signature, it seems a little large and overpowering but as a true watermark to protect the image it isn't really large enough or in the correct position. It's kinda like being caught between a rock and a hard place isn't it.

Great photos though....thanks for sharing.

Dan

mmroden

Tee Why: Yes, they only show guided tours, but they're fairly long. They do not allow flash (which is unfortunate, since the inside of the castle has _no_ light) and a tripod would be pretty much out of the question as you do have to keep up with the group. The tour we went on, the 'experience' tour, was an hour and a half long, so it's enough time to try to get at least one decent shot per place where you stop.

Mickey: Glad you like the photos You're right about the watermarking being not quite what it should be. I originally had it in the middle of the image, but that was proving a bit to obtrusive. Now it's where it is, which is out of the way and thus croppable, so I guess you can't always get what you need. I could go with something like Something Awful's watermarks, but then I'd really feel like I'm occluding the image. Do you have a suggestion on how it should be done? Because I'd love to see it done properly, where the image can be enjoyed but the watermark is present enough to connote who did the work.

Mickey57

Hi Mark:
I wish I had a viable alternative to all this watermark stuff....thus the caught between a rock and a hard place comment.
I have seen a few watermarks that are in the centre of the picture but have the opacity set very low. Not too bad but still take away from the beauty of the picture.
I am no expert on the EXIF thing but I have been adding copyright info to the EXIF before downloading any images. Perhaps someone here, with more knowledge, can let us know if this info can be removed/altered or not.
Take care and enjoy the weekend

Dan

Seneca

Wow that pool is beautiful.

mgd_harvey

Fantastic shots and incredible pools! Is that place lived in?

Watermarks are a problem. If someone is determined to take your image, you will find it difficult to stop that without obscuring it beyond any use.