ooycz 2 - Weather

sapphire73 · January 15, 2014

I was happy to see that the instructions for the Weather theme welcome images of all kinds of weather:

"Rain, Snow, Sun, Dry, whatever your weather is, capture it in the most dramatic way you can! Not just a snapshot of how it looks outside, rather using different wide angle shots, a panorama maybe or HDR. Make it dramatic!"

I was in Big Sur, California for a family wedding and tried to get some good shots that reflect the weather and the beauty of Big Sur. I couldn't fit a tripod in my carry-on but was glad I had a gorillapod and 10-22mm lens with me. Just finished post-processing these and would welcome your input!

1. Big Sur Coast (tone mapped)

2. Big Sur Sunset

3. iPhone Pro HDR shot (one of my favorites from the weekend)

Big%20Sur%20Coast%20-%20iPhone%20pro%20dr-L.jpg

4. Early Morning Fog

Early%20Morning%20at%20Big%20Sur-9676%20pse-L.jpg

5. Foggy Coast

Fog%20from%20Point%20Lobos-9766%20pse%20desat%20tweak%20crop-L.jpg

6. Starry Sky (first time trying to photograph the night sky)

Night%20Sky%20-%20Mikko%20Lagerstedt%20Process%201-9661%20LR%20-%20pse-L.jpg

Thanks,
Gretchen

grandmaR · January 15, 2014

Some of my favorite photos were taken along that coast, and I did a painting of one of them - I'd like to go back there.

Anyway I love the night sky one - I think I like that one the best but I don't know that it is weather related (except I guess that it is clear). Awesome job IMHO

Also one of my favorites is #3 - the colors are amazine.

I wanted to like the foggy ones, but #4 I think the color is in the wrong place - maybe it is just my bad memory but I don't remember the sea being that color and I found the brown grass in the front distracting. I liked #5 better but feel it lacks punch.

JAG · January 15, 2014

Beautiful images Gretchen!

They each are done quite nicely, although #4 I am wondering if a gradient filter was used on the sky? I could be wrong but it sure does look like it. I guess that might be the color difference between the water and sky, Usually the water would reflect what the sky is. Thus in #5 (which is one of my favorites in the set) the grey-blue in the sky is reflected in the water to indicate the lifting fog.

#2 is another of my favorites. Absolutely perfect capture!
#6 is also my top favorite. It shows the weather by being a clear night and is an unusual way and dramatic way of showing the weather! I am amazed you got the shot with just a monopod! Not in a million years could I hold still enough to capture stars on a dark night like that with just a monopod! KUDOS!

#1 and #3 are great images and pretty. But not the strongest for weather.

Photoaddict · January 16, 2014

#6 is my favorite, and all the more so that you did it with a monopod. The colors in the first 3 are fantastic, and the sky in #2 simply beautiful. Fantastic Set a terrific job of photography and PP. Well done!

sapphire73 · January 16, 2014

Grandma, JAG, and Photoaddict - thank you for your input on these shots!

About the night sky shot.... I used a gorillapod not a monopod. (It is a very small, flexible, knobby tripod about a foot high.) It was still a challenge to get it to support a dslr with 10-22 mm lens aimed at the sky, but doable. My general procedure was to see the night sky, google night sky photography settings, give it a go over two nights and try not to think about the mountain lion spotted nearby two days earlier.

Photoaddict · January 16, 2014

OK I have several gorillapods , they seem to come with everything I order. I mention this because it impresses me more than the monopod. I use them generally when I'm hiking and need a tripod, because I can wrap them around a small tree limb and get the support I need. Have used them on a halfway rolled down car window when needed, but the night sky. What amazes me is how you had it pointed up and were still able to get under enough to adjust focus or anything for that matter. And the mountain lion I wouldn't have been so worried as I would have been trying to get a pic without getting eaten.

billseye · January 20, 2014

Hi Gretchen,

A really lovely set. I'm going with the sunset primarily because I think it's the most balanced and well-composed of the bunch.

I love the colors in 1 and 3, but find the close crop of the coastline on the left side to be too tight. I'm wanting to see coastline all the way along that edge.

I also like #5 a lot, but on this one, the crop on the right is what distracts. I'd like to see water along the entire right edge.

As always, lovely work all the way around.

sapphire73 · January 25, 2014

Thank you all for your input. I was at a conference in Florida all week - missing the snowstorm that dumped 14 inches here - so I think I will need to choose one of the ones I took in California. I do have a few shots taken at a wildlife refuge in Florida but haven't downloaded or processed them yet. I did find some photos that I took with my iPhone from the plane when flying east from San Francisco and will try to share those just for fun. But they aren't the kind of photo I would enter here.

Deciding between #2 and #6....

sapphire73 · January 25, 2014

billseye wrote: »

Hi Gretchen,

A really lovely set. I'm going with the sunset primarily because I think it's the most balanced and well-composed of the bunch.

I love the colors in 1 and 3, but find the close crop of the coastline on the left side to be too tight. I'm wanting to see coastline all the way along that edge.

I also like #5 a lot, but on this one, the crop on the right is what distracts. I'd like to see water along the entire right edge.

As always, lovely work all the way around.

Bill, great to see you finding time to enter this challenge! I agree with your comments about the way 1, 3 and 5 are cropped. I took at 10-22 and 70-300mm lens with me, traveling light. The wide angle lens worked well but I also wanted to try isolating portions of the coastline and figured the 70-300 would force me to do that. As well as help me photograph the California condors that we saw, sea lions, etc.

Thanks,
Gretchen

sapphire73 · January 31, 2014

It has been an interesting winter. We were trying to get to a family wedding in California and drove to Baltimore when our flight out of Philly was cancelled. Arrived 12 hours later than planned but made it! We flew back home on January 6th, and I grabbed a few iPhone shots along the way:

sapphire73 · February 6, 2014

ooycz 2 - Weather
We are among those affected by the recent ice storm in the Philly area. Too late for the weather challenge. Power company estimates restoring power by Sunday night. Brrrr!

ooycz 2 - Weather

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