Wednesday Landscapes, 28 November 2018

You are invited to upload one or more of your landscape photos and, if you’d like, to accompany your image with some commentary: challenges you faced in making the image? your intent for the image? settings? post-processing decisions? why you did what you did? the place and time? or an aspect you’d like feedback on? And please feel free to ask questions of others who have posted images or to join the discussion. If you don’t feel like using words, that’s OK too—unaccompanied images (or unaccompanied words, for that matter) are also very much welcomed. As for the technicalities, the usual forum guidelines apply: files < 1 MB; image size <1000 px maximum dimension.

I introduced my photo from last week with the comment that “there was a potential image whichever direction I faced,” and this is what it looked like 2 minutes earlier at the same location, but facing 90 degrees to the west.

Last night, only had the IRIX 15mm f/2.4 with me at the time. I call ultra-wides sometimes "big sky lenses" - and it sure helps if there's a "big sky" to photograph.

Shot taken at the north branch of the Oconee River - Athens, Georgia

Lower Rito de los Frijoles (Bean Creek) flowing into the Rio Grande, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

I recently went to Cade's Cove, and I shot in fog for the first time in years and while it was really exciting, I didn't really know how to shoot in the fog or what to go for. I mean I had this mental image of trees shrouded in fog but no real concrete ideas about technique. High key? Low key (for a moodiness)? Up the contrast, or turn it down. I still don't really know. I tried to stick pretty close to how it looked to me. Leica M10, 50/2 Summicron lens.

 

[ATTACH=full]1273075[/ATTACH]

If you didn't think of using a graduated neutral density filter, maybe you should try that.

I recently went to Cade's Cove, and I shot in fog for the first time in years and while it was really exciting, I didn't really know how to shoot in the fog or what to go for. I mean I had this mental image of trees shrouded in fog but no real concrete ideas about technique. High key? Low key (for a moodiness)? Up the contrast, or turn it down. I still don't really know. I tried to stick pretty close to how it looked to me. Leica M10, 50/2 Summicron lens.

Not sure how that would have helped me here. The fog seemed to create very restrictive images well within the range of the sensor. However, while I do have one (an old one) it's always been so clunky to use that I seldom try to use it. Plus you really have to use a tripod. I sometimes carry one if I'm not walking too far, but I just can't handle the weight these days for any kind of long walk. I did use the tripod at Cade's Cove where the car was only a short walk away ... when there was room in between speeding cars to set it up.

I probably should have tried using something like that once or twice at Cade's cove. I did try to take multiple shots to merge (at Cade's Cove) but my software isn't really up to the job (too old and too unsubtle).

The time I love most in photography. The Golden hour. I took this one near the small town of Lavrion, not far away from Sounio, some 70 kilometres south east of Athens.

Camera: Nikon D70; Lens: Nikkor 70-300mm; Focal Length: 70mm; Exposure:1/3200sec; Apperture: f/4,5; ISO: 200

how to shoot in the fog or what to go for

Because of where I live, I shoot in fog a lot (shooting outdoors on the northern California coast is pretty much equivalent to shooting in fog for a goodly portion of the year). I like your photo—I particularly like the contrast between the brightly colored boats and the subdued colors elsewhere, and the fact that there’s no distinction between water and sky.

What I’ve found in working with fog is that there is no “right” way to deal with it—it depends so much on what the context is, and on what effects one is trying to achieve. When something goes wrong, it’s usually because of exposure—it’s ridiculously easy to either over- or underexpose in fog, so this is a situation in which I’m likely to check the image on the LCD. I often bracket to ensure I’ve got the info I need in both the brights and darks. As long as I’ve got the info and an agreeable composition, I can defer a lot of the decision-making to the post-processing stage.

High key or low key? Either would work, but as you suggest, they’d give different moods to the photo. I often use high key with fog to play up its mysterious lightness (and often that requires selective lightening in order to avoid blowing out the brights). I also often use a brush either to increase the visual depth by enhancing whatever gradients in visibility are present (a less-foggy foreground makes the fog seem even foggier) or to flatten the view by counteracting the gradients.

If I don’t start post-processing with a pretty good idea of the effect I’m aiming for, I’ll spend a lot of time just playing around with different possibilities to see which I’m most attracted to. And if I do start off with a mental image of the goal, I’ll still play around a bit to see how far to take it and to try out other options—I often end up with several radically different interpretations of the same image.

With this image, I think I would have handled it pretty much like you did, though I might have lightened it very slightly and played up the visibility gradient a bit more. Overall, I think the image does a beautiful job of conveying the feeling of that foggy day.

Sunset over Acadia NP from the Schoodic Peninsula

Sunset over Monument Valley, shot from top of Hunt's Mesa

Blanchard Spring State Park. I shot this in the middle of the afternoon on Thanksgiving day.

Lower Rito de los Frijoles (Bean Creek) flowing into the Rio Grande, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

 

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Nice. I was in Bandelier earlier this spring and didn't even know this existed...my "guide" friend had me climbing ladders all day. lol

A hint of a reflection during a morning walk around White Rock Lake, with the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and 12-100mm f4 M. Zuiko. Raw file processed in DXO Photo Lab 2.

I recently went to Cade's Cove, and I shot in fog for the first time in years and while it was really exciting, I didn't really know how to shoot in the fog or what to go for. I mean I had this mental image of trees shrouded in fog but no real concrete ideas about technique. High key? Low key (for a moodiness)? Up the contrast, or turn it down. I still don't really know. I tried to stick pretty close to how it looked to me. Leica M10, 50/2 Summicron lens.

 

[ATTACH=full]1273075[/ATTACH]

Which Cade's Cove is this? Where is it located? I ask because the one that I know of is in the Smoky Mountains and it doesn't have a lake, pond or river big enough for canoeing. Just curious.

You are invited to upload one or more of your landscape photos and, if you’d like, to accompany your image with some commentary: challenges you faced in making the image? your intent for the image? settings? post-processing decisions? why you did what you did? the place and time? or an aspect you’d like feedback on? And please feel free to ask questions of others who have posted images or to join the discussion. If you don’t feel like using words, that’s OK too—unaccompanied images (or unaccompanied words, for that matter) are also very much welcomed. As for the technicalities, the usual forum guidelines apply: files < 1 MB; image size <1000 px maximum dimension.

 

I introduced my photo from last week with the comment that “there was a potential image whichever direction I faced,” and this is what it looked like 2 minutes earlier at the same location, but facing 90 degrees to the west.

[ATTACH=full]1273042[/ATTACH]

Last night, only had the IRIX 15mm f/2.4 with me at the time. I call ultra-wides sometimes "big sky lenses" - and it sure helps if there's a "big sky" to photograph.

Which Cade's Cove is this? Where is it located? I ask because the one that I know of is in the Smoky Mountains and it doesn't have a lake, pond or river big enough for canoeing. Just curious.

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Last night, only had the IRIX 15mm f/2.4 with me at the time. I call ultra-wides sometimes "big sky lenses" - and it sure helps if there's a "big sky" to photograph.