buck's wild adventures 4 McClure Meadow Afternoon

Exceptional !! ... As usual 'Buck' .................. (-;

This was from a weeklong backpacking trip into Kings Canyon National

Park, taken at McClure Meadows. A beautiful area, but I feel I

could've captured it better. I'm still learning with each trip I

take and new conditions always arise. I learn much here. I took

this late afternoon while a storm was quickly developing. It wasn't

long until we were rained on. I don't think any filters were used at

all, just my Canon 24-85 lens and Velvia film. Any suggestions and

comments are welcomed. Thanks!

Great shot! A yellow of a meadow cuts like a spike between the blues of mountains/sky and the water. I love that contrast. Good job!

Overcast landscapes can be tough, I like the contrast as well but I'd try and dodge the forested area a little to bring out more detail.

Nice. The orangey tones really stand out with the overcast sky. Nice reflections.

Beautiful. Love the gold tones.

Makes me want to be there :)

A good solid photo, but not exceptional.

A warming polarizer would have helped pop both the colors and the reflection. Also Velvia is a tough film to shoot in 35mm. The grain shows up on scans in the sky. While Velvia is good for producing impressive slides on the light table, Provia 100F scans much better. You can adjust the saturation and contrast after the scan to taste if you like.

And of course thanks to everyone who comments. Miles, I like your specific advice. This is what confuses me about learning this stuff. I was told Velvia is super fine grain, so I try and use it as much as I can. And you are saying it is grainy on skies? Shoot, just when I thought I had it down! :^) I have never used a warming filter before, thanks for that tip. I had been receiving some comments that my shots looked too saturated, so I tried to tone it down a bit, but you are saying that more "pop" in the colors would help. HELP, I'M SO CONFUSED! :^) This is really good stuff to know, and I sincerely appreciate these kinds of comments. It seems the more I gradually learn about photography, the more confused I get! Oh well, as long as I'm out roaming the wilderness, that's all that really matters most to me! Again, thanks so much for taking the time to respond!

Good balance of colors; depth well define

Provia 100F is RMS grain factor 8 as opposed to 9 for Velvia. Smaller is better. But Velvia grain is triangular in shape and has hard edges. It makes for a obvious granularity in the skies of scans. At 645 or 6x7 this is less of a problem. Provia has softer less contrasty grain. Bottom line Provia 100F was designed to scan. In fact Fuji has shown a Provia 50F that's even better. The rise of the digital SLR may or may not scrub it's release.

 

You can add a warming filter like an 81A or 81B or warm the image in Photoshop. Nic sells a PS plug in filter package for about $70 or a new company has a $49 toolkit called colorkit which can be downloaded for a free trial.

 

See http://www.pixelgenius.com/photokit/

 

If you shoot for stock you've got to use real filters & make the slide the final product. If not the plug ins work great.

 

I used the Nik polarizer in PS on this shot.

See http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1077411

I freguently use an 81A or B at high altitude to reduce the blues secondary to the lower atmospheric filtration of the shorter wave lengths that you get when you're high up. I don't think this shot needs it though. I think more "pop" would make this shot look unnatural. I think the warm tones in the grasses and the blues in the water work well. Plus the nice curvy diagonal line of the shore makes for a nice composition balanced against the distant peak to the left, both in the reflection and on the sky line. I think you've made a very nice image. Try working with some warming filters and a polarizer but don't forget to make an exposure without any filters so you can compare the results. I know I often miss the shot because I'm screwing with filters that I might not really need or want. I agree with the above posts about Provia, though. It's one great all purpose film. Try the 400F. So nice to shoot a fast film and get such great results but if you're shooting to have enlargements made and can stand the slow ASA Velvia has pretty fantastic color. Shoot what you have good luck with. See you in the Sierra!

Well made.