Tranquility

Thanks for your comments. I'd be happy to discuss or answer

questions.

This shot must be still more spectacular in great size. Precious.

Fantastica.

These shots never cease to amaze me... Was the water that calm or something done in post. I've sat on several lakes and never been able to capture the water like that... I just did it a few days ago waited 3 hours almost lost the sun before I shot. The best of those attempts are in my port if you care to look..Under landscapes "Lake View" is the title... Ken

Amazing colors and light. Great composition also with the dark roks in the foreground. A great sense of calm. Regards.

Ken, the only things you'll need to get water to look like this is reflected light and perfect calm. Even the slightest breeze can blur things up a bit. A longer exposure helps smooth things out a bit too, even if it is a little choppy. On this morning I was quite lucky to have no wind at all.

Thanks for the info... guess patience pays off..I'll be going back to this spot 1st of September I'll try again.... Ken

I'm speechless. So much perfection and beauty in one single image. Congrats!

Awesome work, simply remarkable.............where was this taken?

Fantastic shot ... lovely done. My best regards.

Tim, this was taken at Sparks Lake, Oregon.

Another amazing contribution to the field of landscape photography.

Hello Marc. I have seen many photos of Sparks Lake, although I wouldn't refer to it as an over-photographed location. I have not been, but looking at this, I would love to be here someday. Your rendition is quite unique from the images I have seen. The cool colors combined with the magentas are awesome. This is extraordinary. My minor observation is that the actual horizon is hiding behind the mist and is tilting left. The false horizon in the front looks balanced, but still a minor tilt. I suppose if the actual horizon were level, it may appear to lean right. At any rate, thats an easy fix, the image has much merit, a strong composition and brilliant post. I am guessing some blending was needed to achieve the detail in the foreground and lava-like rock on the left. This goes in the favs folder for me.

Dang it, Mark. Why do you have to be right about these things ;-) Now I've got to go rotate it.

It's a tough call though, because as you mention, of that slope in the first shoreline (an island) makes it look strait as-is. Ah well. I just processed this for the first time this afternoon and kind of rushed it up here. Not surprising I missed that.

Marc, you always seem to amaze me! Would you mind discussing the processing for this shot? And possibly the filters used, if any? I'd really appreciate it!

 

Jake

Marc, great work. The only thing for me is the right most tree is a little distracting since not all of it made it into the frame. With it cropped, I think the image would look a lot cleaner. However, on the other hand, it might make the upper right part of the image look a little blank. Just my thoughts. Still a fantastic photo in any regard

Split the difference between the two horizons and I think it will look perfect!

bingo

 

great image...but to have been there...ah...there's the rub

Amazing! Absolutly stunning.

I dont know why am I writing a comment on your photo. Your photos are always great and I just do appreciate your sharing them with us. Unfortunately I cannot write a useful critique on technical matters because I am far away from being such a great photographer. I wish you the best in your life. I am always looking for your new photos.

Nice exposure and colours. Even the trees are well colocated. perfect execution!

Regards!

Amazing and incredible shot. I agree with Collin though, the tree from the right gives a little imperfection to it.

Not to worry about the tree on the right. When I print and mat it, the tree will be removed. It's important to remember to leave a little extra room around the edges for these things.

Jake, thanks for the comment.

 

Processing for this one was rather subtle, but still somewhat time consuming. I started working with the RAW file which included about 1/5 more on the left side intitially. I'd previsulized a crop that best fit the scene, as I usually do.

 

In RAW, I increased tint a bit to bring out the magentas, and then worked the blues to get a more of a cooler feeling to the image which was intitially a little more saturated in the reds (if you can believe that!). There was little adjustment to overall saturation levels. The mist areas ended up picking up too much magenta cast though, so I just sponged them off in CS3 at a later point, down to a more neutral grey. I processed the RAW once for everything but the rocks, and then again for the rocks at about +1 stop compared to the rest of the scene. The black rock was tough to control in a single exposure next to the highlights. I recall I made a slight curves adjustment to get the contrasts and tonalities balanced in the background areas too.

 

I took this out of RAW and did what I always do - subtle dodge/burns at low opacities to pull every bit of depth out of the scene - the most important step IMO, but nearly impossible to describe - just experiement here! We want to transcribe a three dimensional scene onto a two dimensional medium, so it usually requires a bit more than the camera itself will record. I tried to separate foreground and background as much as possible while retaining natural appearance. Someone with more PS skills than I would probably figure a different and perhaps more efficient way to do this, but this works for me and it looks flawless at 100% throughout (very important!).

 

The last thing I did was bring out some warm color and brightness to the side of the rock at left selectively, again to increase the three-dimensional quality. Subtleties like this are often overlooked in processing but can add a lot to the 'realism' factor IMO. Very painterly in a way I suppose. Painters not knowing the limitations of cameras of course, and being able to interpret the scene however they feel best conveys the experience of the place. I often look to the works of paiters for artistic inspiration. Look at how tonal values, luminosity and subleties in color are used to convey a scene in paintings, adding depth, inviting the viewer in and elevating the emotional qualities.

 

All and all this looks pretty close to the in-camera capture, as I captured it as well as I could in the field. It's really the subtleties that I accentuated in processing. Subtleties that add depth and highlight the emotional qualities for me.

 

This is an outstanding shot. In my opinion, it is the best you have posted since Song of the Tide (at least, that is your most recent one that really stands out in my mind). the composition is superb, though I don't quite understand why you have not removed that tree from the internet version if it will not appear in the matted version. Though the horizon is slightly off, I don't think that it is a necessary fix as the scene appears in harmony as is. Aside from that, the only thing that seems amiss is the dodging around the tree on the left. It seems as though it has a slight halo, probably the result of the hasty processing you mentioned in your response to Mark.

 

A few questions about the equipment and corresponding technique: Do you recall what you used for a grad for this shot?; Do you use a filter holder? (I find it difficult to handhold "P" sized grads when shooting vertically). Also, do you have any tricks on protecting square filters. I just got back from a two week trek in New Mexico where, to my dismay, a set of new Singh-Ray grads became both warped and slightly scratched (and one of them managed to work its way out of a side pocket, causing its loss somewhere on the trail).

 

Also, if it would be possible to get the lens data and EXIF.....?