cfreemanphotography

Oh yeah, when you're looking at the picture, try and shield your eyes from the glaring white. Maybe I'm just developing cataracts at a young age, but there is definitely some flare going on inside my eyes that disappears when I cover the white areas.

Comments welcome! One specific question that perhaps someone can

answer... Why is it that the photo.net display of this image differs

from what I am seing in lightroom. The difference seems greater than

what you might expect from ProPhoto RGB and sRGB.

Yeah. I tend to have a hard keeping the sun under control. I don't own any GNDs, and I'm not a huge fan of HDR. Trying to black card one second exposures is tricky. I still haven't mastered it.

Judith,

Can you think of anything I could have done differently that would have made it move or compel you?

Whattaya think? Dead honest critique please.

Jane, every time I stop by your gallery I take a peak at this shot. I really like the subtle tones. A great fine art piece.

This is a really gorgeous capture. I've never seen anyone handle greens quite like you. Stunning. I really wish that I had some locations like this to shoot (I'm on the Cape for the summer, which is basically a tourist infested sandbar along which almost every bit of shoreline is either privately owned or commercial). I make do with the scenery that I have here, but man, I would love to get myself, my tripod, a camera, and a lens out to the Olympic Coast or the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Very interesting capture. The scintialltions look slightly more drawn out than the eye would see them as.... what was the exposure time, around 1/20th? The perspective is very unusual for you... confirmation of your ability to see the world in a variety of ways. Spatial relationships between foreground are very harmonious, though I would not mind an ever so slightly higher camera position to get a little more mid-ground. I suspect that doing so would have placed crap inside the frame?

Compositionally I think that it is a very strong image. I do, however, think that a little more contrast would help strengthen the FG textures that tie it all together. Even minor local adjustments would give it that extra little pop..

Actually, a thought just entered my mind.... I personally feel that the foreground is too light. Even vignetteing it [a little more] would help increase the apparent depth. After all... our peripheral vision, while more luminance senitive, does not appear as bright to our senses. Darkening the edges in this fashion would really help round off the sense of place.

Marc makes a good point about sensor performance. There isn't a huge difference between the two, else Nikon would long ago have died off, but there is still a difference. As a D200 shooter, I definitely will admit to sensor envy regarding the 5D and the 1Ds MKIII. If Nikon didn't offer superior build quality, weather sealing, ergonomics/usability, and better portable lighting system, I probably would have gone Canon.The problem is, Canons cost too much considering the quality of everything except the sensor. If Nikon would up the quality of its sensors and Canon would up the quality of it build quality, everyone could go back to selection based on brand loyalty, rather than choosing which sacrifices to make. By the way, this isn't meant to be a Nikon vs. Canon dick measuring contest. Obviously Canon has done something right.... you prove that every time you press the shutter release....

 

....that said.... do you think that you would consider future FX Nikons? After all, even my cheapish $800 18-200 VR out-resolves Canon's 16-35 albeit with much more distortion and a bit higher CA. (OK, that was Canon vs. Nikon..... couldn't resist that jab ;)

 

By the way, are you happy with the tripod model you chose? I'm looking to purchase a new tripod and was considering a Carbon Fibre Gitzo for a quality, lightweight tripod. I figure that it's easier to add weight to a tripod than it is to remove weight, so the extra $$$ for CF could, potentially, be justified.

Hey Marc,

Maybe you should forget to check that little box more often! Already it's risen to 12 of all time in landscape. Give it a little longer and it should go to first. This is, in my opinion, your best yet. Absolutely stunning.

Marc,

The shadow detail is very well rendered and the closed foreground gives a great sense of depth and palce. Your choice of shutter speed was, as always, impeccable. My only problem with it is the appearance of the clouds. The shape is not readily apparent and, because there is not much color variation, appears slightly flat. That, of course, is not your fault at all (unless you really went overboard in post)... sometimes the sky just doesn't agree with the land.

 

I see that you are using a new camera. I was just wondering what your overall opinion is regarding the practicality of such a camera for the type of work you do. In terms of durability and build quality it's clearly better suited to being outdoors... the 5D has needed a body upgrade since it was released. I guess my primary questions are:

a. Do you find the size of the camera inhibits portability on long treks?

b. Have you found that your glass is of high enough resolving power to take full advantage of the 21mp sensor?

c. Have you seen an improvement in DR and noise performance during long exposures?

Cosmos in the backyard. I set the white balance to a very low color

temperature to turn the pink petals blue and to alter the rendition

of the yellows.

I really like the relationship between two distinct zones in this picture. I feel that the well-anchored foreground area is analagous to human thought. We frequently keep our aspirations and vision to that which is directly in front of us. As the eye continues to travel to the top of the frame, we see a more open, lofty image, marked by impressive peaks and delicate light. The apparent inaccessibility of that peak seems to speak of the challenge of breaking away from the mundane. I do not think that it is necessarily your best shot (I still love Lord of the Valley, The Tree God, The Cauldron, Coast of Wonders, and Rainforest Complexities above any other shot), but I think that it speaks its message quite clearly. Well Done. The only thing I would change is the amount of light on the peak. If it came down just a tad further the emphasis would be a bit more appropriate. But hey, like you said, Nature ain't perfect (and that's why I love it). For all I know, by the time the light coverage was appropriate, the color might lose too much of its warmth.

This is the best of the new stuff so far. The colors and proportions are beautiful. I love the slightly gloomy interaction between the clouds and the moon. 7/7

I saw this in Pop Photo (congrats, btw) and was like "holy crap!" Having been to several of the Duomos myself, I can really appreciate how much skill went into seeing and capturing this. The angle is superb, as is composition overall, and exposure. Just out of curiousity... did you use a tripod for this? I can't imagine how you would get such a clean shot with diffractive starbursts/good DOF.

Did you have to double process on this? I don't understand how you could get such a DR. Then again, CMOS sensors are immune to blooming. How much brighter was the area at the top prior to processing, or did you not have to adjust brightness locally?

Just awesome. Great lighting, color, exposure, pose, composition, technique, treatment. Too bad I can't give a 10/10.

I actually hadn't noticed that the horizon run through the center. I don't compose around my horizon, but rather around the corners of my picture once I've placed the subject within the frame. Technically, a horizon is only an illusion. Why base the composition of a picture solely on a non-existent line?

Although I'm not a big fan of this technique, I think that your version is much more original than others like it.

This is really nice. I love the color treatment/wb settings. It seems to me that the horizon is very slightly off, and I mean maybe a fifth or tenth of a degree counter clockwise, but still, that's very close. I might take a little bit off of the top, but other than that it's really an awesome picture.

I really like this a lot. Great composition, exposure, and treatment.

Photography is not purely about capturing reality. It is about channelling color and intensity through a lens in a controlled pattern. While this is a very far stretch for what we can call photography ,we do not need to denigrate Luciano's name as a photographer over one immoderate picture among a vast collection of realistic subject portrayal. Furthermore, if we are to strip the title of photographer from composite artists, we might as well write off Thomas Barbey as being of little worth. By the way, no one here, myself included, is even close to this man in terms of creativity and technical perfection.

I forgot to get back to you after viewing it on my home monitor. Probably because it took me a little while to recover....

Wow. I just looked at the ratings. If you're going to give the picture a 3, at least have the balls to stand behind your rating. How about you get out in the field and practice, rather than bombing everyone else's successes.