Author Topic: [Theme] Clouds  (Read 185633 times)

Akira

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #450 on: January 16, 2019, 13:48:09 »
Quite peculiar, methinks.
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Fons Baerken

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #451 on: February 11, 2019, 16:58:25 »
February 11

Beautiful weather and skies for this time.



D850  80-200mm f/2.8

Seapy

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #452 on: February 15, 2019, 23:09:08 »
Here are two cloud photos I took last weekend.  They are the first landscapes I have taken with the D800.

I am showing the out of the camera and the processed images to show the remarkable range the D800 actually captures.  Had these not been casual snaps I would have bracketed them because of shooting directly into the sunlit clouds with heavy shadow not long before sunset.

In this first pair I notice a phenomena I have never noticed before where lower clouds cast a strong shadow on higher clouds.

Nikon D800 with 24-120, 24mm, f/4 3200sec, at f/5.6, ISO 400

Processed in Lightroom using 'auto' as a starting point, then adjusting to taste.





This taken a little later...

48mm, 8,000 sec, at f/5.6





Robert C. P.
South Cumbria, UK

Akira

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #453 on: February 16, 2019, 01:47:18 »
Here are two cloud photos I took last weekend.  They are the first landscapes I have taken with the D800.

I am showing the out of the camera and the processed images to show the remarkable range the D800 actually captures.  Had these not been casual snaps I would have bracketed them because of shooting directly into the sunlit clouds with heavy shadow not long before sunset.

In this first pair I notice a phenomena I have never noticed before where lower clouds cast a strong shadow on higher clouds.

Nikon D800 with 24-120, 24mm, f/4 3200sec, at f/5.6, ISO 400

Processed in Lightroom using 'auto' as a starting point, then adjusting to taste.

I like the overall lightings and the somewhat cool tone in the very first image, even though the dynamic range is narrower than that of the processed one.
"The eye is blind if the mind is absent." - Confucius

"Limitation is inspiration." - Akira

pluton

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #454 on: February 16, 2019, 08:15:15 »
I also like the rendition of the first one best. The tonal capture range (dynamic range?) of the D800 is quite good. IMO, the days of the 'next new camera' having greatly improved tonal capture range ended with the D800.
Keith B., Santa Monica, CA, USA

pluton

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #455 on: February 16, 2019, 08:30:33 »
Winter brings cool weather clouds like these to the Los Angeles basin.  Estimate the deck to be right about 300m/1000 feet, seen from about 400m/1300 feet.
Keith B., Santa Monica, CA, USA

Seapy

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #456 on: February 16, 2019, 08:42:29 »
I like the overall lightings and the somewhat cool tone in the very first image, even though the dynamic range is narrower than that of the processed one.

Thanks for the comment Akira, I always struggle knowing how far to push an image, I was so amazed what came out if the darkness I felt I had to reveal it, that together with the clouds.
Robert C. P.
South Cumbria, UK

Seapy

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #457 on: February 16, 2019, 08:48:14 »
I also like the rendition of the first one best. The tonal capture range (dynamic range?) of the D800 is quite good. IMO, the days of the 'next new camera' having greatly improved tonal capture range ended with the D800.

Thank you Keith, I am very much feeling my way with the D800, it amazes and delights me each time I take it out.  The D3 is definitely taking a back seat now.
Robert C. P.
South Cumbria, UK

Seapy

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #458 on: February 16, 2019, 23:13:57 »
Is this any better?

Showing the original, first edit and second attempt.





Robert C. P.
South Cumbria, UK

pluton

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #459 on: February 17, 2019, 01:20:54 »
I like the new edit, Robert.  The decision of how much to lift the dark areas is always critical, and I find that I frequently have to to go back several times to make sure I haven't overcooked it---and even then, I'll come back a year later and decide that I've overcooked it.  I think this much lightening works well for this shot. If it were mine, I'd look into the possibility of cooling off the warm color in the bottom 1/3rd.  As always, YMMV. 
Keith B., Santa Monica, CA, USA

Akira

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #460 on: February 17, 2019, 03:12:26 »
Robert, thank you for sparing your time to offer other candidates.

Having said that, I still like the very first image.   As Keith says, YMMV.  Personally, I like the initial image simply because of the degree of abstraction.  In other words, I don't expect more realistic rendition of the "landscape" at least in this partiular case, but the interesting interactions of the shapes of the mountains and the clouds.  I might want to trim the bottom part of the frame wee bit, though.
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Seapy

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #461 on: February 17, 2019, 09:17:36 »
Thank you Keith and Akira, I have made slight adjustments to the crop and reduced the saturation in the lower third.  I am beginning to learn that subtlety can be better than saturation but the judgment is very fine.

It's approaching a picture I would like to hang on my wall.  I find that particular locality particularly attractive, in the lower right hand corner is a small farm called 'Hoses', it figures prominently in Google Earth, even at a relatively small scale.

Robert C. P.
South Cumbria, UK

Øivind Tøien

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #462 on: February 17, 2019, 10:21:08 »

Yes, that is much better, Robert, really nice atmosphere is this capture.

(The thing is, if a nature capture like this one gets overcooked, the image looses credibility.)
Øivind Tøien

Akira

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #463 on: February 17, 2019, 11:46:35 »
Robert, if you are aiming at a beautiful landscape worth hanging on the wall, the last image IS the one!  I love the framing, too!
"The eye is blind if the mind is absent." - Confucius

"Limitation is inspiration." - Akira

Fons Baerken

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Re: [Theme] Clouds
« Reply #464 on: February 17, 2019, 12:31:33 »
I thought the way to go was two images, one exposed for the brighter, and one for the darker and merge in your editor.
One can fake it by processing the one image similarly for two different exposures and merge likewise,
(my toppence).