Frustration

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 24, 2010520 views20 comments

It took a lot more frustration than it should have to come up with an image as simple as this one.

I headed out to Kananaskis this morning before dawn. When I arrived, I was treated to some very nice alpenglow on Mt. Lorette, which is actually just to the left of the peak in this shot. As I was shooting a bald eagle flew right over my head and landed in a tree across the water. As I scrambled back to my bag to get a longer lens, I tripped on a root- sending me, camera & lens, and my tripod crashing to the rocks (and naturally sending the eagle flying away)

As I brushed myself and my gear off and checked for damage (none, thankfully), I had one of those "oh sh*t" moments - I had been at a wedding this weekend, and in my haste to start shooting this morning, forgot to change the ISO back from 1600 to something normal. What a rookie mistake! The Mt. Lorette pictures are completely unusable.

After a few seconds of self pity / self hatred, I went back to the water's edge, determined to at least get a few shots that would be worth the hassle. This is the result. Not the alpenglow I had hoped for, but I think worthwhile nonetheless. Let me know your thoughts.

Jeff

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40D, 17-40L, CP, 2-Stop ND Grad

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on May 24, 2010 at 2:14 PM

Lovely classic looking mountain/reflection.
I've done that as well. I think the shutter speed just makes this one! (ok, bad joke)
I'd like to see just a hint of detail back in those bright cloud spots.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on May 24, 2010 at 2:35 PM

Beautiful scene is what I feel when I look at this. We've all had moments like that while out in the field...so dont feel too bad!

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Luis Argerich on May 24, 2010 at 2:47 PM

Fantastic image every plane is full of beautiful details

Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments

Comment posted by Clayton Musgrove on May 24, 2010 at 2:52 PM

I think this is a great shot Jeff. I love the reflection of the peak and clouds and the composition. Glad to hear you and gear survived the tumble.

Clayton

Registered on February 6, 2010, 55 Posts, 235 Comments

Comment posted by Ryan Dyar on May 24, 2010 at 2:59 PM

I still think you came away with a good shot despite the hurdles that were thrown at you. Well done!

My only little suggestion, and this is a real personal preference thing, would be maybe darken up the reflection a hair. I tend to keep my reflections a bit darker than what they are actually reflecting, but some guys go for a more even look... really a personal thing I guess. Cool shot either way!

And the iso thing has happened to me once. I was in such a hurry trying to get set up and shoot before the light faded that I didn't even notice my shutter speeds were oddly quick

Registered on November 8, 2008, 22 Posts, 129 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on May 24, 2010 at 3:18 PM

Well I think you still managed to come away with something very nice here Jeff, great colors and reflections.

Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Cartamil on May 24, 2010 at 4:08 PM

Nice! The sky in the reflection is brighter than the actual sky, but other than that very nice technically and aesthetically...

Registered on November 15, 2007, 50 Posts, 601 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Windom on May 24, 2010 at 4:28 PM

In spite of everything you certainly ended up getting a nice image. Perfect reflection and great color in those clouds. I agree about darkening the reflection (or lightening the rest) just a tad. You might also want to tone down the real bright spots in the clouds, particularly those just above the ridge on the left.

Self pity/self hatred.....we've all been there.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 176 Posts, 2302 Comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on May 24, 2010 at 5:50 PM

That does stink Jeff but at least you were able to enjoy this beautiful spot regardless of missing the mistake.
I think we have all done that. This is a great scene you captured and I would trade ya sceneries.
Nice comp as well.
thanks for sharing

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on May 24, 2010 at 5:55 PM

Great shot! I agree with Ryan's suggestion about the reflection, but that's quite minor and somewhat a matter of personal taste. It's really a wonderful scene that you've captured in all respects. And your story is probably familiar to all of us . . . I still consider myself a rookie and I've had various setting and equipment-related calamaties in the recent past. Even the pros make mistakes from time to time, no doubt.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Yan Zhang on May 24, 2010 at 8:03 PM

Nice reflection and color. Maybe it would be better to eliminate couple of fg rocks to make the composition simpler. But I uderstand this probably is not so easy most of the time.

Registered on April 10, 2010, 28 Posts, 292 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on May 24, 2010 at 9:05 PM

Beautiful reflection and beautiful image Jeff. Glad you and your gear survived the spill and you were able to share with us and everyone a gorgeous Canadian Rocky dawn. Well done. This is superb.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 24, 2010 at 11:17 PM

Beautiful image. Less cliche than alpenglow. I think this is the picture you were meant to take this morning. Guess sometimes the light has to rough you up a bit to get you to listen.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Kent Mearig on May 25, 2010 at 12:53 AM

I think surviving a fall with no damaged gear is a victory in itself. A small nit with this photo is that one of the three rocks in the LRC (a very nice grouping) kisses right up to the mountain reflection.

Registered on September 4, 2006, 237 Posts, 4748 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on May 25, 2010 at 1:09 AM

Nice, pleasing image. Great story too -- I think we've all messed up now and then.

One nit: appears to be a slight halo about the mountains. Could just be me, though.

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on May 25, 2010 at 9:11 AM

Ouch. Still - you should never allow frustration to rule your thoughts when in such conditions. Even if it means putting the camera away and just soaking in the beauty around you. These moments are too rare and offer so much beauty and should be appreciated to the fullest.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 25, 2010 at 11:59 AM

Jeff, this is a very nice image. Alpenglow sure would have been nice too, but this absolutely works. My thoughts on the high ISO images would be to keep them and use them. It's way better to have a grainy image than no image at all. Even with the 40D's performance at high ISO's, there's still got to be enough quality there to print across a magazine or book spread without seeing unacceptable degradation IMO. Photographers seem to pick apart these technical aspects way too much. The general public would much rather just see a beautiful shot. I certainly don't think all is lost in respect to the alpenglow versions.
One last thought - I think the shadows here are a bit too opened up, maybe a little too HDRish for my taste.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on May 25, 2010 at 12:50 PM

Glad you came away with this image after your fall and glad you and the gear survived. I agree with Marc as to the ISO1600 images.... don't toss them away.

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on May 25, 2010 at 3:19 PM

Regardless of what happened you got some nice clouds and a great reflection. Hang in there Jeff.

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Marlow on May 26, 2010 at 11:35 PM

My kind of an image Jeff, I'd say you came out allright plus you didn't break anything. I guess I'll always be experiencing the rookie mistake to some degree as I occasionally change a lense and forget to move the setting on the prism finder or film iso etc. Beautiful image for sure.

Registered on October 15, 2008, 158 Posts, 531 Comments