Arching Palms

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 15, 2010219 views12 comments

This was a challenging scene to photograph, mostly because of the need for expanded dynamic range. I shot a series of 3 bracketed exposures which turned out to be inadequate for automating an HDR merge (which I am new at, and learning). So this is one exposure with elements of another layered in. Horizon distortion corrected too. I feel like it gets close to how the scene felt and looked (the bent and curvy palms were pretty amazing), but wonder how it looks to a viewer who's not been there.
Canon 5dm2, tokina 10-17 at 14mm. (fisheye distortion corrected) iso 400, 1/800, f/5.6
I'm a new member...in fact, this is my first posting. Look forward to any comments and critiques. Thanks.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Daniel Cartamil on December 15, 2010 at 6:24 PM

Very nice - its an interesting shot to be sure, and I like the wide angle effect. I'm curious why you would use the ISO and f-stop you did if you had this on a tripod? (I'm assuming you did since you said there were bracketed shots)...

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

Comment posted by John Mumaw on December 15, 2010 at 6:35 PM

Welcome!
This is quite interesting and unique. I just caught sight of that sunstar...bet it looks great at a larger size. Masterful job of blending and overall 'development', as well.
No nits from me. Nice work, David!

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on December 15, 2010 at 7:40 PM

David,

Welcom to NPN and the ES&S gallery. It is an interesting composition with those sweeping arcs in the palm trunks. At first I thought you had used a fish eye lens, but with the trees being naturally bent it makes this even more enjoyable.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Arnab Banerjee on December 15, 2010 at 7:49 PM

Neat perspective. Cool image..welcome

Registered on January 3, 2007, 313 Posts, 2270 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on December 15, 2010 at 8:10 PM

Very cool perspective David. I like the sun star and the warm light on the trees. Well done. Cheers

Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Sieren on December 15, 2010 at 9:15 PM

Unique and interesting point of view David.

I'd imagine the setting took care of any move in the fans.

Registered on January 2, 2008, 360 Posts, 5321 Comments

Comment posted by Pramod Viswanath on December 16, 2010 at 12:27 AM

Beautiful composition David! Just love the curving effect here!

Registered on December 4, 2008, 60 Posts, 697 Comments

Comment posted by David Moynahan on December 16, 2010 at 10:19 AM

Thank you all. Daniel, I was concerned about movement in the tips of the palm fronds. There wasn't any wind, per se, but any air movement could move these feathery leaves. The Tokina has enormous dof, though perhaps I should have chosen a higher f stop. Thanks for making me rethink about these settings. As it turned out, I think I needed to bracket every 1/3 stop over 3 stops to capture the transition of grays in such a harsh contrast (fine leaves against brightly backlit sky) in order to use an HDR program to help. Is that right?

Registered on December 11, 2010, 11 Posts, 77 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on December 16, 2010 at 10:39 PM

This is a fascinating photo. Exposure looks great on my laptop, and the comp is totally fascinating.

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

Comment posted by Vlad Sadovsky on December 17, 2010 at 2:38 AM

Nice composition, unusual. I like the how curves of the palms create a frame in frame. Little bit of darkening applied to the sky , may be ?

Registered on November 12, 2010, 48 Posts, 358 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on December 17, 2010 at 6:01 AM

Welcome to ESS/NPN, David. What a great comp with some amazing curves. The choice for a manual blending often is the more realistic and natural looking way to go. It worked great here and I don't see any issues caused by the blending. Enjoy your time here.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on December 17, 2010 at 2:49 PM

Welcome to NPN David, and neat first post! I really like the perspective in this and the sweep of the palms.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments