Just like everyone else, I was in the San Juans recently. Imagine that! This is the first time up in Porphyry. The wife and I looked at Pucker point, hesistated for a moment - and then we powered through it. Glad we did as it is amazing up there.
I have been playing around with this shot at work on my lunch hour. My monitor is not calibrated, so please let me know if this one looks funky. This is my first post from my 5D - and I realize that I need to continue to improve on my Pshop skills. I will say that shooting in RAW is pretty damn cool though!
Comments / critique welcomed!
Canon 5D
17-40L
Posted by Grant Collier on August 10, 2007 at 6:12 PM
It's nice to see a different perspective on Porphyry. But this shot doesn't quite work for me, especially compared to some of the really impressive images on your web site. My eye is immediately drawn up to the mountains, which appear out of focus. I know there is a lot of depth of field in the shot, so it's tough to get everything in focus. For shots where I have flowers this close or closer and it's hard to get everything in focus, I first try to get the focus about right. Then I usually take a lot of shots and slightly adjust the focus point on each. I can then go through and see which one has the best focus. Usually, I like a compomise, where the closest foreground subject is slightly out of focus and the most distant background object is slightly out of focus. Sometimes it can work better to have the foreground in sharp focus and let the backgroun fall out of focus, especially if the attention is really drawn only to the foreground. But I don't think it works here.
There's a program called HeliFocus (I think) where you can combine multiple exposures with different focus points. It's tough to do this manually, because when you change the focus, the effective focal length of the lens changes slightly, to where the images don't line up perfectly.
Thanks Grant for your honest review. I wasn't really happy with the out of focus background, and I guess I liked the FG rocks so much that I didn't really evaluate this with as much of a critical eye. One of those scenes where you are still seeing it based on your connection to the area and not looking at it on it's own merits - or lack thereof.
I agree that the background is just too prominent and out of focus - ends up being a detriment to the scene. Of course - maybe there isn't really enough in the FG to hold all that much interest either.
Thanks for the suggestions as well on the DOF. I was going to vary my focus point for another couple shots, but it was a bit breezy and I just ended up moving on that day.
ok - I need to post something better (I hope) to make up for the first dud...
This is on the road back down, a little before pucker point. Flowers just a bit past prime, but I found a pretty good grouping to set up in front of.
Posted by Grant Collier on August 10, 2007 at 11:41 PM
The second one is gorgeous. No complaints here .
Posted by Mike Sellers on August 11, 2007 at 7:30 AM
I believe it is HeliCon Focus.
Posted by Rick Dunn on August 12, 2007 at 10:43 AM
These are both really nice, Michael. The colors and comp on the first one are fantastic - I definitely wouldn't consider it a 'dud' - but I agree that the oof background is problematic. The contrasting yellow and blues in the second one are sweet. The background looks a little oof here as well, but it doesn't have the same effect as in the first one.
Congrats on the 5D - hopefully we'll get to see more of your work now?
Discussion
6 repliesI have been playing around with this shot at work on my lunch hour. My monitor is not calibrated, so please let me know if this one looks funky. This is my first post from my 5D - and I realize that I need to continue to improve on my Pshop skills. I will say that shooting in RAW is pretty damn cool though!
Comments / critique welcomed!
Canon 5D
17-40L
There's a program called HeliFocus (I think) where you can combine multiple exposures with different focus points. It's tough to do this manually, because when you change the focus, the effective focal length of the lens changes slightly, to where the images don't line up perfectly.
I agree that the background is just too prominent and out of focus - ends up being a detriment to the scene. Of course - maybe there isn't really enough in the FG to hold all that much interest either.
Thanks for the suggestions as well on the DOF. I was going to vary my focus point for another couple shots, but it was a bit breezy and I just ended up moving on that day.
This is on the road back down, a little before pucker point. Flowers just a bit past prime, but I found a pretty good grouping to set up in front of.
Congrats on the 5D - hopefully we'll get to see more of your work now?