Posted by Hans Sager on October 16, 2007 at 1:52 AM
Hello Everyone,
My name is Hans Sager from Forest Grove, Oregon. I'm an engineer by trade and part time photographer by hobby. Like you, I have a passion for nature and a burning desire to capture it's beauty to share with others.
I recently joined NPN after having followed your discussions for a long time now. It's been enjoyable to view your photographs, learn of new shooting locations and pick up on photography techniques.
I look forward to sharing discussion and photos in an effort to improve my photography skills and perhaps add to yours.
I was on-call the weekend of your recent Autumn event, so I wasn't able to join in. However, Saturday I decided to make my own trip up to the Mt. Adams area in search of fall colors. Here is one of the images I thought turned out quite well. Comments and critiques welcomed.
Posted by Rick Lundh on October 16, 2007 at 2:32 AM
Welcome! Great first post here. I like the comp a lot. Maybe a tad off the top. You did a great job handling the direct sunlght on the vibrandt fall colors.
Awesome colors, where were you when you took this shot? I agree with a tad off the top.
Posted by Jim Jirka on October 16, 2007 at 10:34 AM
I think if you take anything off the top you will lose the wonderful wisp of cloud. I like it as posted.
Posted by Mark Hudon on October 16, 2007 at 11:35 AM
Jeez, Hans, gimme a break, eh?
The sky is pretty bland as far as a knock your socks off kind of photo goes but as it is, it gives me the feeling of a real nice warm/cool fall evening. I wouldn't change a thing. It's a simple, clean, elegant shot. (and dang sharp too! I have that same camera and lens. Are you finding f/11 to be it's sharpest f-stop?)
Posted by Sean Bagshaw on October 16, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Welcome Hans. Gorgeous fall color and great side lighting touching the tops of the trees and grass. I agree about losing some of the sky and to me some of the greens and reds feel a little over saturated, but just a tad.
Posted by Zack Schnepf on October 16, 2007 at 1:50 PM
Welcome Hans! Beautiful first post, I love the layering, color, and over all comp. Beautiful!
Posted by Erik Lundh on October 16, 2007 at 2:26 PM
She's a real beauty of an image. Very nice first post. Welcome to the forum.
Posted by Hans Sager on October 16, 2007 at 2:49 PM
Finally got a break from work this morning to write a reply. Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions. Let's see if I can cover all the issues.
Mother Nature lined up most of the elements for a great photo, but not all. The colored trees and dappled highlights were incredible. However, the pale sky was certainly a problem. The haze made the mountain and lower sky less than ideal. In PP, I dropped the tonality a bit coupled with some slight contrast enhancement, but any more caused the sky to look muddy in the middle. The clouds/contrails were high in the sky, so I opted for a slightly higher angle to include them. Also, without the higher angle the sky color would have little if any blue.
Ryan, the shot was taken in the Glenwood valley. I had no idea this area was so beautiful, but it's one of the few local places I've found with Aspen and Cottonwood near a scenic mountain. It reminds me of Utah, Colorado etc...
Mark, I love my D80 and 18-200mm with VR. It's a great combination while still staying within a budget. I purposely chose f11 for the sharpness, though I must admit I'm still trying to find the sweet spot. I used Marc A's sharpening technique for this web rendition.
Sean, it seems even after all this time playing with photos in PS that I still struggle a little with conversion for web. It just never looks the same as it does in Photoshop.
Thanks again everyone for your input.
Posted by Rick Lamb on October 16, 2007 at 7:44 PM
Hi Hans and welcome to the forum!! What a GREAT entry image into our happy family here!!! I wanna know WHERE the Glenwood Valley is!!!
My only nit would be to crop out 80% of the sky. Sure that wisp of jet contrails helps but I don't think it helps enough. But that's just my opinion.
Again welcome!!
Posted by Hans Sager on October 16, 2007 at 10:57 PM
Hi Rick, thanks for the warm welcome to the forum. The Glenwood valley lies 30 miles NNE of White Salmon, Washington in the sleepy little town of Glenwood. Be careful not to blink when driving through or you'll miss the town (basically one intersection). I have friends from the nearby town of Husum, a great little community for white water rafting. The morning of my trip to Glenwood, I contacted my friend's mother to inquire about the fall colors in the area. She said, "C'mon over it's looking great." She wasn't kidding!
Discussion
13 repliesMy name is Hans Sager from Forest Grove, Oregon. I'm an engineer by trade and part time photographer by hobby. Like you, I have a passion for nature and a burning desire to capture it's beauty to share with others.
I recently joined NPN after having followed your discussions for a long time now. It's been enjoyable to view your photographs, learn of new shooting locations and pick up on photography techniques.
I look forward to sharing discussion and photos in an effort to improve my photography skills and perhaps add to yours.
I was on-call the weekend of your recent Autumn event, so I wasn't able to join in. However, Saturday I decided to make my own trip up to the Mt. Adams area in search of fall colors. Here is one of the images I thought turned out quite well. Comments and critiques welcomed.
Nikon D80
Nikon 18-200mm @55mm
1/4s @ f11 ISO 100
2-stop soft GND
Polarizer
The sky is pretty bland as far as a knock your socks off kind of photo goes but as it is, it gives me the feeling of a real nice warm/cool fall evening. I wouldn't change a thing. It's a simple, clean, elegant shot. (and dang sharp too! I have that same camera and lens. Are you finding f/11 to be it's sharpest f-stop?)
Mother Nature lined up most of the elements for a great photo, but not all. The colored trees and dappled highlights were incredible. However, the pale sky was certainly a problem. The haze made the mountain and lower sky less than ideal. In PP, I dropped the tonality a bit coupled with some slight contrast enhancement, but any more caused the sky to look muddy in the middle. The clouds/contrails were high in the sky, so I opted for a slightly higher angle to include them. Also, without the higher angle the sky color would have little if any blue.
Ryan, the shot was taken in the Glenwood valley. I had no idea this area was so beautiful, but it's one of the few local places I've found with Aspen and Cottonwood near a scenic mountain. It reminds me of Utah, Colorado etc...
Mark, I love my D80 and 18-200mm with VR. It's a great combination while still staying within a budget. I purposely chose f11 for the sharpness, though I must admit I'm still trying to find the sweet spot. I used Marc A's sharpening technique for this web rendition.
Sean, it seems even after all this time playing with photos in PS that I still struggle a little with conversion for web. It just never looks the same as it does in Photoshop.
Thanks again everyone for your input.
My only nit would be to crop out 80% of the sky. Sure that wisp of jet contrails helps but I don't think it helps enough. But that's just my opinion.
Again welcome!!
Here's a link to a Google Map.
Google Map