Posted by Marc Adamus on January 16, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Some beautiful wave action and light.
Thanks for comments/critique
1DsIII, 16-35 at 19mm, 3-stop grad, polarizer.
Posted by Geoff Shapiro on January 16, 2008 at 10:11 AM
IMO this one is gorgeous, Marc! The quality of the light, especially the light lighting up the spray on the rocks at right is fantastic. There is a slight blown out highlight in the water in the middle ground but it seems in character with the rest of the composition so it doesn't bother me.
Posted by Marc Adamus on January 16, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Yeah, I was worried about that too, Geoff. The exposure looked good on the others before this one but something about the water/light combo in this image that blew out that one spot and of course a blend wasn't possible due to the water motion. I think the rest of the image makes up for it though and most non-photographers wouldn't care. Thanks for the comment.
Posted by Geoff Shapiro on January 16, 2008 at 11:28 AM
Marc said:
>most non-photographers wouldn't care
I quite agree with you. I find that the things that many of my fellow photographers may point out about my photos are never ever mentioned, perhaps not even noticed, by others that are either not photographers or just snapshotters.
We subject ourselves to the criticism of our peers in our efforts to become better photographers but, for the most part, once you get to a certain level it seems the public can't differentiate the differences between really good and just a tad better?
Posted by Josh Anderson on January 16, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Exceptional mood created here, marc. I do find the immediate rock on the right to be a tad distracting, but this is minor.
Posted by Marc Adamus on January 16, 2008 at 1:36 PM
That's going to be a tough one to clone out
Posted by David Schoen on January 16, 2008 at 2:13 PM
sorry folks, nature is distracting.... really nice image and lighting, with the rock...
Posted by Will Campbell on January 16, 2008 at 2:24 PM
The overblown highlights don't bother me. The light is fantastically handled here. It amazes me that your images like this don't ever show flare, especially with the extra glass. Well done!
Posted by David Svilar on January 16, 2008 at 4:39 PM
Marc, Nice capture, interesting waves and sky. However, I wouldn't add this to your upper tier of captures as I'm left feeling a little cramped behind all the rocks.
Posted by Kevin McNeal on January 17, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Another great image ! I am guessing this is from Seal Rocks area. A question I was wondering about is that with your coastal images you really emphasize strong contrast to bring attention to the light by keeping a lot of the rocks almost black. How do you know how far to push the blacks in the rocks to highlight the colors ? Just trying to figure how to get the most of contrast in my coastal shots without blocking shadows.
yes, this is in principle the better version than the one on ESS. But in "real life" (besides the www) I think this is the harder one to get to look as good in print as it should. (at least it would take much more ps work) So from a professional standpoint I believe you're better off with the ESS version. It's more pleasing to the eye, too. This one is more spectacular and both are nice shots for sure!
Georg
Posted by Cliff Dodge on January 17, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Led nicely through to the setting sun. I like it.
Posted by Marc Adamus on January 17, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Georg, I totally agree.
Kevin, it just depends on the situation. Unfortunately, almost all our coastal rocks here in the NW are black, so it's an exposure nightmare if they're not in direct light like they are here. The direct lighting in this image allowed me to expose for the highlights first. This one still took a blend of 3 images to get the sun area right though. For images like the one on ESS, a common exposure challenge shooting NW seascapes, I really have to expose for the blacks first. I expose the blacks at -2 stops or so, at a point which the retain just enough detail to be visible and then control the highlights however is necessary. The key with all shots is to make sure you have enough detail in the file (or multiple files) to achieve whatever contrasts you decide are necessary when processing.
Posted by Kevin McNeal on January 17, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Thanks that really helps in the way of trying to process how to control the exposure when the rocks are in shadow and the sun is blowing highlights on the other side.
Posted by John Lehmkuhl on January 17, 2008 at 8:23 PM
Beautiful shot, Marc. Are you finding that the camera/glass combo is giving you noticeable improvements over the 5D/17-40 ? Is flare better controlled ? Is dynamic range wider ? Is it worth the weight
Posted by Marc Adamus on January 17, 2008 at 8:30 PM
It is worth the weight. For detail at 100%, there's no contest, the 1Ds3 and 16-35II blows away any glass/camera combo I've had. It's not even close. I don't feel there is much a noticable improvement in flare control or dynamic range, however.
Posted by John Lehmkuhl on January 17, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Well, detail is where it's at... I bet you could look at a print of this for a while and then the birds slowly show up that were there all along.....
Posted by Paul DeCesare on January 18, 2008 at 11:53 PM
Marc, this image is superb... force of water and brilliance of light storming in right at you. BTW, I had to LOOK for the few blown highlights.
As far as your new rig, WHOA, the image quality is crazy. How I wish we could all see this BIG, not in the restricted porthole of a web forum. With your new camera/glass, you've got a whole new world to recapture!
Posted by John Williams on January 19, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Very nice Marc. My one suggestion to have improved this shot would have been to not post Song of the Tides in ESS. I very much enjoy this one, but I really like the depth of color and water texture even better in that one.
Posted by Marc Adamus on January 19, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Paul, check out the one on ESS. Much better!
Posted by Paul DeCesare on January 19, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Discussion
22 repliesThanks for comments/critique
1DsIII, 16-35 at 19mm, 3-stop grad, polarizer.
>most non-photographers wouldn't care
I quite agree with you. I find that the things that many of my fellow photographers may point out about my photos are never ever mentioned, perhaps not even noticed, by others that are either not photographers or just snapshotters.
We subject ourselves to the criticism of our peers in our efforts to become better photographers but, for the most part, once you get to a certain level it seems the public can't differentiate the differences between really good and just a tad better?
> Marc said:
> most non-photographers wouldn't care
I believe there are many photographers (myself included) who also don't care.
Georg
Kevin, it just depends on the situation. Unfortunately, almost all our coastal rocks here in the NW are black, so it's an exposure nightmare if they're not in direct light like they are here. The direct lighting in this image allowed me to expose for the highlights first. This one still took a blend of 3 images to get the sun area right though. For images like the one on ESS, a common exposure challenge shooting NW seascapes, I really have to expose for the blacks first. I expose the blacks at -2 stops or so, at a point which the retain just enough detail to be visible and then control the highlights however is necessary. The key with all shots is to make sure you have enough detail in the file (or multiple files) to achieve whatever contrasts you decide are necessary when processing.
As far as your new rig, WHOA, the image quality is crazy. How I wish we could all see this BIG, not in the restricted porthole of a web forum. With your new camera/glass, you've got a whole new world to recapture!
(I just saw the ESS version. 'nuff said.)