EOS20D @ 32mm, 1/25", f/10
Tripod, mirror locked up
Curves, USM, Resize then another round of USM.
Ok, probably the most photographed castle in Scotland! I was on my way to South Uist back in November, and couldn't resist stopping for a quick photo. Because of this (taken at noon), the light's quite flat and un-interesting, although I like the way the seaweed colours are echoed in the heather-clad hills.
If I were to take this again, I would take two images, one focussed on the fg rock, and the other on the castle, then merge them together in PS.
I thought the aperture size is determined by the lens, not the camera I agree with you that the lighting is a bit flat but may be salvagable through a bit more PP?? I think one could use a graduated filter for this shot. The alternative would be to shoot foreground then BG and stich. It is a lovely scene though as it is...
The smallest advisable aperture depends on the lens - most would be good up to around f/16 I think, then some might lose quality going beyond this (mind you I'm no expert in this area!). Either a ND grad filter or two exposures would help as it looks like the top third is a bit overexposed. The composition is very nice and would be worth trying this again!
Well the smallest advisable aperture would be f/11 as diffraction starts there after but f/16 would be fine and if your sensor is spotless then you could stop down further! Give it a whirl on something closer to home and try it out! I’ve shot the same subject and all apertures on every lens and body I own just so I know what each setting will do for me!
Now the image! Brutal you said…
I like it! I would have perfered to see the castle over too the left slighty taking it off centre! or just cropping about 1/2" of the left of the frame! Just my opinion though! Love the moody feel too it!
Paul - can you expand, or point me towards, the link between diffraction and sensor cleaness?
To explain, the Airy disc is a optical effect to do squeezing light through a small hole (your aperture) producing an interference pattern called the Airy disc - when the diameter of the airy disc's central peak becomes close to the pixel diameter in the camera (or maximum CoC in film), it begins to have a detriment effect on the image sharpness.
I have never seen the combined effect of the dust coverage and the Airy disc be discussed with respect to there combined effect on image quality.
Cheers
T
Posted by Steve Marple on June 11, 2008 at 8:01 AM
For me personally the interest lies with the castle and the background hills with the layers of cloud/mist. but I'm finding that the foreground rock competes with and dominates the castle, both by its relative size and its sharpness. Maybe a longer lens or zooming in would have given the shot I'm looking for. But then, I wasn't there to see other compositions and maybe I'm just missing what you are trying to show.
Would have prefered the Castle to be sharp... certainly looks to be a candidate for multiple exposures...
With the pixel pitch of a 20D you should be good to around f13 or so, there are no hard and fast rules here, btw the 5D allows you to stop down the most of the current Canon Range which is why we use them for our high macro work....
All the best
Posted by Andy Astbury on June 11, 2008 at 9:48 AM
I think the FG looks good enough for the image to stand up Pete - though STANDING UP would be good - you need to borrow my glasses as the water line is running up to the left, but the whole image is also leaning left.
Open the jpeg in CS and drop a grid on it -
Posted by Elliott Neep on June 11, 2008 at 9:54 AM
OK, landscapes are definitely not my strong point so maybe I am ill-qualified to comment, but I think it maybe just the weather that makes this a 'miss' for me. Maybe cooling the white balance, so it is more blue and moody, therefore enhancing rather than trying to counter the cool weather. The castle really needs to be sharp too using an f/22 or more.
This is the first time I have ever done this so apologies if it offends. I just want to illustrate the point about cooling images rather than warming them. I have used a cooling photo-filter layer and a grad layer in CS2
Nice rock and seaweed....shame about the castle. I'm no landscaper myself Pete so not really qualified to critique too much but if I had been there in that weather I would probably have binned my images as a dissapointment. However Elliots re post certainly shows that binning them in this digital age would have been a mistake. I am no fan of computers and spend as little time as possible on an image once out of the camera but I can see the benefits.
Even so, for this image to work for me I would like to se the Castle sharp as well.
Good placement of castle and strong foreground, but you have lost critical focus at infinity, so the castle is just out of focus in your attempt to get a sharp boulder.
The light is not particularly flattering, but Scotland is know for its dull gloomy weather.
I don't understand some of the stuff been said on this one but I personally would like to see the Castle out of line with the rock. To the left maybe.
Nice feel to this though.
JohnR
Not a a bad image at all, a good candidate for taking several images at different focus distances and stacking them, i.e 3 shots with focus on the foreground on one, midground on the second and the third one on the castle. This would avoid the loss of sharpness due to diffraction caused by small apertures, diffraction is an isssue not just with small sensors, but also with higher pixel counts too, so sensors of the same size but different Mp will show different diffraction problems.
A whole load of info on diffraction here.
http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/does.pixel.size.matter/#Diffraction
I think the composition works well and has lots of potential but would agree that the light isn't the most flattering for the scene, although Elliott's version has coaxed a little more out of the flat lighting.
Love the foreground interest but would also agree that the castle would benefit from being a little sharper.
Discussion
15 repliesTripod, mirror locked up
Curves, USM, Resize then another round of USM.
Ok, probably the most photographed castle in Scotland! I was on my way to South Uist back in November, and couldn't resist stopping for a quick photo. Because of this (taken at noon), the light's quite flat and un-interesting, although I like the way the seaweed colours are echoed in the heather-clad hills.
If I were to take this again, I would take two images, one focussed on the fg rock, and the other on the castle, then merge them together in PS.
Brutally honest critique welcome!!!
Can anyone tell me the smallest advisable aperture for a APS sensor-sized camera?
Thanks!
Des
Adam
Well the smallest advisable aperture would be f/11 as diffraction starts there after but f/16 would be fine and if your sensor is spotless then you could stop down further! Give it a whirl on something closer to home and try it out! I’ve shot the same subject and all apertures on every lens and body I own just so I know what each setting will do for me!
Now the image! Brutal you said…
I like it! I would have perfered to see the castle over too the left slighty taking it off centre! or just cropping about 1/2" of the left of the frame! Just my opinion though! Love the moody feel too it!
To explain, the Airy disc is a optical effect to do squeezing light through a small hole (your aperture) producing an interference pattern called the Airy disc - when the diameter of the airy disc's central peak becomes close to the pixel diameter in the camera (or maximum CoC in film), it begins to have a detriment effect on the image sharpness.
I have never seen the combined effect of the dust coverage and the Airy disc be discussed with respect to there combined effect on image quality.
Cheers
T
Would have prefered the Castle to be sharp... certainly looks to be a candidate for multiple exposures...
With the pixel pitch of a 20D you should be good to around f13 or so, there are no hard and fast rules here, btw the 5D allows you to stop down the most of the current Canon Range which is why we use them for our high macro work....
All the best
Open the jpeg in CS and drop a grid on it -
This is the first time I have ever done this so apologies if it offends. I just want to illustrate the point about cooling images rather than warming them. I have used a cooling photo-filter layer and a grad layer in CS2
Even so, for this image to work for me I would like to se the Castle sharp as well.
Does appear to have a bland feel, and the light does take the gloss off the shot for me.
Can't offer any advice unfortunately
Alan
The light is not particularly flattering, but Scotland is know for its dull gloomy weather.
Nice feel to this though.
JohnR
A whole load of info on diffraction here.
http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/does.pixel.size.matter/#Diffraction
I think the composition works well and has lots of potential but would agree that the light isn't the most flattering for the scene, although Elliott's version has coaxed a little more out of the flat lighting.
Love the foreground interest but would also agree that the castle would benefit from being a little sharper.