I posted this a while back in ESS Forum, but thought I'd post it here to see what you all think!
I spent 5 days up along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior this past fall shooting fall colors along with a few sunrises and I happened to come home with this shot.
It was extremely windy the morning I shot this, and the sun had rose already (it was hidden behind the clouds) and I wanted to try something a little different. So I used a 4-stop ND filter so I could get the long exposure required to blur out the clouds and I also used two 3-stop GND filters to keep the sky from over exposing.
5D, 17-40mm, cable release, GND and ND filters
28mm - 2 minute exposure - at f/22 - ISO 50
I appreciate all comments! Thanks!
Ben
Posted by Darren Huski on January 31, 2009 at 7:21 AM
I like the image. You really got the sky and the water right. I think the you may have needed more grad filter than the 3 stop though. I'd like to see a bit more into the foreground. But that is a small nit.
Glad you were there, I probably would have just sat there drank a cup a tea and watched this go by without even recording it. I'm sure it would have looked different without the land on the right but I think that is what made it a cove. Love the color. Thanks for posting here I don't frequent the galleries much and would have missed this.
Posted by Ken Hupila on January 31, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Wonderful shot! Serene and almost unearthly.
Posted by Toni Lankerd on January 31, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Posted by Brian Vance on January 31, 2009 at 2:57 PM
Lovely capture, Ben. I like the light coming off the rocks, the blurred water and clouds and the color palette. Can you share more about what type and size filters you used here (my guess would be 4x6 singh or lee)? Even though you have stacked filters on a WA FF capture, I don't see any darkening around the edges or any other artifacts. Did you do any PP that removed any, or did the filters perform well in the field? Thanks in advance!
They are all 4x6" Singh Ray filters; I also forgot that my filter holder has a 105mm front filter mount on it and I had a B&W Kaeseman polarizer on there just to help darken a little more. My ND was 4-stops and my GNDs were 3-stops and I used two of those.
I did very little processing on this image, this is what it pretty much looked like out of the camera. I did not correct for vingettes nor did I have to do any touching up (besides a few dust spots that were on the sensor). I was a little worried about losing quality having stacked four filters in front of the lens, but it is tack sharp! Also, the lens is zoomed to 28mm so I don't have to worry about vingettes, it doesn't seem to be an issue at that focal length. 28mm was as wide as I could've shot given all of the filters, otherwise the edges of the filters started to show in the image.
This image is actually one of the top finalists in Outdoor Photographers Nature's Colors contest. About two weeks ago I got an email from Warner Publishing asking for a high resolution file of this image. Hopefully I will hear something back on the status of the contest within the next couple of weeks!
I hope this answers your questions!
Thank you all for your comments and critiques,
Ben
Posted by Brian Vance on January 31, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Thanks for the response, Ben. I appreciate your elaborating on the filters, but more than that, CONGRATS on the OP contest! Well done and Yoo Hoo!!
It is comforting to me to know that you can stack quality glass filters on a quality camera/lens combo and get award-winning results from the capture alone, and not have to degrade the image incrementally with PP. Thanks again for sharing the story behind this lovely image.
Posted by Bernie Kasper on January 31, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Beautiful work Benjamin, the color is amazing in this, very creative with the stacking job as well !!
Beautiful shot. Very creative use of filters. Gives me something to think about. I've dirven past this location many times and it wasn't until this fall that I stopped. It's a great photography location.
This is probably the most striking shot in your portfolio. I think it works perfectly as-is. Excellent composition and exposure control. Very pleasing and effective image.
Discussion
11 repliesI spent 5 days up along Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior this past fall shooting fall colors along with a few sunrises and I happened to come home with this shot.
It was extremely windy the morning I shot this, and the sun had rose already (it was hidden behind the clouds) and I wanted to try something a little different. So I used a 4-stop ND filter so I could get the long exposure required to blur out the clouds and I also used two 3-stop GND filters to keep the sky from over exposing.
5D, 17-40mm, cable release, GND and ND filters
28mm - 2 minute exposure - at f/22 - ISO 50
I appreciate all comments! Thanks!
Ben
Good job!
They are all 4x6" Singh Ray filters; I also forgot that my filter holder has a 105mm front filter mount on it and I had a B&W Kaeseman polarizer on there just to help darken a little more. My ND was 4-stops and my GNDs were 3-stops and I used two of those.
I did very little processing on this image, this is what it pretty much looked like out of the camera. I did not correct for vingettes nor did I have to do any touching up (besides a few dust spots that were on the sensor). I was a little worried about losing quality having stacked four filters in front of the lens, but it is tack sharp! Also, the lens is zoomed to 28mm so I don't have to worry about vingettes, it doesn't seem to be an issue at that focal length. 28mm was as wide as I could've shot given all of the filters, otherwise the edges of the filters started to show in the image.
This image is actually one of the top finalists in Outdoor Photographers Nature's Colors contest. About two weeks ago I got an email from Warner Publishing asking for a high resolution file of this image. Hopefully I will hear something back on the status of the contest within the next couple of weeks!
I hope this answers your questions!
Thank you all for your comments and critiques,
Ben
It is comforting to me to know that you can stack quality glass filters on a quality camera/lens combo and get award-winning results from the capture alone, and not have to degrade the image incrementally with PP. Thanks again for sharing the story behind this lovely image.