Posted by Arne Myrabo on September 1, 2009 at 4:02 PM
These really didn't turn out like I wanted, as I really wanted to highlight the mist rising. What's wrong?
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=365 – Brought too long a lens - also overexposed IMO. I do like the look of the lake being on fire; should probably have taken this one vertically.
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=366 – The other side of the lake. Too long a lens (should have brought the 14-45 too!)
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=367 – Too long a lens – kind of blah, not much to it
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=368 – This is the best of the bunch, IMO.
What would you recommend?
Arne
Posted by Benjamin Olson on September 1, 2009 at 4:53 PM
I personally like the second image the best, it's very simplistic, I like it. It's unfortunate it was cloudless, but thats out of your control! My only suggestion would be to either crop out or clone out the floating branches in the FG. OR you could try cropping it to a pano.
The thing I didn't like about the first and last shot was the sun, it was so bright and I found it distracting, my eye went directly too it. You could've brackets the shots and blended in the sun so it wasn't so bright, or shot at f/16 or f/22 to get a sunburst.
The third image is nice too, I wish there was more detail in the shadows though.
The only thing that would've made the images stronger was a nice sky, or finding something to put emphasis on, like isolating a tree in the mist with a telephoto or putting something in the foreground. When I don't have dramatic skies I always look for more intimate compositions that don't include the sky.
A few issues back in Outdoor Photographer there was an article on photographing the midwest, it basically said that midwest photographers more likely than not have to shoot isolated compositions or more intimate compositions because we don't have a lot of epic wide scenes with mountains, etc. I thought this article was spot on in most cases and I think it's a good read, you should look into it.
I hope this helps.
Truly,
Ben
Posted by Philip Schwarz on September 2, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I think you picked a difficult subject. I’ve taken quite a few photos with the steam rising but in many cases the image doesn’t/t do the scene justice. In this case you would need dramatically different lighting conditions. I would think a shot just around sunrise might be good. I have a small spring that gives off great steam when the temperature is well below zero but had a difficult time capturing the mood. I finally used an ND, Polarizing and warming filter which allowed me to capture it.
Posted by Arne Myrabo on September 2, 2009 at 4:02 PM
Unfortunately, I think the topic picked me! I tried again this morning, with a better result (IMO). http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=396
There were some layered clouds before dawn, but gone by sunrise. We're stuck in a cloudless weather pattern. A light morning breeze blew the mist away rapidly, so it wasn't as dramatic as the other day. We'll have colors in the trees shortly, at the rate it's going (which will help).
Thanks for the tips, let me know if I incorporated your suggestions.
Arne
Posted by Benjamin Olson on September 2, 2009 at 4:07 PM
I think this is much nicer than your last batch, the sun start helps a lot, Nice work!
Discussion
4 replieshttp://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=365 – Brought too long a lens - also overexposed IMO. I do like the look of the lake being on fire; should probably have taken this one vertically.
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=366 – The other side of the lake. Too long a lens (should have brought the 14-45 too!)
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=367 – Too long a lens – kind of blah, not much to it
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=368 – This is the best of the bunch, IMO.
What would you recommend?
Arne
The thing I didn't like about the first and last shot was the sun, it was so bright and I found it distracting, my eye went directly too it. You could've brackets the shots and blended in the sun so it wasn't so bright, or shot at f/16 or f/22 to get a sunburst.
The third image is nice too, I wish there was more detail in the shadows though.
The only thing that would've made the images stronger was a nice sky, or finding something to put emphasis on, like isolating a tree in the mist with a telephoto or putting something in the foreground. When I don't have dramatic skies I always look for more intimate compositions that don't include the sky.
A few issues back in Outdoor Photographer there was an article on photographing the midwest, it basically said that midwest photographers more likely than not have to shoot isolated compositions or more intimate compositions because we don't have a lot of epic wide scenes with mountains, etc. I thought this article was spot on in most cases and I think it's a good read, you should look into it.
I hope this helps.
Truly,
Ben
http://myrabo.com/4images/details.php?image_id=396
There were some layered clouds before dawn, but gone by sunrise. We're stuck in a cloudless weather pattern. A light morning breeze blew the mist away rapidly, so it wasn't as dramatic as the other day. We'll have colors in the trees shortly, at the rate it's going (which will help).
Thanks for the tips, let me know if I incorporated your suggestions.
Arne