Posted by Jan Harrison on October 27, 2009 at 9:00 PM
I am from Russellville, and made the short drive to Petit Jean on Saturday and Sunday. Tom Kennon introduced himself to me at Cedar Falls just about daylight. I was surprised I had someone ahead of me. I was also amazed he had used a headlamp to traverse the trail down the canyon. Anyway, I would appreciate assistance with my photography. I am rather new to this, and I need constructive comments. I am going to start with a photo I took Sunday morning around 10:30 at Davies Bridge. I was waiting for my daughter to arrive from LR for a hike on Seven Hollows Trail. I shot this with my 5D, 17-40, and CPL. It was under exposed in RAW, but PP'd, cropped and converted to JPEG in Elements 7. Please let me know what I should have done different.
Posted by Tom Kennon on October 27, 2009 at 9:28 PM
Welcome, Jan, Davies Bridge is a great spot. Cropping the blown out sky and maybe reducing the sharpening would help keep the attention on the bridge and the waterfall. It looks like you handled that area of the photo well.
I enjoyed meeting and talking to you Saturday morning. I look forward to more of your posts.
Welcome. Not a bad first shot. I also shot this Sunday morning around 8. There are two things that stand out to me. I would probably crop out the sky at the very top. It is a little bright, to me anyway. The other is that the image doesn't look level. Bryan Simpson and I talked about how this bridge can be tricky. It looks like you got the top of the bridge nice and level but the waterfall looks tilted clockwise. This bridge actually runs downhill from right to left which can throw people off. Again welcome to the forum and I look forward to more.
Posted by Mike Hall on October 27, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Welcome aboard! I've been criticized for the bridge being unlevel and I had to explain that the bridge has a slope to it. You had the same issue we all had Sunday. THE SUN!!! Sunday morning had great light up until about the time you took this shot. We stopped shooting around 10:00am or before. My wife and I were at Lake Bailey working on reflections around 8:00am until the sun came out. I look forward to more images from you!
Posted by Karla Hall on October 27, 2009 at 9:55 PM
Welcome to the forum Jan! I guess I missed running in to you up there! A nice first post. I'm with Matt on the crop. The bridge is tricky, as it does run downhill. I would try a recrop using the waterfall as a guide. This is one of those classic shots that we have all done probably at one time or another. Nice bit of color in the oak leaves. Great to have you on board!
One thing I use as a guide is the bottom part of the arch where it straightens out before it hits the water. It should go straight up and down.
Posted by Bryan Simpson on October 27, 2009 at 10:52 PM
Welcome Jan! You should've come up to the camp and gotten acquainted. Of course, looking at Mike's group shots, you might have been smart just to avoid such a motley crew (Karla and Dottie excepted).
You've captured a beautiful scene, but as others have noted, the blown out highlights in the sky and the reflection in the front left detract from the shot. I agree with Tom as well about the sharpening; the bush on the right bank looks oversharpened.
You said that the RAW is underexposed. As shot, is the histogram completely flush on the right side? If not, you should be able to bring the sky back in PP.
You've got the hard part down (the eye); the technical aspects we're all still learning.
I look forward to seeing more of your work.
Posted by Wayne Rhodus on October 28, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Welcome to CSNP Jan, great to have you posting here.
This is a lovely composition and for the most part you have handled the exposure well in tough lighting conditions. To overcome the wide contrast of this scene during capture here is one way you may have approached it.
Without recomposing make two images, one exposed for the highlights and one exposed for the shadows and then blend them in computer to overcome the limitation of the sensor's exposure range in a single image.
There are other ways to overcome this challenge but this is one way to easily expand your exposure range in the field without filters.
Very nice shot, I'm looking forward to seeing many more from you!
Posted by John Moore on October 28, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Welcome Jan, I look forward to seeing more of your work. This is a nice image. The sky doesn't bother me, but the blown area at the bottom does.
Very nice, Jan! What a great area this is and with all the rainfall its full beauty can be appreciated. Nice capture.
I agree with the others about a slight crop from both top and bottom to remove much of the overexposed areas, but as is it is still a wonderful shot.
Welcome to the group!
Dave Hatfield
Posted by Rod Kissinger on October 28, 2009 at 8:09 PM
Jan,
Welcome to the crew. I agree with Wayne, bracketing this image to start with and then create an HDR would solve some of the problem of the blown out sky and fore ground area.
Nice shot. Looking forward to many more.
Rod
Posted by Bill Dark on October 28, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Welcome, Jan! Not much I can add that hasn't already been mentioned. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.
Posted by Jan Harrison on October 28, 2009 at 9:58 PM
I appreciate the advice. I have not tried blending or HDR yet, but will soon. I have made the suggested changes. I have more rookie pics to come, so be advised . . . . . . Thanks again for your help.
Posted by Bill Dark on October 28, 2009 at 10:09 PM
Perfect!
Posted by David Hatfield on October 28, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Discussion
14 repliesI enjoyed meeting and talking to you Saturday morning. I look forward to more of your posts.
You've captured a beautiful scene, but as others have noted, the blown out highlights in the sky and the reflection in the front left detract from the shot. I agree with Tom as well about the sharpening; the bush on the right bank looks oversharpened.
You said that the RAW is underexposed. As shot, is the histogram completely flush on the right side? If not, you should be able to bring the sky back in PP.
You've got the hard part down (the eye); the technical aspects we're all still learning.
I look forward to seeing more of your work.
This is a lovely composition and for the most part you have handled the exposure well in tough lighting conditions. To overcome the wide contrast of this scene during capture here is one way you may have approached it.
Without recomposing make two images, one exposed for the highlights and one exposed for the shadows and then blend them in computer to overcome the limitation of the sensor's exposure range in a single image.
There are other ways to overcome this challenge but this is one way to easily expand your exposure range in the field without filters.
Very nice shot, I'm looking forward to seeing many more from you!
I agree with the others about a slight crop from both top and bottom to remove much of the overexposed areas, but as is it is still a wonderful shot.
Welcome to the group!
Dave Hatfield
Welcome to the crew. I agree with Wayne, bracketing this image to start with and then create an HDR would solve some of the problem of the blown out sky and fore ground area.
Nice shot. Looking forward to many more.
Rod
Repost is very nice!
Dave H.