I've been working all day on these ice shots. Many of them are just plain “strange” to look at, due to the abstract nature. A huge component in the super contrasty look was the sun reflection off the rippled ice.
All in all the following images didn't need too much processing once I figured out an efficient workflow. That darn workflow sucked up most of my day. Once I pinpointed my WB, and selected a Selective Color workflow, these images seemed to come alive.
Here's the details.
I used a 45mm tilt shift for all.
Four of the 8 are stitched panos 2, 4, 7, & 8.
The primary use of selective color was to darken my blacks.
2, 4, and 8 were Image Rotated from the native vertical or horizontal format.
#1 is a Black & White experiment.
Only #2 is a blend. The surface snow was over exposed in the originals. I blended the well exposed snow of an underexposed image into the main image.
Nice shots Kane. I would have met up with you for the hike but my snowboard was calling my name. When I looked at your gallery, my eyes instantly went to #2, really like the pattern in that one. 3 and 6 are cool too. I don't like clowns, so number 5 is out.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on January 15, 2012 at 9:18 PM
#5 Evil Clown!!!, definitely my favorite. Followed by #3 then #4. The rocks and reflections on the others minimize their impact just a bit for me. Nice, and unique, ice shots from Dream Lake Kane.
Posted by Art Escobado on January 15, 2012 at 9:45 PM
2nd the evil clown shot in color !!
Posted by Kurt Bowman on January 15, 2012 at 9:56 PM
Kane, it was VERY hard to select my favorite 5. I am leaning towards 3,4,5,6 & 7. All are excellent though. The only one I was sure about not having in the top five for my taste was the B&W. The blue color is so vivid and makes these abstracts almost surreal.....the B&W unfortunately doesn't seem to have that same impact for me. Excellent stuff though!
Posted by Jack Brauer on January 16, 2012 at 2:11 AM
Very cool! (No pun intended... ) I like the ones in the top row the best (2,3,4). How do you like the 45mm t/s?
Posted by Paul Wegemann on January 16, 2012 at 12:29 PM
You've got some really nice work here, Kane, and your processing is stellar. I won't attempt to pick a favorite, but 2, 5, and 6 really stand out for me. I'd love to see a few of these printed large. I passed Dream Lake on my hike yesterday and was wondering where the good ice was. Most of the lake looked opaque and white. How do you like that 45 TSE?
Posted by Stan Rose on January 16, 2012 at 2:19 PM
Nice set, Kane, glad you found some good ice! Ill go with 3,5,6
6 is my fav, it's got a lot of subtlety and looks least like the usual Dream Ice fare.
oh 1 & 7 are missing, so ill have to revise when you get them back
Nice stuff, Kane! Though I see the appeal of the Evil Clown, my pick of the bunch would be #6 for the comp and the warm reflections.
Posted by Ryan Wright on January 16, 2012 at 7:48 PM
Yep, Evil Clown it is! That's a fantastic shot!
Posted by Doug Koepsel on January 16, 2012 at 8:29 PM
#2 is my favorite of this set as it has a good focal point to my eye . Of all, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 are the top five, imo
Posted by Debbie Yarra on January 16, 2012 at 8:31 PM
Kane I really like these, especially 3, 4 and 8! I love the blue and against the deep black...like being in a fantasy ice cave in the snow! I alos looked at your other ice images on your site. Really cool stuff. Love the jelly fish! Blessings, Deb
Posted by Jack Garrett on January 16, 2012 at 8:42 PM
Thanks for the input.. I'm going with 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. Doug's List! I'm very happy with 2 and 8. Number 8 was my dark-horse, the way the ice bubbles just explode outward in all directions from the apex of the Ice fracture. Just pure luck. There's something just too funky about #6 that makes me struggle to figure it out. I was there, and I still have trouble understating what the hell I was shooting. Maybe that's the beauty of it but there's just not enough symmetry; it's just too nervous.
The Evil Clown shot is just downright weird. I didn't shoot that shot thinking "Evil Clown." It just showed up. Going forward I can't look at the image without getting creeped-out. I've shown it to a few family members and they immediately turned their head and never wanted to look at the image again.
Paul W, I can't wait to blow up a few of these images, they are spectacular huge. Most of the dark shadows, when blown-up show tree reflections!
As for the 45mm TSE, yea, it's a nice lens. It's not on the same level with the 24mm TSE for mechanical build but it's sharp. At least my copy is sharp. I tend to compare Canon lenses to the Holy Trinity of lenses from my Nikon days, the Nikon 14-24, 24-70 2.8, and the 70-200 2.8 vr II. The 24mm easily falls into that Nikon range. The 45 falls into the Nikon 24-70mm range, which is fantastic but not the best. BTW, my 70-200 f4 is easily the sharpest lens I own.
Well, I must be the odd man out (alongside Stan?), because I like #6 the best. I like the additional fillets of light on some of the ridges, and there's a mixed sense of motion and balance that I like better than the one you're now calling "rapture".
Discussion
14 replieshttp://www.kaephotography.com/gallery/dream/
I've been working all day on these ice shots. Many of them are just plain “strange” to look at, due to the abstract nature. A huge component in the super contrasty look was the sun reflection off the rippled ice.
All in all the following images didn't need too much processing once I figured out an efficient workflow. That darn workflow sucked up most of my day. Once I pinpointed my WB, and selected a Selective Color workflow, these images seemed to come alive.
Here's the details.
I used a 45mm tilt shift for all.
Four of the 8 are stitched panos 2, 4, 7, & 8.
The primary use of selective color was to darken my blacks.
2, 4, and 8 were Image Rotated from the native vertical or horizontal format.
#1 is a Black & White experiment.
Only #2 is a blend. The surface snow was over exposed in the originals. I blended the well exposed snow of an underexposed image into the main image.
Thank You
6 is my fav, it's got a lot of subtlety and looks least like the usual Dream Ice fare.
oh 1 & 7 are missing, so ill have to revise when you get them back
The Evil Clown shot is just downright weird. I didn't shoot that shot thinking "Evil Clown." It just showed up. Going forward I can't look at the image without getting creeped-out. I've shown it to a few family members and they immediately turned their head and never wanted to look at the image again.
Paul W, I can't wait to blow up a few of these images, they are spectacular huge. Most of the dark shadows, when blown-up show tree reflections!
As for the 45mm TSE, yea, it's a nice lens. It's not on the same level with the 24mm TSE for mechanical build but it's sharp. At least my copy is sharp. I tend to compare Canon lenses to the Holy Trinity of lenses from my Nikon days, the Nikon 14-24, 24-70 2.8, and the 70-200 2.8 vr II. The 24mm easily falls into that Nikon range. The 45 falls into the Nikon 24-70mm range, which is fantastic but not the best. BTW, my 70-200 f4 is easily the sharpest lens I own.