Official Photography Thread

[swampfrog]

I need help if you've got it. I will be on the Bonneville Salt flats tomorrow. Unfortunately at sunset because I have other plans at sunrise. I want to take some ethereal photos, but so far I have had no luck. I will be taking my Nikon D40 and my Nikon D300 and my good fisheye lens (Nikon 16mm f2.8). Last time I took pictures there, they weren't very good. Kind of like this photo (which I didn't take and may be copyrighted):
[ATTACH]8116[/ATTACH]

I want to take something pictures more like these: (not taken by me)

The photo looks backlit but I am mystified how.


I think especially the second one is doable at sunset. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

The second one is highly processed. Light is from upper left center (note the shadow on the water). Sky and hair highlights is overexposed/blown so that the processing to lighten the kids skin isn't too noisy. Total contrast is reduced. Blacks/shadows brought way up. Reverse vignette or possibly 2 separate gradients pulled in from the side.

The 3rd would be much better if those silly people hadn't photobombed it. Can't they see that someone is trying to make a nice picture?

Do you have an external flash? That third one is almost certainly taken with some flash fill. Probably 2 to 3 stops below metered exposure.

You almost can't tell this is flashed. Light from upper right (see shadows).


I don't do a lot of portraits, but I did find this brief set up instructions that expanded my view of what can be done with portraits.
https://www.reddit.com/r/postprocess...t_this_effect/

Also some tutorials here:
https://jessicadrossin.com/

[tooblue]

I need help if you've got it. I will be on the Bonneville Salt flats tomorrow. Unfortunately at sunset because I have other plans at sunrise. I want to take some ethereal photos, but so far I have had no luck. I will be taking my Nikon D40 and my Nikon D300 and my good fisheye lens (Nikon 16mm f2.8). Last time I took pictures there, they weren't very good. Kind of like this photo (which I didn't take and may be copyrighted):
[ATTACH]8116[/ATTACH]

I want to take something pictures more like these: (not taken by me)

The photo looks backlit but I am mystified how.


I think especially the second one is doable at sunset. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I work with a lot of really good photographers, so I will take a stab:

On top of being really good photographs to start with, there is post editing going on with second photo in particular. Lebowski is right: Photoshop! I would imagine each were carefully edited in RAW. There's a series of tutorials on the Web that show how to do it well. I just can't remember the best ones, but I'll ask a colleague to remind me of them next week, and come back here to link to them.

I would guess the second one potentially involves a directional defused flash, so as to preserve the details in the shadows and mid tones of the couple without polluting the natural light from the sunset ... kinda like the image below, but not as drastic, in terms of set up etc:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...y-lighting.jpg

The sunset is definitely edited in RAW, similarly to how I edited the sunset in my image. Avoid digitally increasing the exposure at all cost—get it right at the point of shot. Instead play with Shadows, Whites, Blacks, Clarity, Vibrance and Saturation in the RAW settings.

Don't discount the possibility that the first image is backlit ... a tripod holding a light could be positioned behind the girl in the middle with her legs obscuring it. Though, I think it's the sun in late afternoon, and again there is a lot of post editing going on.

[creekster]

I need help if you've got it. I will be on the Bonneville Salt flats tomorrow. Unfortunately at sunset because I have other plans at sunrise. I want to take some ethereal photos, but so far I have had no luck. I will be taking my Nikon D40 and my Nikon D300 and my good fisheye lens (Nikon 16mm f2.8). Last time I took pictures there, they weren't very good. Kind of like this photo (which I didn't take and may be copyrighted):
[ATTACH]8116[/ATTACH]

I want to take something pictures more like these: (not taken by me)

The photo looks backlit but I am mystified how.


I think especially the second one is doable at sunset. Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

My guess on the one you think is backlit that it is really mostly downlit, if you will, with a flash fill.

[tooblue]

The photo looks backlit but I am mystified how..

I've been on a number of professional shoots. One of the girls, on the right or the left, could be holding a light.

[tooblue]

My guess on the one you think is backlit that it is really mostly downlit, if you will, with a flash fill.

Could have an assistant holding a boom and a defused flash on the end of it ... like how we don't see the microphones hanging above actors.

Edit: I don't think so ... too much work. There has to be a simpler answer.

[tooblue]

There are things I like about the HDR toning, and some I don't, but it's completely a preference thing. Having played with a lot of post-processing techniques (master of none), I'm a fan of blatant artistic license to treat the original as a starting point. I like what it did in the middle third of the photo, including the fence post. The bottom third with the flowers is just a bit too light for me and I don't care for the blue in the sky, I liked the purple better.

Was the vignette from the original capture, or was it added in post?

For composition, I'd get rid of the vignette (if possible), cut about 1/9th of the top off, and take 1/6 or so off on the right.

Something like this (some minor adjustments made to the original with Google Photos):

Vignette from the original capture. I like your cropping, I just tend to like a Wes Anderson symmetry aesthetic, especially when I take photos:

[swampfrog]

Vignette from the original capture. I like your cropping, I just tend to like a Wes Anderson symmetry aesthetic, especially when I take photos:

Thanks for the link. I need to revisit that concept, it seems most of the scenes use actual symmetry, color schemes, and finally artistic symmetry all working together. Much harder to control in a landscape, though carefully considering one's vantage point should help immensely. When I first looked at your picture, it was fence post center, flowers on the right, sun on the right, barbed wire fence and post on the right. Felt unbalanced, so giving it more space on the left of the post and putting the flowers in the corner helped balance it for my eye--though it still feels right heavy to me. Which is what makes art fun.

[Katy Lied]

I noticed that as well- the post in the center of the picture. I would have framed it to the side- just like Swamp did in his crop.

thanks for the advice on the Salt Flats picture.

[swampfrog]

Here's a bunch of different views of Haystack Rock and surroundings in Cannon Beach, OR. All of these are wide angle with the Canon EFS 10-18mm STM lens. It responds very, very well to post processing, especially sharpening. There were a million different options for background, foreground, light direction, etc. Moved around quite a bit for different perspectives. Landscapes like this just seem right with added processing contrast.

I'm planning on printing one or two of these to hang on the wall and am having a very difficult time selecting from all of the options including previous posts.

Highly stylized:


Reflection:


Pointing to nothing:


Reflection in a curve:


More reflection:


Sunlit reflection:


One of my favorites, love the symmetry of the clouds to the rocks:


Clean look, removed about a dozen people in Photoshop:

[falafel]

My favorites are the first one (highly stylized) and the last two. If you are printing any, I would limit it to those 3 choices.

[swampfrog]

My favorites are the first one (highly stylized) and the last two. If you are printing any, I would limit it to those 3 choices.

The second to last is on my shortlist, I think I want to print at least one 20 x 30 or 16 x 24, another one will likely by 12 x 18, or possibly 8 x 12. I was looking for one that features Haystack Rock for sure, there are several I posted earlier that are also in contention. I've been printing 4 x 6's at home to narrow it down. I'll probably ship my favorite half dozen to Costco to be printed 8 x 12 (which are $1.80 each) and then make a final selection from those for larger prints. I can't decide whether the stylized one would make a good large print or not. Thanks for the input. My Facebook album from this trip is approaching 200 images...and I still have almost 2 more full days to process.

[tooblue]

The second to last is on my shortlist, I think I want to print at least one 20 x 30 or 16 x 24, another one will likely by 12 x 18, or possibly 8 x 12. I was looking for one that features Haystack Rock for sure, there are several I posted earlier that are also in contention. I've been printing 4 x 6's at home to narrow it down. I'll probably ship my favorite half dozen to Costco to be printed 8 x 12 (which are $1.80 each) and then make a final selection from those for larger prints. I can't decide whether the stylized one would make a good large print or not. Thanks for the input. My Facebook album from this trip is approaching 200 images...and I still have almost 2 more full days to process.

I like the third to last image, but love the last image for the implied lines and eye movement in it. I'd hang it on my wall.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Last night of my annual Lake Powell trip with the in-laws.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swampfrog]

Last night of my annual Lake Powell trip with the in-laws.

That is lovely.

[swampfrog]

I like the third to last image, but love the last image for the implied lines and eye movement in it. I'd hang it on my wall.

Any opinions on taking the time to remove the footprints in the sand? Can't decide if the add or detract.