Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Nikon D3x

King of the Hill – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Abstracts, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Arizona, Black and White, Desert, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Circle, Hoodoo, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique 2 Responses »

Dec 092011

King of the Hill, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This is an image I have affectionately named “King of the Hill”. It is a rather large pedestal of Navajo Sandstone perched on top of layer upon layer of serrated and swirling stone. To be honest this was a disappointing day. I was scheduled to make a trip into Canyon X but a massive front several states away brought clouds and flat, contrasty light. Not exactly the kind of conditions suitable for slot canyon photography. So with the Canyon X trip cancelled, and determined to shoot something, I wondered out into some slick rock areas near Glen Canyon. I do not like to shoot in desperation as it usually leads to uninspiring images and frustration. But here I was anyway. At the very least this would be a scouting trip for a future trip. I wandered for hours up, down, and through an amazing landscape of sharp-edged stone. They were like giant red layer cakes rising upward through a series of dimensional swirls culminating in a large rock “cupcake” with a cookie on top. But the light was just horrible – flat, contrasty, and featureless. Light brings form, shape, and definition. With it we can separate the elements of an image and bring it to life.

But even without the light I knew there was a shot here in this garden of stone. In conditions like this black and white can save the day. To begin to see the possibilities I set my cameras display setting to black and white. Immediately the possibilities began to surface. The flat red color and grey sky became more cohesive and interesting in black and white. And with a little Lightroom and Photoshop work I knew I could bring out the drama and detail in the stone. I also had to be a little patient with my subject. At time during the day a hint of form would appear in the featureless grey sky. For this shot I waited almost 45 minutes for a band of clouds to form over this formation. Waiting for just the right moment I was able to not only capture some interest in the sky but to also use this to frame around the sandstone pedestal. All day I played this “cat and mouse” game with vary degrees of success. With this image everything fell in to place and I was able to bring home a winner.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 30 seconds. Even though I had my screen display set to Black and White the RAW captured all the color data. I experimented with the RAW processing to bring out as much color detail so I could make the B+W conversion in Photoshop. For the final however I made the conversion in Lightroom using the Color Mode Sliders. I have found I have a great deal of control with these sliders and can produce an excellent file for final work in Photoshop.

My workflow in Photoshop followed my typical pattern with one exception. I began, as usual, with “digital gardening” on a filter layer to clean up a few dust spots and applying my Smart Sharpen layer to bring up the micro-contrast of the file. The RAW file brought from Lightroom, though solid, still needed some punch. To do this I “Merged Visible” to create a new Image Layer. Note that here that I could also have flattened the file but I almost never do this as I might want to make some adjustment to the Sharpening and I need the Layer Stacks intact for this. With the new Image Layer active I changed the Blending Mode to Soft Light. You could also use Multiply Mode but this usually requires reducing the opacity of the effect. With Soft Light I find I get a nice punch to the file by increasing the density of the pixels. It is a great technique in certain circumstances to add depth to the file. From here it followed my usual Layers including White and Black Point, several Contrast/Curve Adjustments through Luminosity Masks and extensive dodging and burning. Dodging and burning is where I paint with light and manipulate the highlights and shadows to add visual dimension to the file. Using a combination of the Brush Tool and D+B Tools I work light and dark values at low opacities along edges and flat areas to separate tones and emphasize light and shadow.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Bob

Elakala Falls No. 1, Shay’s Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV

Blackwater Falls State Park, Heliopan Filters, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Water, Waterfall Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography 2 Responses »

Nov 202011

Elakala Falls No. 1, Shay's Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. In my last post I presented an image from Elakala Falls No. 2, on Shay’s Run, in the Blackwater Falls State Park. Today I want to start at the beginning with Elakala No. 1. You might ask, as some have already done, why I did not start with this one. I am not sure really. Elakala No. 1 after all is the most iconic of the group of four waterfalls that tumble along Shay’s Run as it travels to meet the Blackwater River. But quite honestly Elakala No. 1 has been shot quite a bit and in truth I became enthralled with Elakala No. 2. It had such a thunderous power that kept me lingering and shooting for a long time.

You can’t argue about the beauty of Elakala No. 1 though. Where No. 2 was a pounding wall of water, No. 1 is a delicate veil of water linked by molecular glue. A study of this image will show a waterfall made up of smaller flows each one with its own series of cascades. The sound here is more symphonic. If you listen carefully, each cascade has its own sound, all part of the whole but with an individual voice. The amphitheater of rock is also quite interesting. It is a jumbled wall almost hand built in appearance, ancient, striated in layers, and painted with rich colorful hues. The walls are reminiscent of hand built farm walls I have seen throughout West Virginia. From above the sound of the waterfall is a rushing noise, a continuous sound of instruments warming up for the concert. Standing in the hall below the sound of water reverberates along the walls replaying the melody, each instrument clearly delineated.

The colors here are an intense, full-bodied, palette of tones. The water is a rich golden brown, affected by the concentration of natural dissolved organic acids such as tannins and lignins, which give the water the look of tea. Shay’s Run flows through a coniferous forest of pine, hemlock, and spruce. The brown needles shed by the trees degrade over time and mix with the run-off of organically rich plant and animal matter to give the water its brown color and a musty smell. The wetness supports vibrant green mosses and lichens. This is a place to delight the senses. Elakala No. 1 is also a place to reflect which is probably another reason why I did not start with this waterfall. Sometimes more powerful images surface to the top while the more sublime take a little longer to reveal their secrets. Slowly over the last few weeks this image has revealed its quiet secrets-the sounds, the smells, and the colors. A complete symphony I think.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 26mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1 second. To slow the down the shutter speed and remove specular highlights I used a Heliopan Warming Polarizer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Elakala Waterfall No. 2 – Shay’s Run, Blackwater Falls State Park, WV

Landscape, Landscape Photography, Moab Masters, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Waterfall Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography, WV 1 Response »

Nov 152011

Elakala Waterfall No. 2, Shay's Run, Blackwaterfalls State Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. For the time being I am going to continue to bring you more of the splendor of my “backyard”. In January I will be heading west to shoot in Death Valley with my buddies Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel which promises to be a non-stop photographic extravaganza. The three amigos, laden with cameras, and bent on destroying our rental vehicle over miles and miles of beautiful desert landscape, promises to be great fun. But until then I am traversing into the West Virginia Highlands to explore the mountains, bogs, and rivers. Oh, and there are quite a few waterfalls which I am discovering for the first time. For many years I have concentrated on the western landscape to the near exclusion of the east coast. And though I do love the red rock country of the Grand Circle I have found a new love in the waterfall. And I am discovering that West Virginia has a whole lot of them.

Today’s image is Elakala Waterfall No. 2 located on Shay’s Run, which drains into the Blackwater River. There are four waterfalls on Shays Run which will give you some idea of the drop the river makes as it feeds into the Blackwater Canyon. Four waterfalls along a stream that runs through lush spruce forest and steep hillsides covered in rhododendrons and mountain laurel. Four waterfalls that cascade over moss and lichen covered boulders the size of small cars. Last week I made a foray to Shay’s Run to shoot the falls. I spent the day shooting Elakala No. 1 and No. 2. I did not have time to explore the other two waterfalls as they require quite a bit of effort to visit. There are no trails and the climb down can be treacherous. It is on my to do list and I promise to report back on this at some point. But in the meantime please enjoy No. 2. Simply a stunning waterfall. On the day I shot this image there was quite a bit of water flow and the sound was thunderous. I think this is one of the aspects that attracts me. Waterfalls delight the senses on many level. You can here their song played out as the water pours over the lip and spreads out over the boulders and pools below. As you move closer to the action the falls literally pulse with vibrations you can feel through the rocks at your feet. You can smell the deep woodland aroma; the pungent odors of lichen and moss bathed in the tannin rich waters. The wetness, lush growth, and cool dark canopies of spruce stand in stark contrast to the deserts I spend time exploring. Here on Shay’s Run I felt I was in a beautiful garden. Walls of massive, jumbled rocks seemed painted by an artist hand in rich hues of magentas, blues, greens, and oranges. Thick carpets of vibrant green moss lay between blue-grey boulders covered in lichen. Every color in nature was present and accounted for. And it was all for me. Not another soul joined me on this day. I think I will be spending more time at home this year. I have been gone far too long and have a little catching up to do.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 2.0 seconds. To allow a longer shutter speed and to remove specular highlights I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Mountain Ash at Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Dolly Sods Wilderness, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Robert H Clark Photography, Split Neutral Density Filters, Twilight Photography, West Virginia, West Virginia Photography, WV No Responses »

Nov 112011

Mountain Ash at Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am slipping out tomorrow for a little day shooting trip up in the West Virginia Highlands. The last few days have been spent setting up my new Epson 3880 printer and the usual other sundry tasks that confront today’s digital photographers. To be quite honest I am suffering from a little cabin fever and there is no better cure, at least for me, than shooting.

Today’s image was shot a few weeks ago in the Dolly Sods Wilderness of West Virginia. As twilight descended upon the scene I cam across this beautiful Mountain Ash clinging for all its life to the rocky soil. At this time of the year the bright red seed heads provide a stunning spark of color to the gray, drab landscape. This is a harsh world along the Allegheny Front. Plants are constantly beaten by winds that dictate their shapes and in what direction they will grow. Torqued and twisted the plants nonetheless remain defiant in the face of such harsh conditions. Humans I do believe would not fare as well living here. The wind alone, relentless and unforgiving, would drive most off the mountain. But there is also a loneliness here that would suck out the life of all but the hardiest of people. I have camped on the mountain when the wind blew. There was no comfort in the sirens song that night. Only a cold and howling tune that would not stop.

But there are times when the wind subsides. Even the wind needs a rest. And on this beautiful fall twilight evening a calm lay across the front allowing one time to enjoy the subtle treasures of the landscape; lichen covered sandstone, mountain ash, huckleberries, cranberries bogs, spruce, and expansive vistas. Twilight light, blue and cool, illuminates the white rocks revealing patterns and textures painted by lichens. The leaves of summer are long gone now replaced by gnarled stems and branches twisted and huddled together. But I know the wind will return and with it a heartless cold. The plants will dig in and brace against the impact. Winter will soon descend upon the mountain covering the land in a deep snow. Another insult, like the wind, that makes life difficult. Spring will come though and with it the thaw that beings new life and growth. This is the way it is at 4000 feet. Spring will come but we will just have to wait.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 20mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. I used a 3-stop Singh-Ray, soft-edge split neutral density filter over the sky to balance out the exposure.

Thnaks for stopping by today.

Bob

Dawn Sky – West Virginia Farmland, Shepherdstown, WV

Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Robert H Clark Photography, Shepherdstown, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise, West Virginia, Wide Angle Photography 2 Responses »

Nov 082011

Dawn Sky No. 1 and West Virginia Farmland. Shot near Shepherdstown, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Over the last few weeks we have had some incredible “cloud events” here in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I am fortunate to have a beautiful drive to my office. It winds through rural land plowed and planted with corn, winter wheat, soybeans, and other crops. On many mornings a misty fog settles into the low spots obscuring the landscape like a veil. From the high points in the road I can see the mountains of Loudoun Heights, and farther still, the water gap at Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah and Potomac join together.

On these crisp, fall mornings, the air is razor clear. The cool mornings coupled with the fog bring a hard rime that coats the land with a white ice. Everything seems crisp and clean; sharp with the expectations of a new day. With my morning coffee I breath in the day, gazing upward to see what treasures the sky holds. Most days are clear with maybe a passing wisp of cirrus clouds. Nothing spectacular really. Just another beautiful day in the panhandle. On this day if was different. Off to the east the first rays from the sun were just peeking over the horizon. The clouds hung low moving slowly on high winds. I just thought it was going to be special. On these days I always have the camera pack ready; batteries charged, cards loaded, camera settings dialed in. And don’t forget the tripod. I hit the road to my favorite cornfield. I arrived as the eastern light came alive. The clouds were slung low along the horizon, rising upwards, soft like flowing silk on the wind. The light hit bringing color and form to the sky. Everywhere I looked the clouds expanded over me like a shifting aurora of pulsing mist.

The corn, freshly cut, stood at attention; the long, even rows of cut stalks marching into the horizon. Overhead the clouds continued to morph into continuously changing organic shapes. It was like an unseen artist created pastel paintings and hung them in the sky. I barely changed camera positions opting instead to simply rotate the camera or switch from horizontal to vertical orientations as I composed on the fly. On this day it was all about the sky. I kept the fields low in the composition to expand the idea of the sky and how it dwarfs the landscape. The show proceeded from Act to Act with a final bow as dawn color faded bringing the high contrast light of the new day.

Dawn Sky No. 2 and West Virginia Farmland near Shepherdstown, WV.

Technical Information: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. Dawn Sky No. 1 was shot in one exposure at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. I used a Singh-Ray, 3-stop, hard edge split neutral density filter to balance out the exposure. Dawn Sky No. 2 was shot in three exposures and blended in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Potoma Waterfall – Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry, Heliopan Filters, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Potomac River, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Shenandoah River, Twilight Photography, Water, Waterfalls, West Virginia No Responses »

Nov 032011

Potoma Waterfall, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. As most of you know I have been on a self imposed exploration of my regional backyard. I have cut back some of my trans-continental travel and taken the opportunity to visit some incredible local locations with one of my shooting pals Mark Muse. Today’s post is a real jewel and is located a mere 10 minutes from my office. Just downriver from where the Shenandoah and the Potomac join a small stream that drains from the mountains around Loudon Heights empties into the Potomac. But before it does the stream drops over a knife edge of stone and splinters into multiple cascades. On this day the falls were swollen with water from rains and snowmelt. The flow of water twists and turns through an obstacle course of large boulders before finally joining the Potomac River. Sometimes it just pays to stay at home.

Technical Details: I shot the falls in the early evening. The sun was already dropping low in the sky and the dense canopy of trees obscured most of the sunlight and gave me a beautiful even light for shooting. At this time even an ISO of 100 I could get 1/4 to 1/2 of second exposures which was plenty to give the water a frozen look. But I wanted a little more “flow” to the water and cut out some small specular highlights on the wet rocks so I used a Heliopan Warming Circular Polarizer which gave me an additional 3 stops. So my exposure data was ISO 100 at f11 for 4 seconds. Nikon D3x with a Nikkor 17-35 at 20mm.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Rocks and Huckleberry – Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia

Dolly Sods Wilderness, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography, West Virginia 1 Response »

Oct 302011

Rocks and Huckleberry, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Last week was quite busy. I made a quick photography trip into the West Virginia highlands with my shooting buddy, Mark Muse, and zipped up to New York to attend the PDN Photo PLus Expo. Both trips were exciting and fun but on different levels. Mark has been trying to get me up to the WV mountains for quite some time and quite honestly I have been somewhat resistant. Sometimes you can get into a mode of sameness which amounts to nothing more than excepting that which is more comfortable. I have spent the majority of my recent photography time in the west shooting slot canyons, deserts, and shorelines. These are subjects I love and which I have developed an affinity for shooting. My biggest complaint to Mark was West Virginia has too many trees. Now this may seem odd to all of you because after all, isn’t all landscape photography viable in all its varied forms? The fact is that I find many western landscapes, of the type I shoot, easier to isolate. By this I mean that I am able to distill the view into a series of images that simplify the subject matter. Foreground, middle ground, and background all seemed to fall easily in to place. And of course there was no end to repeating shapes, leading lines, and other compositional elements. Subject matter here on the east coast, however, just seemed to elude me. Too many trees, too much complexity, and too much noise.

There is a complexity to Mark’s work that I have always admired. He takes these complex scenes and dials into them revealing the microscopic structure of the landscape-the trees, branches, stems, twigs, and leaves. They are a marvel of detail and subtlety. I love the images but at the same time hate them. Now before you think this harsh, my hate comes from my own internal roadblocks, my own inability to allow myself to see what Mark was seeing. I could see it in his finished work but with a camera in my hand, walking the landscape, the view was noise, not unlike the static of a TV set when the picture goes out.

The solution to this problem was easy. Just keep shooting what I like, and find comfortable, and my world will be fine. But the world, at least my world, does not work this way. Seeking the comfortable and avoiding the difficult will stifle growth. To continue to grow as photographers we must except new challenges. We must go into the landscapes we fear and confront them. Before I go further there are other things to consider. My “way” of shooting, and Mark’s way, are both outgrowths of our collective experiences, gleaned throughout our lives. Pretty heavy, I know, but it is true. What and how I see are different than Mark’s, and in fact, different than all the other photographers shooting today. Everyone one of us is drawn to different aspects of what we shoot. The patterns, textures, colors, light, compositional elements, compositional style, capture methods, processing methods, etc inform the what, how, where, and when of what we shoot. What I am getting at here is difficult to describe. The challenge for me was to not shoot what Mark shoots because that is not me. The challenge was to find my own voice, utilizing my experiential experiences, and vision, all in a landscape where I often wander with eyes wide open, like a deer in headlights, never taking the camera out of my pack.

Today’s image is one of many I took on my recent sojourn into the unknown. And guess what. The fear of the unknown is irrational. I did find much of the landscape daunting but this is a result of my unfamiliarity with my shooting locations. I don’t like everything I shot but I did break down some barriers of my preconceptions and find some compelling images and compositions I could appreciate. This image was taken at Dolly Sods, a wilderness area located at 4000 feet above sea level, on the Allegheny Front. It is a sub-alpine landscape of spruce forests, bogs and wetlands, and rock outcrops. Bear Rocks, located on the northern end, was our second stop during the shooting trip. To say that I only loved the place would not do it justice. It was fantastic. We had beautiful light, dappled and hazy, almost arctic like, with high cirrus clouds. It was complex and noisy but I found structure in the fantastic rocks that could anchor my compositions. Study this image and you can see many of the elements I talk about in my blog posts. I found many successful images that evening and I know that I missed quite a few. But that will draw me back. Yes fear of the unknown is irrational.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. A 3-stop Singh-Ray, soft edge, split neutral density was used to balance the sky and foreground exposure. The RAW image was processed in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

Douglas Falls on the North Fork of the Blackwater River – West Virginia

Heliopan Filters, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Waterfalls, West Virginia, WV 4 Responses »

Oct 242011

Waterfall on the Blackwater River, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Over the weekend my shooting buddy Mark Muse and I made a quick shooting trip to the West Virginia highlands. In my most recent posts I have been discussing the concept of exploring your “backyard” for photography opportunities. Mark has shot quite extensively in the West Virginia and has on many occasions tried to drag me out to shoot there. Well I have been missing a lot it seems. In two days we managed to shoot along the Middle Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac, sunset at Dolly Sods Wilderness, sunrise in some amazing bogs on Canaan Mountain, and a couple of incredible waterfalls. And to think all this wealth of landscape is a mere two and a half to three hours from home. What have I been thinking.

Today’s shot is just a teaser. This is a shot of Douglas Falls, an incredible 35-foot waterfall, on the North Fork of the Blackwater River. After shooting sunrise on Canaan Mountain we stopped at Hypno Coffee to warm up and also stopped in to the Friends of Blackwater Canyon for some information. We got directions to a couple of falls out along one of the forks that feed the Blackwater River. The road took us out along an abandoned railroad bed left over from early coal mining operations. Industrial remnants remained including coke ovens buried into wooded hillsides. At the end of the road we found this incredible waterfall. Plunging over 30 feet the sound of the waterfall was deafening. Spray and mist rose from the collision of rock and water filling the air with a cool vapor. Downstream the water tumbled over boulders stained red from iron, the result of coal mining operations. I will be posting more images from this trip in the coming weeks as soon as I have the chance to go through them. So stay tuned.

Technical Information: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 25mm. The images was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 8 seconds. To reduce specular highlights I used a Heliopan Circular Warming Polarizer.

Twilight on the Shenandoah – Harpers Ferry, WV

Harpers Ferry, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Nikon D3x, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Shenandoah River, sunset, Twilight Photography, Water, West Virginia No Responses »

Oct 202011

Twilight on the Shenandoah, Harpers Ferry, WV. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 30 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. We have had quite a variety in the weather department over the last few weeks. Though fall has officially arrived the color in the leaves has been somewhat uninspiring due to wet conditions, warm afternoons, and wind. All this has combined to keep the trees on life support so to speak and has negated any possible color intensity. What we need now is a good hard frost to really kick start the leaves. But I am afraid this year may well be one to forget. What little color we have is fairly dull. But not to worry because there is still fantastic color in the skies especially around twilight.

Several days ago I found myself out along the river at twilight. The air was crisp and clear. The river flowed fast, swollen with recent rain, while overhead cirrus wisps drifted on high winds. I love the blue light at this time of the evening. The day is gone and night is approaching but the skies luminosity still casts a light over the landscape. The river flowed silently except where it dropped over unseen rocks below the surface. There the water gurgled, a lively musical serenade to break the evenings stillness. Out beyond the floating gardens of rushes and reeds a great blue heron preened its feathers. More than once the great bird looked my way, checking on me, and perhaps wondering why I was there. As the light fell he took flight heading up river towards the gap. His day was done. And as I tripped the shutter for the last time so was mine.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks – Bandon Beach, Oregon

Adobe Lightroom, Bandon Beach, Color Burn Technique, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific Ocean, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, Twilight Photography 4 Responses »

Oct 022011

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks, Bandon Beach, Oregon. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1.5 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s image was shot at Bandon Beach along the beautiful Oregon coastline. I only had time for two shooting sessions at Bandon-afternoon/evening and sunrise. I arrived at Bandon in the early afternoon to a howling gale, high tide, and blowing sand from dunes along the back of the beach. I was hoping to get some dramatic clouds to work into my compositions but I was greeted with clear skies. Scouting for possible shots was a challenge in the contrasty light and I was constantly pelted by sand and debris. I was already tired from the drive and found the beach’s welcome less than hospitable. When you feel this way it is best to back off and just breath a bit. I went back to the hotel to check the weather conditions and the hotel owner told me that the wind would abate for the evening. He promised.

And indeed the wind died. The tide rolled out and left an expansive beach full of tidal pools and amazing rocks covered in mussels and starfish. Though I was hoping for some dramatic clouds I was treated to some amazing pink and magenta twilight light. I found this rock encircled in a tidal pool and set against a back drop of illuminated sea stacks. In the far distance you can see “Face Rock” lying in repose in the Pacific Ocean.

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks. The Processed RAW file brought into Photoshop.

Technical Details: I used a Singh-Ray 3-Stop, Soft Edge, Split Neutral Density filter to balance the light. The WB was set to 5500K. RAW processing was done in Lightroom with final finishing in Photoshop. Take a look at the RAW file below and you can see the dramatic changes achieved through layer manipulations in Photoshop. The images below illustrate the starting point and some of the details from my processing to achieve the final image.

I almost always start with a Cleaning Layer. I perform some digital gardening in Lightroom but deal with the more difficult spots with the Cloning Tools on a separate layer. I dealt with some color cast issues in the next Layer. Keep in mind that with my first layers I am almost always dealing with Global Image Adjustments. My Detail Image Adjustments are made after Global. So for the color cast I felt the file was a bit too magenta and this was killing off some of the blues in the shot. I used a Curve Layer and adjusted the Red Curve and made a further correction in a Selective Color Layer.

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks. Images zones worked to achieve the final image.

At this point I began looking at my more specific Detail Image Adjustments based on final vision for the file. In Area 1. I wanted to make some very specific adjustments to bring out the Contrast, Luminosity, and Color in the sea stacks. In Area 2. I wanted to bring out the Contrast, Luminosity, and Color in the rock. And in Area 3. I wanted to make a global Color change to the pool and pick out some minute details.

For Area 1. I used tow Curve Layers, one for increasing the Contrast and one for increasing the Luminosity. By Contrast I am referring to the relative difference between Darks, Midtones, and Lights. Here I am simply making subtle adjustments to the 3/4 Points (darks) Mid Tone Point, and the 1/4 Point (lights). Essentially I am making a slight “S” Curve. For Luminosity I am referring to the overall brightness. This is achieved with another Curve Layer where I am sliding the White Point over towards the Mid Point (see the screen captures below for the dramatic effect this achieves. Since I only want to apply the effect locally I use a Black Layer Mask and paint through to reveal the change.

Screen Shot of the Luminosity Adjustment Layer.

The screen shot below shows the Luminosity Layer turned on to reveal the dramatic difference to the overall brightness of the sea stacks. You will also notice the difference in the sea stack reflection in the water. Painting in the change on the foreground rock also dramatically raised the level of brightness and detail. I had what I needed in overall Contrast and Luminosity so I added a Mid Tone Contrast Layer. This is essentially a targeted High Pass Filter Layer applied to the Mid Tone components of the

Scree Shot of the Luminosity Adjustment Layer turned on to show results.

file. You can search my site for posts on how to make this layer. This was followed by Creative Sharpening applied to a “Merge Visible” Layer. Both this layer and the Mid Tone Contrast are essentially tweaking out contrast against the edges to increase the apparent sharpness of the image. The last piece of the work flow are my Dodge and Burn and Color Burn Layers. I dodge and burn my files extensively. It is essentially painting with light and dark on an Overlay Layer with a 50% Fill. Using a soft brush at low opacity I paint in details where light and shadow meet. It is a painting layer that sculpts the file.

The Color Burn Layer is where I can add and intensify the colors of the files. I have written a post on this as well. Please search the site for the details on how to perform this technique. Hopefully this post has given you some insight as to how I processed this image and some of the various techniques I use to achieve the results. As always if you read this and have any questions please use Contact Form link in the Site Menu and send me an e-mail.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31