Sony α900

Blue Light Special – Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona – Creative White Balance and Exposure Blending

Antelope Canyon, Antelope Canyon Photography, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Navajo Lands, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Robert H Clark Photography, Slot Canyon, Sony α900 4 Responses »

Oct 142011

Blue Light Special, Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona. Creative White Balance Setting and Photoshop Exposure Blending.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Fall color is just around the corner and we may see the full display by the end of next week. So while I wait for nature to take its course in the next few weeks I am bring you some intense color of a different type. Many of you who follow this blog, and my work, know that I have shot quite extensively in Antelope Canyon. I love the sinuous curving formations and how light plays off the sandstone walls. It is light that brings the canyons to life. I other posts I have talked about some of the lighting in slot canyons including bounce, or reflected light, chiaroscuro light, and blue light. All can have a dramatic impact on your shot. Today I am going to show you what happens when you apply some creative White Balance Settings in-camera during your exposures.

But first just a small bit on Color Temperature which , in photography, is often associated with White Balance. Essentially color temperature is a characteristic of the visible light that we see, or in some cases, we don’t see. Color temperature is conventionally stated in the unit of absolute temperature, K, on the Kelvin Scale. Color temperatures over 5,000K are called cool colors (blueish white), while lower color temperatures, 2,700–3,200 K, are called warm colors (yellow white to red). In photography, the daylight or normal color temperature, is deemed to be 5000K. If you set your White Balance selector on your camera to Daylight Setting you will be shooting at 5000K. But what happens when you go indoors and shoot with incandescent lights on a 5000K setting? Your image will appear very warm and red/orange. If you lower your White Balance Setting to Tungsten, somewhere around 3200K you can compensate for the warmer color and render the scene more naturally. In this case you are bringing the color down from the warmer side of the spectrum to the cooler side.

You can use this information to do some creative White Balance shooting in your photography. Today’s image was shot in two separate exposures-one at 5500K, what I call my “normal” White Balance for slot canyons, and one at 2500K to bring the warm tones down to a bluer color. I can then combine the two files to create a dynamic image expressing blues in the shadows and oranges in the warmer highlights. When I looked at the “blue” image I noticed I picked up some slight magenta tones which gave me the opportunity to process a third, magenta toned, image to use in the composition. The resulting blending in Photoshop would give me an image that moves from blue to magenta to orange. So lets take a look at the files I processed to achieve the final image.

Image 1: Canyon shot at 5500K White Balance Setting.

Image 2: Canyon shot adjusted to 5800K in Lightroom.

Image 1: This is the first image shot with a White Balance setting of 5500K. I typically shoot just at a WB of 5500K for most of my work and make adjustments depending on the light conditions. You will need to check your manuals for setting a custom WB. On the Sony a900 I can set this right from the main menu screen. On the Nikon D3x I can set this from the WB controls on the back of the camera. Both cameras also give you the opportunity to adjust the color temperature further with by hinting the color towards the Green or Magenta side. Setting this to zero is fine.

Image 3: Canyon shot adjusted to 3500K in Lightroom.

Image 4: Canyon shot at 2500K White Balance Setting.

Image 2: In RAW processing of Image 1 I increased the WB to 5800K and made some adjustments to the Green/Magenta Tint using the slider in Lightroom. The intent here was to brighten up the warm tones.

Image 4: This is the second shot in my bracket set and was made with the camera WB at 2500K. This is below the Tungsten Setting of 3200K. In a situation like this, having shot so much in slots, I go for a lower K-number as I can get much cooler tones in the shadows. You can just note a hint of magenta color in the far part of the image. This led to processing out a third image to accentuate this color.

Image 3: This is the Magenta file processed from Image 4. For this I simply raised the WB in Lightroom to 3500K and adjusted the Tint Slider more towards Magenta.

You will notice that after all the adjustments the final files used for the blend all have the same relative luminosity and tonal consistency. Other than the various changes for WB and Tint the RAW processing for each file was the same. I applied the same development to the curves, noise reduction, and pre-sharpening. This must all be the same so the file set can blend together properly. When I was satisfied with each file I returned to the Library Module in Lightroom, selected the three files and then went to Photo > Open as Layers in Photoshop. All three files were processed and placed in Photoshop in a Layer Stack. The Layer stack for this image is shown below.

I ordered the files going from warm to cool in the Layer Stack. For this processing I preferred this as I wanted to paint on top of the warm file as I felt I could see the changes better visually. I added a Layer Mask filled with Black for the Magenta and Blue Layers. Using the White Reveals and Black Hides concept I went from Layer Mask to Layer Mask painting in and out the color changes until I reached a blend I liked. I used a soft brush and adjusted the size and opacity as I worked on the various layers. It is important when blending files like this to pay attention to the Blend Zones – the areas where the colors overlap. Here you must be subtle and work the masks to eliminate hard edges.

Photoshop Layers for Blue Light Special.

Each of the Layers also had a Selective Color Layer where I adjusted the color intensity. Keep in mind this is a salt to taste function. For this file I wanted more intensity in the colors so I pumped up the blue and magenta. I finished off the file by setting the White and Black Point, adding several Curve adjustments, Dodging and Burning, and Creative Sharpening. Dodging and Burning is an important Layer as painting in darker and lighter tomes adds additional detail and helps to blend in color at Blend Zones.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 28mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1.0 seconds.

If you have any questions on this post just send me an e-mail. Thanks as always for visiting and supporting this blog.

Bob

Bridge and Fog – Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, WV

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Bridges, Harpers Ferry, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lee Big Stopper, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, Shenandoah River, Sony α900, sunrise, West Virginia, Zeiss Lenses 4 Responses »

Oct 092011

Bridge and Fog, Shenandoah River. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 45mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1-1/2 minutes.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s is image is brought to courtesy of our recent influx of beautiful fall weather. The cool mornings and warm afternoons typically generate some fantastic fog along our rivers in the early morning. In a recent conversation with Alec Johnson we were both lamenting that our current workloads and obligations were preventing both of us from getting out and shooting. So I want to make a point about this conversation. Getting out and shooting for the two of us usually involves anywhere but home. For Alec it is the North Shore of Lake Superior and for me it usually revolves around some slot canyon or grand vista in the American West. The fact is that the act of photography, the mental and physical immersion we both have for this medium, is important to our sanity and well being. It seems like a lot of baggage to place on our choice of art but it is true. Both of us, in our own pursuit of photography, find peace and well-being. Much like yoga the process is one of contemplative and deliberate practice and within this we find a release of our demons.

With the arrival of the fog came a revelation. I travel so much and most of my shooting has indeed been in the far reaches of the country. But I live in an incredible place with a veritable playground full of photographic opportunities. What am I waiting for? Nothing was preventing me from shooting, but me. That’s right, me. I am coming clean here. It is so easy to put up the road blocks and complain about our situations. Our conversation and the influx of of fog gave me a new sense of clarity. Yes, I want to shoot out west but when I can’t be there I have great places at home to practice my craft. In the immortal words of Steven Stills, “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one your with”. The river is so close and I can make the time without negating my other obligations. It is a good thing and I am glad I woke up to the possibilities. So “Chak” , if you read this far, this one’s for you.

Technical Details: Today’s image was shot in the early morning and was conceived as a long exposure black and white. I wanted two things in the vision of this image. I wanted to soften the details and capture the beautiful soft light created by the fog. This required a long exposure to achieve. So out came my Lee Big Stopper. 10-stops of neutral density gave me a shutter speed at f11 of nearly two minutes. So during the exposure time the river softens and becomes “ice” like and the drifting fog softens the details rendering the image almost high-key. Just exactly what I was looking to do. In processing I kept the image light soft and put most of the detail into the first bridge pier. This in effect stabilizes the composition and provides a nice contrast.

Get out and shoot. Time is wasting away.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Vidae Falls – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Abstracts, Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Oregon, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Waterfalls 2 Responses »

Oct 052011

Vidae Falls, Crater Lake National Park. Image shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony 70-300 lens at 200mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1.5 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s image is a close up view of Vidae Falls, located on the East Rim Drive, in Crater Lake National Park. This waterfall is the best known and most viewed at the park and easily accessible by a turnout on the Rim Drive. Though many people presume the falls represent a leak in the crater the source is actually 600 feet above the lake levels. It is formed by springs which flow together to become Vidae Creek. At a a high point just above the drive the creek plunges over 100 feet through a landscape of native wildflowers.

The closeup was shot at the lower base of the falls as it flows into a scree field. While it is often desirable to photograph the entire waterfall, and I am no exception here, some of the best shots come from isolating the various cascades and shooting a more intimate portrait. A good telephoto works wonders for these compositions and the falls can be explored visually from a safe distance. Though Vidae can be shot in the early morning my preference is late in the afternoon after the sun has passed overhead. The result is a shot where the falls are more evenly lit by ambient light without hotspots and harsh specular light.

Technical Details: To shoot this image I wanted to slow down my shutter speed to produce the flowing, frozen ice, look to the water. To achieve this effect I made a “filter sandwich” with my Heliopan Circular Warming Polarizer and a Singh-Ray 4-Stop Neutral Density Filter. The polarizer has the added benefit of reducing specular highlights in the water and other surfaces wet surfaces such as rocks and plants. As the flow of waters constantly changing I made many exposures so I could chose an image with a pleasing look to the water.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Glen Avon Falls No 4, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

Black and White, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Photography Trips, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Sep 232011

Glen Avon Falls, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 42mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/3 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Here is another image from my Glen Avon Falls shoot on the Beaver River. On my other posts the images show the real power in the falls as a fast moving flow is cutting through a channel of granite. I love the power in those shots but the falls also contain smaller and more intimate vignettes that show a different side to the river. I passed this image over in my first cut and on a second look decided to give it chance to come to life. Aside from the trees along the banks and the water of the river Glen Avon is nearly monochromatic. The dark rock seems to swallow all the color and light. To this extent removing all the color and processing as a black and white makes the image, in my mind, more cohesive. The conversion simplifies the shot and reduces everything to lights and darks which in turn helps give emphasis to the forms. Like many of my images this one has a strong series of leading lines and anchor points that frame the main subject.

I did the black and white conversion in Lightroom and exported the file out to Photoshop for the final work. Oddly this was a scout shot only and I only took one exposure. Fortunately I pushed the histogram to the right and was able to recover a lot of highlight detail. To further aid the shot density I created a Multiply Blend Layer in PS. I needed this density increase in the upper regions of the file. I reduced the opacity of the layer to 80% and painted in where I needed the density increase. I also used several curves adjustments and a dodge and burn layer. I am glad I gave this one a second look.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Superior Sunset, Silver Bay, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 2 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well folks just file this image under the heading of “insane”. I can’t remember when I have seen a sunset this incredible. I made this image two days before our Lake Superior Workshop while Alec and I were out scouting the locations. We had driven up from Minneapolis in a driving rainstorm that did not give any appearance of breaking up for the evening. I was just a little bit jet lagged and tired from my early travel and so resigned myself to an evening of rest. Oh me of little faith. By the time we had finish lunch in Duluth and began the final leg along the north shore the rain broke and we could see the beginning of possibilities.

By the time we got to Silver Bay in the late afternoon the clouds began to break up to reveal small patches of blue. As the light began to change the clouds looked like giant puffs of cotton candy as the wind carried them out over the Lake. No matter where you looked, up or down the shoreline, it was amazing. When the color came the clouds exploded, airbrushed in hues of yellow, red, orange, and magenta. The shoreline absorbed the colors and the atmosphere glowed with light. On my first visit to Lake Superior I had been given an ethereal gift. What a way to start the week.

Technical Details: The image was shot with my Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. The relative brightness in terms of stops of light was nearly the same for the lake and the upper part of the clouds but brighter along the horizon. In order to hold this correctly I used a 4-Stop Singh-Ray, Daryl Benson, Reverse Split Neutral Density Filter. This is a secret weapon that I use quite often and it is tailor-made for these light conditions. The filter is made with a darker strip on the bottom portion of the resin which fades up towards the top. It is specifically designed to hold back lighter horizon lines which can be a few stops brighter than the sky above or even the foreground. In my mind it is a must have for the filter kit. I would not leave home without it. The RAW file was processed in Light room and finished in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Glen Avon Falls and Trees – Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Minnesota, North Shore, North Shore of Lake Superior, Photography Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Sep 172011

Glen Avon Falls and Trees, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Sony a900 and Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 50mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f8 for 4 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today I am returning to an image I made on the Beaver River on the North Shore of Lake Superior. During editing I passed over this image and jumped on the more dramatic waterfall shots I took. But on a second take I think this may be the more successful image I took. On my first scout trip I picked out this grouping of trees almost immediately. The wonderful way the trunks twisted and rolled at their roots seemed to emulate the fast moving water rushing by.

Photographed in the early evening the shot required a long exposure to capture detail in the deeper part of the woods and at the same time to capture the water motion. There were not a lot of specular highlights to contend with so I did not use a polarizer. Instead I employed two of my favorite Singh-Ray Filters; a 2-stop, Soft Edge Split Neutral Density to cover the water, and a Singh-Ray 4-stop Neutral Density to add exposure time. The RAW file was processed in Lightroom and then finished in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Morning Fog – Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Harpers Ferry, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Robert H Clark Photography, Shenandoah River, Sony α900, sunrise, Trees, WV, Zeiss Lenses No Responses »

Sep 122011

Morning Fog, Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, WV. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 35mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 hand held at f11 for 1/60th of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The drive in to work this morning was simply beautiful. Low lying fog in the cornfields gave way to a blue sky full of wispy, cirrus clouds. I grabbed my camera before leaving the house this morning in the hopes of something special along the river. Often in the early days of fall we will get an inversion that will hold the fog low and floating just above the river. Sometimes the fog envelopes Loudon Heights and the Virginia mountains on the other side of the river. And sometimes you get the view that greeted me when I got to the office this morning. A long band of fog hung low, drifting parallel to the line of the river. Above the cirrus wisps gained form and structure as the high winds moved them over the mountains. This view, from the patio of our office, greets me everyday I come to work. Every morning I walk to the edge and take in the view, tracing the course of the river until it turns the corner and disappears from sight. This view, like life in general, can be plain and ordinary. But when you least expect it the view, like life, can be full of surprises. Today the river gave me a surprise gift. And the funny thing is I knew it before I even got in the car. Some days are like that. Days when you are so in tune every fiber of your being vibrates and resonates with the world around you. The kind of day when everything just seems to go your way. Magic really.

Thanks for stopping by today. Walk in peace.

Bob

Seastacks at Waters Edge – Bandon Beach, Oregon

Bandon Beach, Helicon Focus, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Pacific Ocean, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Wide Angle Photography 4 Responses »

Sep 062011

Seastacks at Waters Edge, Bandon Beach, Oregon. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Images exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 2 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s image was shot at sunset on Bandon Beach along the Oregon coastline. I had an opportunity to shoot on the Oregon coast about a year ago and though I had dreadful weather I knew I wanted to make a return trip. It is a wild and rugged coastline with beautiful stretches of beach and incredible shoreline seastacks. Bandon Beach is but one of many accessible shorelines along the Oregon coastline. It is an intimate and intriguing beach that is very accessible and can be shot at sunrise or sunset. In this shot the late evening sun backlit a large seastack out in the ocean causing it to glow in a warm, orange light that was the perfect complement to blue hues in the sand and water. The tide was out and an impromptu river of water was flowing back towards the Pacific Ocean. There was a beautiful, crisp, clarity to the air and the light was simply stunning.

Technical Details: The image was shot in two exposures with a 3-Stop, Singh-Ray Soft Edge, Split Neutral Density Filter. The two exposures were focus brackets and the file was merged in Helicon Focus before final finishing in Photoshop. Each of the RAW files was processed with the same settings in Lightroom and saved out as TIFF files before exporting to Helicon.

If you make the trek to Bandon I would recommend the Bandon Beach Motel. The hotel sits on a cliff over looking the beach and offers instant access to the shoreline via a stairway. When you get there ask for Caleb and tell him you want room 205, the one on the corner with the amazing view.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Cloud Reflections – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Oregon, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise No Responses »

Sep 042011

Cloud Reflections, Crater Lake National Park. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. After a long stint in the field I am finally back at home saddled with the joyful task of sorting through quite a few images. Many of the images I took on this trip will require some time consuming post-processing as I shot a lot of bracketed exposures for Helicon Focus and Photomatix. I will get to these as soon as time allows. In the meantime please enjoy a new black and white image from Crater Lake National Park.

This shot was made early in the morning from the south rim side of lake and is looking across Wizard Island towards Llao Peak. When I arrived a little before 6:00am the lake was calm and a near perfect mirror for reflections. I fooled around for about 20 minutes trying to decide where to make the shot and by the time I had set up the had wind picked up on the lake surface. Intermittent gusts though only disturbed portions of the lake leaving some areas completely calm. I was immediately irritated with myself for taking too long and losing the opportunity to fill the lake with cloud reflections. But as I watched the lake surface change I found this turn of events far more interesting and liked the muted nature of the cloud reflections in the lake. Often the wind levels on the lake leave the surface featureless which makes composition difficult since you have to balance the thin line of the crater rim and the mass of the lake. On this day I could use the crater rim as a distinctive line that separated the cloud patterns between earth and water. Additionally the patterns in the lake became my foreground elements.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Sony a900 and a 20 mm lens. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second. The white balance was set to 5500K. I used two Singh-Ray Split Neutral Density Filters: A 3-Stop Soft edge for the top, above the rim to cover the sky, and a 2-Stop Soft Edge, below the rim to cover the water. The RAW file was processed in Lightroom and the final file was finished in Photoshop.

There are more things to come including images from the Oregon Coast and the California Redwoods. So stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Reflections – Ellingson Island, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Lake Superior

Adobe Lightroom, Heliopan Filters, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Minnesota, Moab Masters, North Shore of Lake Superior, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, Water, Zeiss Lenses 2 Responses »

Aug 252011

Reflections, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am off on Saturday for a weeklong trip to Crater Lake National Park. I have a good bit of work there next week but suspect I will get in some shooting time. In the meantime, and until I return, here is a new image from my recent venture on the North Shore of Lake Superior. On Sunday evening before the start of the workshop I did a brief scouting trip down to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park. It was a beautiful and very calm evening. Lake Superior was glass like, without ripples and the color of lake and sky seemed to merge with only a thin line along the horizon separating the two. The overhead band of clouds were almost perfectly mirrored in the calm waters. Out from the shoreline, Ellingson Island appeared to suspend between water and sky, connected to earth by the thinnest tendril of stone. I was enveloped by stillness. The lake barely lapped at the shore and for a brief moment time simply stopped.

Technical Details: Though the clouds were perfectly reflected in the water I could not get a good single capture. So the final image is a composite of two images, one exposed to capture the clouds in the sky and the other to capture the clouds in the water. In each case I used a Heliopan Warming Polarizer and a Singh-Ray “sandwich” consisting of a 4-Stop Neutral Density and a 2-Stop Soft Edge Split Neutral Density Filter. The two RAW files were processed and combined in Photoshop. The 4-Stop Neutral allowed me to increase the exposure to gain some movement in the clouds and smooth out the water.

Thanks for stopping by today. I will see you back here in about a week.

Bob

Older Entries

Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Sony α900

Blue Light Special – Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona – Creative White Balance and Exposure Blending

Bridge and Fog – Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, WV

Vidae Falls – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Glen Avon Falls No 4, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

Superior Sunset – Silver Bay, North Shore of Lake Superior

Glen Avon Falls and Trees – Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

Morning Fog – Shenandoah River, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

Seastacks at Waters Edge – Bandon Beach, Oregon

Cloud Reflections – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

Reflections – Ellingson Island, Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Lake Superior

Post Calendar

Subscribe To This Blog

Moab Paper Company

B+H Photo

Singh-Ray Filters

Twitter Feed

Networked Blogs

Copyright

Blogroll

Categories

Meta

February 2012
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Jan
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29

Sony α900

Post Calendar

Subscribe To This Blog

Moab Paper Company

Singh-Ray Filters

Copyright

Blogroll

Categories

Tags

Meta