I was kinda inspired by Jase's recent shots to try some long exposure photography again... so there ya have it... a tree stump and some rocks... and water... the dark bits in the back at the top are reflections of buildings, btw... this was converted to black and white in lightroom... thought i'd give it a go again after some recent discussion threads...
tx for the continued views and favs on my TGIF shot, and for Sk8tr (my boy was quite tickled to hear it made the PP ;p)
I feel the shot is a bit too cramped, more negative space needed ... also I think the pic looks a bit crooked because of the non-straight reflections (buildings', but also the rocks'...). The foggy effect of LE water is cool though. You could go to the Islands and shoot a low POV LE skyline shot... ?
Trying to get things straight drives me mad!
I think it doesn't feel straight because of the angle of the rocks - and probably the dark reflection in the top left not being parallel with the edge of frame.
Love the effect of the wispy water around the rocks. Very cool.
I think Lightroom does a pretty good job with b&w conversions, especially if you play with the curves, but I still think Silver Efex is better. :)
I do love the misty waters, but kinda agreeing with Jani about the need for more breathing space around the rocks and stump. And definitely agree with Humphrey Hippo on the matter of Silver Efex. ;)
Personallly these work better with more negative space, as said, and also if you can get the camera down more at the level of the rocks. I use a little travel tripod, the type with flexible legs, so I can have it at floor level if needs be. My limited experience tells me I get my best results at around f/8.0 and then adjust shutter speed according to amount of light, though this may not work for you as I am using my homemade big stopper, so haven't used a proper ND filter. Still like this though, that bigger rock needs another visit I reckon
first off - thank you all for your honest and constructive feedback... really really helpful...
for the blown out water - this is where i get really stuck because i start obsessing on getting the pure whites and end up sacrificing detail... guess opinions will vary on this - i think the water may almost have looked better in colour...
for the negative space... yes totally get that point... i was seduced by the stump and there was no way to get it alone ;p
for the angle and pov... i do have a gorillapod (which i suck at using, but presumably i can sort that out)... my problem with a low pov is that other rocks get in the way, or the break waters mess up the horizon line... if you saw my ELT on flickr, the two things on either side are breakwaters, not piers, and they do not quite line up with the horizon... they totally mess up the background on many shots with low povs... it's frustrating...
but ok - all points well taken and maybe next sunday i will head off in search of an ELR... thank you!!!!
oh - one last thing... Jani, you're going to give me a guilt complex if you keep mentioning the island... i would love to get there... but getting there inevitably means time off work... getting there in decent light for photography means time off work and help with the kids... plus it's been bloody cold out recently which just gives me an excuse to not try very hard to solve these problems... i WILL get out there one day with a tripod and the NDs... just might not be for another few weeks :)
I think it doesn't feel straight because of the angle of the rocks - and probably the dark reflection in the top left not being parallel with the edge of frame.
Love the effect of the wispy water around the rocks. Very cool.
I think Lightroom does a pretty good job with b&w conversions, especially if you play with the curves, but I still think Silver Efex is better. :)
I was thinking maybe the water is a little to softened. It lost the water for me.
first off - thank you all for your honest and constructive feedback... really really helpful...
for the blown out water - this is where i get really stuck because i start obsessing on getting the pure whites and end up sacrificing detail... guess opinions will vary on this - i think the water may almost have looked better in colour...
for the negative space... yes totally get that point... i was seduced by the stump and there was no way to get it alone ;p
for the angle and pov... i do have a gorillapod (which i suck at using, but presumably i can sort that out)... my problem with a low pov is that other rocks get in the way, or the break waters mess up the horizon line... if you saw my ELT on flickr, the two things on either side are breakwaters, not piers, and they do not quite line up with the horizon... they totally mess up the background on many shots with low povs... it's frustrating...
but ok - all points well taken and maybe next sunday i will head off in search of an ELR... thank you!!!!
oh - one last thing... Jani, you're going to give me a guilt complex if you keep mentioning the island... i would love to get there... but getting there inevitably means time off work... getting there in decent light for photography means time off work and help with the kids... plus it's been bloody cold out recently which just gives me an excuse to not try very hard to solve these problems... i WILL get out there one day with a tripod and the NDs... just might not be for another few weeks :)