Beaver Island...where the predicted rain held off for the entire day to allow me to play golf this morning, entertain friends for brunch afterward, help Jim get all the outdoor furniture into dry storage in the garage, create a rock stack and take photos, and then have dinner at friends and spend part of the evening on their deck. Rain still expected but now to come after midnight (any minute now). Relaxing...zen...nice. One more day before we head back to Chicago.
Beautiful image Taffy I love these little balancing acts! I agree with Jane about the crop as the dark part is a little distracting. Sounds like a fun packed day with a perfect ending!
Wow, very clever. Great shot. I would crop out the dark patch at the top of the picture though as it is a bit distracting.
What a busy day you have had, glad the rain held off.
@jgpittenger@onewing@pamknowler Thanks for the advice Jane, Babs, and Pam. I agreed when I looked at it. In the larger version, I was working on this to create a b&w for natural light and bokeh was a big part of it. But for this version, the bokeh not only was trivial, it was distracting. I couldn't crop without ending up with proportions I didn't like, but see if you think this may be an improvement.
@jgpittenger@onewing@pamknowler Ignore message above! I realized that I COULD crop it if I went back to the original proportions. I'd been working so hard to keep the now-irritating bokeh that I just realized without it, the crop would work as I'd originally shot it! MANY thanks! I do like this one the best.
@bob65 Thanks, Bob! About 30 shots total -- the most disappointing was the one where a huge fly landed right on top but I was off a bit on the focus on it and it didn't stay around long enough to give me a second chance. And then there were the toppling over events...
@northy Thanks Mira. Processing was multi-step and I'm not convinced which step brought out the soft tones. Started with HDR using Photomatix, and there brought out details using one slider and reduced the sharp focus in another. Then brought into LR and used the clarity slide to soften further. Also used Luminescent slide a little for reducing noise. Then fiddled with the saturation sliders to get the duller tones which I think also contributed to the soft focus feel to it. Basically, the soft started before the clarity slide and that slide alone, on another image from the same shoot, would not get to this same effect (where I didn't have three to combine in HDR first).
@northy I haven't used LR's HDR function as I'm comfortable with Photomatix. The reviews I read didn't make me think it was worth learning since I can use Photomatix within LR as it is.
I appreciate images of such exquisite quality don't just happen, and I am clueless on processing. However this beautifully balanced stack is an instant Fav, I would blow it up and hang it!
I've always wanted to try this, but when I do, I may get two rocks to balance!! LOL No coordination on this girl's part!! Love yours and your POV! FAV!
What a wonderful image.
Apologies for not commenting recently but there was entertainment every evening; wifi was sporadic in Dorset and the clutch on my car died an honourable death! All back to normal for. Few days so time to catch up.
Sounds like you had an absolutely amazing day....they should all be like that! Love this shot.....actually, love the softness, but really debating whether the rocks should be softer or not...I do admire you for all your wonderful processing skills!!
What a busy day you have had, glad the rain held off.
Apologies for not commenting recently but there was entertainment every evening; wifi was sporadic in Dorset and the clutch on my car died an honourable death! All back to normal for. Few days so time to catch up.