Two

Morning Delight

The upload quality isn't superb. The colors are washed out and the image is too bright.

It is not very often that I get up so early that I can catch some morning colors during a nice sunrise. This morning I did and the colors came out so nicely. The water was so calm this morning - no wind disturbing the bliss - it was just quiet and beautiful and a little cold. I am again on Røssholmstranda, a popular beach during summer and it has its photogenic sides as well.

The image is double processed as I so often do with all my images. In this instance it means preparing the raw file to the best of my abilities in Lightroom - then adding some filters in Efex Color Pro, which is an amazing plug-in - then continue to edit the image in Lightroom. This is a long exposure and the colors were very dull in the original raw file. Some creative editing gave the image lots of life, dynamic range and colors.

Exifs: 121 secs - f7.1 - Iso 100 - 17mm - Big Stopper - Lee ND 0.9 Soft

The Third

The third in a series of three of the scene. The other two are already posted on the blog; one long exposure and one in which the image is double processed. Captured the 20th of Feb.

Exifs: Iso 100 - f14 - 1/15 - 17mm - Lee ND 0.9 soft

244 Secs

I readily admit that I greatly admire the work of Ivan Maigua. I know that my work is a far cry from his artistry, but that doesn't take away the joy of shooting and editing long exposures. This is how I use the Big Stopper. Below you can have a look at my Lightroom prepared raw file and further down the page my Photoshop layer's palette with explanations.

Took down the magentas - still to much magenta in the rocks
Took down the red channel - too much red in the rocks

Sharpening - High Pass 9.0 - Soft Light (see tutorial on Vibrantshot.com)
Sharpening - High Pass 0.9 - Vivid Light

Levels 1: the rocks were too dark - black mask
Increased the contrast to increase the saturation and the pop

Selective color for the whites
Tonal Contrast and Pro Contrast

Selective color 1: adjusted several of the colors.

Took the image through Lab Colors. See tutorial on Vibrantshot.com

Resting I

Captured about 20 mins before "Resting II" This was the first stages of the sunset. The sky colored in a wonderful yellow. Later, as you can see from "Resting II" the clouds turned into a deep red. Had to shoot three times with the Big Stopper before I got the exposure right. Not always easy to calculate the exposure time in dwindling light.

Exifs: Big stopper - Lee ND 0.9 soft - f11 - Iso 100 - 17mm - 241 secs

Resting II

I had wrapped up, packed my backpack ready to go home thinking there would be no more light and colors that evening. However, when I turned around I saw the clouds colored in a deep red and the sky was so insanely blue. Only one thing to do, unpack what I needed and run around trying to find a comp that would work ending up with the same boat I had been shooting all evening. Yeah, I know, creativity is really one of my strong sides. And I was terrified I would ruin everything by doing one of my usual silly mistakes. So I shot as many exposures I could adjusting my ND filter up and down, varying the exposures etc etc.

The main part of the editing is done in Lightroom. A couple of filters are added in Efex Color Pro (what would life be without Tonal Contrast). I also took the image through Photoshop since I meant it needed some more pop. The image is unfortunately a slightly distorted in the upload. Have tried a different resolution without success.

Exifs: Iso 100 - 20mm (huh? I thought I was shooting 17mm..oh my) - f16 - 2 secs - Lee ND 0.9 soft

B&W LE

Frankly, I am not too fond of black and white photos. Many are too strongly contrasted and often the details are buried in black. In my humble opinion a good B&W will have a good dynamic range and will have a more deep felt mood than a color image. Some B&Ws are simply too bleak and sombre in my eyes.

I hope my version of a B&W meets some of the standards I have set. It was well received on 500px so perhaps it does. I captured the image the 24th of Dec last year - a gray day, but it was windy and the clouds moved rapidly across the sky. In other words, great long exposure conditions.

Before and After

Check below for the original raw file....the one that is not edited...see? ;)

It is often very rewarding and relaxing to just play around in Lightroom and see what I can get out of a raw file. In this case the difference is striking. The gradient tool has added colors to the sky - which are enhanced using the Vibrance and Saturation sliders and also with the help of the HSL filter adjusting colors separately. Also the radial tool is employed to add the color reflection in the water. The brush tool is used to blur the water (clarity -100 and noise +100). Done a lot of other things also, but, honestly, I don't remember everything.

The image is from yesterday morning. I was hoping for a stunning sunrise, but since I didn't get one I made one ;)

Exifs: f11 - Iso 100 - 17mm - 121 secs - Big stopper - Lee ND 0.9 soft

The Concrete Wall

Can't exactly say that I got the colors I wanted yesterday, but we cannot always get things our way, can we? Some nice clouds brought some comfort, though. This is one of my favorite locations. It is not a too far drive, and the scenery is just beautiful - the red cabin is here - a couple of hundred meters behind us. The lake is a fresh water reservoir, so it is not allowed driving all the way to it. But, it is only a 500 meters walk. Both ice and snow are melting and it is spring in the air. Very welcome after a dark winter.

Five exposures loaded into Photoshop's HDR Pro and then edited in Lightroom. I might have given the image too much of a hdr look, but at the same time it works well in this scene. In my eyes the hdr effect adds a lot of mood to the image.

 

Winter Beach

One of the few days with sunshine after we entered a new year. A popular beach during summer, but more or less empty during winter. The buildings are cabins. They are used both summer and winter.

The three exposures are hand blended in Photoshop. Channel based selections are used to enhance the white clouds. Otherwise, I haven't much to add.....Not one of my best, but an okay winter scene.

The Red Cabin

I simply love my Rokinon 14mm lens. Just look what it can do: outstanding colors, no vignetting in the corners and superb sharpness even though this is f2.8.....Have to admit I forgot to readjust the aperture after focusing for the red cabin...hrm...I focus, btw, in live view using the magnifier - wearing my glasses of course, or else everything is completely blurred. It is actually a small crisis if I go out shooting forgetting my glasses.

The forecast predicted that it would be cloudy again during the afternoon, but since the sun still was shining around 3pm I headed out anyway hoping for some good light and great colors when the sun set. However, today the forecasters were right. But, I was able to shoot some frames that came out very nice in my eyes before the clouds took over the show. I know I have shot this scene many times before, but a good thing is worth repeating, right?

5 frames from about -2 to +2 taken through Photoshop's Hdr Pro. The resulting 32 bit tiff file is edited in Lightroom. Three filters are added in Color Efex Pro: Tonal contrast, details extractor and pro contrast.

The Icy Path

This image hasn't been published before. It is a part of a serious of three depicting this particular scene. The first in the series is "Double Processed" which at the moment is doing fairly well on 500px. During the span of a few minutes it suddenly cleared up and the sky was colored by the setting sun, and I opted for a long exposure in this case because the clouds somehow mirrored the shape of melting ice right in front of me.

The image is chiefly processed in Photoshop and the sky and the ground are processed separately. See my tutorials section for how to make the selection. As always, the image was reloaded into Lightroom for the last fine tuning.

Four Boats

Øyangen is another pearl of a lake adding to the diversity of beautiful scenes our district can offer. Wish I could take all my photographer friends here one summer evening beholding and capturing the sun disappearing behind the hill coloring the clouds in a heavenly palette. I was so fortunate to be at the right place at the right time in the middle of August last year and the beauty is breathtaking. Hope I have made it justice.

The three exposures are hand blended in Photoshop with the help of luminosity masks. Chiefly edited in CS5 - some filters added in Efex Color Pro and one of the presets in Topaz Clarity is also employed. Fine tuning in Lightroom as usual. I have made the image warmer and taken down the blues a notch compared to the version I posted on 500px.

Iso 100 - f16 - 18mm (which equals about 27-28mm since my former camera had a crop factor of 1.6) - various secs.

The Long Run

The 8th of January I was down by lake Tyrifjorden testing out my new Rokinon 14mm lens shooting in very sharp and not favorable light - not a cloud in sight. When the sun disappeared behind a low hill I headed for the car. It was then I saw a formation of clouds heading towards this lake, so I ran to the car and drove the fastest I could to the parking lot. Since the lake is a freshwater reservoir it is not allowed driving all the way to it, so again I found myself running. 700 meters later and breathing heavily I set up my tripod and began shooting. The light was dwindling so fast that long exposures were out of the question. I could perhaps have shot bracketed shots, but for some reason I opted for my Lee 0.9 soft filter to balance the scene.

I think I edited this image 6 or seven times before it came out right. I even took it through Lab Colors in Ps in the hope of getting the colors right, but in this instance to no avail.

Iso 100 - 17mm - 1 sec - f16

The Farm

You are actually beholding the beginning of the gravel road where I once upon a time ran my 300 meter intervals. If you walk past the beautiful farm, in which an old couple lives (couple is a collective noun and can be used singular if the two persons are doing the same thing...just checked ;)), you might perhaps find the starting line I made in the gravel with my heel. A couple of hundred meters to the right is the Viking longhouse. Behind us we have a small residential area.

I cycled here a couple of weeks ago - only five mins away on the bike - having camera, lenses and filters in my camera backpack, with the tripod hanging under it - securely fastened with straps. I become a tad wider with the tripod so I always collide with stuff.

The image is edited in Lightroom - a couple of filters are added in Efex Color Pro. Yes, the editing is inspired by the magnificent photographer and artist Ivan Maigua, whose work I greatly admire.

181 secs - Big stopper and 0.9 soft - Iso 100 - f14 - 19mm

Double Processed

The image is double processed. Check out the "Double Edit" tab on my blog for before/after comparisons. Have also added the two Lightroom prepared raw files and the Photoshop layers palette with explanations - all are on the "Double edit" page.

I first saw the expression "double processed" on a stunner of an image Rod Trenchard posted on 500px two days ago. For a novice like me it was: "What is that??". Curious as I am I Googled the expression and found a simple to follow tutorial (check my "Tutorials" tab for the link).

So, this morning (Norway is six hours ahead of the American east coast) I decided to give it a go. Of course, my attempt cannot be compared to Ron's image. But, if we forget him a little moment, I like how it came out. What do you think?

Iso 100 f13 17mm 1/13 sec - Balanced with a Lee 0.9 soft.

Pinky

Pinky is a cutie. She perhaps doesn't have a very exciting foreground, but, my oh my, what a lovely sky she has. She was captured approximately a week ago. Unfortunately for her she has some brothers and sisters who were captured on the same day and who looked far more promising as raw files, so I edited them first. They are still waiting in my archives to be published. So, in that regard Pinky beat them. She didn't look very promising as a raw file. I have to admit that, and she even admits it herself. An honest young lady, in other words.

She is edited in Lightroom and given some extra effects in Color Efex Pro (tonal contrast, Pro Contrast and Details Extractor). There are a host of gradients and radials in the image. Bet you cannot spot where I have used them ;) I didn't have the energy last evening to take her through Photoshop. I am still a bit under the weather due to Mycoplasma (a sort of pneumonia). However, Lightroom offers a host of creative tools and I had a great time processing the image.

One single exposure balanced with a Lee 0.9 soft. 20mm f11 Iso 100 1/8 sec

A Last Honor

Onsakervika is popular beach during summer. If we leave the beach and walk about a hundred meters to the right we find this tree that spends its last days resting on the sandy ground. Once upon a time it most likely was a proud, strong tree reigning the woods. How it ended here is a mystery. Perhaps the spring flood brought it all the way and gently unloaded the tree before it continued its flow towards the ocean? Any which way, the tree is a most welcome foreground against a beautiful sunset.

The 241 secs long exposure was achieved with the help of the Lee Big Stopper. A 0.9 ND soft was used to balance the scene. Otherwise: 17mm f-9 iso 100. The image is processed in Topaz Clarity (one of the presets really made the image pop), Photoshop (high values of the High Pass filter was masked in the foreground to bring out more texture in the water) and Lightroom (my preferred fine tuning option).

I chose to name the image a last honor as a way of paying a last tribute to this once majestic tree.

Aklangen

Aklangen is another beautiful recreation area in our district. It comprises three lakes in various sizes of which, as far as I know, this one is the largest. The image is captured in late September. I was further down the lake (on the left side seen from here) trying to find some compositions that would work. Then, in just a couple of minutes the light suddenly changed. It was almost ethereal in quality. I ran to my car and drove the few hundred meters, and hurried to set up my tripod and camera. I shot three bracketed series of which this is one of them. Here the stand is a tad higher than the image I have called "Warped Boat".

This is a re-edit of the original three bracketed exposures. They are taken through Photoshop's Hdr Pro and the resulting 32 bit tiff file is edited in Lightroom. Gradients are used to bring out the sky. The radial tool has been employed frequently to dodge, burn, saturation, vignetting etc.

Inferno

I notice that I, like most landscape photographers, am always chasing the good light, and when it comes it is a matter of not ruining everything by forgetting some crucial setting on the camera....or....like me setting up the camera totally askew (since when this image was taken I have learned to use the level on the camera). Notably when I go low I become cross-eyed. I was so disappointed when I saw the raw file. I had to crop off almost one third of the image to get a straight horizon. And, besides this the raw file didn't look particularly promising - it looked flat and dull.

I had basically decided to discard the file, but for some reason I decided to give it a chance and loaded it into Photoshop. After four layers I said "wow". Then Photoshop crashed and I almost drove my fist through the screen in sheer frustration. Only one thing to do; begin from scratch again.

The image was captured the first of Feb. The clouds that arrived on the scene the last minutes before the sun disappeared behind the hill turned what could have been a "boring" sunset into a spectacular one. The good light only lasted about ten minutes, so, again, the stress level was high.

181 secs f11 Iso 100 17mm (that is, it was 17mm until I had to crop it)