Finally! Got off road and took my camera

[trailfiend]

Yesterday I went up to central city to check out the yankee hill/miners gultch area, ooh and aw at the colors and most importantly.... Get off road with my jeep!

It was fun. I wandered around and explored for a good 5 hours, taking my time and figuring out how to climb and descend, navigation rocks and so on. Woo! I'm hooked. But I also used this as my own annual fall photo run, last year I went to kenosha pass in my rwd ranger, had fun but didn't go far.

Since then I've gained some new software and techniques for landscapes... I've not been able to load the shots of the jeep yet, but here's what I got yesterday that I'm happy with! (Less so with the last photo...lens was a tad dusty... Check 'em out and feel free to download the full res versions if you like them!

https://picasaweb.google.com/116406115289750198627/CentralCity20111002

[Jim]

Nice pix!!

[Brad]

Excellent pics! You really have a eye. Thanks! :thumb:

[jesse05lj]

Very nice shots! I neeed to get up the hills soon so I can see the changing of the season!

[trailfiend]

Thanks everyone! It was beautiful, I've never seen aspens any shade other than the usual yellow, and I say quite a bit of reddish-orange yesterday. I know there was a planned run to Pickle Gulch that I missed out on, but I would have been stopping too much to break out the camera anyway ;) The weather was perfect, it rained just enough to kill the dust and get everything just a little wet, then the clouds broke up and made for perfect weather! Woohoo! I might have to go back up there next weekend if my buddy manages to get off work.

[Beefy]

Great pictures!!

[Pathrat]

Supercool pictures! Putting my camera to use is half the reason I go out. I like what you have done with the color, particularly the more monochromatic shot of the pond, structure in the distance and sky. OH, and I love your avatar.

[Errinjan]

Wow awesome pics. Techniques and Software? We just bought a Nikon d7000 yesterday. How do I take pictures like those? If you don't mind sharing.

[trailfiend]

I use a method of HDR which is blending 3-5 differently exposed images...I use aperture priority (a mode on the dial) and set the EV to +1/0/-1, +2/0/-2, or +3/+1/0/-1/-3 depending on conditions. If you shoot 1-3 and 0 you can pick and choose. But basically with hdr each exposure is capturing different levels of light, from the lowest lows to highest highs. Blending them is hard and editing it all together for the way I do it takes Adobe lightroom and an additional components specifically for blending hdr. I also set my aperture to the highest or f/22 for the most clarity and depth of field. I'll go onto more tonight when I get home and an alternative free method.

[jesse05lj]

I use to shot a lot with my nikon 35 mm but it broke and never had a chance to get it fixed. but that is some cool stuff your talking about. i never got to learn photo shop or any of the stuff in school. I took to photography class. it been a few years and i have forgoten alot of what i was taught.

[Cr33p3r]

Cool pics, which lake is that?

[Michael4rnr]

Awesome pictures.

[Errinjan]

Those are incredible pictures, I play around with Photoshop but have never jumped in head first to really learn anything. I can see that is about to change. We've waited all summer for the opportunity to upgrade our camera. Of course we had it 2 days (2 cloudy days) Just my luck

[trailfiend]

Thanks all,

@freaky, That's actually some cattle pond off the side of the road on the way to the big intersection for Yankee Hill.

@Jesse, let me know if you ever need a question answered, I teach an intermediate digi photo class at my old high school, so I'm a pretty decent resource... not to mention, I love to geek out about it all :)

@Errinjan, I'm home now so rather than typing it all on my phone, I have an actual keyboard. I'm not sure how doing HDR in regular Photoshop is compared to Lightroom; Lightroom is a photo organization/photo editing program designed more around productivity and more efficient pro-level (not to say that I'm a pro, by any means) editing system. It's kind of like Picasa, but smarter, and costs money...lots.

Basically I googled "HDR in lightroom" and got some plugin off a dudes blog and I simply select the 2+ pictures I want to blend into an HDR file, batch edit them to up the blacks and the contrast a lot, change up the saturation a little bit, etc., basically the initial stage is fine-tuning the individual pictures all in-sync (so each gets the same treatment) before blending. How you blend them makes all the difference in the world (as well as your initial editing). For most of the outdoor, daytime HDR I've done, I've found that I really don't need to use the most over-exposed picture, but I also adjust the brightness so that it's bright, and I've still got clear details in the darkest portions of the frame (shadows, dark clouds, etc.) but not blown out. The darkest frame I choose by what retains the best clarity and detail in the highlights, bright parts of the sky, lamps and such. Also making sure you choose your final series by the edited versions and match the +EV and -EV around the 0/middle picture. It's kind of hard to explain without just showing you how I work a series into a single photograph.

I also shoot only in RAW (or .nef for Nikon) but that's because I'm able to edit that format with Lightroom, the cheapo/free method is to use Picasa from Google and edit the JPEG's, making sure to save the files before blending. Picasa has a multiple-exposure bit in their make poster or whatever setting that might work. You can also use a software called Startrails (for editing stacked night photos into well....one, with trails...of stars), you'd need to save the pictures then open them in Startrails, blend, save and reopen in your chosen editing software.

THEN (one more step) you open up the now-stacked/blended photo in your editing program, and toy around with your saturation, contrast, lighting, clarity/sharpness and so on until you get the effect you want. Because of Lightroom, I'm able to adjust the saturation and luminance of individual colors, and as such I stumbled on the ability to increase the saturation on the colors I want to pop, and then desaturate the master saturation control, which when combined with the increased contrast, seemed to come up with that kind of monochromatic appearance (I also just couldn't get the yellow leaves to pop or retain the detail for individual leaves at normal levels like I wanted....so I just dumbed some colors down, and just played around with it all, it's all experimenting with all sorts of adjustments until you've got a result you're happy with. Ctrl+z is my friend.

I think I covered it all... 3 or more variable exposed shots, batch edit pre-blend for higher contrast (remember, it takes a lot!), blend, post-edit to dial it in. I highly recommend Lightroom if that's a feasible option for you, it's not for everyone, but if you think you would get good use of it, it's worth it IMO (but I've also got a bootleg copy until I get a full version through school). If I missed something, just ask, I'm happy to clarify.

Also: your tripod is your friend with these, if the images don't line up perfectly, it looks not good. Water is fine, because it all smooths out a bunch, but completely shifted frames makes it all look wonky. http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-337-Double-Bubble-Level/dp/B00009R6J7 that little deal is my favorite tool in my bag.... beside my wide-angle, telephoto, and 50mm lens :) btw, the D7000 is sweeeeet! I want one...someday, when I finally get tired of my D90 or get enough business to justify needing a nicer camera with clearer ISO range.

[trailfiend]

That post was a lot bigger than I realized.......

[Backcountryislife]

you shoot red or yellow? (canon or nikon to the non-photogeeks)
I'm also a photag, but have gotten lazy about non revenue photography, tend to 1/2azz it & shoot with my g9 when wheeling or other out & about stuff. Need to bring my 7 along & make a point of shooting some real pics.

Which plug-in do you use btw? I run lightroom II but haven't played much with true HDR software.

[Errinjan]

I'm jazzed! We'll be looking for a photography class. For now it's trying to get familiar with this monster. I did a little research on HDR, at least read about it on Wiki. I really like the results that process creates. I'll be looking into Lightroom. Thanks so much for the info.
Up until yesterday I had decided on the new Sony A77. I found a camera tech in Loveland. Spent an hour and half picking his brain. Very informative guy (Shanklin Camera repair) Looking at his Google maps rating and reviews he has offended a few. But he was full of good info.

Do you do any InfraRed stuff. I almost started with that several years ago but got sidetracked.

[Heather]

Love the cemetary(ies). I was there with a friend after a run at Yankee Hill with Jeep People (including Java and Errinjan), and I've been meaning to get back up there with the family for a tour with our (cheap, pedestrian) digital. Your photos are stunning (and like Stephanie, I love your avatar, too!) and the fact that you're so willing to take the time and effort to share your knowledge is awesome! Thanks for the pix, and the post!

[trailfiend]

you shoot red or yellow? (canon or nikon to the non-photogeeks)
I'm also a photag, but have gotten lazy about non revenue photography, tend to 1/2azz it & shoot with my g9 when wheeling or other out & about stuff. Need to bring my 7 along & make a point of shooting some real pics.

Which plug-in do you use btw? I run lightroom II but haven't played much with true HDR software.


I'm a yella man, I love my Nikon. And even more, my Nikkor lenses :D I've even got a dandy bright yellow Otterbox for all the landscape equipment, remotes, tripod plate, bubble level, etc. I'm using LR/Enfuse - check it out! He's got some great examples for how the multiple frames blend and the final result - he also uses it for startrails, which I've yet to do using this software because....I think my computer would die, that's a lot of processing power that my poor laptop simply does not have. For now, Startrails fulfills my needs just fine....I need to shoot more trails. Anywho, link: LR/Enfuse - photographers toolbox (http://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/lrenfuse.php) I really like the examples of the landscape and star, so pretty!

I've got a Pentax adventure-proof (shock/freeze/water/crush-proof) pocket camera that's just awesome, because it survives me, but it's hard to go from my DSLR to that... I'll pretty much always have it with me (wheelin' especially) but probably also bring my Nikon thanks to the otterbox.


I'm jazzed! We'll be looking for a photography class. For now it's trying to get familiar with this monster. I did a little research on HDR, at least read about it on Wiki. I really like the results that process creates. I'll be looking into Lightroom. Thanks so much for the info.
Up until yesterday I had decided on the new Sony A77. I found a camera tech in Loveland. Spent an hour and half picking his brain. Very informative guy (Shanklin Camera repair) Looking at his Google maps rating and reviews he has offended a few. But he was full of good info.

Do you do any InfraRed stuff. I almost started with that several years ago but got sidetracked.

If you'd like to learn from me, I'll do my best! I'm used to just showing a trick or two/offering advice to friends, and this class I'm teaching in the winter is going to be 9-12th grades. HDR tends to get a pretty negative reputation thanks to heavy editing like this (http://media.smashingmagazine.com/images/fantastic-hdr-pictures/hdr-76.jpg) that just look like a painting or digital rendering, which I like to stay away from - I can do that, but I like taking pictures of real things, to show off to my friends where I was and how I see it. I try to stick to the idea that HDR is simply high dynamic range, and the concept with the technique is to bring detail into areas of the image that a normal single exposure simply cannot pull off, and that can be done in tasteful moderation.

I shot a roll of Ilford infared film with a red non-IR filter...I wasn't excited about it. But I will occasionally make one of my digi shots black and white or some derivative of that desaturatedness (like my avatar) post-process, and you can get some presets for Lightroom that give the appearance of Ansel Adam's style, as well as IR and many many more.


Love the cemetary(ies). I was there with a friend after a run at Yankee Hill with Jeep People (including Java and Errinjan), and I've been meaning to get back up there with the family for a tour with our (cheap, pedestrian) digital. Your photos are stunning (and like Stephanie, I love your avatar, too!) and the fact that you're so willing to take the time and effort to share your knowledge is awesome! Thanks for the pix, and the post!


Thanks! I didn't really wander around the cemetery nearly as much as I would have liked...it was raining and there were trails to explore! I may need to go back up there soon and shoot a star trail or two/camp out, and just in general have some more fun!

[BigE]

Nice pictures I love the fall colors, my fauther is huge into photography also you and my.fauther would have a ton to talk about. I'm trying to get him to become a member. Keep up the good pictures!

[Errinjan]

We have a old tri pod and a newer mono-pod. Does anyone make a set that has a interchangeable quick disconnect?

I have photoshop 7 along with the premiere which I use a lot.

I really dig video, but I feel the tug for stills.
I've seen vids taken with this unit-one word-WOW I can't wait to shoot video with it.

Basically my wife will be shooting pics (I'll probably handle most of the set up of the camera) and I'll be handling post production up until I get on for myself. I noticed that this Nikon did not have a pano setting. I started digging around for stitching software today. I love a good pano.

And yes I would love any and all tips, advice, tid bits and any other bit of info

thanks

[trailfiend]

Sorry I haven't responded sooner, I had a bit of a freakout all last week about my 14 y/o lab.

There's days that I wish I still had Photoshop, but I realized if I get creative, I can do what I need without it. I just bought a pano software and have yet to actually put it to use, but for $20 it's pretty sweet and really seems to have great versatility. http://www.serif.com/panoramaplus/

The video on these cameras now is incredible! I wish I had better video editing ability, but my poor computer would probably explode if I tried to do anything more than a time-lapse, and even then it gets angry. I need a Mac. And $3k to pay for that Mac.

As far as a QR plate goes, this is universal, goes on any standard tripod head, it's durable, and it's essentially what I use (except mine is built into the head) http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-323-Connect-Adapter-200PL-14/dp/B001ASU1QO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318868110&sr=8-2, I love that system, very rugged and easy to use. It even has a great little brass "safety-lock" to make sure you don't accidentally disengage the plate.

Also, check out CustomSLR products: http://www.customslr.com/. They've got what has to be the best strap solution ever invented, the gliding strap is fantastic, really comfortable for long use, and when combined with their C-Loop is just dreamy ;) Only problem is you can't keep your QR plate on the camera, but they've got another thing in the works on Kickstarter now that would be the plate, as well as allow the use of the C-Loop.

If you've ever got questions, let me know, I'm happy to help as much as I'm able, and if it's not obvious enough, I love talking about this stuff haha