ON GOLDEN POND

[FUJI]

As stated in my previous post, I am preparing for my winter photography, I fitted my 70/300 zoom to the Sony this afternoon, the light was amazing after midday.

 

After I shot that view of the Castle, I upped the ISO by a mile, opened up the aperture to max for the lens to allow shutter speeds of over a thousanth of a second, and set the focus to Constant to catch wing beats:

 

Now that I have CS6 running with the addition of the TOPAZ NOISE filter, noise is no longer a big problem................Contrast grading these, then sharpening targeted areas was a bit of a challenge....I enjoy that.

 

1: ON GOLDEN POND:

 

2: PLAYING POOL:

 

3: UP BEFORE THE BEAK:

 

 

 

Best viewed LARGE.....Click on Pics:

 

FUJI

 

[annie]

really liking the second shot fuji. 

[ChrisLumix]

#2 for me too. #3 is a good capture, but I'm not sure I go much for the gold of the pond in #1? Interesting experiment though.

[FUJI]

#2 for me too. #3 is a good capture, but I'm not sure I go much for the gold of the pond in #1? Interesting experiment though.

Hi, Chris,

Thank you for your kind comments regarding the second and third shots.......but there has been no messing with the colours on the first.......that really is the colour of the water at that part of the pool at this time of year, the edge of the pool is lined with trees in Autumn colours, what you see is their reflection scattered and swirled by the action of the water, the oiliness is due to, perhaps a hundred or more water fowl that

preen their plumage, in what is their favourite and popular feeding point.

So, no, fiddling with colours or saturation levels I promise.......if I can persuade Nanny Ferret to meet me at the poolside again, on a similar day, she will be able to record the same phenomena.....

Phenomena! .........I like that word. ;-)

THANK YOU TOO Annie.

FUJI

[ChrisLumix]

Hi, Chris,

Thank you for your kind comments regarding the second and third shots.......but there has been no messing with the colours on the first.......that really is the colour of the water at that part of the pool at this time of year, the edge of the pool is lined with trees in Autumn colours, what you see is their reflection scattered and swirled by the action of the water, the oiliness is due to, perhaps a hundred or more water fowl that

preen their plumage, in what is their favourite and popular feeding point.

So, no, fiddling with colours or saturation levels I promise.......if I can persuade Nanny Ferret to meet me at the poolside again, on a similar day, she will be able to record the same phenomena.....

Phenomena! .........I like that word. ;-)

THANK YOU TOO Annie.

FUJI

 

Wow. That IS some phenomenon. Then can I make another suggestion? Picking out the duck isn't the whole story - do you have a wider view showing the full scope of this colourful place? Perhaps including some trees to show what's being reflected?

[FUJI]

Wow. That IS some phenomenon. Then can I make another suggestion? Picking out the duck isn't the whole story - do you have a wider view showing the full scope of this colourful place? Perhaps including some trees to show what's being reflected?

Exactly the same place.....December 2011.....

I will take a wider vies ASAP.

FUJI

[ChrisLumix]

The bottom shot does it for me - with its occasional glimpses of blue sky 

[FUJI]

The bottom shot does it for me - with its occasional glimpses of blue sky 

 

Thank You Chris,

 

Now!......Here as requested is a wide shot of the area where the water turns that beautiful golden, greeny yellow, all intermingled and patterned by the rather oily water............................ at least twenty mum's or grandparent's with infants in buggies stand on the wooden jetty to feed both fish and fowl with bread, corn and other delights, this, as well as preening oils give the water in that sunny corner an oily sheen and extra smooth ripples that mix reflections and light in an ever changing pattern:

 

The first shot gives you a general view...totally uncropped (you can see my shadow) just processed as usual from the original RAW file:

 

The second shot, was by pure chance, to catch that with a little LX5 on full zoom wasnt easy:

 

Both pics were noisy because of extra high ISO to capture movement:

 

Both have been (essentially) de-noised in TOPAZ....but not drasticaly processed:

 

Yesterday I was using my SONY A55 DSLR with my 70-300 Telephoto fitted, so had much more scope:

 

Best viewed LARGE.........Click on Pics:

 

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

A smashing set, Fuji.

[ChrisLumix]

Wow, that looks totally normal! Where did all that gold come from in the top picture?

[FUJI]

Wow, that looks totally normal! Where did all that gold come from in the top picture?

Hi, again Chris,

It is all there, tucked away in the original RAW TIFF File which is HUGE......nothing added, nothing taken away......I simply use my personal way of using a technique called..........CONTRAST GRADING......a post processing technique I learned for my mono creations, I used a DVD tutorial from Ian Barber a couple of years ago now.

I just adapted a more basic version of using soft air brushes on layers, using the CURVES setting to tease out nuances of tone and colour that my artistic/creative mind knows are there to be discovered.

In between each adjustment of contrast/light I flatten the working layer.......I explained all this very recently.

The technique ( if not to fiercely done) literally makes any photograph POP!......in other words don't use too hard graduations of tone, use the light and tones that are all there within the original RAW FILE.

A final touch of targeted sharpening, again on flattened layers enhances textures and edges........

And to think........until about two years ago, I refused to shoot in RAW, and previous to that......just couldn't understand why anyone today shoots in mono......now I am. Very keen user of both......likewise for carefully crafted post processing.

Many moons ago I ( in my spare time) was a set designer and scenic artist fir three local theatres, and painted scenery for everything from Shakespeare to Grand Opera and much in between. I have been drawing and painting since I was a kid..........I see in colour and form......but just don't do numbers and have few sequencing skills.

My signature lines below my post explains all.

Have a go......it's fun!

FUJI

[ChrisLumix]

Ok. This is my effort.

 

It's a mono shot - B&W not sepia! - but you might have to look twice to realise it. All the tweaking was done in Apple's (not very sophisticated) iPhoto app.