by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GH4, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
“I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now…” Judy Collins Play this while you read the post for some ambiance…
Popcorn Cloud formation.
During monsoon season here in Arizona we get cloud formations to beat all… The three images that accompany today’s post were all photographed during one morning hike… and I probably could have gotten more cloud combinations it I tried a little harder but I was out for the exercise after all.
Wispy cloud formation.
Why cloud photos? I shoot them for the files to create artwork. The right set of clouds can make or break a scene when you are working on images as art pieces. I have a pretty large collection of cloud images that convey all kinds of emotion. Angry clouds. Popcorn clouds. Soft wispy clouds. Colorful sunset clouds. Ominous clouds. You get the idea.
Full sky of combination clouds.
You need to think about clouds quite a bit when adding them to photos. A good selection along the horizon is imperative. A bad selection screams “DROPPED IN CLOUDS!”. If you want to make sure they are believable you need to have the clouds fit the scene. The light on the clouds needs to be from the same direction as the foreground scene. Lighting needs to be correct in the scene. If you are working on a sunset scene and drop in some clouds that are firing off in oranges and magentas you will need to add some of that color to your scene as the color of the landscape will reflect the color of the light on the clouds. As you drive around study the clouds and grab photos but also study the effect of the clouds on the landscape so you can recreate a believable look.
Now if you are trying to create an image of discordance you can throw most of the information above in reverse. Just know what you are creating and that it conveys the mood you are trying to create.
Images captured with Panasonic Lumix GH4 and 12-35mm f2.8 Lumix Vario Lens.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, panorama, photography, photography education
Been enjoying the hikes more and more. This is on the Templeton Trail along Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. With the Lumix GX7 camera so light I’ve got it with me all the time… No excuse for seeing something I want to share and not having a camera at hand…
Used the Panorama setting to get in more of the creek view I was seeing.
From the Templeton Trail Near Cathedral Rock.
Lens 35-100 f2.8 Vario at 35mm. Camera was held in the vertical position to get a taller file while still maintaining the panoramic photo dimensions. ISO 200 Exposure Settings – 1/640 sec. F 4.5 (pre-set by the camera) More panoramas and information on shooting panoramas here. https://successful-photographer.com/panoramic-photo-red-rocks
Hit the trails or hit the streets it’s a great time to be making images…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, photography education, photography seminar
Morning hikes in Sedona are a great excuse to test out some of the features of the Panasonic Lumix GX7.
Yesterday’s test involved one of my favorite features in the camera – in panoramic stitching. The images below are of Courthouse Butte on the loop trail from Bell Rock Vista trail-head in the Village of Oak Creek. Both images were captured from the exact same place with the exact same settings. The camera was set to capture vertical panos to give a bit taller image. Exposure compensation was at minus 1/3 of a stop to increase saturation just a bit. The camera must be set to capture in jpeg because the file is being processed in the camera. RAW doesn’t cut it in this situation. If you wanted the value of RAW capture you would have to make multiple exposures and the process the files in Photoshop or another stitching program a much more labor intensive deal.
Panorama of Courthouse Butte in Sedona, Arizona panned at a fast rate of speed. Image was 54MB when opened
“Wait a minute Bob! You said these were both shot with everything the same on the camera but they are very different…” Yep they are and that’s the point of today’s post. The technique you use when making the capture is important. On the bottom image I moved very slowly so more on the frames were overlapped. In this case I felt I wanted a more “panoramic photo” aspect ratio so I did it again at a faster rate of speed starting further to the left and was able to capture a lot more of the landscape. Regardless of how fast you pan good technique is key to getting a good pano. Hold the camera tight to your forehead with elbows down. Point your feet toward the end direction of the image. Then coil your waist back to the starting point. Begin shooting while keeping the camera level. Use stomach muscles to rotate through the end of the pan. Check your results by reviewing the image on the camera. Happy with the result. Move on. Not sure? Try again at a different speed of rotation.
Panorama of Courthouse Butte in Sedona, Arizona panned at a slower rate of speed during capture. Image was 38MB when opened.
Just because you are shooting in jpeg doesn’t mean you can’t use Adobe Camera RAW to help process and tweak the image. From Adobe Bridge highlight the image(s) you would like to process and hit Cmd ‘R’ on MAC or Crtl ‘R’ on the PC and you can work on the images. In this case I used the Shadows Slider to open up the shadows just a bit to reveal some more detail and gave the Saturation a little bump.
If you have any questions about this technique or any other you’ve read about on Successful-Photographer don’t hesitate to ask. Interested in attending a workshop in Sediona? Let me know. I’m starting to gather ideas for an intimate workshop with 1-4 people that would include hiking trails, & Photoshop concepts and art ideas…
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, video
The water dances, trickles and flows across the red rocks leaving music in it’s wake accompanied by the morning song of our avian friends…
Thought I’d share a video on beautiful Oak Creek at Red Rock Crossing in Sedona, Arizona. I am once again extremely fortunate to live in absolutely beautiful place. Here are a couple minutes of peace and tranquility. Turn up the volume sit back, relax and listen.
Two Minutes of Tranquility. Enjoy!
The Initial photo starting the video is an HDR rendition blended together from a five stop capture. Processed three of the images in Camera RAW and layered them together in ®Photoshop and used masks to blend them together. This allows me to process the image exactly the way I want without the strong ‘HDR’ look. The scene definitely called for some help in taming the dynamic range.
Here’s the HDR version….
Here is a single capture from the Cathedral Rock scene…
Images and video were captured with Lumix GX7 and the 12-35mm f2.8 Vario Lens. Just after sunrise for about an hour. I was not pushing things captured in Mpeg format cause I know I’m only going to make a YouTube Video. The files were processed in Adobe Premeire Pro. Been trying to learn the program but found it to be a bit deep (because it has so many possibilities) so I’ve been a bit slow to take it up. But I found on KelbyOne.com there are some great Premeire Pro intro videos from Brandon Ford that got me over the hump and this is my first official test.
By the way, if you are/were a NAPP member don’t let it lapse as you are now subscribed to KelbyOne training at the old NAPP rate of $99 per year. If you let it lapse you’ll only get back in at the higher rate. I’m finding the content there to be professionally produced and a great value. Tons of tutorials and tons of videos on all the Adobe products and they are producing more each week. Even at the higher rate it’s a great deal if you want to learn a lot from the best.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography education
I really enjoy the panoramic format and I thought this scene from my morning hike called out for it. I’m always amazed at how plant life is able to grab a purchase on the rock formations.
This scene is from Courthouse Butte in Sedona, Arizona. I think this will make a pretty nice watercolor. The trailhead is about 7 minutes from my house and there are a bunch of variations for catching about a 3 mile hike in the AM.
Another trail in Sedona leads to Oak Creek at Cathedral Rock. This was some calm water where I was shooting reflections of the trees and a dog jumped in the water and added some beautiful patterns…
Images made with Lumix GX7 and the 12-35 mm f2.8 Vario lens.
I’m thinking about presenting some workshops in Sedona for limited numbers of people. Photograph at dawn til about 8AM. Have some breakfast. Process some images and work on Photoshop and other artistic techniques then photograph sunsets. Probably be a day and a half or two days. Interested? Get in touch.
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | black & white, fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge
Sometimes you just have to play…
I was experimenting with some slow shutter speeds and the ocean. Don’t consider this a finished piece but a sketch of the direction I want to head with this series. I might want to get horizons to line up a bit more maybe not. Probably get the tones to match a bit more… Or maybe not! Sometimes you just have to put things together and live with them for a while… Let me know what you think.
Breakwater on the beach – Rehobeth Beach, Delaware
captured with a Panasonic Lumix GX7 and 12-35 f2.8 Lumix Vario lens. Had a variable neutral density filter added to get a slower shutter speed to allow the water to become more ethereal…
Yours in Photography, Bob
