2018 - Image of the Week #38

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Originally Posted by NFLD Stephen

Thanks for the selection and kind words.

To clarify how it was made, it is indeed a composite image from two exposures: one long duration for the falls and one shorter for the fish. The camera was tripod mounted for both shots (and several others) so the jump height is accurate...actually the shot before has the fish higher, I just didn't like the positioning as much. These salmon really do jump very high when jumping up a falls! Quite amazing to see actually. And if you time the season right the frequency of jumping fish is very high...several shots I have three different fish jumping at the same time.

Regarding this being a composite image, if that is outside the scope of these contests, then I'll happily withdraw my entry. I'm not generally into heavy photo manipulation but some of my images do blend multiple shots (either for focus stacking or exposure/HDR). Is this something that needs to be stated when entering photos? Or is it generally not acceptable?

Stephen

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I have no idea what the rules and regs on the forum are, but I have been in discussion on this topic with my friends lately. There is nothing wrong with manipulating photos. In fact there are guidelines on the proper ethics when doing so - see "NANPA TRUTH IN CAPTIONING STATEMENT":

https://www.nanpa.org/wp-content/upl...sed-3-2018.pdf

It is all good as long as nothing is misrepresented as something it is not. Most is a matter of personal preference as to what one likes or prefers. I like this composite and clearly HDNitehawk did as well. But I would be curious to see one with the three fish and the water stopped at the same speed. I'm not sure which I would prefer, the water at it's normal speed with the fish or the multiple speeds like you have here.

Thanks Bill. That seems to mirror my own thoughts...any manipulation is fine as long as it is not misrepresented (as could be the case in journalism). But for art, anything goes really.

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Originally Posted by Lumens

But I would be curious to see one with the three fish and the water stopped at the same speed.

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As requested, here are three shots in sequence of the same fish:

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1946/...4bd44678_c.jpg4N9A7278 by Stephen, on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1919/...b2f77dbd_c.jpg4N9A7279 by Stephen, on Flickr

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1915/...00009fc0_c.jpg4N9A7280 by Stephen, on Flickr

These are all straight out of camera with no edits. This was a "silent" burst on my 5d3 - so about 3fps. Camera was tripod mounted, settings were ISO 400, f6.3 1/2000sec with a focal length of 35mm (using the 16-35 f2.8 mkIII lens). The middle shot is the one I blended with a longer exposure for my final shot.

Comments welcome and encouraged!

Stephen

Congratulations Stephen! Great shot!

I don't know about official rules, but it seems to me that anything that does not break privacy or copyright rules should be permitted. An image with lots of "created" rather than photographed art would even seem fine to me as an entry. (Certainly that does not apply to Stephen's "Jumper.")

I think my personal taste might have mild bias against an entry with lots of "created" features, but if it were the most outstanding that week, why shouldn't it win?

Danny

THANKS!! Wow! Those are awesome fish! And those are great pics. That must be something to watch. After seeing both with the water slow and with the water fast I am still not sure which I like best. Both are great.

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Originally Posted by NFLD Stephen

Thanks for the selection and kind words.

To clarify how it was made, it is indeed a composite image from two exposures: one long duration for the falls and one shorter for the fish. The camera was tripod mounted for both shots (and several others) so the jump height is accurate...actually the shot before has the fish higher, I just didn't like the positioning as much. These salmon really do jump very high when jumping up a falls! Quite amazing to see actually. And if you time the season right the frequency of jumping fish is very high...several shots I have three different fish jumping at the same time.

Regarding this being a composite image, if that is outside the scope of these contests, then I'll happily withdraw my entry. I'm not generally into heavy photo manipulation but some of my images do blend multiple shots (either for focus stacking or exposure/HDR). Is this something that needs to be stated when entering photos? Or is it generally not acceptable?

Stephen

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Composites and creative PP are allowed there is no rule against it. Weekly there is a different single judge who picks and I am sure each has there own bias. Isn’t creating an interesting picture really the goal?

On a personal level, really enjoyed the creativity and thought that went into the pic. It sounds like you made everyone stop and think for a second. The blurred lines of the water fall yet the instantaneous stopping of motion....a very nice contradiction.....it looks right and natural, yet, it isn't right and is unnatural.

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Originally Posted by Minerve101

I don't know about official rules, but it seems to me that anything that does not break privacy or copyright rules should be permitted.

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I might add something like that to the thread intro....but, yep, that sounds about right.

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Originally Posted by HDNitehawk

Composites and creative PP are allowed there is no rule against it. Weekly there is a different single judge who picks and I am sure each has there own bias. Isn’t creating an interesting picture really the goal?

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Very true. And, think about it, where would Peter Lik be without a little photoshop magic ;)

If it is legal, looks good, and the images were taken/created by you....I think we are within the bounds of our friendly contest.

Glad to see that my photo generated this discussion! Always good to spark someone's interest and curiosity on how a shot is made.

Regarding my thought process when creating the shot, we went to the falls that particular day specifically to show the kids all the salmon jumping. I knew I wanted to try to take some shots but personally wasn't happy with shots at a higher shutter speed as the fish didn't really stand out. So I wondered if it would be possible to blend the sharp-fish shots with a longer exposure to get the water looking the way I wanted. So basically I just took a whole lot of fast shutter speed shots to capture different fish jumping in different positions and then took a couple longer exposures with identical framing (all tripod mounted). I tried a few different locations to get different perspectives on the falls and fish (including one composite I shared in another thread) but this one I liked the best as I thought it was a bit more dramatic in showing the height these fish jump.

Thanks again for the positive comments!

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Originally Posted by Kayaker72

.....it looks right and natural, yet, it isn't right and is unnatural.

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That's what catches the eye and makes one look for a while.