Stormy Day Landscapes

Took some pics on a nearby mountain a few weeks back, in between some storms. Don't have very riveting landscapes in my area, but I thought the clouds and therefore lighting added some interest. Canon 20D with 70-200mm non-IS. All shots handheld, no filters, shot in RAW and processed in CS3.


Aperture priority, f/7.1 ISO 200 1/1250 70mm


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape1.jpg[/img]


f/7.1 ISO 200 1/1000 70mm


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape2.jpg[/img]


f/7.1 ISO 200 1/400 200mm[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape3.jpg[/img]





There seems to be a general haze on the distant hills in all the shots that I can't really do much about. Is this something a filter would help with? Thanks for your input!

fantastic shots!


a UV Haze would probably take care of some of
the haze and it would add some protection fo that lens. I wish the
area around me allowed for those wonderful rolling hill shots.


~Jordan

The only complaint I have is that they are a bit underexposed, wonderful landscape though. Iespeciallylike the first one...brilliant!

Wonderful photos. I like the 2nd and 3rd photos best.

No riveting landscapes?! What beautiful pictures!


I'd meter off the ground with the Exposure Lock button, then reframe and shoot. And or bracket every shot.

These are all very good pictures. In the first one I like the curve of the hill and in the last one the light. The second picture, in my opinion, is too wide, I would have like it better if it were in portrait orientation.

As Tim mentions they all appear to be a tad underexposed, but even through that they are awesome. Thanks for posting!





-Matt

Very nice compositions. I like the playof the light on the hills and valley. I agree with others, a tad under exposed. And would have photoshopped out the tower in the last one. Thanks for showing them.

Well done with the "uninteresting" landscapes. My favourite is No. 2, even though it's the one that suffers the most from unexposure. I'd suggest lightenng the foreground and possibly re-opening the jpg in ACR and then adjusting the purple/magenta values under the HSL tab (especially under Luminance) to offset some of the 'haze' effect.


FWIW, I'm not sure a UV filter would significantly improve your captures. If you've got good quality glass, the best I can say is that filters at least protect it.

I like these very much, great job. In response to the exposure comments, they do look that way, but it also highlights the bright areas and gives it more of an early morning feel, especially the third one. I wonder if you intended for slight underexposure for that reason. I agree that the haze may be mitigated by playing with levels. Check out the tutorials below.


http://www.lunacore.com/photoshop/tutorials/tut016.htm


http://onlinephototutorials.com/2008/08/03/remove-haze-from-landscape-photos/

Thank you everyone for your comments. I really enjoy these forums and the ability to get feedback on photos - always nice to get more than one perspective on an image.


TheRoff - thank you for the comment about the tower; I was so focused on photoshoping other elements that it completely escaped my attention.


Stephen - thanks for the link to the tutorials!


I did a fair amount of work in CS3 on these images, and I think I was going for a bit of a darker feel to really accentuate the areas of light. Just for fun and comparison, I wanted to post the images the way they looked directly off the camera in RAW. I'm surprised that I got as much detail as I did in the clouds, because they are overexposed andthe hightlights are completely blown out (esp in #1).


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape1raw.jpg[/img]





[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape2raw.jpg[/img]


[img]/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Components.UserFiles/00.00.00.23.73/landscape3raw.jpg[/img]

I definitely like the darker photos. HDR could have been fun in this situation.

Hey Jessica!


I really loved you pic!


M a newbie in Dslr world..Plannin to buy one in a time of one week as m goin on a europe and london tour!


M thinkin of buyin a Canon.But not sure abt d model..and the lense...Cud u guide me as to wat i shud go for?If you have time please reply ,i shall be thankful to you for ever! my Emai is vidheee@gmail.com and vidhii.mehta@yahoo.com!


Thanx!


Love,


Vidhi

The darker pictures win - hands down.

Hey Jessica, great shots! I personally like the "underexposed" images best, to me there not underexposed but exposed correctly for the look you were going for. My favorite shot is the second one, maybe masking off the hazy areas and applying a local curves adjustment would help clear up the haze.





joel

Great recovery. Very pleasing to the eyes.

Jessica,


I love the shots with the dark moody feel. I do agree with removing the tower but other then that the shots are amazing.





Fred~

The second pic is my favorite. The center of that valley getting cleared and sunny trough the clouds, brilliant. Nice capture Jessica.


Absolutely beautiful pictures. To my eye, everything is perfect : balance, composition, colors, exposition, shades and lighting... Bravo !

*high fives the OP*


I think what we're figuring out is that she did a really good job getting and preserving detail in an image with very high dynamic range. Personally, I really liked the dark, kind of brooding feel, with the loads of detail in the clouds. That she got it to lookperhapsunder exposed as opposed to artificial, I think, is a plus.


Me, I like the tower. It's a little out of place, but it makes it all the more interesting. I suppose it could be distracting, but I still like it :D