Boneyard beach

[clovishound]

The Pup and I went on a photography tour to one of the barrier islands yesterday.

She had some issues with her tripod. I got a few decent ones. This is an incredible sight at sunrise.

I might have gone too punchy with the colors. In my defense, I have seen some professional images of similar scenes that had even more punch.

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Comments requested. Do you think I've overdone the saturation? The last one that I did in color, then B&W, which appeals more to you?

FTR, in the first two, there are some artifacts in the blue sky that are not evident in the full sized NEF and TIF files. These are much compressed files as the forum would balk at a 70 MB file. Actually, looking at these I think I need to save my compressed JPGs for forums and emails as somewhat larger files to retain more quality. I'll try that when posting a few more later.

[markiver54]

I think they look great. You guys really know what you're doing. Saturation level sure brings out the true beauty.
Thanks for sharing!

[BigAl52]

Im guessing that the third one down is the photo that is the original? But all of them look cool to me.

[clovishound]

Im guessing that the third one down is the photo that is the original? But all of them look cool to me.

It's the original as in it's color vs B&W. The original direct from the camera is very flat in saturation. I took it and played around with things like exposure, contrast, saturation, highlight and shadow density, a host of elements from the sky, etc.

The last one is the same image converted to B&W. I then played with exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, and then the density of each individual underlying color. The last is something really new to me. It's something you can't do in the darkroom with film and paper. When you change the density of say, blue, in a color photo converted to B&W, then whatever has blue tones in the image will change the density of the gray in that part of the image. With film, the only way you can do this is to shoot the original image with a colored filter. This can give you incredible control over the tonal rendition of the final image. Sometimes it's almost too much control, and it's hard to know what direction to go in.

I resized a few more to see how they do displayed on the forum.

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[MuddyWaters62]

I actually like the B&W pic the best. It just talks to me better. I know I'm a lot weird.

[clovishound]

I actually like the B&W pic the best. It just talks to me better. I know I'm a lot weird.

Not weird at all. There are lots of images that I prefer in B&W. While it is a personal preference, there are some types of images that more universally work better in B&W than color. I have seen a number that it's a toss up for me.

Here is another set in the larger size.

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[MuddyWaters62]

That is a toss-up. I'm glad that I don't have to choose the winner! Both are extremely well done! Thanks for sharing.

Muddy Waters 68

[clovishound]

That is a toss-up. I'm glad that I don't have to choose the winner! Both are extremely well done! Thanks for sharing.

Muddy Waters 68

Thanks for your interest. While thinking about the reply I made, I got to thinking about how the images I'm getting straight off the camera were so often very bland. I didn't remember that being the case when shooting in JPG a few months ago. I did some research and found that not only do the RAW files have more detail and info, they are also not balanced by the software. They leave that up to the photographer when they edit and process them later. Good info for me. I'm still new to the digital end of photography.

I'm now at the point where I will soon be ready to dip my toes in the Photoshop pool. I've been a little intimidated by the "deep end of the pool", but I feel like I've explored Lightroom enough to be near the point of moving on. Having said that, the instructor we had a couple months ago said he uses Lightroom for most editing, only getting into Photoshop when the extra capabilities are needed.

As an example, here is a photo I like, but find the two branches coming from out of frame on the left to be distracting. There is a way to remove them in Lightroom, but it is hard to deal with, and in this case, leaves some awkward artifacts in the image when I try and remove the offending branches. Photoshop has far more precise tools to deal with situations like this and provide a more seamless result. A little chainsaw work prior to shooting would have been very effective, but they rather frown on that on the island.

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FWIW, I like the look of the snow coming across some of the photos.

[MuddyWaters62]

I am amazed at your talent along with Clovis pup, me on the other side dealt with radiographs for 41 years. Like working with 1000 different shades of gray. The only ways we had were to use KVP, amperage, and time. pretty crude way of adjustment back then. Since digital came on the scene, it is far easier to format an image that is diagnostic. Who knows what the future holds for us. I have seen so many innovative changes in my career. Good Luck on your issues.

Muddy Waters 68

[North Country Gal]

Love them all, actually. Something to be said for both natural and enhanced versions. I've always been a fan of black and white, though. I think it's still the best medium for capturing the subtitles of lighting.

[RanchRoper]

Looks good. Like the black and whites.

[Ernie]

Very nice. I like the 3rd one in the first series and my favorite is the 2nd one in the 2nd series. Not sure why but maybe because it appears to have more depth.

[dave77]

Love them all, actually. Something to be said for both natural and enhanced versions. I've always been a fan of black and white, though. I think it's still the best medium for capturing the subtitles of lighting.

Just look at what Ansel Adams was able to do with B&W. Some of his Original signed prints sell for 1000's of dollars.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Ansel+A ... 0&dpr=1.67

[JEBar]

the all look good to me ....

[clovishound]

OK guys and gals do me a favor and tell which of these you prefer.

Mild:

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Wild:

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Artsy:

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[BrokenolMarine]

Very nice, I always like the combinations of sunsets and shadow or backlighting.

[Hatchdog]

I have to say that while the black & white is the most dramatic the color pics are simply beautiful. For that reason I choose the most enhanced color pics, the level of the blue in contrast with orange sky and the branches is very appealing.

But the winner is definitely the subject. I have never heard of Boneyard beach and I can only imagine what the entire scene looks like. Very cool!

[clovishound]

There are several of these boneyard beaches on the barrier islands here in South Carolina. It is a case of the beaches eroding from shifting currents and storms and they erode back to the point that they engulf trees that were growing near the eroding beach. Most of them are difficult to access. They require a boat trip, or access through either private property, or protected environments.

[Ernie]

I like the mild best.

[clovishound]

Well, the Pup and I decided to go back on our own. I've been so used to working the evening shift that even after a couple months of retirement, getting up at 4 AM in order to be on the beach as the sun comes up is a bear. But I'm up, just had a cup of coffee and something to eat, about to take a shower and hit the road. Hopefully we will come back with some nice pics. This getting up in the middle of the night if for the birds!