Boneyard beach

[Nam Vet]

All beautiful photographs.

[clovishound]

The pup and I went back again this morning. Think we got some good shots. I took a closeup of some weathered grain on a piece of driftwood. Didn't notice the faces until I got home and transferred the picture to the computer. There is one main face, but the Pup pointed out a couple secondary ones, I didn't notice.

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[markiver54]

Very interesting! Great shot!

[clovishound]

It was a beautiful sunrise on the beach. We had some cloud cover this morning, unlike the last two trips.

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[markiver54]

Those are definitely worthy of frames!
I would put them on MY wall in a heartbeat.

[clovishound]

4:00 AM Ugghhh.

Looks like we're making another trip to the beach. Got a new Nikon Z5 to try out!

[Sir Henry]

I almost always add saturation and sometimes brilliance. I do it almost to the point of making my pictures surreal. You did a fantastic job.

[clovishound]

Had a great trip. Unfortunately, the forecast clouds did not appear to provide some added color. New Nikon was great, although there are a few features I need to become more familiar with.

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[EasyEd]

Hey All,

How you liking the z5? What did you use before? I like the image you captured with it - not overdone or garrish. Would look good in B&W. Do you use picture controls at all?

I'm a Fuji guy and use my X-T4 an sometimes my older X-E1. I'll have to post a pic or two. I really like using the Fuji film emulations.

Look forward to more pics.

-Ed-

[clovishound]

Hey All,

How you liking the z5? What did you use before? I like the image you captured with it - not overdone or garrish. Would look good in B&W. Do you use picture controls at all?

I'm a Fuji guy and use my X-T4 an sometimes my older X-E1. I'll have to post a pic or two. I really like using the Fuji film emulations.

Look forward to more pics.

-Ed-

So far, I'm loving the Z5, however I've only had it out twice, so still on the honeymoon. It is geared more towards the more serious amateur, so it doesn't have some of the simple modes, like sports mode or landscape mode. You can program up to three customized modes, but I just leave it in aperture preferred and keep an eye on my shutter speed. A quick turn of the dial can open or close the aperture and give me the combo I need.

The picture I posted required extensive post processing. This is mainly due to the fact that I'm shooting at sunrise, with extensive backlighting. This picture is actually a composite of 5 pictures. I shot in auto bracket mode and took 5 pictures in 1 stop increments then merged them in Lightroom using the HDR merge function. It is designed to increase dynamic range and can help with detail in deep shadows, and color density in bright highlights. I found that the biggest improvement in my pictures using this technique was in the photos that I didn't think had that great a disparity in the dynamic range. FYI this is a brand new technique to me, just tried it out for the first time on this trip. The Z5 will do HDR in camera, but it only uses 2 images. I opted for post processing HDR. BTW you can do this with any digital camera as long as you can take bracketed pictures of the same static scene on a tripod. You will need processing software that utilizes HDR merge.

Yes, this picture does well in B&W. I have another B&W from this trip that is even better, but looks best printed, rather than on the screen. This version is a little dark. I think I was going for the look of the darkness of early sunrise. I have since reworked it, but didn't feel like going back and exporting it again as a JPG.

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Here's one that really shows the clarity offered by HDR processing. Well, at least it does as full resolution files on my computer and printed. The smaller JPGs posted here are not up to the full rez copies.

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[EasyEd]

Hey All,

I like the black and white you just posted an I'm glad you dealt with the distracting tree trunk goin out of the scene at the top - makes the image much better.

As for the color image below the black and white - as nice as it is to many - the HDR haloing artifact on the tree trunk an branches I think does detract from the image - for me anyway. I have used a couple different HDR programs over the years and really like what they do - sometimes - but once you start noticing the artifacts it gets hard - for me anyway - to like them as much. To me HDR is another tool in the toolbox absolutely excellent in some situations an not so much in others. Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I know semi-pro an pro photographers will pickup on this stuff way faster than me. I hope you are not offended I'm just pointing out what I see.

My X-T4 will do HDR as well and I have to admit I've never tried HDR on it. I just know it uses three images. I can do brackets (up to 7 images) exposure or focus as well but have not tried them.

Right now I'm looking at alternatives to HDR and the best one so far is luminosity masking.

Here is a vid on HDR vs luminosity masks.

https://youtu.be/VWhBcMxo1ew

Since you have Photoshop you could get right into this.

I have no intention of buying into adobe an so am looking into alternative work flows to do luminosity masks. Likely an appropriate raw converter an affinity photo. Maybe stand alone capture one an affinity photo. The challenge I have is that my X-T4 has an x-trans sensor and not a Bayer like your Nikon. This complicates things.

I enjoy your images an look forward to more than just boneyard beach.

-Ed-

[clovishound]

Hey All,

I like the black and white you just posted an I'm glad you dealt with the distracting tree trunk goin out of the scene at the top - makes the image much better.

As for the color image below the black and white - as nice as it is to many - the HDR haloing artifact on the tree trunk an branches I think does detract from the image - for me anyway. I have used a couple different HDR programs over the years and really like what they do - sometimes - but once you start noticing the artifacts it gets hard - for me anyway - to like them as much. To me HDR is another tool in the toolbox absolutely excellent in some situations an not so much in others. Maybe I'm overly sensitive but I know semi-pro an pro photographers will pickup on this stuff way faster than me. I hope you are not offended I'm just pointing out what I see.

My X-T4 will do HDR as well and I have to admit I've never tried HDR on it. I just know it uses three images. I can do brackets (up to 7 images) exposure or focus as well but have not tried them.

Right now I'm looking at alternatives to HDR and the best one so far is luminosity masking.

Here is a vid on HDR vs luminosity masks.

https://youtu.be/VWhBcMxo1ew

Since you have Photoshop you could get right into this.

I have no intention of buying into adobe an so am looking into alternative work flows to do luminosity masks. Likely an appropriate raw converter an affinity photo. Maybe stand alone capture one an affinity photo. The challenge I have is that my X-T4 has an x-trans sensor and not a Bayer like your Nikon. This complicates things.

I enjoy your images an look forward to more than just boneyard beach.

-Ed-

I'm not offended in the least in someone pointing out legitimate issues with my photographs. I had not noticed the halos in this photograph until you said something. There were a couple photos that I noticed something similar, particularly in some heavily backlit images. Some were in pics that were not run through HDR merging.

I'm looking forward to getting some good images under my belt. Having a camera better suited to me is a confidence builder, although I am aware that it's about the image, not the camera. There is another picture that I have just gotten through editing and printing that is the best B&W that I have ever done. Not that it is any great photograph per se, but it feels good to me. Of course, the new picture smell hasn't worn off it yet. Unfortunately, I have found that many of the photos don't look nearly as good in the lower resolution versions appropriate to upload to a forum vs a full rez picture to a good printer, or to the screen.

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Some images straight out of camera (SOOC) no post processing.

The point to these is just to show different film emulations.

1. Provia

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2. Eternal Bleach Bypass

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3. Classic Chrome

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4. Provia with blue cranked up plus other adjustments - all in camera

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All images were within a minute or so of each other. These are just to show a small part of what you can get SOOC not using Lightroom or Photoshop or any other post processing software.
I can easily see using an "appropriate" film sim an then just minor adjustments in post on a computer.
I can always get a pure raw file and do everything in post but prefer getting close to final while out in the field. Really excited I found this kind of workflow
-Ed-

[Travlin]

Very interesting what can now be done with technology. Thanks for posting the photos and the explanation.

[clovishound]

With time on my hands, and unable to go out and take new pictures, I have been going back and reworking some of my earlier images. I redid this one from my first outing at the beach from scratch, and think it is worth revisiting.

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[markiver54]

Really nice!
Almost an erie feeling. Interesting.

[clovishound]

It can be a little eerie with the trees in the surf. It is also quite beautiful, especially when the sun is coming up. It would be worth getting up early and driving an hour just to see the sunrise there, even without taking pictures. The activity of taking the pictures definitely distracts one from appreciating the beauty. I have consciously taken a moment or two there just to enjoy the experience.

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