Morning Mist - Attempt

[Littlenose]

I've been out there at it again... on Friday morning, we had a wonderful bright start tot he day after a miserable night [remember "english wine"], and on the way into work i noticed that the mist was hoveing in teh valley on the Mole River near Boxhill... so i pulled over into one of the carparks and caught the sun peeking through the clouds...

On this attempt i found it very hard to get the lighting right, as i had the mornign sun exploding throught he clouds, and a dark foreground... my over expose / under expose warning lights were going off in my head, and i couldn't get it right.

I've managed to put two images together to get something nearing the view that i had stood there myself, but it really does not hold the same wow factor at all... any hints would be appreciated here... i suspect i may be looking to invest in some grad filters? But then, i may just be barking up the wrong tree?

Below are the two images, and the merged image.

Thanks for looking.

[poke]

The merged one is pretty decent. I can see what you mean about the wow factor, and unfortunately I have no idea what to tell you apart from thanks for sharing and keep shooting. :)

[dewmuw]

Wow - how d'ya do it?

[Littlenose]

Cheers Poke... don't worry, I'll keep trying and keep posting, as i'm determined to crack this nut called landscape photography.

Damian, i'll send a post shortly to show how it's done, but it really is pretty simple... basically using the gradient tool and the opacity of a layer.

[Simon Spiers]

Got shots Littlenose.
Tricky one that.
Might see you at Box hill this summer.
I ride a Blackbird :D

[rssfhs]

I played around with your image a bit. Is this any better?

[Littlenose]

rss... yes i like that more... what did you do? play with the curves in PS? ... my girl calls post processing "cheating" :o ... i like to cheat ;-)

Simon, cheers... and yep, i'll be dropping into box most weekends at some point or other :D

[Littlenose]

Wow - how d'ya do it?

I figured it'd be easier for you and me if i found a real tutorial on the effect i used...

http://www.dreamvision-entertainment.com/dvw/tutorials/blendtut.html

The gradient vector i used was quite narrow in a vertical direction across the horizon.
Hope that helps Damian.

[rssfhs]

rss... yes i like that more... what did you do? play with the curves in PS? ... my girl calls post processing "cheating" :o ... i like to cheat ;-)


Yes, I played around with curves and added a bit of saturation to the greens. I don't consider it cheating if the end result is natural looking. I do it all the time.

[Sydor25]

... my girl calls post processing "cheating" :o ... i like to cheat ;)



Soon to be ex-girlfriend. ;) Of course, if you are not cheating, then you aren't trying. :lol:

[geecee]

rss... yes i like that more... what did you do? play with the curves in PS? ... my girl calls post processing "cheating" :o ... i like to cheat ;-)


Many people don't realise that "serious" photograhers both amateur and pro have been manipulating their photographs for over 100 years. This in particular applies to B & W where you can alter density and contrast, lighten or darken parts of the image during printing. Not to mention making a print any size or shepe you like. People think that the print you get from the lab is your only option.

[Jonny]

Hope you don't mind but i had a play with it too.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.speed/Forums%20Pictures/doc.jpg

[geecee]

Hope you don't mind but i had a play with it too.

Wow! I like that.

[Littlenose]

Jonny, i like whwat you've done to the pic overall, but it looks a little over saturated for me, especially the grass... sorry

[SonicZoom]

Photoshop makes once impossible shots possible to an avid photoshop user.

I assume you exposed for the sky, then another for the foreground... then merged the two together with a mask in photoshop. Nice work. However try making the wooden posts stand out more by giving them a grey hue. Tedious work but I think it'll add a whole new deminsion. I'd also say make your sky darker at the top while leaving the treeline bright in the merged image.

[cactusclay]

Nice job, it really looks real. I still have a hard time accepting altered landscapes and I know I shouldn't, but I use to shoot landscapes with view cameras and merging images just seems like cheating. I guess it's just something I will have to get used to in this new digital world. :lol: