Spring Thunder on Lake Superior

A short thunder storm rolled in around sunset last night so I took off down to the lake. Luckily it sort of rained everywhere except the exact spot I was in so I got quite the show. I've been trying to teach myself how to use luminosity masks for blending exposures and I feel like Im getting the hang of it - much better than painting/erasing a mask once you figure it out.

As always, comments and critique are welcome and encouraged.

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Really pretty scenes, but to me, it looks like the shadows have been lifted a bit too much. The rocks don't look natural any more.

I like the 2nd shot best

Is the water horizon because of the lens you used?

Nice photo though.

Todd Lambert wrote in post #14437981
Really pretty scenes, but to me, it looks like the shadows have been lifted a bit too much. The rocks don't look natural any more.

agree with this, great compo and good post work, but maybe a little overdone. But what happened to the horizon, especially in 1 and 3 its going wavy all the way.

ch.

1 and 3 were taken with the Samyang 14 2.8 - it has some pretty crazy distortion but for the price, the IQ is otherwise amazing. I have a Camera Raw lens profile for it, but the path the website gave for Windows 7 users does not exist on my machine - the baby began crying before I could find it. Hopefully I can find it tonight, Ill agree that is some pretty crazy distortion and it will drive me nuts before long. The 2nd image was with the ZE21 so the problem is more well corrected (although there is still a bit of moustache distortion).

Maybe I did get a bit carried away with my new-found powers - my light shots were likely overexposed to begin with. I especially see it in #1 - do the rest require a bit of an adjustment, too? To my un-trained and un-refined eyes, the second two look about right to me.

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Ah, I was going to guess if these were the Samyang 14. I've heard about the mustache distortion but was wondering how much it would show in landscape shots. I guess this answers that for me. You should definitely be able to correct, but you'll lose a mm or two.

I think the main issue with these that makes them look surreal to me, is that the shadows on the facing rocks are almost gone. In real life, the sides of the rocks that face the camera, would be in deep shadow and here they are as bright as the top or front facing side of the rocks which are lit by the last remnants of sun light.

That's what makes them looks odd in my eyes. If you just brought a bit more shadow into the back of the rocks that faces the camera, I think it would be perfect.

Thanks for sharing, it's a really pretty scene and the skies are fantastic.

Todd Lambert wrote in post #14440106
Ah, I was going to guess if these were the Samyang 14. I've heard about the mustache distortion but was wondering how much it would show in landscape shots. I guess this answers that for me. You should definitely be able to correct, but you'll lose a mm or two.

I think the main issue with these that makes them look surreal to me, is that the shadows on the facing rocks are almost gone. In real life, the sides of the rocks that face the camera, would be in deep shadow and here they are as bright as the top or front facing side of the rocks which are lit by the last remnants of sun light.

That's what makes them looks odd in my eyes. If you just brought a bit more shadow into the back of the rocks that faces the camera, I think it would be perfect.

Thanks for sharing, it's a really pretty scene and the skies are fantastic.

Thanks for the insight - Ill give it a shot when I get home. In case you happen to come back into my thread, would you do this by just burning the shadows back in or is there an adjusment you would perform instead.

If you (or anyone else) has a moment, feel free to take a stab at getting those shadows back into line and post it here. I'd be curious to see what you come up with.

Great work! I like the first and the third most. I guess that I like distortion.

MNUplander wrote in post #14439747
the baby began crying before I could find it. Hopefully I can find it tonight, Ill agree that is some pretty crazy distortion and it will drive me nuts before long. The 2nd image was with the ZE21 so the problem is more well corrected (although there is still a bit of moustache distortion).

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Blaming it on the baby...hehe - lol
I am glad I am about 25 years past those days...

They are nice images, you did a great job getting there to make the images.

Im liking the "new found powers" and looking forward to more like this from you
amazing skies.
Best,
Doug

Excellent! work and stunning shots! I really like the 1st and 2nd one (the 3rd is also great but don't "like" the green part on the right).

Looks pretty ominous, nice ones.

Love that first one! Very nice!

pbelarge wrote in post #14441451
Blaming it on the baby...hehe - lol
I am glad I am about 25 years past those days...

They are nice images, you did a great job getting there to make the images.

Yah, I know its a cheap shot. But, as I'm sure you know, she pretty much takes priority over everything immediately. She's 8 months and we're expecting our second in August so things are about to get even more busy around our house!

Thanks for the comments, everyone!