Even More Fun Pictures with Nikon

[Corlan F.]

Gotta love the place... still in Utah?

 

[Corlan F.]

Well, with all the splendid photos recently posted here in the major genres of portraits, street smiles, land and city scapes, wild & exotic life, outporch and outdoor views (i'm now, is it the same? ), life stories, tormented skies & al... guess some'd rather stick to no-risk, lesser categories, such as the "vegetables and other boring plants'".

That's a, er, job... someone has to do it. Have worked on a bunch lately... first, from the ending summer:

 

[Corlan F.]

...



Be w(e)ary, got some more to come...
Hopefully a couple might be of technical interest, later on...

 

[Lloyd]

Gotta love the place... still in Utah?

Yes. The heart of the Reservation.

 

[Lloyd]

Well, with all the splendid photos recently posted here in the major genres of portraits, street smiles, land and city scapes, wild & exotic life, outporch and outdoor views (i'm now, is it the same? ), life stories, tormented skies & al... guess some'd rather stick to no-risk, lesser categories, such as the "vegetables and other boring plants'".

That's a, er, job... someone has to do it. Have worked on a bunch lately... first, from the ending summer:

Bring it on!! Love the effect here... look like a watercolor.

 

[Lloyd]

...



Be w(e)ary, got some more to come...
Hopefully a couple might be of technical interest, later on...

Beauty... and that bokeh is creamy rich. Which lens here?

 

[Corlan F.]

Yes. The heart of the Reservation.

Help me out here... not familiar with the reservation layout in this specific area. Is it in the vicinity of Cache NF and Bear Lake?

It's one of my favorite places in the world, never missed a chance to either stay or drive across the country... i even used to have my fav spot for berry shake... i miss it badly now that i'm pretty much stuck in Europe...

 

[Lloyd]

Help me out here... not familiar with the reservation layout in this specific area. Is it in the vicinity of Cache NF and Bear Lake?

It's one of my favorite places in the world, never missed a chance to either stay or drive across the country... i even used to have my fav spot for berry shake... i miss it badly now that i'm pretty much stuck in Europe...

That is a wonderful area, which I'm quite fond of myself, but no, this is the The Uintah and Ouray reservation is located in Northeastern Utah (Fort Duchesne) approximately 150 miles east of Salt Lake City on US Highway 40. The reservation is located within a three-county area known as the "Uintah Basin". It is the second largest Indian Reservation in the United States that covers over 4.5 million acres.

 

[TRSmith]

Very nice work Lloyd! My favorite is the sot of your Dad sighting through his scope. I hunt every year, although my main enjoyment is the great group of guys I hunt with. I can completely relate to your scenes, except the landscape is very different. I imagine it's otherwise just as much fun.

 

[Corlan F.]

That is a wonderful area, which I'm quite fond of myself, but no, this is the The Uintah and Ouray reservation is located in Northeastern Utah (Fort Duchesne) approximately 150 miles east of Salt Lake City on US Highway 40. The reservation is located within a three-county area known as the "Uintah Basin". It is the second largest Indian Reservation in the United States that covers over 4.5 million acres.

OK got it now. With the peculiar shape of the state, i thought NE as in the NE corner north of SLC... Well if one day i come across again (not any time soon though) maybe you'll honor me with some more Utah insider tips and, who knows, good stories...

Been over there about a dozen times, but never stayed long enough...

 

[Lloyd]

Very nice work Lloyd! My favorite is the sot of your Dad sighting through his scope. I hunt every year, although my main enjoyment is the great group of guys I hunt with. I can completely relate to your scenes, except the landscape is very different. I imagine it's otherwise just as much fun.

Thanks Tim. Having been to Maine, I concur that there is a pretty dramatic difference. We do have pine covered mountains in that area as well, but this hunt while high in elevation (about 7000 feet), was in a plateau and canyon region known as the Book Cliffs, which are covered with sagebrush, pinion pine and junipers.

 

[Lloyd]

OK got it now. With the peculiar shape of the state, i thought NE as in the NE corner north of SLC... Well if one day i come across again (not any time soon though) maybe you'll honor me with some more Utah insider tips and, who knows, good stories...

Been over there around a dozen times, but never stayed long enough...

Glad to do so. Anytime.

 

[Lloyd]

Another from the Book Cliffs:

D3, 14-24/2.8 @ 14/f11:

 

[Corlan F.]

now for the autumn side:





...

 

[Corlan F.]

Two other shots of different subjects at a few minutes intervall:



The second one under the same light was not exposed on the leaf but precisely on the highlights... this time (not in the post above) both with a piece of white foam used as a little reflector to get a tad of fill-in. Shadows are smoother and overall dynamic balance is improved. Of course it depends on the result you want.



These two (that is, the production versions with better PP, retouching etc.) along with one following soon made their way into a small agency small-to-mid size poster pool. First's titled "Heart of stones" (translasted). Low-level stuff for sure, but still a bit of a satisfaction.

What's posted here are pretty much the RAW with minimum processing (bit of glow on the first), thought that maybe the metering aspect could be of some interest (got some PM related questions about that lately). Even though, as often, for some reason the forum version once posted looks darker lass less defined though somehow oversharpened (and blown up) in some limited areas. I know i'm not good at jpeg, but there must be an automatic processing of some sort... well...

 

[Corlan F.]

This last one (for now ) is one of preparatory files for the other poster print mentioned above...


The general context (-not the finished product, can't post it):



Then one of the original shots (jpeg reduced @ forum size):



Then a crop detail:



...

Ok, couple more details from the series :deadhorse::
(pictures used in the finished versions)

 

[Lloyd]

This last one (for now ) is one of preparatory files for the other poster print mentioned above...


The general context (-not the finished product, can't post it):



Then one of the original shots (jpeg reduced @ forum size):



Then a crop detail:



...

Ok, couple more details from the series :deadhorse::
(pictures used in the finished versions)

Good stuff, Corlan. I really like what you've done the that poster. The leaf out of the frame is very kewl.

 

[AlexLF]

Alex, this is very nice with deep rich colors and smooth tonality. No doubt your client will be pleased.

I have a couple questions though. Given the small pixel size on the D3x sensor has it created any DOF issues before diffraction kicked in for you on this type of setup? How much if any post production enhancements are you doing with this camera... or are these images pretty much right out of the box?

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Rob, if I understand your question right regarding DOF and diffraction - AFAIK DOF depends only on "film" format (at the constant aperture). So diffraction could come into play at high apertures which I haven't use for this pic.

This photo was made of 4 exposures (-2, -1, 0, +1 EV) blended in PS. But it took me 20 min to post-process it. This is an easy case. I also so make some color correction just to make the photo "sing" (well, I'm still learning). In general, I don't see any problem doing PP - people tend to remember more vivid picture of anything anyway, and we capture that moment (as photographers). So the result should be more vivid that it originally was.

I don't believe any pro photographer present its work as is - no way. So 99% of my photos are PP'd. But most of the time I just do some color correction and run one pretty simple action in PS to sharpen an image for the web.

As to the color rendition of the D3x - never had problems with it even if I take pics in JPEG. I can't really compare that with my previous cameras (all Canon's) mostly because I haven't had enough knowledge in PS that time. But D3x requires way less PP compared with what I do with my scans from LF film

Here's another example (D3x, 24-70, all one exposure, processed in PS, done for a client's local office):

[I don't really like the color on this one so I'll have to make it over]

 

[AlexLF]

As I've mentioned here before, my father was born and raised on an Indian reservation in Northeastern Utah. He went away to war in Europe as a young man (something he's never talked about to anyone), and then attended college (still a rare thing among those from where he comes) where he met my mother (who was born in Boston, and raised there and in England). He returned home, and coached basketball, and taught math and health for nearly 40 years. The kids called him Chief Yellow Hat, as he somehow developed a preference for bright yellow baseball caps. He moves slowly now, having had three knee replacements (only two knees, but one had to be done again after 15 years), and a hip replacement last year, but his mind is sharp as a tack, and his hands (and aim) as rock steady as ever.

Hunting was a way of life for my father, and is intertwined in most of the memories and stories of his youth... it is simply part of who he is. Now at almost 84, he wanted to go one more time to an area he hunted in as a young man, but which had been closed to hunting for number of years, and which even now allows only a small number of permits each year. He and my brother applied for 9 years before finally succeeding this year. Though not hunting myself, I decided that this last hunt was something I should not miss.

The hunt was successful on many levels... we saw lots of deer (as indicated by the few samples I posted above); both my Dad and my brother took large bucks (I'll respect the sensitivities of some, and not post those images), but most of all just to be with my father one more time in the wild land of his youth... to hear the stories, and to see his joy at sharing this experience with us, is something I will never forget. And every once in while, the elder disappeared, and a young man I have only imagined appeared. It was strong medicine, it may take me a long time to understand just how strong.

[pics...]

With that narration it's already a nice short movie...

 

[Corlan F.]

Nice set Alex.

This one really sings!

(be aware though of the pending ban rule for posting brick walls on this forum... :ROTFL


oops, edit, quoted the wrong photo...