Pacific Northwest trek

I went on my first ever photo workshop, the Mentor Series Pacific Northwest 2010 Trek. It was so much fun, though very hectic. I learned a lot.

It was raining the first 2 days and we were whining, then we got clear blue skies and we were whining - too much contrast!

I would like comments/critiques on the images I made, so that I might improve further. I tend to be biased toward high contrast, so I need help determining a baseline as to what is too much contrast. I prefer candor over politeness, please.

Thanks in advance.

Crescent Lake in Olympic Natl Park


There were kayakers hired as models








At Sol Duc Falls. This was at the smaller creek before Sol Duc Falls itself. I got to play with my ND filter for the first time also. My concern here is, did I overdo it (water foam)? This is with the 85 1.4 AFD @f9 4 secs. Lots of PP as the light was patchy (inside the old growth forest).



At La Push marina

Crescent Lake
I understand the "big wide outdoors" feel you were going for in the first image, but I think your subject is a little lost here. Excellent focus on the kayaks, but you can hardly see them. Perhaps cropping out a chunk of that foreground water would help.

Sol Duc Falls
This is a phenomenal shot! I think maybe the exposure is about 1 sec. too long, because the water looks just a tad bit too silky. Otherwise, it looks great.

La Push Marina
Great job here, too. Nice application of the Rule of Thirds with this, another excellent shot!

Kayakers
I really like the shot of the 3 kayakers in yellow and orange kayaks too, but it could use a tighter crop. It's okay not to show the entire length of the boats, so zoom in and frame the fun and conversation they're having!

Thanks for the feedback, Anthony. So, is the contrast ok, especially on the kayakers?

garao said:

Thanks for the feedback, Anthony. So, is the contrast ok, especially on the kayakers?

Click to expand...

I think so, yes. But I tend to lean towards high contrast myself, so my opinion may be biased. The very last shot is the only one that looks like the contrast might be a little high to me.

Gorgeous shots, Gene! My favorite is the sol duc falls --beautiful color, lighting and tone. The only pic that bothers me a tad is the last one. It's a wonderful shot, but maybe your post processing might be off a little. Maybe contrast too high or too much of an "S" in the tone curve. Maybe if you just lighten the trees a little with the adjustment brush . . . I'm always amazed at how much difference a very small adjustment makes. I love the blue in the water and the deep orange in the rocks leads me to believe that it was taken close to sunrise (since you're in CA --sun would be setting over the ocean, since it's not, sun must be rising behind you --I had to really work on this! ) However, the sky does not appear like a sunrise or sunset sky. Another thought is to maybe deepen the color of the sky. Lots of possibilities here.

I think the contrast on the people and all others is just fine.

Your pics make me really miss the coast. . .sigh

Best Regards

I forgot to mention the one of the beautiful young woman with the oar . . . make sure the catchlights in her eyes are visible, otherwise the eyes look flat. Photoshop them in if you have to, just make sure it doesn't look "fakey."

Thanks Anthony. I had seen a post where you confessed your bias toward high contrast.

Thanks Helene. I agree with both of you about the last pic. I did get carried away with PP on that one. This is actually just before sunset, but I messed with the sky too much. I will start over on that one with your comments in mind.

I especially appreciate the comment about the contrast. That has always been a great uncertainty for me.

Re the catch light (warrior pose?), I will see what I can do about that one.

Best Regards

Gene, have you thought of using a polarizing filter when you're anywhere near water? I think that would make a big difference in your contrast dilema. Politeness aside....I think your contrast is too high.

Thanks fotojack. Politeness won't help me. Let's see if we can find the right level of contrast. Would this treatment be closer? It's also taking into consideration Anthony's suggestion (closer crop). I also reduced the saturation.

About the saturation, the output jpeg seems to be so much more saturated on output from CNX2. So I have to add a desat step when I save to jpeg. Is that common to raw converters, or is it just CNX2?

I was using a pol. This was taken at high noon. I could see the bottom of the lake in some of my shots, even with the refllections. My concern is my tendency to go high contrast on my treatments, so I need a base for reference.