First Snow Shoot
Charles E Hardwidge
pictures in overcast 3" deep snow. It's a bit of a drag figuring out the
white balance and exposure. I've taken some shots with a three colour card
and used exposure bracketing to get a range of shots. Going to have a look
later and see what works.
Not going to freeze my ass off like last time. Kick ass boots. Hiking socks.
Check. Dramatically big coat. Check. Indiana Jones Hat. Check. Battery fully
charged. Check. Camera in snug leather case so it doesn't get scratched to
buggery in my coat pocket. Check. Haven't got a fucking clue what I'm going
to shoot. Check.
Okay, I'm going to fuel up with some porridge and see if I need to organise
some bacon sandwiches. No point going out just fuelled by nicotine and
caffeine.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
I never have to go far to get good snow shots.
Within easy walking distance of my house:
River
Woods
Populated Urban area
Lake
Now all I need is a day where it's about 30 degrees F
John Sisker
news:EuZ0n.22591$Ym4....@text.news.virginmedia.com...
Enough with the words already... show us some pictures.
John Sisker - Huntington Beach, California
Charles E Hardwidge
news:ge2dnV7SCqZBGNnW...@ntd.net...
> I never have to go far to get good snow shots.
>
> Within easy walking distance of my house:
>
> River
> Woods
> Populated Urban area
> Lake
>
> Now all I need is a day where it's about 30 degrees F
Had a big bowl of hot porridge and got hit by a wall of sleep after a
stressy week. Just woke up a while back. Duh. I haven't got that range of
shots but can get 3/4 of the way there at a push. Like Vance, one big
problem is apathy: finding the magic in an over-familiar scene.
I was caught a little by surprise and the snow isn't scheduled to last long
but I wasn't totally clueless. Got the white balance nailed first and took
shots at different exposures. A lot of the early shots the BBC put up on the
local news page were all over the place. One even had their white balance
set to what looked like tungsten.
Ah, bastard. There's me looking all swashbuckling while taking a photo of my
the local shops and restaurant around the corner, and someone who looked
like a villain out of OHMSS with an SLR taking a sneaky picture of me. My
guess is they got the better shot due to people positioning and exposure,
and I had a classic scene to my background. Whatever.
After reviewing my shots there's no major howlers but I could've improved
the exposure, been more careful with composition, and been more on the ball
and/or patient with people to add focus to the scene. I wouldn't die if
anyone saw them but they could've been significantly better. Also, I'm
bummed that I didn't haul my ass back out to take more.
The thing that was getting me was exposure. I've looked at the bracketed
shots and the over-exposed ones lost a /little/ detail in the bright snow
but kept detail in the darks. The standard and under-exposed ones gained a
/little/ in snow detail but lost more than they gained elsewhere. More skill
here would mean better timing and fewer wasted shots.
All the other issues are basically standard stuff. Camera handling,
settings, composition, timing, identifying the shot, people, and all the
other crap is the same as any other day. Fundamentals, and shooting under a
range of conditions, and persistence and patience are key. Usual continuous
self-improvement mantra. Practice makes perfect.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
> "philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:ge2dnV7SCqZBGNnW...@ntd.net...
>
>> I never have to go far to get good snow shots.
>>
>> Within easy walking distance of my house:
>>
>> River
>> Woods
>> Populated Urban area
>> Lake
>>
>> Now all I need is a day where it's about 30 degrees F
>
> Had a big bowl of hot porridge and got hit by a wall of sleep after a
> stressy week. Just woke up a while back. Duh. I haven't got that range of
> shots but can get 3/4 of the way there at a push. Like Vance, one big
> problem is apathy: finding the magic in an over-familiar scene.
My bet is that if you really think about it
you will find a new approach
Very little snow here yet but it looks like we are going to get hit hard
tonight
so maybe I'll get in some winter photography yet
>
>
<snip>
Charles E Hardwidge
news:hi377l$d8o$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
> Charles E Hardwidge wrote:
>> Had a big bowl of hot porridge and got hit by a wall of sleep after a
>> stressy week. Just woke up a while back. Duh. I haven't got that range of
>> shots but can get 3/4 of the way there at a push. Like Vance, one big
>> problem is apathy: finding the magic in an over-familiar scene.
> My bet is that if you really think about it
> you will find a new approach
>
> Very little snow here yet but it looks like we are going to get hit hard
> tonight
>
> so maybe I'll get in some winter photography yet
It's that unlearning thing and not pushing to hard. I've found the key is
approach, or form and attitude, and gentle positive pressure. Quality and
appeal follows afterwards.
You've got the kit and sound familiar enough with what's around, and have a
heads-up on the weather. To paraphrase Woody Allen, all you have to do is
arrive. But, you seem together on that as well.
I await your glorious things, oh master. ;-)
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
In a way I hope it snows so much I don't have to go to work
that does not even happen once a year though
Charles E Hardwidge
> Charles E Hardwidge wrote:
>> You've got the kit and sound familiar enough with what's around, and have
>> a heads-up on the weather. To paraphrase Woody Allen, all you have to do
>> is arrive. But, you seem together on that as well.
>>
>> I await your glorious things, oh master. ;-)
>
> In a way I hope it snows so much I don't have to go to work
>
> that does not even happen once a year though
I understand the average American has fewer days holiday than the Japanese.
There's definitely a case for you guys taking more time out especially when
weighed against the quality of life and productivity thing.
Maybe you'll get lucky and will hit at the weekend?
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
That's why I never got another job
I'd lose my seniority
and right now between vacation days and holidays
I get 30 days a year of *paid* off time
maybe I should quit griping about my job!
Peter
In these times you should be happy to have one. I know many who are without
and others who have taken cuts in benefits and pay and/or are working
vastly extended hours, doing multiple jobs.
--
Peter
Charles E Hardwidge
> Charles E Hardwidge wrote:
>> I understand the average American has fewer days holiday than the
>> Japanese. There's definitely a case for you guys taking more time out
>> especially
>> when weighed against the quality of life and productivity thing.
>>
>> Maybe you'll get lucky and will hit at the weekend?
>
> That's why I never got another job
>
> I'd lose my seniority
>
> and right now between vacation days and holidays
>
> I get 30 days a year of *paid* off time
>
> maybe I should quit griping about my job!
That's not a bad deal. Can't remember the numbers but, actually, the
Japanese get a huge number of days off, Europe is about the middle, and
America near the bottom. But, when you compare European quality of life and
Japanese productivity America is down the shitter and gets a lousy deal.
I'd like it if you guys had more holidays because the usual suspects over
here always make some asshole comparison so they can look tough and screw
someone else. I could probably dig up some crap on working conditions and
fair wages that shows nickle and diming is bad value in the long run.
What with buying stuff and all the social grease it would be interesting to
see what value photographers add to the economy. Hey, how about leaning on
your boss for a 10% pay rise and another paid week off? It wouldn't just be
the charitable view it would be The American Thing To Do (TM). And if that
fails, well, you'll have plenty of time. ;-)
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Michael
<bo...@invalid.invalid> said:
3" of snow?
We call that late summer.
--
Michael
Charles E Hardwidge
news:nOWdndi9zvr5INnW...@earthlink.com...
> Enough with the words already... show us some pictures.
The topic is dealing with the experience. My focus and tilt is on a
different part of the spectrum to yours so I've got a different set of
issues. As for yourself, unless you fundamentally change your strengths
aren't creativity or deep market loyalty. But, you can work on raising
quality and appreciating differing tastes more. That will increase your
sweet spot. In turn, your batting average will go up.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Charles E Hardwidge
news:2010010620441716807-adunc79617@mypacksnet...
> On 2010-01-06 05:21:24 -0500, "Charles E Hardwidge"
> 3" of snow?
> We call that late summer.
Sometimes you just have take what you can get. :-) The exposure is a bitch
no matter how deep it is. Taking the opportunity while I can in kid friendly
snow will help out down the road with BIG JOBS. Improving now will make
dealing with MAN SIZED SNOW less hassle.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Robert Coe
<bo...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
: Just been out to get some supplies and used it as an excuse to take some
: pictures in overcast 3" deep snow. It's a bit of a drag figuring out the
: white balance and exposure. I've taken some shots with a three colour card
: and used exposure bracketing to get a range of shots. Going to have a look
The secret of snow photography is that you can produce a good picture at any
white balance. Bacause many snow shots are almost monochromatic, especially on
an overcast day, changing the WB doesn't make parts of the picture look weird.
I played around with such a shot once and liked what I saw at virtually every
standard WB setting that Canon has. The pictures looked radically different,
and I liked each for a different reason, but all of them had artistic merit.
You're an experimenter, Chuck; go see what you can devise. '^)
Bob
Charles E Hardwidge
news:5fiak51sqt4r0qc2j...@4ax.com...
> The secret of snow photography is that you can produce a good picture at
> any white balance. Bacause many snow shots are almost monochromatic,
> especially on an overcast day, changing the WB doesn't make parts of the
> picture look weird. I played around with such a shot once and liked what I
> saw at virtually every standard WB setting that Canon has. The pictures
> looked radically different, and I liked each for a different reason, but
> all of them had artistic merit. You're an experimenter, Chuck; go see what
> you can devise. '^)
You're right. White balance in snow was crazy. I went through the settings
in Canon's ZoomBrowser and almost anything was okay. Lightroom was more
whacked especially with tungsten.
I've been pouring over the exposures. Comparing the -1 sky against the post
corrected +1 sky, darks, and snow detail is crazy. The -1 doesn't correct up
so well in the darks but pulling +1 down brought nearly *all* of the detail
back into the scene. The bloody histogram lies like a Tory.
Okay, for the whiney b4tches I've had a hack around and put one photo from
this shoot up. There's colour and cropped variants. Can't make up my mind
which one I liked so put them all up.
Links:
http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_colour_full.jpg
http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_mono_full.jpg
http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_colour_crop.jpg
http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_mono_crop.jpg
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Robert Spanjaard
> Okay, for the whiney b4tches I've had a hack around and put one photo
> from this shoot up. There's colour and cropped variants. Can't make up
> my mind which one I liked so put them all up.
>
> Links:
>
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_colour_full.jpg
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_mono_full.jpg
>
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_colour_crop.jpg
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_mono_crop.jpg
The colour cropped version is heading in the right direction. The crop
gets rid of the distracting car to the left and the empty foreground, and
I wouldn't want to delete the colour of the buildings.
The brightness and white balance could use some work. The image is a bit
too dark and too blue for my taste. And this seems to be one of those rare
occasions when GIMP's auto white balance (Colors > Auto > White Balance)
corrects both of them quite right (perhaps a bit too warm).
Now all it needs is a bit of rotation to the right (about one degree or
slightly less), and I'd say it's at least worth keeping. :-)
http://www.arumes.com/temp/IMG_1295_edit.jpg
--
Regards, Robert http://www.arumes.com
Charles E Hardwidge
"Robert Spanjaard" <spam...@arumes.com> wrote in message
news:f06be$4b45ac8f$546accd9$3...@cache70.multikabel.net...
This was my first shoot in snow and playing with something outside the norm
in Lightroom so got snookered by that. I've already tossed the +1&0EV so had
to brighten up the -1EV (which was seriously dark). I've brightened it up,
adjusted the white balance, and added a slight straightening and it looks
better. Still not ideal but the output takes into account more factors.
http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800x600_colour_crop_v2.jpg
The other shots I took could do with similar treatment so if this is
ballpark I can adjust them accordingly. One thing that the adjusted photo
doesn't properly show is how dim the light was. It's about 1/3EV over from
my memory. That's another reason why I planned to go out again after lunch
so I could bag some better light. Anyway, that didn't happen.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
> "philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:0rudnVwxdscMrtjW...@ntd.net...
>> Charles E Hardwidge wrote:
>>> "philo" <ph...@privacy.net> wrote in message
>>> news:gLmdnXRzYfpdv9jW...@ntd.net...
>>>> Charles E Hardwidge wrote:
<snip>
>> I'd lose my seniority
>>
>> and right now between vacation days and holidays
>>
>> I get 30 days a year of *paid* off time
>>
>> maybe I should quit griping about my job!
>
>
> In these times you should be happy to have one. I know many who are
> without and others who have taken cuts in benefits and pay and/or are
> working vastly extended hours, doing multiple jobs.
>
Yes...the company cut hours nation-wide to keep lay offs to a minimum...
none in our state at all.
At my age...I no longer need the money so the cut in hours was just fine.
As a matter of fact , no one at the company seemed to mind at all.
Now that we all got used to it...they just put us back to full time again
but ...yes...glad I still have a job...
though I have seniority...it means nothing.
Anyway...the snow we've gotten so far has been very light...
so I guess I'm off to work pretty soon
philo
The one thing I've noticed over the years is that the days of having a
high-paying "cushy" job are coming to an end.
Just as an example...there was a large manufacturer in this state...
where our truck driver refused to go on a Thursday as a simple pick up
or delivery could waste up to six hours of his time.
They'd actually shut the plant down for fours hours...
while the mechanics distributed candy to all the "line workers".
Of course all the employees there made more money than out truck driver.
What a surprise...they went out of business
Charles E Hardwidge
> The one thing I've noticed over the years is that the days of having a
> high-paying "cushy" job are coming to an end.
>
> Just as an example...there was a large manufacturer in this state...
> where our truck driver refused to go on a Thursday as a simple pick up or
> delivery could waste up to six hours of his time.
>
> They'd actually shut the plant down for fours hours...
> while the mechanics distributed candy to all the "line workers".
> Of course all the employees there made more money than out truck driver.
>
> What a surprise...they went out of business
Thatcherism killed off gold standard companies and relatively well paid jobs
at the lower end over here. With no sense of irony the right wing press are
whining about companies screwing loyal customers and trying to soft peddle
Cameron's flavour of Turbo Thatcherism as some band aid to all our woes.
This is why I just kicked the snot out of some prick up newsgroup who only
ever posts one sided office wallah propoganda. When the little shit comes
back and admits the Tories and their Libertarian satellites have organised
to stir up shit with photography in public I might listen.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Robert Spanjaard
This one is just fine. Certainly better than what GIMP's AWB produced.
philo
Well
I put in a long day at work today
had to do a quite bit of driving in the snow,
no chance for photos.
At least the 5 - ten inches predicted has thus far only come to about 4"
Charles E Hardwidge
> Well
>
> I put in a long day at work today
>
> had to do a quite bit of driving in the snow,
>
> no chance for photos.
>
> At least the 5 - ten inches predicted has thus far only come to about 4"
That neatly dodged monetarism and the rabid right.
Nice to see slower driving. Ah, quiet.
Two days of light snow predicted for the weekend.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
philo
Pretty tired after work today
don't get me started on the rapid right
They've pretty much ruined what used to be a pretty decent job.
Since I'm getting close to retirement age
I can stick it out
but I feel sorry for all my co-workers...half my age
who are going to have to get by with those who only see the next dollar sign
Charles E Hardwidge
I've tuned it a little more since then but, essentially, it's done.
It wasn't the best technically done shot or composition but, I figure, at
least I got my ass out the door. Now I've thrown the crowd a bone I'm
slightly surprised nobody ripped it to bits. I was just waiting for 10 pages
of micro-analysis or someone calling it achingly pedestrian.
I've skimmed the BBC and Flickr for local stuff done in this snow and
there's some crap efforts but some good stuff. Here's a set by Niall Oswold:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nialloswald/sets/72157623029191821/
--
Charles E Hardwidge
Charles E Hardwidge
After some more feedback and processing I've found a better crop. It draws
out more of the narrative and dumps more baggage. There's till some details
I'm sweating over like some detail clutter and edges but I'm not sure
whether I'm getting obsessive or missing something.
--
Charles E Hardwidge
pbromaghin
> Links:
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800...http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800...
>
> http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800...http://www.charlesehardwidge.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/photos/IMG_1295_800...
The original isn't real interesting, but the crop makes all the
difference in the world. It makes me wonder where she is going down
the street. I have always liked B+W better for overcast snow scenes
and this is a good example of why. The patterns of light and dark are
much more interesting then the available mushy, muted colors.
Thanks for showing all 4 versions.