On the job in the Lakes

[jools-elliott]

Morning all!

As mentioned in my Durdle Door thread, I was over in the UK for just over a week. It was all work though and very tiriing.

One of the things I did was to take a risk and go to the Lake District. I was hoping for some nice weather and it didn't disappoint!

Day 1 saw me on Cat Bells ridge. Lovely 40 - 50mph wind speed along with 80mph gusts of winds.

Day 2 eased a little but not much. This is from the beginning of an amazing day.

[DigiDiva]

Jools this is a stunning photo, and you have done the lakes justice. Lovely shot of a lovely place. This suits your style. Care to talk me through the shot and the PP?

[jools-elliott]

Thanks Chris!

Of course I'll give you the background.

The location was scouted the evening before. We weren't supposed to stop there but halfway up the road on the left we looked back and went "hmm, we better investiaget".

On Friday morning we got up to get sunrise. The hardwork was done the evening before so it was very simple to find the best spots.

Next, I metered the scene to determine exposure and what would be needed. If memory serves, it is a 0.9 (3 stop) grad at a slight angle.

Post production is very very easy if you get it "in camera". All I do is this:

1) Open your image in PS.
2) Add a threshold layer.
3) Drag the slider in the threshold layer to the left to find the blackest point in the image. Mark it with the eyedropper tool.
4) Remove the threshold layer.
5) Add a curves layer.
6) Click on the eyedropper for the blacks in the controls for the curve layer. Click on the point that you marked earlier.
7) Add in a slight push of the midtones on the curve if needed.
8) And again if needed, move the black slider across in the curves layer to punch it up.

Because digital does not react the same as something such as Velvia slide film it needs to be given the punch back.

How's that young lady?

PS Oh, and if you think this is good, you should see what I sent the Editor this morning!

[karenoliver]

Nice composition and beautiful scenery. The sky though, is it natural? Have you used a filter on the camera or done something in photoshop?

Karen

[jools-elliott]

Hi Karen.

The sky is natural. I used a Lee Filters ND Grad on it to balance the light with the foreground. Lee Filters are neutral and add no colour to the image.

Adding in skies or other things is not something I am prepared to do with my work

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by jools-elliott

Hi Karen.

The sky is natural. I used a Lee Filters ND Grad on it to balance the light with the foreground. Lee Filters are neutral and add no colour to the image.

Adding in skies or other things is not something I am prepared to do with my work

I knew there was some sort of filter because you used the same one in the other shot you posted? I hate changing things like sky too :-)

Karen

[jools-elliott]

Apart from taking two exposures and blending them, there is no other way to achieve this.

The contrast between the bright sky and the land is too much for the camera sensor or film and so it needs something.

Glad you feel the same about "trickery". It serves no real purposes. It is more satisfying to get it right in camera.