Back in the Lake District

[singingsnapper]

I spend a lot of time relaxing in the Lake District. Weather was a little better this time.

This was from a few days ago and I hung around for the last light so had to walk back to my house in the dark. But I think it was worth it.

Pentax 645D FA 33-55 f/16 3 images blended in Photomatix


A Langdale sunset by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Some from yesterday:

One of my regular walks takes me past this barn which always catches my eye. I decided to shoot 4 shots to make a panorama to put the barn into perspective

Pentax 645D FA 33-55 f/16 1/25 Cokin ND8 stacked with Cokin Graduated ND8


Under Loughrigg by singingsnapper, on Flickr

I then got to Grasmere and passed this lakeside house:

Pentax 645D FA 33-55mm f/16 Cokin ND8 & Graduated ND8


Lakeside house Grasmere by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Just after the sunset I waited for the wind to change direction to grab a shot with a still Grasmere

Pentax 645D FA 33 - 55 at 33mm f/16 30secs with cokin ND8 and Graduated ND8


Twilight on Grasmere by singingsnapper, on Flickr

I continue to work on my photography and hope that I am steadily improving. time will tell!

[Rosie]

I think you're shots are certainly improving already! A lot of it is to do with waiting for the right light - you've got the composition right, it's just a case of being patient and waiting for the right moment! Keep up the good work

[digitalfingers]

I agree with Rosie. Well done, these are lovely shots. Crystal clear too!

[singingsnapper]

Thanks guys A lot of the mornings have been dull and flat and the difference this time has been taking a bright cycle light with me so I can walk safely back from good locations as I don't drive anything other thanmy wife up the wall! I've been taking rather too many shots in middle of the day which just makes things more challenging.

[singingsnapper]

A few more from the Lakes:

This is Stockghyll force, less than half a mile from the centre of the busy village of Ambleside

Pentax 645D FA 33-55mm at 43mm f/16 15 sec exposure with cokin ND8


stockghyll force by singingsnapper, on Flickr

Looking down Great Langdale at the start of the fall of evening

pentax 645D FA 33-55mm at 55mm f/16 0.6 sec with Cokin ND8 and ND8 Grad


Great Langdale by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[Chris Humphreys]

Some good shots there, though a couple of your landscapes would benefit from correcting the horizon.

Light is everything but you can only work with what you've got, so in that regard these area good set for me.

C

[Troy]

Some good shots here Paul. I particularly like the first one. However, it looks like it could do with a little straighten, and i'd love to have the tree line brightened up a bit. There is a lot of detail lost in those shadows which is a real shame.

However a definite improvement, keep up the good work!

[singingsnapper]

Some good shots there, though a couple of your landscapes would benefit from correcting the horizon.

Light is everything but you can only work with what you've got, so in that regard these area good set for me.

C

The 645d has a built in level display and was showing the horizon as level on all of these so that's strange that you say it's not level. Part of the shores of Grasmere is closer than elsewhere which can possibly deceive.

[Chris Humphreys]

Some good shots there, though a couple of your landscapes would benefit from correcting the horizon.

Light is everything but you can only work with what you've got, so in that regard these area good set for me.

C

The 645d has a built in level display and was showing the horizon as level on all of these so that's strange that you say it's not level. Part of the shores of Grasmere is closer than elsewhere which can possibly deceive.

Quite possibly, some images are like that, bit of an optical illusion. Do you correct for barrel distortion? Sometimes that can throw things out a bit. I tried downloading one of your shots and running it through PT Lens which is what I use, but there's no exif data so it couldn't pick up the required info.

[singingsnapper]

Some good shots here Paul. I particularly like the first one. However, it looks like it could do with a little straighten, and i'd love to have the tree line brightened up a bit. There is a lot of detail lost in those shadows which is a real shame.

However a definite improvement, keep up the good work!

I know this section of the river very well, and the far bank protudes a little. This may account for it looking not as straight as it should. The Grasmere shots always challenge me in the field as I set the camera how I see it's straight and then look at the level on the camera. The camera's size obscures the level on my manfrotto head so can't check them both at same time, though I have no reason to doubt my camera's level meter. One of the reasons for the regular reflections here is that the River Brathay forms a small pool here. It means that the banks are irregular as they have been eroded by the water. I will double check the horizon on Lightroom using the level display there, and see if I can grab some detail from the shadows. It was getting pretty dark at that time

[singingsnapper]

I have reprocessed by adding a further two brighter shots into photomatix so now a 5 shot HDR and also moved the horizon down a little in Lightroom. Does this look better?


wetherlam and range at sunset by singingsnapper, on Flickr

[Troy]

Personally i think this looks a lot better. The detail can now be seen across the whole exposure range, which is the whole point of HDR really. You may be losing a tiny bit of detail in the sky with this one though. The bottom of the sky looks a bit over exposed. Not enough to ruin the shot, but it notices compared to the first edit.

The horizon probably is straight with it as well, but its all the slopes leading down to the left which keep making me think its not!

Anyway, this is definitely my favourite of yours so far Paul, keep up the good work!

[singingsnapper]

Personally i think this looks a lot better. The detail can now be seen across the whole exposure range, which is the whole point of HDR really. You may be losing a tiny bit of detail in the sky with this one though. The bottom of the sky looks a bit over exposed. Not enough to ruin the shot, but it notices compared to the first edit.

The horizon probably is straight with it as well, but its all the slopes leading down to the left which keep making me think its not!

Anyway, this is definitely my favourite of yours so far Paul, keep up the good work!

Thanks, Troy. River and lake banks are always awkward as they can deceive the eye, I sometimes doubt my camera's level display but then find it was right all along! The light was beautiful that evening and was particularly rewarding as the day had been pretty gloomy before that. Am going to be on tour for a month in Asia and Germany so won't be back up there until late November. I missed some great shots up there in the snow last year as didn't use a tripod, so had to use much higher ISO's. lesson Learned there. I have plenty of books and mags to read (including DP of course - my wife moans at me for having so many mags, so I now have most mags on my ipad.)

[singingsnapper]

Some good shots there, though a couple of your landscapes would benefit from correcting the horizon.

Light is everything but you can only work with what you've got, so in that regard these area good set for me.

C

The 645d has a built in level display and was showing the horizon as level on all of these so that's strange that you say it's not level. Part of the shores of Grasmere is closer than elsewhere which can possibly deceive.

Quite possibly, some images are like that, bit of an optical illusion. Do you correct for barrel distortion? Sometimes that can throw things out a bit. I tried downloading one of your shots and running it through PT Lens which is what I use, but there's no exif data so it couldn't pick up the required info.

I do use LR and CS5 to select the lens and deal with distortion. Most of my 645 lenses are in the list.

[Troy]

I missed some great shots up there in the snow last year as didn't use a tripod, so had to use much higher ISO's. lesson Learned there. I have plenty of books and mags to read (including DP of course - my wife moans at me for having so many mags, so I now have most mags on my ipad.)

Ah yes. I find it is always best to carry a tripod, even if you don't intend to use it. Best to have something and not need it than the other way around. How is the 645 with high ISOs? Not the most common camera, so no real reports of any shortfalls it has...