C&C Desired, editing and reposting O.K.): Bombie

[Andy brown]

A couple of recent posts by Georg Baumann and Cem Usaklagil which explore the movement of (ocean) water with long exposures prompted me to dig this out of the shoebox.

Taken a couple of years ago and I quite like it.


Bombie

[Georg R. Baumann]

Hi Andy,

the swirling movement of water and the green stuff is attractive, the rock formation may be less though.

I just wonder on long exposures in drifting ice.... some big sucker of an iceberg being somewhat not on the move, and breaking up ice around it moving....

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Andy,

Glad that you have decided to post this. I know that you said that you like the picture, I also like it. But just out of curiosity, do you remember what it was which has prompted you to take this picture in the first place? If you do, do you think the picture has captured the essence of that successfully?

Cheers,

[Andy brown]

Hi Cem, I'm not sure if I had a specific goal in mind with the image. I do remember it being a lovely day, the conditions were predictable so I could get very close to the rocks and swell without (much) danger to myself or equipment. I can lose myself gazing into the water and being mesmerised by the visuals and hypnotised by the sounds.
I'm completely addicted to the ocean, today for example I'm going for a dive, freediving (no tanks) and I'll be in the water for probably 3 hours. I'll come out completely exhausted, to the point where I can hardly take off my wetsuit.
So getting a photo like this is as much about the experience as the result.
I did spend some time trying to anticipate the waves and work out how the composition would look. From that point of view it worked out well.
The theme if there is one is purely about colour and movement, permanence and transience.
The rocks are solid, the seaweeds are rooted but move to the whim of the waves, the wave patterns are fleeting.

I should try some more like this but as per Georg's suggestion, try to pick out a less ugly rock!

[Georg R. Baumann]

Hey Andy,

I can relate so very much to your words about the ocean! When I do not see the water for a week or so, I start feeling very grumpy in deed. LOL

I was always fascinated by the apnoe folks, it is nothing short but amazing what they can do!

Be safe out there!

[Georg R. Baumann]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

The theme if there is one is purely about colour and movement, permanence and transience.
The rocks are solid, the seaweeds are rooted but move to the whim of the waves, the wave patterns are fleeting.

How I 'see' it....

[Michael_Stones]

Andy's original looks natural, Georg's contrived. There's nothing wrong with an ugly rock.

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

I should try some more like this but as per Georg's suggestion, try to pick out a less ugly rock!

Hi Andy,

Maybe it's not so much the rock itself, but rather its central placement in the image. Also, movement usally means reduced contrast (since things are averaged over time). Maybe a bit more tonemapping and adding some saturation to the weeds to make them glow a bit more could help?

Here is an alternative rendering, and maybe a blend between the original and this version comes even closer to what you experienced:

It might also work well if you added a lensblur to slightly blur foreground and background.

Cheers,
Bart

[Andy brown]

Hi guys, thanks for your input here.
I'm flat out with work at the moment but I'll respond more fully soon.

Andy

[Andy brown]

Hi crew, sorry for the delayed response, I've been visiting OP regularly but only for a few minutes at a time to do a quick viewing of new posts.
Sadly I have had very little time for photography of late and little time for the ocean (this is tragic for me, the EAC, East Australian Current is in its full swing and the water is crystal clear, quite warm and full of interesting life, I SHOULD BE DIVING!)

Georg, your version of this image is amazing and although the colours seem supersaturated, the nature of the subject matter means it can be carried off.
Bart's version is lovely and very tasteful. I appreciate you guys taking the time to tinker and reveal different options.
I've tried a couple of times to use tone mapping and have found the tutorials quite confusing or deficient (maybe it's just me, a distinct possibility, I'm a bit of a luddite).

If anyone has a link to a decent, well explained tutorial, I'd love to have another goat it.

Also, what's the technique for selective saturation?

BTW, today was Sunday in Aus and I did have a day off and spent much of it in the water with the kids bodysurfing and dagging around. Awesome!

Andy

[Sandrine Bascouert]

Just my input for selective saturation (I know nothing about tone mapping). If you are using Photoshop, a quite recent version it comes with Adode Camera Raw (Raw converter) with some "limited" possibilities in terms of adjustment, but an incredible easy to use interface with great results

Here's the screenshot:

You also got the "hue/saturation" adj layer in PS that does the same job (more or less) just be sure to select your tones in lieu of "master" in the drop down menu...


HTH....

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Andy brown

I've tried a couple of times to use tone mapping and have found the tutorials quite confusing or deficient (maybe it's just me, a distinct possibility, I'm a bit of a luddite).

If anyone has a link to a decent, well explained tutorial, I'd love to have another goat it.

Hi Andy,

With regards to tonemapping, it's just a process of altering the default brightness of parts of the image. It has a lot to do with enhancing one's vision about which emotions the image should unleash. So, vision comes first.

Then one can laboriously alter the brightnesses in the image with a plethora of techniques, most of them already built-in in the photoeditor application of choice. So a lot depends on which application one uses. One then selects the tool that achieves the sought after effect (not a filter effect, but the emotional response mentioned earlier) with the least amount of hassle, but with enough control to change one's choices as we iterate closer to the original goal.

In Photoshop, a very effective first step in local contrast enhancement can be by applying a so-called LoAm-HiRa, an Unsharp Mask filter with low amount (e.g. 10%) but 'high' radius (e.g. 50) setting. One needs to be cautious with potential clipping due to the increased contrast, so working on layers with certain blending mode choices can also make a difference. Modern versions of Photoshop allow to alter the curves adjustment by dragging in the image, similar to what can be done on Lightroom, thus allowing to change the same selective brightness levels throughout the image. One can also use local dodging and burning to only change smaller areas of the image. Masks can be used to only affect specific regions or colors.

Tonemapping takes time to get it "right". It might also require revisiting earlier choices, and making things more subtle or more pronounced than we initially thought.

Also, what's the technique for selective saturation?

As Sandrine explained, Photoshop has tools for that as well.

Because I like to shoot difficult existing light situations, I often have to resort to bracketed exposures to capture the full range. The challenge that follows is to compress the huge dynamic range into the limited possibilities on screen or in print. My instrument of choice (for the moment, and Windows only) is SNS-HDR. It gives a lot of control over the global and local contrast enhancement, and allows to do selective saturation adjustment, all in a realtime preview. But it is just a tool, it doesn't replace vision, nor does it check one's taste. It is easy to over-dramatise the result.

Whichever tool one chooses, beware for the "to a hammer, everything looks like a nail" syndrome. These tools are no substitute for taste or vision, they are merely tools to efficiently process the image and enforce the vision.

Cheers,
Bart

[Sandrine Bascouert]

In Photoshop, a very effective first step in local contrast enhancement can be by applying a so-called LoAm-HiRa, an Unsharp Mask filter with low amount (e.g. 10%) but 'high' radius (e.g. 50) setting.

I just had a flash of enlightening about this explanation....

I think it's just what the "clarity" slider does in ACR (increasing local contrast in the manner of the Unsharp mask....)

Don't worry! This state of mind doesn't last usually :)