I Went Exploring

GSDMan · Dec 3, 2006

A couple weeks ago I did something I don't get to do often enough. I went exploring. I just got into the truck and followed my nose till I found something interesting. I finally found a couple streams coming together and found out later on I had found the headwaters of the Patapsco R. in Maryland. The lighting wasn't the best, mostly overcast, with occasional breaks of hazy sun. It was a pretty little stream and I had a good time.

As always, comments and criticism are welcome.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

lostprophet · Dec 3, 2006

1 and 6 for me
great series

LaFoto · Dec 3, 2006

This is a nice spot and nice series of photos ... exposure looks like it was a bit tricky on most ... and I guess some could do with a tweak of the levels or curves ... just a tad, not much.

Have you applied unsharp mask? Looks like you overdid it just a bit here and there (but now I wonder if not my photos for which I applied USM do the same once they were compressed and uploaded to a picture server :scratch: !?!?!)

Those forum members who know me well: just guess which of these photos I opened up first?

In the end, though, I have come to like #6 best.

GSDMan · Dec 3, 2006

LaFoto said:
This is a nice spot and nice series of photos ... exposure looks like it was a bit tricky on most ...

Thank you. I was in and out of the woods all day and the sky kept changing from overcast to patches of bright blue sky, so it wasn't exposure so much as color balance I was having trouble with.

LaFoto said:
... and I guess some could do with a tweak of the levels or curves ... just a tad, not much. Have you applied unsharp mask? Looks like you overdid it just a bit here and there (but now I wonder if not my photos for which I applied USM do the same once they were compressed and uploaded to a picture server :scratch: !?!?!)

Um, well, not exactly. I haven't used unsharp masks since I worked in a custom photo lab 15 years ago. I didn't know anyone still used them! As for tweeking levels, well, that's why I don't work in the custom photo lab anymore. I didn't, and still don't, have the eye to get that last bit of correction right. And, I haven't sprung for a version of PS, so masks and curves? Sorry, didn't do any of that, either.

I think you might be refering to the crappy kit lens with the loose front element delivering some interesting focus effects. I call it my Pentax Lens Baby!

I shoot RAW, load the RAW image into the editor that came with my Pentax (Pentax Photo Browser and Photo Lab). There I adjust color temp, brightness, contrast, saturation, and sharpening. I then save it as a Jpeg and open it in MGI Photosuite for cropping, rotation, and resizing. From there, these were uploaded to photobucket (and compressed again in the process). Finally, they were resized in photobucket to make the sizes more uniform. That ANY detail is still there after all that I think is remarkable!

If you wouldn't mind, I'll send the full size Jpeg for you to play with? I'd like to see what you come up with.

LaFoto said:
Those forum members who know me well: just guess which of these photos I opened up first?

In the end, though, I have come to like #6 best.

I don't know anyone here yet, but just from your question I'd guess you opened #10 first.

I'm surprised you all seem to like #6. I thought the RR tracks in the background would have been a negative for most people. I do like it but I would have put it in the bottom half, not the top.:er:

My favorites are 3, 2, and 9. The water in 3 is just incredible with the colorful rocks submerged. It looks like a Monet painting. I was right proud of #2. It was a first attempt at a long exposure on running water and it was taken without a tripod, too (propped against a tree). 9 is just personal for me. I had rope swings similar to these when I was a kid.