Kayaking, looking for opinions!

Stormchase · May 21, 2010

Hello again forum,
I went out fishing this morning and since it had been slow in the fishing department I thought that I would bring my camera this time. Still a little afraid of the saltwater and equipment. Well it wasnt the best morning for sunrise shots I tried anyways.
This first shot was a spot that I have looked at photographicly (sp) for some time now. What I had in my mind isnt really the way it came out but I would like to hear what you would have done different. I bumped the saturation and had to turn it back down. Shot at 27mm f/11 and since the low light was 1/15. Im scared to bump my ISO with this camera since it gets SO grainy at 800 1600.
1.)

The second one is a couple friends that I was fishing with. I liked the low light and sunrise on them but not in the sky. what do you think? I kinda liked it.

2.)

Now the third I dont know about. I have been wanting some good shots of my kayak on a sand bar. I have not been sure how to aproch it. This isnt doing a whole lot for me so what COULD I have dont better?

3.)

Thanks ahead for any comments and C&C.

Derrel · May 21, 2010

On the kayak shot with it beached--I think you're just too far away from the kayak, which causes the beach to be too large and dominant in the foreground. The thing with short focal lengths is that the foreground objects appear large, and things in the mid- and far distances appear very small and far away--that is the nature of the wide-angle lens. THe shot would have looked better if you had walked over to your right 10-15-20 steps and gotten close to the water line, and thus allowed the flotsom/shoreline to lead our eyes to the kayak. Then there would have been a lot less of the sand bar or beach, and more emphasis on the kayak.

I love to fish myself, and know the feeling of worry about camera gear and salt water. It's one thing to be aboard a 26-43 foot boat, and 30 inches above the water line in a kayak. Fear and worry are killers when it comes to picture taking. BTW last week, I was watching a Florida-based fishing show where they were catching huge giant grouper off nearshore pilings,and there was a kayak fisherman, possibly pursuing the same fish, and I could just envision how a big 60-70 pound giant grouper would tow a guy in a kayak around!

JeffieLove · May 21, 2010

I played a little bit with the first one. To me the minimal detail showing up in the things sticking out of the water (don't remember what they're called) was a bit distracting. So I made them a little more silhouetted. I basically just made the blacks darker, I added some contrast, and a little bit of vibrance

It's not perfect - you can see where the taller buildings are behind the trees... There's little blue spots there now...

KmH · May 21, 2010

Stormchase said:
1.)

Take control of the light - Thom Hogan.

The pilings in the foreground are the main subject of your photograph.

I don't go anywhere without a SB-600 and radio trigger. My BR RS-2 strap has a nice velcro closing pocket the receiver fits in and the radio transmitter is always on the hot shoe. The SB-600 soft case has a belt/backpack loop so carrying it around all the time is no sweat.

You could have left hand held (arm high) and aimed the speedlight (set to 50 mm or so zoom), at the 3rd piling from the right edge of the crop here. Then made at least 4 exposures with different speedlight power setting 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, full power (takes about 30 seconds for all 4). My shutter speed would have been set to underexpose the ambient 1/2 a stop or so to boost the saturation. The aperture would have been the same, to get the same DOF.

Stormchase · May 22, 2010

Derrel said:
On the kayak shot with it beached--I think you're just too far away from the kayak, which causes the beach to be too large and dominant in the foreground. The thing with short focal lengths is that the foreground objects appear large, and things in the mid- and far distances appear very small and far away--that is the nature of the wide-angle lens. THe shot would have looked better if you had walked over to your right 10-15-20 steps and gotten close to the water line, and thus allowed the flotsom/shoreline to lead our eyes to the kayak. Then there would have been a lot less of the sand bar or beach, and more emphasis on the kayak.

I love to fish myself, and know the feeling of worry about camera gear and salt water. It's one thing to be aboard a 26-43 foot boat, and 30 inches above the water line in a kayak. Fear and worry are killers when it comes to picture taking. BTW last week, I was watching a Florida-based fishing show where they were catching huge giant grouper off nearshore pilings,and there was a kayak fisherman, possibly pursuing the same fish, and I could just envision how a big 60-70 pound giant grouper would tow a guy in a kayak around!

Thanks for the responce! You have a good point and i did try that. Bad time of the day tho, everything was blown out or the background became to cluttered. Ill try to go back when the time is right for a pleaseing shot!
Fishing is great from a kayak! I have been greeting a little more brave with the camera.. I have not gotten any grouper yet but over in tampa is the hot spot. Im thinking the pillers from the show are over in Tampa at the famous skyway bridge in the gulf. I have seen 400# Jew fish get pulled up there !

The best i have done is a 32 inch snook that jumped about 3 feet out of the water and then drug me throu about 10 feet of mangrove trees. It was worth the scratches to land it tho. lol ... tight lines!

KmH,
wow how did you get that? I dont have photoshop just the program that came with the camera. Digital Photo Pro. I raised the slider to about 90% on the shadows to bring out the light on the pillers. You did what i was looking to do. What i posted was the resault. you did well and it doesnt look to crazy! I have had a few post on here now and it seems that the results im looking for , I will need a good flash to give me options. I have been hearing a lot on what others would do in my situation and atleast one knowledgable person mentions a speed light or soft box.

BuS_RiDeR · May 22, 2010

Just my opinion... Maybe its way off.

Original...

Edit...

Stormchase · May 22, 2010

Edit didnt come through. I am intrested to see it tho!

BuS_RiDeR · May 22, 2010

Hmmm I can see it... but the sand came out a bit to "white". Funny... It looked fine in Gimp... I must check some settings.

I re-edited and fixed the link... hopefully this one is a bit better....

I like the idea of the kayak on the beach though.

Stormchase · May 22, 2010

BuS_RiDeR said:
Hmmm I can see it... but the sand came out a bit to "white". Funny... It looked fine in Gimp... I must check some settings.

yeah i see it now.:thumbup: The blues look good but yeah ... the sand blew out. It was tuff playing with this one because of that. I dropped the highlight slider pretty low to get rid of this.