The Lake was angry .. and so am i.... i had my chance

[smoke665]

@Photo Lady To capture these kind of shots in camera, you really need a graduated ND filter, to keep the sky from overexposing.

 

[Original katomi]

Hi I like your shots, given what the others have said the only thing I could add is have a look at bracketing
Maybe a stop either way or a shutter speed either way.
But given the conditions I say you did well to get the shots you did

 

[Photo Lady]

o\

@Photo Lady To capture these kind of shots in camera, you really need a graduated ND filter, to keep the sky from overexposing.

thanks that's good to know

 

[Photo Lady]

Hi I like your shots, given what the others have said the only thing I could add is have a look at bracketing
Maybe a stop either way or a shutter speed either way.
But given the conditions I say you did well to get the shots you did

thanks I will also check for this tomorrow and thank you for the compliment..

 

[K9Kirk]

I think they're pretty good and everything I thought of has been covered already but I will say to try it on a tripod (weight it down so it doesn't move in the wind) and if there doesn't seem to be enough light with a smaller aperature then keep it on that good aper. and slow down your shutter but keep your ISO set at low, 100 or close to it. Everything stationary will still be sharp but it will allow for more light and will help to make the waves look mistier. Play around with the shutter speeds and you'll get a good idea of what looks best. One other thing, you can play around with your exposure compensation also if you think you need a little more or less light but watch your ISO if you're using AUTO ISO, it could go too high and create a bunch of noise.

 

[dxqcanada1]

Based on lens reviews, you can get better performance ... and reading other comments ... camera shake seems to have played a part in this and I also think that focus was a bit off. Bracketing would give you more varied images to play with ... though using a better application on a RAW file would give you more control over the final image.

 

[dxqcanada1]

Just in case you did not know or need to know ... D500 TIPS - Auto AF Fine-Tuning | Technical Solutions | Nikon Professional Services

 

[Scott Whaley]

I agree with most of the posts made. I would use a higher aperture such as f9 to f11. If it is cloudy, you can use a slower shutter speed maybe around 640. If it is sunny, keep it at 1,000. I like to set my ISO to auto and I shoot in manual mode. I don't think it would be necessary to us an ND or black glass filter. Using a tripod should help with the camera shake. Over all, nice pics. Keep them coming.

 

[Derrel]

Many times when the desired result is not exactly achieved it is a result of more than one factor. For example even at one-one thousandth of a second in a really stiff wind of 45 to 60 miles an hour you could be blown about enough to hurt your sharpness. Also at 5.6 which I assume is wide open your lens might not be at its absolute sharpest. And it looks to me that in the second photo the focus point is actually the clouds and not the lighthouse and Lake and you might be out of focus by a half a mile or so, which at 100 yards might be almost enough in-focus that you will not be able to see it at the time of shooting. I think that perhaps having a vibration reduction lens might have helped a bit read my experience is that vibration reduction is actually Superior to a tripod in windy conditions, but a tripod would more than likely have been steadier than you, a human being, in such windy conditions as your photos seem to show.

Your first photo which was taken at 178 mm would no doubt have been more crisp had it been made with a superb Prime single length lens such as the Nikon 180 mm that I recommended to you about a week ago. The 180 F / 2.8 has ED glass and is a very sharp telephoto lens.

 

[Photo Lady]

I think they're pretty good and everything I thought of has been covered already but I will say to try it on a tripod (weight it down so it doesn't move in the wind) and if there doesn't seem to be enough light with a smaller aperature then keep it on that good aper. and slow down your shutter but keep your ISO set at low, 100 or close to it. Everything stationary will still be sharp but it will allow for more light and will help to make the waves look mistier. Play around with the shutter speeds and you'll get a good idea of what looks best. One other thing, you can play around with your exposure compensation also if you think you need a little more or less light but watch your ISO if you're using AUTO ISO, it could go too high and create a bunch of noise.

That's what I wanted Kirk more mistier waves and more detail in those rough waters... >.I appreciate all your tips..thank you..

 

[Photo Lady]

Many times when the desired result is not exactly achieved it is a result of more than one factor. For example even at one-one thousandth of a second in a really stiff wind of 45 to 60 miles an hour you could be blown about enough to hurt your sharpness. Also at 5.6 which I assume is wide open your lens might not be at its absolute sharpest. And it looks to me that in the second photo the focus point is actually the clouds and not the lighthouse and Lake and you might be out of focus by a half a mile or so, which at 100 yards might be almost enough in-focus that you will not be able to see it at the time of shooting. I think that perhaps having a vibration reduction lens might have helped a bit read my experience is that vibration reduction is actually Superior to a tripod in windy conditions, but a tripod would more than likely have been steadier than you, a human being, in such windy conditions as your photos seem to show.

Your first photo which was taken at 178 mm would no doubt have been more crisp had it been made with a superb Prime single length lens such as the Nikon 180 mm that I recommended to you about a week ago. The 180 F / 2.8 has ED glass and is a very sharp telephoto lens.

I am going to look into this lens.. in the meantime I am going to take some time and spend some time trying these tips on my camera settings...thanks so much for reminder on lens advice..

 

[Photo Lady]

I agree with most of the posts made. I would use a higher aperture such as f9 to f11. If it is cloudy, you can use a slower shutter speed maybe around 640. If it is sunny, keep it at 1,000. I like to set my ISO to auto and I shoot in manual mode. I don't think it would be necessary to us an ND or black glass filter. Using a tripod should help with the camera shake. Over all, nice pics. Keep them coming.

thank you ..I will try these adjustments..so glad I wrote so I have a idea of what was wrong.. I did have my shutter speed way up thinking I would see some flying birds..now I realize it was set too fast without considering the wind and other elements.. I certainly received a learning experience from you all...

 

[Photo Lady]

Just in case you did not know or need to know ... D500 TIPS - Auto AF Fine-Tuning | Technical Solutions | Nikon Professional Services

thanks I didn't fully know/so yes this is helpful...thanks

 

[smoke665]

. I did have my shutter speed way up thinking I would see some flying birds..now I realize it was set too fast without considering the wind and other elements..

I don't want to muddy the water by throwing out to much at once, but when you say "it was set too fast", to fast for what? Think about your end objective, then consider the exposure triangle to obtain that objective. As I said earlier if you're at 1/1000 and the wind is blowing so hard that the wind blown waves are blurred, and your objective was to capture water drop detail, then actually your shutter speed was to slow. I don't have an issue with ISO 640, if I wanted detail I'd bump it up without hesitation, to get the shutter speed I needed.

In looking at your image in LR, the histogram indicated a good exposure. The edit I did on your image, I only decreased the overall exposure by less then a 1/4 stop. That doesn't necessarily mean it was a good exposure for the scene. Sometimes you have situations like this where one part of the image (sky) is substantially brighter then others. In the edit I used a gradient filter to pull down the exposure of just the sky, by about 1 1/2 stops. The only way to arrive at correct exposure in camera when the sky is brighter then the rest of the landscape is to use a gradient ND filter on your lens, or bracket (expose multiple images over and under) and combine them.

 

[Photo Lady]

. I did have my shutter speed way up thinking I would see some flying birds..now I realize it was set too fast without considering the wind and other elements..

I don't want to muddy the water by throwing out to much at once, but when you say "it was set too fast", to fast for what? Think about your end objective, then consider the exposure triangle to obtain that objective. As I said earlier if you're at 1/1000 and the wind is blowing so hard that the wind blown waves are blurred, and your objective was to capture water drop detail, then actually your shutter speed was to slow. I don't have an issue with ISO 640, if I wanted detail I'd bump it up without hesitation, to get the shutter speed I needed.

In looking at your image in LR, the histogram indicated a good exposure. The edit I did on your image, I only decreased the overall exposure by less then a 1/4 stop. That doesn't necessarily mean it was a good exposure for the scene. Sometimes you have situations like this where one part of the image (sky) is substantially brighter then others. In the edit I used a gradient filter to pull down the exposure of just the sky, by about 1 1/2 stops. The only way to arrive at correct exposure in camera when the sky is brighter then the rest of the landscape is to use a gradient ND filter on your lens, or bracket (expose multiple images over and under) and combine them.

Muddy water ...lol.. I could not believe how the wind churned up all that surface in the photos around the shore.. anyway.. yes.. a lot for me to take in.. but I plan on doing this today.. how ever I might not be able to get to the lake and duplicate the scene.. I will however change a few things and practice and do some drive by photos on my way to stores.. I appreciate all the help.. real learning experience for me.. I know you can read and read .. but I learn so much when I am getting all this feedback..thanks.. and I will look into all of this advice..