To Shoot or Not to Shoot

I headed out for a dawn seascape shoot this morning, and to my disappointment, the conditions were appalling.

The sky was mostly plain, with the fairly typical annoying clump of dark cloud right on the horizon.  The very few patches of good cloud were mostly in the wrong places.

The conditions, apart from being utterly boring, were extremely difficult for exposure, even with GND filters.

I made the decision not long after being there, that I was not going to shoot.

The light just was not right, and for some landscape/seascape and even wildlife photographers, the light and combination of sky and cloud, is crucial to the shot working or not.

So, this raises the question:  If the conditions are not right, should you shoot, or should you not shoot?

Some people would take the view of making the best of the present situation, or shooting anyway, since they are already there.

Others decide that good enough is not good enough, and that they want a certain type of image which requires a certain type or quality of light.

For me, while the notion of making the best of a bad situation has a certain positive outlook about it and is otherwise commendable, I am extremely fussy about light and want a certain look, quality of light and feel to my images, so I elect to back off the shutter release if the conditions are unfavourable.

I have noticed that the hard-core ‘scapers whose work I follow, rarely ever publish an image captured in in sub-optimal light.

I am not a bird photographer, but I have also noticed that those guys are very fussy about light and tend to favour images of their favourite feathered friends basking in golden hour light.

At the end of the day, it comes down to good light or bust.

Fortunately I have the liberty to decide that pressing the shutter release is not worth it; the only demand I face is that I set for myself in capturing the image I want.

Post-Processing Tutorial: Water Intensification

It has been a while since I published a post-processing tutorial, so given I am home, sick in bed today, and given I feel like sharing some of my post-processing techniques, now is as good a time as any.

The name of the technique I will explain is “Water Intensification”.  It is a technique I originally learned a few years ago from fellow seascape photographer Brent Pearson.

The aim of Water Intensification is to bring out more contrast, detail and drama in water depicted in seascape images.  It can be applied to still water, but it really shines when applied to cascading or churning water.  It can also be applied to cloud-laden skies.

Brent’s technique differs marginally from mine (notably, he uses Nik plug-in software I do not use), but the outcome is more or less the same.

Firstly, here are the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images to show the difference when Water Intensification is applied.

Before Water Intensification

Water Intensification – Before

After Water Intensification

Water Intensification – After

See the difference?

The water is darker, contains more details, and contains more contrast.

How to Apply Water Intensification

Now I will explain how to apply Water Intensification, using my method.

It is more or less a technique of enhancing captured details and applying local contrast and darkening.  Note that if the highlights are blown (clipped), this technique will not recover detail that was never captured.

So, to apply Water Intensification non-destructively, here is how:

1. Make all layers visible and select the top layer.
2. Stamp visible layers (Cmnd-Opt-Shift-E on a Mac, or Ctrl-Alt-Shift-E on a Windows PC), which creates a new composite layer from all layers below, but preserves those layers.
3. Add a B&W adjustment layer and use a preset or tweak the sliders manually.
4. Add a curves adjustment layer and use a preset or manual adjustments to apply rich contrast.
5. Merge the ‘merged’ layer with the B&W and curves adjustment layers (at this point you should now have a single, high-contrast B&W layer above your previous top layer).
6. Add a layer mask to the B&W layer, invert it (ie, change it to black) and change the blend mode to Multiply.
7. Using a soft brush at 10-20% opacity, paint the flowing water areas on the black mask using a white brush.

To see the technique in action, Brent Pearson has published a post-processing video tutorial on Water Intensification.

After applying the Water Intensification technique, the water in your seascapes will exhibit a much more intense richness, showing the fantastic detail in the case of cascading or churning water.

It is a technique well worth applying to seascape images.

Note that the technique does darken and desaturate the areas of the image to which it is applied, so a further step would be to add lightening and colour saturation as desired using adjustment layers.

Stormy Lurline

Yesterday at my Lurline Bay dawn seascape shoot, I concentrated on a small number of compositions in my quest for strong images.

Thus far, I have published two images from the shoot.

The following image was captured earlier in the morning than the previous image I published, but in my view, and apparently in the view of many who have seen it, it is the stronger image.

Stormy Lurline

Of the two images, I much prefer the drama of this image.

This image is a single, two-minute exposure, made at f/5.6 and ISO 200.

I normally shoot seascape at ISO 100 and f/11, so under those exposure settings the shutter would have been open for 16 minutes.  By then, the scene would have blown out, as the light intensity at dawn increases very rapidly.

What makes this image work for me is:

1. the colour contrast between the rocks and sky/water area;
2. the colour saturation (blue is a favourite hue of mine);
3. the streaking cloud resulting from the long exposure;
4. the contrast of the rich rock texture against the smooth water and streaky sky;
5. the use of darkness I added in post-processing;
6. the simplicity of the composition; and
7. the balance between land, sky and water.

Now, while it might seem a little conceited to critique one’s own image, I consider it important to analyse one’s own images to see why they work or what about them is appealing.  This can also help with critiquing other people’s images.

I hope those who see this image enjoy viewing it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Lurline Bay Cascade

This morning, Xenedette, Peter, Jo and I headed to Lurline Bay.

This was my first seascape shoot since December, and my first dawn shoot since September.  I had been taking a long break from dawns and seascapes, but felt like venturing out again this weekend.

Here is one of three or four compositions on which I concentrated this morning:

Lurline Bay Cascade

As you can see, the sky was moody and there was a little rain — perfect conditions for seascaping.

While the colour of a glorious sunrise would have been nice, I also love the broodiness of clouds such as what you see here.

As long as it is not a plain (or mostly cloudless) sky, I am content.

It was a morning which produced pleasing images.  Just what the good doctor ordered.