Cliff and the Shadows (Page 2): Have you considered using HDR techniques in order to get the best of both worlds ? That way you get the 'atmosphere' of the original shot and the detail...

PGHphoto Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

R.G. wrote:

It's probably obvious to most that we need light c... (show quote)

Have you considered using HDR techniques in order to get the best of both worlds ? That way you get the 'atmosphere' of the original shot and the detail you desire. Just suggesting you don't have to wait for the sun to get the detail you want ! For a detail shot, I agree waiting for the light to move where you want it is good but just suggesting there are other ways to get the detail besides waiting hours on the sun.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

bertloomis wrote:

I wonder if both of these would be better in horizontal format?

#2 is a crop from a landscape oriented original. The main feature of both shots is the shoreline acting as an eye attractor which leads the eye into the distance. Capturing all of that vertical length is possible with a horizontal shot if you shoot wide enough, but by the time you've gone that wide there's an excess of cliff on the left and sea on the right. The shots as shown have enough cliff and sea to provide sufficient context without dominating the frame and without weakening the leading line of the shoreline. There's nothing wrong with a wider shot but I specifically wanted to focus on the attention-channeling effect of the shoreline. It's often the case that a vertical shot is the best option for achieving that sort of attention channeling. And both shots had enough cliff to make the comparison that I wanted to make, so I went with that. Thanks for your comment, Bert.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

PGHphoto wrote:

Have you considered using HDR techniques in order to get the best of both worlds ? That way you get the 'atmosphere' of the original shot and the detail you desire. Just suggesting you don't have to wait for the sun to get the detail you want ! For a detail shot, I agree waiting for the light to move where you want it is good but just suggesting there are other ways to get the detail besides waiting hours on the sun.

Thanks for your comment, PGH. I'm not claiming that the posted shots are perfect examples of the point I was trying to make, but I can say that it's not uncommon for a situation like that to be characterised by very extreme lighting (direct, strong sunlight and dark, deep shadows). HDR can achieve so much, but there are limits, and it can be a struggle to keep a natural look in extreme circumstances. Even exposure bracketing requires that there be little if any movement in the frame, and if you wanted to freeze the waves, a single exposure would be called for.

Exposure bracketing and HDR processing are possibilities but the best answer is to get the shot in good light when the sunlight is coming in from the side. That won't always be a possibility but it is the best option whenever possible.

jmss1950

As an ex Scot, and purely for my own information, I would love to know the location of the pictures. Thanks.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

Yes - your point is well taken.
Looking for optimum light, somewhere between the two could be interesting to see.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

jmss1950 wrote:

As an ex Scot, and purely for my own information, I would love to know the location of the pictures. Thanks.

Hello jmss from bonnie Scotland. This is part of the coast between Aberdeen and Cove, about a mile south of Nigg Bay.

Moondoggie Loc: Southern California

Your point is well taken. Sometimes we can't always wait for the perfect lighting. I like both pictures, one the ocean looks more dramatic, the second one I like the clouds. Thanks for sharing and your comments.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Delderby wrote:

Yes - your point is well taken.
Looking for optimum light, somewhere between the two could be interesting to see.

Hello Delderby. I could have waited a while for a better example to compare the shadowy one to, and I could have given both more PP, but I wanted to concentrate on the comparison that I was making, so both shots got minimal PP. I could have done more with the sunny one to bring out the cliff face and to make the shot less flat overall - but I didn't

.

Quite a few commenters have suggested that the shadowy one isn't too bad and needs just a bit of PP to set it right. I would like to make the point that you are probably never going to see a cliff photo in a calendar or tourist brochure where the cliff face is heavily shadowed, and there is a reason for that. Neither the photographer nor the commissioner of the photo will choose the shadowy option when they know that a well-lit shot is a possibility.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Moondoggie wrote:

Your point is well taken. Sometimes we can't always wait for the perfect lighting. I like both pictures, one the ocean looks more dramatic, the second one I like the clouds. Thanks for sharing and your comments.

Thanks for commenting, Moondoggie. Yes, we can't always wait, but sometimes a bit of planning is all that's needed. For example these cliffs are on the east coast which runs roughly north-south, which means that the cliffs face east and any time after noon the sun will be behind the cliffs, so early morning is the best time to shoot them.

jmss1950

Thought it looked familiar. We lived in Aberdeenshire until emigrating to USA in 1988. Used to love walking the cliff paths. I also wouldn't have minded pictures of the other Cliff and The Shadows! Thanks.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

jmss1950 wrote:

Thought it looked familiar. We lived in Aberdeenshire until emigrating to USA in 1988. Used to love walking the cliff paths. I also wouldn't have minded pictures of the other Cliff and The Shadows! Thanks.

You'd love the walk even more now because the path has been done up. Unfortunately you can't walk from Nigg Bay any more because of the Aberdeen Harbour Expansion project which will change Nigg Bay into a deep water harbour.

traderjohn Loc: New York City

R.G. wrote:

From what I've heard about you, I'm not alone.

Now you are just being silly as well as anal.