snow on leaves (Page 2): Well I guess you should have brought a wind screen too. What is a little wind, cold and snow to you up there? This is a tough crowd here so no excuses next...

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Country's Mama wrote:

Thank you.
The light was horrible and the wind strong. I did not have the tripod along. I was snowshoeing and it is all I can do to stay in an upright position without lugging the tripod too. :-D
I went back out today and reshot, but not sure things were any better since the wind was gusting at 25mph. I will see as soon as my camera is done thawing out.

Well I guess you should have brought a wind screen too. What is a little wind, cold and snow to you up there? This is a tough crowd here so no excuses next time!

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

dpullum wrote:

Country Grandma, shipped a snow photo to Florida, ... (show quote)

Could you post what you did. I am a visual person. :)
I felt the stem led to the leaf so was important to draw your eye i that direction. Maybe I am wrong in this thinking. Without it seems that it would just be floating there. I think Armadillo might be right I need to study that leaf a little more.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

abc1234 wrote:

Well I guess you should have brought a wind screen too. What is a little wind, cold and snow to you up there? This is a tough crowd here so no excuses next time!

Not really making excuses just confirming what you suspected. Well maybe making a few excuses as there is no excuse for not getting the shot. There is always more I could have done. It is just a matter of how important it is for me to do what I would have to do to do it.
Looks like I will have to trek back out again another time. Today's leaf photos were worse than yesterdays. :?

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Country's Mama wrote:

Thank you. I like what you did with the saturation, though I think I would back down a little on the vignette. It does make the leaves stand out more and I think a little would be great.

Another shot at it ...... vignette dialled back

Variant 2 of snow on leaves

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Bob Yankle wrote:

Another shot at it ...... vignette dialled back

I like that much better. :thumbup:

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Country's Mama wrote:

Not really making excuses just confirming what you suspected. Well maybe making a few excuses as there is no excuse for not getting the shot. There is always more I could have done. It is just a matter of how important it is for me to do what I would have to do to do it.
Looks like I will have to trek back out again another time. Today's leaf photos were worse than yesterdays. :?

To be serious, going out there in 25 mph winds is tough enough. Be glad to get anything. I have done a similar thing twice. I have a favorite spot in the nearby forest preserve. I went out there once every week for an entire year to capture the change throughout the year. Did it with film and then again with digital. I know what taking pictures out in the cold is.

Another goal for me is to go to the same spot on the first day of each season and shot a panorama.

Nightski

I wonder if people understand the problem with shooting while you are out snow shoeing. If you don't pack a tripod, and you lay down in the snow to get level with the shot, then how do you get back up? With one hand holding your camera, and the awkwardness of the snowshoes exacerbating the problem, it is almost impossible to get up without setting the camera down. You just keep sinking deeper into the snow. I have had to take off a layer to set my camera on, in order to use both hands to get back up. So while there are no excuses for a shot that is not sharp, I still have tremendous respect for anyone out trekking in the deep snow to do photography. It takes some ingenuity. I think I may pack a small tarp this year to set all my gear on when I stop. It will also keep your body dry and above the snow while shooting. I used my rain coat for that purpose last year. I hope this helps, CM.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

dpullum wrote:

Country Grandma, shipped a snow photo to Florida, ... (show quote)

They do tend to get darker for what ever reason. I think it does work without the lower stem, but then maybe there should be a little more room on the left and bottom. Thank you for the suggestions.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Nightski, I guess we are spoiled down here in Chicago. If I had to go through all that, I would take a pass on it. Unfortunately, the picture does not indicate how hard getting it was.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Nightski wrote:

I wonder if people understand the problem with sho... (show quote)

You would laugh hysterically if you could see me on snowshoes. I have only been on them a few time, because the last two years we have had little snow. Staying upright is an accomplishment for me. I did a face plant today and was lucky I kept the camera out of the snow. Yes photography in the cold and snow is a challenge, but if I keep at it I will get better at it and snowshoeing.
I will remember the tarp idea, maybe I need to carry a backpack with me.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

abc1234 wrote:

Nightski, I guess we are spoiled down here in Chicago. If I had to go through all that, I would take a pass on it. Unfortunately, the picture does not indicate how hard getting it was.

And how hard it was to get should not play into how it is critiqued. It either is or it isn't. It doesn't matter if I had to stand on my head to get it. It should be judged only on what you can see. And I am grateful for the suggestions and help that everyone is giving.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Country's Mama wrote:

I will remember the tarp idea, maybe I need to carry a backpack with me.

I used to go hiking in a rain poncho. They fold up neatly until you need them, pull them over your head if it's raining, and would serve as a ground tarp quite nicely. I bought one that was big enough to fit over my backpack. You could hang it on a couple tree branches and shoot from under it as an awning ..... all sorts of good uses for a mobile photographer.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Bob Yankle wrote:

I used to go hiking in a rain poncho. They fold up neatly until you need them, pull them over your head if it's raining, and would serve as a ground tarp quite nicely. I bought one that was big enough to fit over my backpack. You could hang it on a couple tree branches and shoot from under it as an awning ..... all sorts of good uses for a mobile photographer.

Good idea and I have one. I never think to use it when it is 20 degrees out.

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Country's Mama wrote:

What do you think? Reworks are fine as long as you can tell me what you did and why.

I like this simple composition and don't want to see much color change. The leaves are dead leaves, after all. I applied the "saturated slide film effect" to it in PSE12 to gently enhance the colors, and then added a 15% black vignette to isolate the subject slightly from the background. Very small changes, probably need to download to notice them.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Yes, details country's MaMa, First Cropped at 8x10 to make diagonal of two sets of leaves....Of course the stem was cloned out and the area was blending of top and bottom so clone would look smoother. Next took into Topaz Adjust and used "Spicify" tweaking color/contrast/brightness settings. Next Topaz Clarify to adjust the blue out and jacked up the orange and red, using the tint-saturation-luminosity and with "Clarify Finishing touches" vignetted with rectangular framing.

My feeling on the crop is that both leaves give a message and so must be the main objects in the photo all else especially the lower stem do not count. The leaves are supported by the upper portion.

I do love my Topaz suite... it plays well with my Corel Paintshop Pro X6 64 bit... Topaz is either 32 or 64... of course using the 64 bit speeds things up.

I like all the variations, and have always thought one month of the Camera Club should be divoted to such a venture of variations... Cudos to you and the admin