Waterfall and seagull in the snow

[Ronnoco]

Agreed with Ronnoco, when possible, I like to shoot waterfall shots at fast and slow shutter speeds, though I tend to like the slow shots more, with snowy streaks and the smooth water, being able to see individual water droplets is awesome. .

Nothing wrong with slow shutterspeeds for waterfalls, BUT too slow and you end up with a large mass of washed-out detail. With multiple shots you would pick the one that gives you the effect you want, but still retains sufficient detail in the white areas.

Ronnoco

BTW, Dwaugh, when shooting in snow, you have to make sure that your automatic exposure doesn't turn your white snow into an off-white/grey, as in the case of your gull shot.

[dwaugh]

Actually the gull wasnt an automatic shutter speed decision. I think I set it at 80, even though the light would be too low, as the lowest speed that I can do freehand with my 135mm lens. I could have had better color, but it would have been blurred most likely. For the waterfall, it's in the trees a bit and the clouds were heavy both days, so the light was low and I had to use a long shutter. On the first day, though, I did take the photo at all speeds possible (including fast shutter shots).

Also, how would I edit the seagull to stand out from the snow more? I already added quite a bit of contrast.

Also, Ronnoco, as you mentioned in your first post... what exactly is the "right effect"? I may look through my others I took of the first one and show you one that had a bit faster of shutter speed, and see how it compares. I'm still a beginner, so I'm still learning.

[Ronnoco]

Actually the gull wasnt an automatic shutter speed decision. I think I set it at 80, even though the light would be too low, as the lowest speed that I can do freehand with my 135mm lens. I could have had better color, but it would have been blurred most likely. For the waterfall, it's in the trees a bit and the clouds were heavy both days, so the light was low and I had to use a long shutter. On the first day, though, I did take the photo at all speeds possible (including fast shutter shots).

Also, how would I edit the seagull to stand out from the snow more? I already added quite a bit of contrast.

Also, Ronnoco, as you mentioned in your first post... what exactly is the "right effect"? I may look through my others I took of the first one and show you one that had a bit faster of shutter speed, and see how it compares. I'm still a beginner, so I'm still learning.

Well, I can demonstrate what can be done with the sea gull in postprocessing, if you have no objection.

Ronnoco

[Ronnoco]

Also, Ronnoco, as you mentioned in your first post... what exactly is the "right effect"? I may look through my others I took of the first one and show you one that had a bit faster of shutter speed, and see how it compares. I'm still a beginner, so I'm still learning.

There are two approaches to waterfalls. One is a fast shutterspeed to stop the water and provide lots of detail: droplets, waves, etc. The second is to use a slow shutterspeed to give the falls a light, delicate feel emphasizing the direction and the "curtain of water".

You were trying for the second approach but it doesn't work here. A higher waterfall with less water going over, works better for the second approach. Because you have a low waterfall with lots of water, the result of a slow shutterspeed is just a mass of burned out white...as in total loss of detail in a large percentage of your photo.

The answer is a faster shutterspeed to keep detail in the white water while still trying to emphasize its motion. Some experimentation with shutterspeeds would be necessary to get that effect.

BTW, For shooting without a tripod and a slow shutterspeed, I use whatever is around like a tree, bridge support, rock, or even balance the lens on my knees in a sitting position.

Ronnoco

[dwaugh]

That looks great after editing... now I must ask, what exactly did you do? (also, what program?). I use Paint Shop Pro 5, and I want to see if I can get the same result (all part of the learning experience). When I edit, the main controls that I use are saturation, contrast and gamma correction. Did you use the freehand selection tool or something to capture only the foreground? As soon as I know, I'll try it out and post up my result.

As for shooting slower speed with no tripod, I usually do exactly what you said you do, except in this case I was in the clear with no trees, and the seagull was on top of a piling so I had to be standing up. I was just in a situation where I had to do my freehand best.

[Ronnoco]

That looks great after editing... now I must ask, what exactly did you do? (also, what program?). I use Paint Shop Pro 5, and I want to see if I can get the same result (all part of the learning experience). When I edit, the main controls that I use are saturation, contrast and gamma correction. Did you use the freehand selection tool or something to capture only the foreground? As soon as I know, I'll try it out and post up my result.:

I used Paint Shop Pro X (10) freehand selection and find edges I went around the bird and its snow perch and then chose INVERT which captures what you have not gone around....the background. With the background selected I chose Blur: Motion right to left to give the background an interesting look. Out of invert with the bird and perch selected I went to color and chose CLARIFY. I then went to contrast and added just a little. The perch was still grey rather than white so I chose white and did a quick paint job of the perch.

I steered clear of saturation when I found that amplifying the colour also amplifies the colour noise. I also learned that there were other methods of getting the colour you want without using saturation. With contrast, you have to be very careful about retaining detail in both highlight and shadow areas as well as keeping the tonal range which adds quality to your colour as well.

Ronnoco