By Varina Patel, on September 30th, 2010
When we visited Olympic National Park in Washington in 2009, we spent hours shooting at Second Beach. We arrived when the sun was low in the sky – hoping to capture golden light as the sun sank towards the horizon… and maybe a nice sunset, too. We’ve been to this beach many times before and since. It’s a gorgeous location with large and small rocks, sea stacks, tide pools, and smooth sand. I took this shot a few minutes after sunset – as the tide was coming in and the color in the sky was at its best.
 Processing a photo with a wide range of light usually requires bracketing. In this case, I took two bracketed shots and opened them in Adobe Camera Raw. I selected my color balance for a natural-looking sky, and then adjusted the contrast. I ignored the foreground in the first image, and processed it for the sky alone. The second image would be used for the water. I made sure the highlight areas in the water were not overexposed, and opened the photo in Photoshop… then opened the RAW file again in Adobe Camera Raw. This time, I reduced the clarity of the photo… allowing the waves in the foreground to soften even more. (If you make different adjustments to a single RAW file, you can save a “Snapshot” of each version for easy reference.)
You can see my three adjustments in the triptych below. Notice that the sky in the photo on the left looks good. The highlights in the water are just right in the middle photo, and the foreground waves look nice and smooth in the third. In all, these adjustments took me three to five minutes to make.
Once I’ve prepared these three versions of the same composition, I use our iHDR manual blending technique to produce a final image that is as close to my memory of scene as I can bring it. I stack the image in three layers, and use selections and masks to blend the images very carefully. Sometimes the process takes a while – but if I know what I want in my final image, I can finish in just a few minutes… so an image like this one might take me about ten minutes to process from beginning to end.
And while we’re on the subject of iHDR – just a reminder for those who are interested…
Our next live iHDR webinar series starts this Sunday – so if you are interested, don’t forget to sign up soon! We record each session so that anyone who can’t make the live sessions can watch the streaming video for up to four months after the class. Students who do attend the live session have that option as well… in case you need a refresher. 
Click on the link below to register for the webinar:
By Jay Patel, on September 28th, 2010
As part of our Grand Opening promotion, we are offering a 20% discount on all eBooks at www.visualwilderness.com until September 30. Simply enter the discount code – niwrad (That’s Darwin, spelled backwards… he gets special kudos for securing such a great prize for the contest!) at checkout, and get 20% off your purchase total. Here are some of the eBooks we have available right now.
Our Basic Blending eBook walks you through the process of blending simple digital images. We show you how to use layers, masks and selections to blend bracketed images in Photoshop. The eBook includes three videos that provide detailed instruction for beginners and professionals alike.
Our Building an Image from the Ground Up eBook provides lessons in composition and perception. We start with the rule of thirds, then discuss color, form, leading lines, selective focus and more. And if you want more…
We offer our Perception eBook for photographers who are interested in understanding how our brains process visual stimuli. We discuss some of the Gestalt Principles of Perception in this fascinating eBook – including figure ground articulation and the principles of similarity, proximity, equilibrium, and others.
Of course, there are lots of other eBooks available at Visual Wilderness – I hardly scratch the surface, here… and we’re working on new ones all the time! We hope you’ll stop in and check out our offerings. And don’t forget – there are some free ones in there, too! Maybe you’ll find something that interests you!
Of course, all our offerings at www.photographybyvarina.com and www.jaypatelphotography.com remain in place. You have access to all our free tutorials, blog posts, and galleries just as before.
And finally – I want to thank all of you who visited Visual Wilderness already. Thanks for your support, and for your interest in our work.
By Varina Patel, on September 27th, 2010
Today, we have a very BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. (You can tell it’s very big, because it’s all in caps.) We’ve been working hard for the past year or so – writing, coding, editing, arguing over details… and today, we go live. So here it is… the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT.
Ladies and Gentlemen – boys and girls – photographers and photographettes…
Today, Varina and Jay Patel – along with extraordinary Canadian landscape photographers Samantha Chrysanthou and Darwin Wiggett – announce the grand opening of our brand new website for nature photographers!
Visual Wilderness offers a variety of eBooks for beginners and professionals alike. You’ll find on-the-ground workshops in Canada and the US, galleries of stunning images from all our contributors, a blog with all kinds of interesting commentary and information… and there’s more…
Our BIG ANNOUNCEMENT is even bigger than that!
We are going live with a BANG! (You can tell it’s a big bang, because it’s all in caps.)
Visual Wilderness is hosting a photo contest. And the prize is BIG! (Caps again… see?) Sigma Canada is sponsoring the contest – and offering a brand new, Sigma 20mm F1.8 EX DG ASP RF lens with your choice of mount – Canon, Nikon, Pentax, or Sony. Retail value for the lens is $750 Canadian. The F1.8 aperture means this is a super-fast, wide-angle lens. Close-focusing capability and Sigma’s aspherical lens technology makes this a fantastic piece of glass! Click here to enter our contest! (You can find more information about Sigma lenses at www.SigmaCanada.ca.)
 We hope you’ll go check it out. We’re enormously happy to be going live at last – and we hope you’ll join in the fun! As always – we’d love to hear what you think!
By Jay Patel, on September 16th, 2010
 Click to download. This shot is from our 2006 hike to Iceberg Lake in Glacier National Park. The hike is about 8 miles round trip, and requires about1000 feet of climb – but the trail is well-traveled and well-maintained. Most years, the trail to Iceberg Lakes remains closed because of snow until mid July or early August.
It’s easy to appreciate the beauty of this small lake. The water is a rich, turquoise – colored by glacial sediment – and the lake sits at the bottom of a steep hill side. At this time of year, the meadow was filled with flowers. Heavily overcast skies filtered the mid-day light, and provided a soft and slightly warm glow. We waited for openings in the clouds to let in small spots of sunlight that lit up patches the lake and the surrounding mountains sides.
Click on the image above to download the image for your desktop background. We hope you enjoy this featured download.
As always, these images are provided for personal use as computer wallpaper or backgrounds ONLY. Copyright belongs to the photographer, and photographs cannot be used, redistributed, or recreated in print or on the web or on any other medium without written permission from the photographer.
By Varina Patel, on September 14th, 2010
 A Bug's Life by Shawn Vogt Congratulation to Shawn Vogt – the winner of our Details in Nature contest! His shot was taken with a Canon 5D MkII and a 180mm macro lens with a 1.4x extender. We think it’s a beautiful shot. The gorgeous light and clean focus makes it stand out immediately.
Here’s what Shawn had to say about it: “The subject of this photo is a “salsify”, basically a really big dandelion (125mm diameter). It wasn’t until weeks after this “weed” caught my eye (and subsequently photographed), I was watching a documentary about Pixar and saw that this same “weed” was used as a parachute for the character “Flick”. I felt the name was appropriate…. Imagine the world from a bugs perspective?
“My original process of this image left the image looking too harsh, and too much detail, so I continued to “work” with some ideas in PS until this final (for now :-p) image emerged…
“Several techniques were used to achieve the final look of the photograph. 2 exposures were used for iHDR to blend in the setting sun. Then another RAW process (layer) of the original image to reduce clarity (and soften) in targeted parts of the image were blended in.”
Shawn wins a free webinar session! Congratulations, Shawn! Awesome work!
We’d also like to mention a few runners-up. We had lots of beautiful images, and it’s always very difficult to choose just one.
Here is Artem Sapegin’s shot from the Black Sea in Zubova schel, Russia. Says he, “I’ve made this shot just after sunset; last light from sky colored corner of the image and long exposure blurred water.” We love the pretty colors, and the juxtaposition of stones and water. Nice work, Artem!
 Photograph by Artem Sapegin
We also liked Cristina Iacob’s shot from San Mateo County, California. Pebble beach is a fantastic place to shoot. It you are ever in the area, we highly recommend it! She says “The Pacific Ocean is quite a jeweler artist. I suppose there isn’t one single person who walked along on a beach and didn’t pick up a rock, a pebble, or a shell. This display of jasper stones was set by the tidal waves on a rock at Pebble Beach, San Mateo County, California. The area covered by this image is no larger than 3×3 inches.” Beautiful shot, Cristina!
 Photography by Cristina Iacob
Mark Hespenheide says, “This is probably a larger scale than you might have had in mind, but it’s one of my favorite “detail” shots. I majored in geology as an undergraduate and had the good fortune to visit one of my professors/mentors 10 years later while he was on sabbatical working at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. He took me out to some of the fresh lava flows (1-3 weeks old) that still had the blue-purple tint characteristic of new lava; within about a month, the surface weathers to the more common gray or black. Late sunset light casts the warm highlights and help show texture.” Mark – we assure you that this is not larger scale than we had in mind. this is a great detail shot – and you captured it beautifully.
 Photograph by Mark Hespenheide
And finally – a really nice shot from Vivek Sekar. He says the shot was taken “at the Helsinki botanical garden, with a slight resemblance to a Fibonacci curve for each preceding layer of petal.” The repeating patterns are gorgeous, Vivek! Well done!
 Photograph by Vivek Sekar We want to thank all of you for submitting image for our contest – and offer our congratulations to Shawn and all the runners up. It’s really cool too look through all the submitted images. Thanks for sharing your work, everyone!
By Jay Patel, on September 13th, 2010
By Jay Patel, on September 12th, 2010
 We already have some beautiful images waiting for judging in our Details in Nature contest! This is just a quick reminder that today is the last day to submit an image! The winner gets a free webinar session! If you are interested, click on the button below to submit your favorite detail photo!
We can’t wait to see everyone’s work! Good luck to all the participants.
By Jay, on September 9th, 2010
 These two shots offer an example of what can be accomplished with a simple change in perspective. The shot above – titled “Light Falls” – was taken in Zion National Park in 2005. The image highlights the beauty of the waterfall, and provides a portrait of the park as well – showcasing the beautiful sandstone walls and the lovely autumn foliage.
Take a look at the second image. It’s not unusual to find a scene like this in nature. As pretty as the location is, the shot doesn’t do it justice. When I arrived at the first of the Emerald Pools, I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. The fall colors were at their peak, and the colors of the canyon walls were enriched by recent showers. The falls were flowing beautifully as well… so I grabbed my camera and took a wide-angle shot.
Although the scene is beautiful, the waterfall is nearly lost in the image, and there is no clear point of focus. The waterfall was intended to be the main point of interest – but it ended up lost as a small sliver of silver surrounded by busy foliage and sandstone. So, how do you fix a shot like this?
Rather then give up and return with a less-than-spectacular shot, I decide to change my perspective. Walking around to the opposite side of the falls, I noticed that the falling water was backlit with soft residual light from the overcast sky. This made it stand out against the darker, water-soaked walls of the canyon. In order to focus the attention of the viewer on the waterfall, I decided to use a longer focal length (50mm lens on 1.6 crop factor camera). This allows the waterfall to fill up the frame. I decided to include the tree and striped walls of the canyon to provide a sense of time and place.
So, the next time you are stumped for an interesting composition… think about changing your perspective.
Happy Shooting!
And just a quick reminder to those who are interested – don’t forget to enter our latest contest: Details in Nature.
By Jay Patel, on September 1st, 2010
 Varina took this photograph with a 180mm macro lens earlier this year. Most visitors to Death Valley National Park never notice the beauty in the tiny salt crystals that cover the floor of the salt pan. As a nature photographer, do you slow down and notice the details? We want to see your best detail shot. The theme of our next contest… Details in Nature. This time, we’re offering a free webinar session as a prize. We hope you will enter!
Keep in mind – you do not need a macro lens to capture details. Jay’s shot (below) of ice crystals in Paria Canyon, was taken with a normal mid-range zoom lens. Get creative!
As before, we’re going to keep things pretty simple for this contest. We have made a few changes, so make sure you read the rules carefully.
RULES
- Each photographer may submit as many as ONE (1) JPG images to the contest forum. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to register in order to upload to the forum.
- All contest entries must be posted no later than 11:59 PM EST, Sept 12, 2010.
- Photographs should be relevant to the theme: Details in Nature.
- Photographer should include a brief explanation of technique, and any comments you feel are relevant.
- The winning photograph will be featured on our blog. Three or four runners-up will also receive mention on our blog.
- The winner will receive ONE (1) free webinar session – the winner may choose from sessions 1, 2, or 3 from our upcoming webinar series in October 2010. Webinar details are online at: http://www.photographybyvarina.com/photography/workshops/workshop-nature-photography-ihdr-workflow
- If the winning photographer does not contact us within two weeks of notification, we will choose another winner to receive the prize. The original winner will forfeit his/her prize.
That’s it, folks! We hope you’ll decide to submit an image. Feel free to browse the forums and take a look at some of the other submissions – and feel free to exchange comments as well! We’re looking forward to seeing all your great work!
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Processing a photo with a wide range of light usually requires bracketing. In this case, I took two bracketed shots and opened them in Adobe Camera Raw. I selected my color balance for a natural-looking sky, and then adjusted the contrast. I ignored the foreground in the first image, and processed it for the sky alone. The second image would be used for the water. I made sure the highlight areas in the water were not overexposed, and opened the photo in Photoshop… then opened the RAW file again in Adobe Camera Raw. This time, I reduced the clarity of the photo… allowing the waves in the foreground to soften even more. (If you make different adjustments to a single RAW file, you can save a “Snapshot” of each version for easy reference.)
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Webinar Recordings: Nature Photography & iHDR Workflow
A Tale of Two Nights
