Archives For Photography Workflow

Punch Bowl Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon (OR), USA

Streaking

Jay Patel —  February 15, 2013

It took me almost 7 years to take this photograph. When I visited this location the first time, it was in the middle of the afternoon and there was a massive log blocking the view of the waterfall. On my second visit, I left my water shoes in the car… I mean, why take shoes when there is a log blocking the view of the falls. Right? Of course, by then, the log was gone. It took me another year to get back to this location – and this time, I brought those shoes! The water was freezing cold from snow melt, but my neoprene water shoes kept my feet relatively warm.

I chose a vertical composition to create depth in the photograph. In order to get the shot, I had to wade into the fast-moving flow. I waited until the bubbles in the water were close to my camera before releasing the shutter so that I could capture the white streaks. I decided to bracket the exposure to get the right size streaks in the foreground with one exposure and get enough details in the waterfall in a second exposure. I used our iHDR workflow to blend the two exposures for this finished image.

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The Last Green

Jay Patel —  February 12, 2013

Pebble Beach, Califorina (CA), USA

I took this photograph while shooting with some friends a few years ago just north of the Pigeon Point Light House in California. I was showing a group of students how to use GND filters when I took this photograph.

I used a hard Edge GND filter to balance out the light between the sky and the ground. The filter edge was aligned just below the rocks (accounting for the darkening of the rock at the very top). I chose this composition in order to fill the lower part of the frame with green moss.

You can see light reflecting from the pool as well as the rocks beneath the surface.

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Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, Washington (WA), USA

Spring Time

Jay Patel —  January 30, 2013

Spring is coming… and along with spring come opportunities to capture newly-formed, translucent leaves. Over 100 inches of rain fall in the Hoh Rainforest every year… and any place that is not walked upon regularly is covered by plants. There are plants growing on top of other plants… and often there are plants growing on top of that!

This is a photograph is all about weather and seasons. I made minor adjustments to exposure, contrast, and white balance in the RAW converter.

Need some tips for shooting forests? Check out this post where I show a comparison of photographs taken in ideal and less-than-ideal conditions: Quick Tip on Colors

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Silver Streak

Silver Streak

Jay Patel —  January 23, 2013


There must have been a dozen photographers behind me shooting the reflections of the Grand Tetons that morning, but I was drawn to the backlit mist just as the sun was coming up. The cloudless sky over the Tetons was rather uninteresting… but this lovely calm scene had everything I wanted.

As my skills were rather limited at the time, I went to great lengths to avoid the bright sky on my right. The photos is intentionally left dark to let the mist stand out. This was also one of my first attempt at manual blending. I spent hours trying to figure out how to bring out the details in different parts of the image.

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Lumahai Beach, Kauai, Hawaii (HI), USA

Lumahai Reflections

Jay Patel —  January 11, 2013

We spent a day shooting with our friend, Vincent Tylor, in Kaua. As the sun dropped low in the sky, we returned to Lumahai Beach. The sky was putting on a great show for us and I chose this shallow pool in the foreground to capture the reflections.

This is an moderately difficult blend of 3 separate bracketed images. I used our iHDR manual blending to retain the natural look of the image. If you look at the image closely, you will notice that the reflections are superimposed on the rocks below in part of the images… and details can be seen both above and below the surface of the water.

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Toadstools, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Utah (UT), USA

Once a Mighty King

Jay Patel —  January 9, 2013

I could spend all day photographing the Toadstools and never get tired of them. The variety of hoodoos and formations in the region is awesome. On this day, we arrived early to photograph this location and the light show did not disappoint.

I used a manual blend (iHDR workflow) to balance out the light between the sky and the foreground. Why didn’t I use a GND filter? Because it would have darkened the top of the mountains and hoodoos. I chose this composition so that the large red hoodoo stands out.

Is the composition effective? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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El Capitan, Yosemite, CA

The Monolith

Jay Patel —  January 4, 2013

My photography career started in the late 90′s – in Yosemite with a point- and-shoot Nikon 990. Other photographers made fun of my digital point-and-shoot and suggested I get a “real camera” – and by “real”, they meant “film”. Five years later, when I returned to take this shot, almost everyone was taking photographs with a digital SLR.

The key to capturing photographs like this one, is to recognize that weather and seasons impact the light at a location. We traveled to Yosemite in Winter right after a snowstorm. Our efforts were rewarded with this magnificent sight… and as an added bonus, the park was almost deserted!

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Old Failthful, Yellowstone National Park Wyoming (WY), USA

Just a Dream

Jay Patel —  January 2, 2013

I love the Old Faithful area for its amazing natural beauty and the diversity of colors and terrain. The first time I saw that place I felt like this was not quite real… until the masses of people started arriving around noon. :)

I used a LensBaby to create this image. The lens baby was a gift from one of our students, and we were experimenting with it. The lens requires a bit of getting used to. I adjusted the lens to give the clouds a dreamy, motion effect.

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Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia (WV), USA

Dolly Sods Wilderness

Jay Patel —  December 31, 2012

If you are ever in the Northern part of West Virginia, be sure to visit Dolly Sods. We have been to this location a few times, but this was the first time the light was just right. Bear Rocks made a fantastic foreground.

This image is all about getting the right light. I could have used a hard GND filter, but instead I choose to bracket the shot and rely on our iHDR manual blending workflow. I chose to place the “bear rocks” on the foreground in order to showcase their textures.

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Illumination

Jay Patel —  December 28, 2012

The day we arrived in Death Valley, it started to rain. The rain turned into a downpour, and over the course of the next 24 hours, 1 inch of rain fell. That’s more than half of the total average rainfall for the entire year in Death Valley – the driest place in North America! All the roads were closed and water was running across the road everywhere. But when the storm started to break the next day, we got some fantastic light.

I chose this composition to highlight the fantastic textures in the foreground. I placed the horizon according to the Rule of the Thirds. This is a single exposure photograph – no blending was necessary, and I didn’t need any filters. Sometime the conditions are such that there is no need for any fancy processing or equipment.

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