Chimney Rock

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

Chimney Rock is part of Point Reyes National Park, north of San Francisco. Went to this particular spot for the first time, and it seems like first-light spot. I got there much later, so made best of it, and tried the last light. Had great colors after sunset, and had one nice shot lined up, but couldn't get it as wind kept knocking the tripod over......also have to contend with crumbling edge of the cliffs around here........so watch your step, if anyone wants to try it.

Below are my attempts, feel free to shred them.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

Cavalier · November 5, 2014

Nope. Sorry can't do that - can't shred them.

But I will tell you that my favorites are #5 with the explosion of sea through the hole, and #7. #1 was a little ho-hum, but #2 of the same view is spectacular.

Great set of shots.

lifeinfocus · November 5, 2014

#2 - especially the bottom half really draws me into the image.

Phil

Seefutlung · November 5, 2014

Love the B&Ws. #2 & #7 needs a touch of contrast (a bit more black) for my taste and monitor. #3 says Adams to my eye.

anwmn1 · November 5, 2014

#2 is the standout here.
#7 has good tones and water is nice but there is just too much chopped off of the mountains. Makes it distracting.
#5 has good motion and energy but the water is blown out.
None of the others really do anything for me- don't like the top looking down perspective.

Eia · November 5, 2014

I prefer the clouds and the first one but overall number two really stands out to me. The black-and-white seems to show the details a little more in the mountains.

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

Cavalier wrote: »

Nope. Sorry can't do that - can't shred them.

But I will tell you that my favorites are #5 with the explosion of sea through the hole, and #7. #1 was a little ho-hum, but #2 of the same view is spectacular.

Great set of shots.

Thanks Jo! Appreciate your encouragement truly! I found #1 same, but wanted to highlight what was available and bit longer exposure in #2 and b&w can extract something good out of it! This spot way closer to you than to me!:D
Thanks again!

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

lifeinfocus wrote: »

#2 - especially the bottom half really draws me into the image.

Phil

Thanks Phil! When shooting b&w at the time intent was b&w but kept #1 for reference.....learning from you!:D Always great to get your feedback! Thanks!

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

Seefutlung wrote: »

Love the B&Ws. #2 & #7 needs a touch of contrast (a bit more black) for my taste and monitor. #3 says Adams to my eye.

Thanks Gary! I did try more contrast and it did add more punch and bit more artsy flavor, but fear of over doing prevented me. Getting okay from a guru means will let it fly next time!:D Cheers m8!

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

anwmn1 wrote: »

#2 is the standout here.
#7 has good tones and water is nice but there is just too much chopped off of the mountains. Makes it distracting.
#5 has good motion and energy but the water is blown out.
None of the others really do anything for me- don't like the top looking down perspective.

Thanks Aaron! Your input is valued beyond words and agree with it and it confirms my own thoughts! Glad you liked #2! I should have worked bit harder for composing #7. Wanted to keep horizon out and that forced my hand a bit but should have tried other angles. #5 is a learning lesson....I guess I haven't tried gushing water in that light....so should have exposed it for that fragile element and fixed the rest in post. Perhaps can clone something in there, but it wasn't going to recover. As for perspective, as far as I know even this was achieved by standing on crumbling rocks in gushing winds. Glad didn't fall or loose my setup. Ignored warnings to get to this. I do not believe there is a way to get down. So I assumed, this is how Chimney Rock is supposed to be shot. I would LOVE to be in front of it, and get down, but there is no way....

Thanks again!

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

Eia wrote: »

I prefer the clouds and the first one but overall number two really stands out to me. The black-and-white seems to show the details a little more in the mountains.

Thanks Anna Maria! Remember the days when you used to post 2 versions of your shots! Colored and B&W!!:D
I too like b&w, but wanted to know if #1 has any value......it is just reference at this point....will not dwell on HD long!:D

Thanks as always for your feedback! Cheers!

Seefutlung · November 5, 2014

BTW - #1 is perfect ... maybe too perfect ... but perfect nonetheless. The B&Ws seem more 'romantic', (in a good way), to me, hence my preference. I've only been to Pt. Reyes once, it was socked in.

Seefutlung · November 5, 2014

Stumblebum wrote: »

Thanks Gary! I did try more contrast and it did add more punch and bit more artsy flavor, but fear of over doing prevented me. Getting okay from a guru means will let it fly next time!:D Cheers m8!

"Guru", pleeeeeze ... lol, I know, you know, but for neophytes reading this thread, contrast will create 'punch' but at a cost to detail in the shadows and highlights. So handle that slider or curve with care.

anwmn1 · November 5, 2014

Stumblebum wrote: »

Thanks Aaron! Your input is valued beyond words and agree with it and it confirms my own thoughts! Glad you liked #2! I should have worked bit harder for composing #7. Wanted to keep horizon out and that forced my hand a bit but should have tried other angles. #5 is a learning lesson....I guess I haven't tried gushing water in that light....so should have exposed it for that fragile element and fixed the rest in post. Perhaps can clone something in there, but it wasn't going to recover. As for perspective, as far as I know even this was achieved by standing on crumbling rocks in gushing winds. Glad didn't fall or loose my setup. Ignored warnings to get to this. I do not believe there is a way to get down. So I assumed, this is how Chimney Rock is supposed to be shot. I would LOVE to be in front of it, and get down, but there is no way....

Thanks again!

Ah come on. Just hook a rope up to the bumper of your car and repel down.

I have only shot ocean shots a couple of times but I know the wave spray can be a real bugger to expose correctly. There is a high dynamic range in those types of shots. I need to make another trip to the coast.

Stumblebum · November 5, 2014

anwmn1 wrote: »

Ah come on. Just hook a rope up to the bumper of your car and repel down.
I have only shot ocean shots a couple of times but I know the wave spray can be a real bugger to expose correctly. There is a high dynamic range in those types of shots. I need to make another trip to the coast.

Hah! I would need a big rope......there is 2 mile approach!:D
When you come back up here, lets grab k-dog and make a whole weekend out of it!
I think I got handle on spots!
Cheers!

Juano · November 6, 2014

Nice work

Earache · November 6, 2014

I prefer all the color images here Taz - imo, the subjects here don't have quite enough tonal range to appeal more as B&W.
Agree with Aaron about the looking down pov.
#1 is looking best to me!
I wanna play with youse guys up there someday!

Stumblebum · November 6, 2014

Juano wrote: »

Nice work

Thanks Cristobal! Always awesome when you respond!

Earache wrote: »

I prefer all the color images here Taz - imo, the subjects here don't have quite enough tonal range to appeal more as B&W.
Agree with Aaron about the looking down pov.
#1 is looking best to me!
I wanna play with youse guys up there someday!

Thanks Eric! It would be total honor and pleasure if you do come up here. I will keep the weekend open if you want to go. Do need a heads up if you decide to come. The Thanks giving week and Christmas week, after lots of begging and fighting I got off from work so will be doing road trips. So if any other time, just let me know!

I would like to pick your brain about tonal-range......Some shots that I take, I know I will process them as b&w, just because that is what it feels like. For those purposes, is it worthy to make investment in b&w filters? Or is post-processing soft-ware good enough to push and pull sliders and achieve the same. So wondering if the intent is b&w, if couple of filters would help the cause.

Thanks again!

Earache · November 6, 2014

Stumblebum wrote: »

I would like to pick your brain about tonal-range......Some shots that I take, I know I will process them as b&w, just because that is what it feels like. For those purposes, is it worthy to make investment in b&w filters? Or is post-processing soft-ware good enough to push and pull sliders and achieve the same. So wondering if the intent is b&w, if couple of filters would help the cause.

So, my thoughts are (forgive me if I ramble, and of course these are my subjective ideas):
In this case, when I say tonal range I mean the availability of discrete gray tones between pure white
and pure black - it's important to preserve PW and PB when they exist in the image and it's my observation
that viewers respond favorably when the composition contains a nice balance of discernible tonal steps in-between PW and PB - and the composition is not too "busy".
In some cases though, we do seem to like/prefer high-contrast, punchy images - it's a "know-it when we see-it" situation highly dependent on subject, lighting, composition, etc. etc.
I think when the conversion omits tones we expect to see, you'll often see the comment that the image looks "flat" or "needs pop/contrast".

I'm sure there are purists that will prefer physical filters - even for digital B&W imaging, but, for the average enthusiast,
software provides pretty powerful tools - the average viewer probably can't discern the difference.
Although there are several other popular conversion tools out-there (Nik Silver Effects for one), I prefer to use LR5 for conversions,
and I may start with a pre-set but I always modify manually from there using the B&W Mix sliders to adjust individual
color channels... WB, Camera Calibration, and all the exposure/curve settings are also very useful in creating tonal steps or emphasizing/de-emphasizing certain tones, light, and shadow.

Look forward to meeting-up with the CALi Grinners someday - I'm sure we can work it out...

Stumblebum · November 6, 2014

Thanks Eric!! Similar thoughts and reasoning prevented me from pulling the trigger on b&w filters. I totally agree on why busy images don't lend well to b&w and sometime scene generates a particular light and tone where I start thinking b&w. Do hope you come up!

EvanThomas · November 15, 2014

Nice photos Stumblebum, I like 'em all, especially #1 and #5

Jack'll do · November 26, 2014

Words fail me when it comes to commenting on your images Taz. I have run out of super superlatives!
That said, #5 Pops so much it almost jumped off my screen.

Stumblebum · November 29, 2014

Thanks John and Evan! Your encouragement means everything!

bow

Chimney Rock

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