Stormy Ellenabeich

[weepete]

-Tech Specs
Canon 5DmkIV with Canon 16-35mm f4L
0.8 sec f11, ISO50, 2+3 stop ND filters

-Lighting
Shot just as rain clouds were moving in from the sea, dull overcast

-Why did I take the shot?
I really liked the the dark band of cloud coming in over the sky which changed the feeling of the place. It's a bit of a dark and moody shot that I don't do often, but the contrast with slightly earlier in the day struck me. I wanted to try a slightly different style of processing as well.

Stormy Ellenabeich by wee_pete, on Flickr

 

[Jeff15]

I like your treatment of this shot.....

 

[weepete]

I like your treatment of this shot.....

Thanks Jeff, I thought I'd try a bit of a different style with this one. I often have cloudy conditions but I've never managed to process thay type of shot to where I've been happy with it. I tried a few different things after watching a tutorial today, including editing on an IPS panel (my works monitor that I've got while we are all working from home).

 

[Destin]

This works really well for me. You’ve nailed the processing and exposure, managing to give a dark and moody vibe without clipping shadow detail in the bottom right. I enjoy that you chose a faster shutter speed here to capture the whitecaps - a longer exposure would have smoothed out the storm too much.

I also like the way the clouds and foreground work together to form de facto leading lines toward the center of the image. The fact that the brightest part of the image is directly above the focal point also help to draw my eye in.

If I had to find something to change, I might try cropping to remove some of the top and the left. Maybe just a tad too much head space in this image for my liking, since there isn’t much going on at the very top of the frame, and I’d also prefer to not have that rock cut in half about 1/3 of the way up the left side of the frame so I’d probably exclude it.

Overall, strong work!

 

[weepete]

This works really well for me. You’ve nailed the processing and exposure, managing to give a dark and moody vibe without clipping shadow detail in the bottom right. I enjoy that you chose a faster shutter speed here to capture the whitecaps - a longer exposure would have smoothed out the storm too much.

I also like the way the clouds and foreground work together to form de facto leading lines toward the center of the image. The fact that the brightest part of the image is directly above the focal point also help to draw my eye in.

If I had to find something to change, I might try cropping to remove some of the top and the left. Maybe just a tad too much head space in this image for my liking, since there isn’t much going on at the very top of the frame, and I’d also prefer to not have that rock cut in half about 1/3 of the way up the left side of the frame so I’d probably exclude it.

Overall, strong work!

Thanks Destin! I normally try and keep a bit of structure to water, so that 0.6-1 second range I think gives a good balance between illustrating movement and keeping structure.

I agree about the rock on the left, I kicked myself a little when I saw that I'd clipped that. Good to know there's a bit much on the top, I was debating which aspect ratio to use myself, I really like panoramic formats though they don't always display well on the internet so I did choose a slightly taller aspect ratio than I would have normally here. For my final version I will probably chop a bit off the top to give a little wider feel.

 

[Space Face]

There's not much I can add. You seem to have again achieved your aim. The points raised are valid and relevant.

I also think a letter box crop would work.

All in all tho a very dramatic and pleasant shot.

 

[weepete]

There's not much I can add. You seem to have again achieved your aim. The points raised are valid and relevant.

I also think a letter box crop would work.

All in all tho a very dramatic and pleasant shot.

Thanks mate, much appreciated!

You'll know yourself the issues we have with unpredictable weather, and while that does lead to beautiful lighting conditions, often having something in the bag to deal with cloudy days could turn a wasted day into a useful shoot.

I try to use standard aspect ratios, as I think it creates a more coherant body of work. Mostly I use 2x1, 3x1, 16x9 or 16x10. 3x4 for verticals but occasionally 1x1 or 2x3. Rarely I'll use a 2.5x1 or a 5x1.

I actually deliberately included a bit more space on the top on this one as 2x1 doesn't display well on screens so this is a 16x10.

 

[Derrel]

Very well done!

 

[stapo49]

I think Destin summed it up. The only difference is I would leave the top as is. To me it really conveys the sense of the grandness of the storm. Beautiful moody shot.

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

 

[weepete]

Very well done!

Thanks Derrel! I'm still massively impressed with this sensor an the quality of the raw files I'm getting paired with a very sharp lens. It really does mean I feel like I need to push less in post, and that's resulting in better shots. Much happier with the results I've been getting lately.

I think Destin summed it up. The only difference is I would leave the top as is. To me it really conveys the sense of the grandness of the storm. Beautiful moody shot.

Sent from my SM-T510 using Tapatalk

Thanks stapo! I do quite like the top and the way it splays out. I quite often have difficulty cropping out that one cloud I think looks good even if the composition is better without it. I spent quite a bit of time on the shore here, it's a beautiful peaceful placee to explore but a challenging place to photograph!