Landscape Shots on Overcast Days

[PhotoNewt]

Originally Posted by JohnBrainard

PhotoNewt, thanks for the advice on metering for GND filters. I'll keep that in mind. Any suggestions on which GND filters to get? I've been leaning more toward adding a polarizing filter to my bag before any other filters, but I could somehow be convinced to change my mind...

I use B+W GND filters. This an Hoya are good brands that produce good products at reasonable prices. Avoid the cheap ones as those may actually degrade your image. Avoid the Cokins GND filter as is not neutral colored and can alter color on your images. Don't buy the screw-on type GND filter, those leave you with little flexibility on horizon positioning.

Regarding the circular polarizer vs. the GND, if budget only allows one or the other, get the circular polarizer first. Is a very versatile and useful filter for landscapes and several other applications.

[PhotoNewt]

Originally Posted by inkista

The second one was Scripps Beach, on the north side of the pier.

Nice view, thanks much for the info.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by JohnBrainard

....What I'm really looking forward to, though, is a "Merge to HDR" feature in The Gimp.

Me, I'm waiting for the version of Hugin that has enfuse built in.

If you don't have your own Ultrawide, you need to get one! My Sigma 10-20mm rarely ever makes it off my camera.

Eh. Personal taste. The reason I borrowed the 10-22 was to see if I wanted one, and what I found out after two weeks was that I really really don't have a need for one, yet. An ultrawide's just not as exciting when you're used to shooting with an 8mm circular fisheye.

[JohnBrainard]

PhotoNewt, thanks for the info. I'll start looking around at filters. I have wanted to for a while now, just never got around to it.

inkista, I totally forgot about enfuse. That's another application that isn't in the Ubuntu repositories. I could try to build it, but I'm lazy. Ubuntu 8.10 is on its way soon, hopefully they'll be back. I really don't want to switch distros though.

And you're right about personal taste. I love my ultrawide lens. I don't recall seeing anything shot with a fisheye that I really liked. I haven't looked though. I'll make a point to do that soon.

My excitement for my 10-20mm lens comes from having only a 50mm and a 70-300mm lens before. When I bought my 10-20mm, a whole new world of opportunities opened up. It's not just a small world, but just about every photo I've posted on Flickr over the last month or so are shot with that lens.

[inkista]

The fisheye thing is usually an acquired taste for some. My own use of the fisheye is atypical, since I primarily bought it to shoot spherical panos and little planets. But as wide-angle coverage goes, a 180° field of view can't be beat. If you want to see some great examples of fisheye use, I'd recommend looking at this DPS blog entry.

[JohnBrainard]

Originally Posted by inkista

The fisheye thing is usually an acquired taste for some. My own use of the fisheye is atypical, since I primarily bought it to shoot spherical panos and little planets. But as wide-angle coverage goes, a 180° field of view can't be beat. If you want to see some great examples of fisheye use, I'd recommend looking at this DPS blog entry.

Thanks for the link. Those photos are really cool. I'll have to do some more looking.

[lindyannajones]

Hi John,

I just returned from Monument Valley in Arizona/Utah. Most of my shots were taken during the day. Had I waited for the "golden hours" I would have missed so much. For one, I did wait several hours two nights in a row and got really so, so shots. So, even though it was very bright and I blew the roof off the highlights at times, the clouds were amazing. The overhead light also cast nice shadows on the rock formations, as well. This was the most fun I've had breaking all the rules in a long time!

[JohnBrainard]

Originally Posted by lindyannajones

Hi John,

I just returned from Monument Valley in Arizona/Utah. Most of my shots were taken during the day. Had I waited for the "golden hours" I would have missed so much. For one, I did wait several hours two nights in a row and got really so, so shots. So, even though it was very bright and I blew the roof off the highlights at times, the clouds were amazing. The overhead light also cast nice shadows on the rock formations, as well. This was the most fun I've had breaking all the rules in a long time!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27932019@N07/2722903354/

That's one beautiful creature! My wife and I are thinking about moving to Arizona next spring. We're looking to move to Prescott or near there. Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon aren't too far away. I'm looking forward to taking pictures there... especially the lizards.

It's nice to see there are clouds there!

[Taallyn]

Sometimes you just have to make do with what you've got at the time. If it is very cloudy or hazy, that can actually a very good time for other types of photography. It can really make colors in flowers sing since there isn't so much mid-day glare on them.

You can also try reducing the amount of sky that is in your landscape photos. Put the horizon near the top of the frame, or make landscape details more prominent.

Finally, you can try to expose the image so you can retain texture in the sky. A graduated neutral density filter can help with this, or simulating it in post processing with a gradient mask technique.