Hi Folks
Lorell caught up with me on Flikr, and I promised to post something here.
Early in October 2022 we organized a club photography weekend at Agulhas. One of the local attractions is the rusted ship wreck on the rocks. To date I have not managed to make any good images of this attraction, so I decided that this time I should definitely have a more serious go at it.
On Saturday evening the sky was lightly clouded, and it was possible to estimate where the sun would go down. So, I set up my camera among the rocks so that the wreck would be on the right third, and the sun would likely set on the left third. I moved down among the rocks so as to separate the top of the wreck from the horizon line. I focused on the wreck and took a number of shots of the fixed composition over time until after sunset. The sun actually set too far to the left side of the frame, but that is another image!
Early on Sunday morning we went to Struisbaai harbour for possible sunrise shots. This wasn’t too promising, so we soon returned to Agulhas. On the way back we observed this beautiful full moon in a clear sky. This looked like it might make a good setting for a wreck shot, so we continued down the coast. The previous evening, I had carefully noted where my tripod legs were positioned, and so I was easily able to set up my camera in the same spot. I figured that the moon was likely to set more or less where the sun had gone down the previous night, so the composition should be OK. However, by that stage a big bank of cloud had obscured the moon. After setting up I waited in the hopes of getting a break in the clouds. The hoped-for break appeared at 05h35, and I took my shot. (1/6 sec, ISO 1600, F11, 96mm focal length, no exposure compensation.) At that stage the sky behind me was beginning show signs of the coming dawn, which put some light on the rocks. Thereafter the moon disappeared behind the clouds again. However, I took further shots in case I needed to enhance the sea in the final image.
Unfortunately, there was one big problem with this composition. The moon did not set anywhere near where the sun had set, but was above the wreck! So, I determined to go back the following morning and have another go.
The next morning (Monday), we got there early. I set up the camera at another location so as to get the moon setting at the left third. Unfortunately, at that time it was too dark for the camera to focus electronically. At +3 stops exposure I could make out the wreck in the viewfinder, but the camera would just focus in-and-out continuously. I then had the bright idea to use the focus micro-adjustment ring on the lens. I rotated this until the wreck was sharp. Cloud conditions were better than the previous day, and I took a number of shots of the moonset, feeling very excited about getting such a good collection. Unfortunately, when I downloaded the images, I found that my camera seems to have focused at its minimum focus point! Absolutely nothing was in focus. And I had not once checked the focus during the shooting process. What an amateur! I deleted the lot in disgust.
So, I decided to edit the image taken at 05h35 on Sunday morning. I started with this image, two other images that included possible interesting wave formations, a full moon detail shot (the moon as shot that morning was a bit overexposed and lacking in detail), and an image of a sunset reflection on the sea. The latter two images came from my Lightroom collection.
To solve the composition problem, I decided to cut out the sky and flip it horizontally (putting the moon over on the left side). Obviously, this leaves a copy of the top of the wreck over on the left, but this problem is easily cloned out.
I decided that I needed masks for the sky, the sea, the rocks, and the wreck itself. Of these I considered that the wreck mask would be the most problematic, particularly the fine details in the upper section. What I did was to seriously lighten the blues, and darken the reds. This image was then posterized in Photoshop. This provided a perfectly good mask for the upper part of the wreck. This mask was further processed using Topaz ReMask 3 to get a reasonable result in the lower wreck areas. The only problem noticed (and corrected) later was that the white breasts of the two birds on the top showed as sky!
The mask of the rocks was made using Topaz ReMask. The sky mask was a simple rectangle from which the wreck mask was subtracted, and the sea mask was made by subtracting the previous masks from the whole.
The masks are necessary in order to be able to edit the four areas separately. Various Photoshop editing processes were employed on each of the separate areas, and combined to provide the final picture.
This image was given what I consider to be a poor score by an idiot external judge at the camera club last night. But that's life!
C&C Welcomed
regards - Peter Dewar
The masks are necessary in order to be able to edit the four areas separately. Various Photoshop editing processes were used on each of the separate areas, and combined to provide the final picture.
Lorell caught up with me on Flikr, and I promised to post something here.
Early in October 2022 we organized a club photography weekend at Agulhas. One of the local attractions is the rusted ship wreck on the rocks. To date I have not managed to make any good images of this attraction, so I decided that this time I should definitely have a more serious go at it.
On Saturday evening the sky was lightly clouded, and it was possible to estimate where the sun would go down. So, I set up my camera among the rocks so that the wreck would be on the right third, and the sun would likely set on the left third. I moved down among the rocks so as to separate the top of the wreck from the horizon line. I focused on the wreck and took a number of shots of the fixed composition over time until after sunset. The sun actually set too far to the left side of the frame, but that is another image!
Early on Sunday morning we went to Struisbaai harbour for possible sunrise shots. This wasn’t too promising, so we soon returned to Agulhas. On the way back we observed this beautiful full moon in a clear sky. This looked like it might make a good setting for a wreck shot, so we continued down the coast. The previous evening, I had carefully noted where my tripod legs were positioned, and so I was easily able to set up my camera in the same spot. I figured that the moon was likely to set more or less where the sun had gone down the previous night, so the composition should be OK. However, by that stage a big bank of cloud had obscured the moon. After setting up I waited in the hopes of getting a break in the clouds. The hoped-for break appeared at 05h35, and I took my shot. (1/6 sec, ISO 1600, F11, 96mm focal length, no exposure compensation.) At that stage the sky behind me was beginning show signs of the coming dawn, which put some light on the rocks. Thereafter the moon disappeared behind the clouds again. However, I took further shots in case I needed to enhance the sea in the final image.
Unfortunately, there was one big problem with this composition. The moon did not set anywhere near where the sun had set, but was above the wreck! So, I determined to go back the following morning and have another go.
The next morning (Monday), we got there early. I set up the camera at another location so as to get the moon setting at the left third. Unfortunately, at that time it was too dark for the camera to focus electronically. At +3 stops exposure I could make out the wreck in the viewfinder, but the camera would just focus in-and-out continuously. I then had the bright idea to use the focus micro-adjustment ring on the lens. I rotated this until the wreck was sharp. Cloud conditions were better than the previous day, and I took a number of shots of the moonset, feeling very excited about getting such a good collection. Unfortunately, when I downloaded the images, I found that my camera seems to have focused at its minimum focus point! Absolutely nothing was in focus. And I had not once checked the focus during the shooting process. What an amateur! I deleted the lot in disgust.
So, I decided to edit the image taken at 05h35 on Sunday morning. I started with this image, two other images that included possible interesting wave formations, a full moon detail shot (the moon as shot that morning was a bit overexposed and lacking in detail), and an image of a sunset reflection on the sea. The latter two images came from my Lightroom collection.
To solve the composition problem, I decided to cut out the sky and flip it horizontally (putting the moon over on the left side). Obviously, this leaves a copy of the top of the wreck over on the left, but this problem is easily cloned out.
I decided that I needed masks for the sky, the sea, the rocks, and the wreck itself. Of these I considered that the wreck mask would be the most problematic, particularly the fine details in the upper section. What I did was to seriously lighten the blues, and darken the reds. This image was then posterized in Photoshop. This provided a perfectly good mask for the upper part of the wreck. This mask was further processed using Topaz ReMask 3 to get a reasonable result in the lower wreck areas. The only problem noticed (and corrected) later was that the white breasts of the two birds on the top showed as sky!
The mask of the rocks was made using Topaz ReMask. The sky mask was a simple rectangle from which the wreck mask was subtracted, and the sea mask was made by subtracting the previous masks from the whole.
The masks are necessary in order to be able to edit the four areas separately. Various Photoshop editing processes were employed on each of the separate areas, and combined to provide the final picture.
This image was given what I consider to be a poor score by an idiot external judge at the camera club last night. But that's life!
C&C Welcomed
regards - Peter Dewar
The masks are necessary in order to be able to edit the four areas separately. Various Photoshop editing processes were used on each of the separate areas, and combined to provide the final picture.