Lupines and Mt. Adams

[w7xman]

I went on a 60 hour whirlwind tour of the north country earlier this week, shooting mainly lupines in early and late light. I came away with a dozen or so keepers, and this is potentially my favorite.

The problems that I humbly request comment on...first off, due to gusty breezes (~10 mph), I had to shoot this at a fairly large aperature for landscape work, and as such, it goes out of focus real fast after the blooms. Does this work.

Additionally, the brook is fairly bright right now, I could burn down the highlights, but curious as to thoughts.

Any other insights appreciated.

Thanks in advance...
Taken this morning as dawn broke over Mount Madison.
Canon 20D w/Sigma 18-200
1/40 @ F8
ISO 400
5 Stops of ND filtration
Polarizer (for flower saturation, oops on the brook!)
Lull in strong breeze

 

[Grumpy]

I like the composition and subject -- even the way it is cropped!

To me, though, the water is way too bright: it overwhelms the softer tones and hues in the rest of the photo. I'd like to the brightness of the water brought down, carefully, without losing the luminosity that gives it "life."

G.

 

[Halite]

Really beautiful image. Nice work getting it!

I think the rapid decrease in focus works in this case, since the background is impressionistic and hazy.

If I were digitally working on this picture, I would focus on gently increasing the brightness of the foreground flowers and their foliage and gradually taper this effect into the middleground flowers. This will help to accent the main focus of the picture, lead the eye into the background of the image and balance against the brightness of the stream. It's already happening in the image, it just needs a bit more boost.

The next thing I would try is a slight darkening of the mountain range and the darker elements of the clouds just to give a little more contrast and definition in this part of the picture. But not too much so as to lose the hazy morning light quality. BTW, I really like how the clouds frame the mountain range in your image.

As for the water, I might try burning down the highlights a bit, but I'm not really bothered by the bright reflection. After all, the high reflectivity is one of the key qualities telling me it's water.

 

[4000'er]

I love the foreground light.

Nice shot

 

[w7xman]

Thanks...

Thanks for the thoughful comments and critiques...

I may have gone overboard with the saturation, but darkened the sky, river, brightened the middleground...

Any better?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Head to Sugar Hill if you want Lupines. Also, I drove by Sunapee State Park (6/17) and they are peak right now - and include a nice mix of pink and purple.

Tim

 

[w7xman]

Head to Sugar Hill if you want Lupines. Also, I drove by Sunapee State Park (6/17) and they are peak right now - and include a nice mix of pink and purple.

Tim

Tim,

Normally I would agree with you, but this year it's just not that good in Sugar Hill. I was there last monday, and they are a bit sparse in the major fields, and all but non existant in the Sampler field. Sure there are good fields, but overall, not as good as years past.

That's why I happened over to Jefferson/Lancaster and was very pleased...

I'd like to hear more about the Sunapee display though...any options for good landscapes???

Here's my Sugar Hill shot this year...

And another from Jefferson...

 

[NewHampshire]

I love the saturation. Its art, not necessarily meant to be an EXACT copy of what you see. If that were true the velvia users would have been crucified long ago .

Brian

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I liked your enhanced version. It does not look over done to me. It looks real and surreal at the same time which always works for me. The primary purpose of such enhancements is to restore what the eye saw, but the camera was unable to record. I believe you accomplished that. Seeing the world through rose colored glasses is not necessarily bad either.

That is an amazing Maxfield Parrish sky in the Sugar Hill scene. The "sparse" lupines are exceptional - sometimes less is more. There are some distractions in the forest which a lower perspective might have hidden behind the lupine. However, I do like the forest in the middleground as you have it composed. Overall a very pleasing photo.

I have always like the concept of flowers juxtaposed with a rushing stream and the Jefferson picture has its moments. The blur in the bottom stream is very nice, but the area between that stream and the lupines is perhaps the wink link in the composition. Perhaps if you were close enough you might have sprayed or wetted down the light colored rocks and the extended twig on the right to darken them. I would also be inclined to crop some off the top - perhaps all the way down into the top stream.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

I'd like to hear more about the Sunapee display though...any options for good landscapes???

I can only tell you that in the rotary at the entrance to the ski area the fields of Lupines were huge. I don't think you'd get too much of a landscape -- at least not without a road. I'm not sure where else they grow in that area, but my 7-year-old daughter loves them, so I am conscious of pointing them out.

Tim

 

[Halite]

Excellent edit! I don't think the saturation is overdone. It brings color interest to the top of the photo, which balances the already saturated hues of the lupines. Very nice image.

 

[Grumpy]

Your second version of the original shot (post #5) is much nicer, to my eye. It probably represents more accurately what you saw in the original scene.

In post #7, I keep thinking a touch of fill light to brighten the foreground would help in the top photo. Also, while I really, really like the sky, including so much of it creates one of those two-pictures-in-one (maybe even three-in-one) compositions that leave me wondering just what to focus on. I know that may be the very point, but my simple-minded approach to these things leads me to prefer one primary subject in the frame, with other elements serving as icing on the cake or "context" rather than competing aggressively for attention as dominant features.

The second photo in #7 would benefit from cropping closer to the stream at the top, in my opinion.

Remember, I am just being picky. These are very nice scenes and photos.

G.

 

[Jasper]

Great Shot

Very nice shot. I am heading up to the Alpine Garden and hope to have pictures to share soon.