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03-25-2015, 10:12 AM   #1
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Backlight in the fells
Lens: Sigma 50-500 os Camera: K-5 ISO: 80 Shutter Speed: 1/2500s Aperture: F8 

Hi,

I was skitouring in the northern parts of Lapland for a week and of course utilized the opportunity for photographing the snowy fells. I returned intact after dragging a sled for a week and sleeping in an unwarmed tent, with a grin on my face and a stack photos in a memory card. The weather conditions varied and I got to take some lessons in taking backlit photographs against a somewhat harsh sunlight. The attached picture is self evidently one of these pictures.

I'd welcome any ideas and commentary relating to aesthetics, composition as well as the technical side if such is available.

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03-25-2015, 12:10 PM   #2
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I think you've got a good eye and I think your process was in a good direction. I think it could use some post processing if you shot in RAW. The reflection is a bit distracting in the water. A bit of dodging and burning would really look good I think. Keep running with this and I hope to see another edition!
03-25-2015, 03:04 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by fromunderthebridge Quote
Hi,

I was skitouring in the northern parts of Lapland for a week and of course utilized the opportunity for photographing the snowy fells. I returned intact after dragging a sled for a week and sleeping in an unwarmed tent, with a grin on my face and a stack photos in a memory card. The weather conditions varied and I got to take some lessons in taking backlit photographs against a somewhat harsh sunlight. The attached picture is self evidently one of these pictures.

I'd welcome any ideas and commentary relating to aesthetics, composition as well as the technical side if such is available.
Love this capture. I think it would be better if you had a little more DoF so that the branches on the right side were more in focus. The background looks very abstract to me almost like you blended a sky there from another image - great composition.
03-26-2015, 12:20 AM   #4
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Thanks for the comments.

Scootatheschool1990, I will consider localized burning of the sun's reflection to balance the picture out a bit. A tricky balance really as I want to retain the glowing luminosity from the sun without unbalancing the whole picture, but practice makes perfect.

voy-tech, thanks, I'm still a bit shy on going higher than f8 due to the diffraction limit although I maybe try its effect on the image quality with different lenses vs the additional compositional benefits.

03-26-2015, 07:57 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by fromunderthebridge Quote
Thanks for the comments.

Scootatheschool1990, I will consider localized burning of the sun's reflection to balance the picture out a bit. A tricky balance really as I want to retain the glowing luminosity from the sun without unbalancing the whole picture, but practice makes perfect.

voy-tech, thanks, I'm still a bit shy on going higher than f8 due to the diffraction limit although I maybe try its effect on the image quality with different lenses vs the additional compositional benefits.
With the sigma 50-500 you can easily go to f/11 without beeing affected by diffraction - actually the longer focal lengths of 300-500 have their resolution peaks at f/11. But I know what you feel since I also tend to stay at f/8 95% of the time with my lenses to get the best sharpness. Btw. if the subject is static and you want/need large DoF you could try focus stacking - merging few shots focused on foreground/middle/background.
03-28-2015, 01:02 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Yeah, have to remember better the specific performance profiles of my lens catalogue . Focus stacking could be interesting. Trying new techniques usually is a nice learning experience, even if they don't stick.

Btw. I did some minor burning on the picture and printed and framed one copy on a A4 slice of Ilford and I have to say it looks sweet
08-02-2018, 12:15 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by fromunderthebridge Quote
Hi,

I was skitouring in the northern parts of Lapland for a week and of course utilized the opportunity for photographing the snowy fells. I returned intact after dragging a sled for a week and sleeping in an unwarmed tent, with a grin on my face and a stack photos in a memory card. The weather conditions varied and I got to take some lessons in taking backlit photographs against a somewhat harsh sunlight. The attached picture is self evidently one of these pictures.

I'd welcome any ideas and commentary relating to aesthetics, composition as well as the technical side if such is available.
Should make a very decent art print, nice

08-02-2018, 06:57 PM   #8
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Well done as presented. You might consider cropping up from the bottom, perhaps to a point slightly below the shadow of the branches of the tree closest to the camera.
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