Last Light

[Antonio Correia]

Hello Colin

Tell me how you focused and where, please.

Were you using some kind of table to focus on the right distance ?
You know, one of those table where you read the focus distance regarding the DOF you want based on a specified camera, aperture...

Or do you have an iPhone with that application ? That's great isn't it ?

Which lens did you use ? And camera ? How do you focus at a certain distance - say 15 meters ?
My guess: Full-frame camera; 24 mm; f/16; focus distance about 2/3 meters; low ISO; cable release; tripod; mirror locked.

I did something like this once and got some spills of water on both, myself and the camera Mind if I post it here ? It's not so good as yours, no.

How could I have forgotten ? You also used a Singh Ray filter and I correct the aperture to f/8.

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,

As usual, amazing shot! I love the way you get so many colours into the photo without anything seemingly blowing out. The waves on the rocks creating that 'misty' effect looks fantastic :-)

Thanks Dan

[Colin Southern]

Tell me how you focused and where, please.

Were you using some kind of table to focus on the right distance ?
You know, one of those table where you read the focus distance regarding the DOF you want based on a specified camera, aperture...

Or do you have an iPhone with that application ? That's great isn't it ?

Hi Antonio,

The honest answer is "I have no idea" - the light was fading so fast and I wasn't able to get low enough to what the AF point was on -- so it was one of those "lap of the gods". In reality it's not quite the gamble that one might think at first as the depth of field with a WA lens at F11 is going to be pretty big - and with the camera on the centre AF point it's a pretty safe bet that it won't pick something at infinity with that composition.

Which lens did you use ?

Canon EF16-35mm F2.8L USM II

And camera ?

Canon 1Ds Mk III

How do you focus at a certain distance - say 15 meters ?

If I need to be more precise for these kinds of shots then I just focus on something at whatever distance I want to use and then switch the lens to manual focus mode.

My guess: Full-frame camera; 24 mm; f/16; focus distance about 2/3 meters; low ISO; cable release; tripod; mirror locked.

FF, 27mm, F11, No idea, ISO 400, Remote release, Tripod (semi-submerged!), no MLU (doesn't make any difference with long exposures with short lenses).

I did something like this once and got some spills of water on both, myself and the camera Mind if I post it here ? It's not so good as yours, no.

That's why I use a full weather-sealed camera and lenses

Please - go right ahead and post your shot

How could I have forgotten ? You also used a Singh Ray filter and I correct the aperture to f/8.

Yes - GND filter is a must or the shadow areas will be very VERY noisy, even with a RAW capture. In reality the ISO was chosen to get the exposures under 30 seconds (for a couple of reasons), at a reasonable ISO - but from there I had to add -ve EC for highlight control - so the exposures ended up being around 10 to 13 seconds - from there is was simply a case of taking enough of them to get the water effect that I wanted; in the end I blended 9 10-13 second exposures to give an equivalent of around a single 2 minute exposure.

[Antonio Correia]

I will writte about what you said latter because I going for lunch with my son now but I post my picture for you to have a look.
Thank you for the explanations.

EXIF

[jacsul]

Awesome image, great colors almost mystical.
Tripod semi-submerged? You are a better man than I. Now that's dedication!
Kudos on a really EXCELLENT IMAGE, IMHO.

Jack

[Antonio Correia]

Awesome image, great colors almost mystical.
Tripod semi-submerged? You are a better man than I. Now that's dedication!
Kudos on a really EXCELLENT IMAGE, IMHO. Jack

This is for you Colin !

[Antonio Correia]

...as the depth of field with a WA lens at F11 is going to be pretty big - and with the camera on the centre AF point it's a pretty safe bet that it won't pick something at infinity with that composition....

Agree.

...Canon EF16-35mm F2.8L USM II...

I own the old one.

...Canon 1Ds Mk III...

Too bulky for my taste and too expensive. The new 5D is a good competitor, not for sports really ...

...That's why I use a full weather-sealed camera and lenses
...

But that is not enough with salt water ! My lens received some drops of water and it still has small areas where the salt was...

In my picture I also used a ND. Mine is not a Singh but a Rodentock.

Here I am standing on the rocks with the tripod. Photo by my wife.

[Colin Southern]

Awesome image, great colors almost mystical.
Tripod semi-submerged? You are a better man than I. Now that's dedication!
Kudos on a really EXCELLENT IMAGE, IMHO.

Jack

Hi Jack,

Thanks for that, although as I think I mentioned above, it's really not that hard if you know the techniques (I reckon I could teach anyone how to do shots like that in about 5 minutes).

Having a tripod at least partically underwater is pretty much normal shooting for me; in the case of this shot, the tide was coming in, so what started out as a few small waves splashing over the legs ended up with the legs being underwater and water starting to splash up onto the filter (that's when I had to stop). On a "good day" I'll have waders on and be in 2 to 3 feet of water

[Colin Southern]

Too bulky for my taste and too expensive. The new 5D is a good competitor, not for sports really ...

The 1D3 is the sports model (which I used to own), although the 1Ds3 can out-resolve it.

The 5D3 is a great camera, but really a different league as the 1D series - whole bunch of things really, from ruggedness to weather sealing to Metering to AF to customisations - to firmware features. It is a heavy camera though (and far more so when you add something like a EF70-200/F2.8 and a 580EX II (and external battery pack) (and additional bags for lenses) (and filters) (and light stands); who needs a gym membership!

[taken]

fantastic dream like pic very unusual foreground for such a common landscape its the foreground with its domination,weird,eye catching colors,almost abstract in theme,for me atleas is the highlight of this pic........ the vertical framing is restraining the eye from moving around the lovely pic .....but then again.........maybe its meant to be

[dan88]

The 1D3 is the sports model (which I used to own), although the 1Ds3 can out-resolve it.

The 5D2 is a great camera, but really a different league as the 1D series - whole bunch of things really, from ruggedness to weather sealing to Metering to AF to customisations - to firmware features. It is a heavy camera though (and far more so when you add something like a EF70-200/F2.8 and a 580EX II (and external battery pack) (and additional bags for lenses) (and filters) (and light stands); who needs a gym membership!

Is there now a 5D mark III? I thought the 5D mark II came out only recently?

[Colin Southern]

Is there now a 5D mark III? I thought the 5D mark II came out only recently?

Oops - sorry. I meant the 5D2

[Colin Southern]

fantastic dream like pic very unusual foreground for such a common landscape its the foreground with its domination,weird,eye catching colors,almost abstract in theme,for me atleas is the highlight of this pic........ the vertical framing is restraining the eye from moving around the lovely pic .....but then again.........maybe its meant to be

Thanks for that

If it's horizonal you prefer then you might like this one that I shot last year from the same place ...

[Antonio Correia]

Colin, this is very, VERY nice...

[Colin Southern]

Colin, this is very, VERY nice...

Thanks Antonio - it's been quite popular on canvas.

[heather4279]

Colin,
I LOVE your pictures!

[Colin Southern]

Colin,
I LOVE your pictures!

Thanks Heather - if you haven't seen my gallery, there's a whole lot more there!

[Yan Zhang]

Colin,

This sort of shots is particularly attractive to me. In fact I have been trying to
find a place to take this type of pictures for a while, so far not successful.

I found out that to get such a misty effect on rocks (or other objects) from waves, the exposure time should be at least 60 seconds or more. By using GND and ND, such exposure time is achivable.

One thing I don't understand here is: what is the reason you took this picture with 9 shots, instead of just one shot with enough long time exposure?

Thanks.

[batman44]

This is amazing - I just love looking at your pictures! You say it's easy....but I beg to differ with you! It would take longer than 5 minutes to teach this to me!

Pictures like this makes me wish I didn't have to help out with college expenses for my son! I would rather buy equipment!

Thanks for sharing!

Kori

[Shutterman]

Colin,

amazing picture. Honestly. Wow. I love nature shots like this, after reading this thread and the tutorial on filters I need to buy a GND filter

Respectfully,

Trey