Messages

46

Landscape / Re: Around Inari, Finland

« on: February 15, 2013, 02:25:16 PM »

Thanks everyone.

47

Video & Movie / Re: Timelapse of the Aurora in Finland

« on: February 15, 2013, 02:22:13 PM »

Thanks all. Settings were 24mm f/1.4, ISO 1600, 4 secs, in continuous. Some had Rebel-type cameras which coped without problems, despite -28.5 C. I think the shooting star type trails are probably satellites.

48

Video & Movie / Re: Timelapse of the Aurora in Finland

« on: February 13, 2013, 04:27:02 PM »

Thanks Sporgon. I think it would be very difficult to get movement of the stars and Aurora in the same timelapse, due to the large differences in relative movement. The Aurora (when it is a good one) is much faster moving than the stars, so it would appear manic if there was more obvious movement in the stars.

49

Landscape / Around Inari, Finland

« on: February 13, 2013, 02:53:41 PM »

Last week, I was lucky enough to visit Northern Finland. It started off fairly mild at -5 C with snow, but then got progressively colder to -28.5 C on the last night. While I was there, there was a good display of the Northern Lights and I even managed to get a few landscapes.


Lake Inari Signpost by Kernuak (avalonlightphotoart.co.uk), on Flickr

Lake Inari at Dawn by Kernuak (avalonlightphotoart.co.uk), on Flickr

Auroral Spike by Kernuak (avalonlightphotoart.co.uk), on Flickr

Auroral Arc over Trees by Kernuak (avalonlightphotoart.co.uk), on Flickr

50

Video & Movie / Timelapse of the Aurora in Finland

« on: February 13, 2013, 02:44:29 PM »

I thought I'd post my first real attempt at a timelapse video (apart from the first test version). Some of the sequences are a bit short, but I hope it gives some sense of the beauty of the Northern Lights.

Inari Aurora	Small | Large

51

Lenses / Re: I've tried the 200-400 today! :D Very happy

« on: February 10, 2013, 10:08:22 AM »

How heavy is it?  How long can you hold it?

It's not that heavy at all. I was quite surprised when I held it that it felt quite good with the weight. No problem hand-holding it for me, even though my techniqes was not the very best for the quick shooting that I did

When I tried it last March at Focus on Imaging, it felt similar in weight to the MkI version of the 300 f/2.8 L IS, but it could have been down to better balance on the 1D IV it was attached to also.

52

Portrait / Re: Portrait work

« on: February 01, 2013, 05:02:03 PM »

I uploaded the photo to show that it was edited in a bad way. If u brighten up other low key photos do u think u will also see fat photoshop brush lines and lost details that were just left in the photo cuz the one who edited it didnt have a proper adjusted screen??

 If u brighten up lowkey photos the black should only become grey....

OP used 100% black color brush (i guess) cuz on his screen all looked "100% black" im quite sure of this. But if u take a photo there is like nearly never 100% black...

I didnt add anything to the original image..... Its just like that... and i can see it on my screen!

I see what you mean. I must admit, I hadn't looked that closely.

53

Portrait / Re: Portrait work

« on: February 01, 2013, 06:39:00 AM »

Well im not sure...but i think u should adjust ur screen especially in the first photo it looks like u used some black photoshop brush to fix ur image but i think u didnt see how much information there really is in the photo.

i enhanced it to show u what i mean i ONLY raised the exposure/brightness nothing else

guess on ur screen it just looked "black" ^^

That really defeats the object of the low key look and it has lost the impact as a result. Personally, I prefer it as it was originally presented.

54

Lenses / Re: 100mm 2.8L Macro IS as a portrait lens

« on: January 30, 2013, 04:49:04 PM »

Also, not every portrait is shot wide open. I don't think you're going to get much bokeh if you're shooting in a studio with a black backdrop shooting at f/11.

But equally, if you do want to shoot wide open and like the narrow depth of field f/2 produces, then you're pretty stuck if you have the 100L macro. It's a combination of having the right tool for the job and flexibility. For portraits, the 135L does generally have a little more flexibility, as long as you have enough space.

55

Black & White / Re: Black and White Landscapes!

« on: January 29, 2013, 01:42:31 PM »

I especially like Gammyknee's shot just above.  How did you get the entire frame in focus?

Thanks.

In theory the best way to get the appearance of sharpness right through the frame is to run the numbers through a DOF calculator and set the lens to the hyperfocal distance. Thing is, I always seem to do better by just looking at the scene, picking the area that I want to have peak sharpness and focusing on that. That, combined with a reasonably small aperture (in this case f11) usually gets me what I want.

I'm inclined to agree, while it is good to klnow the hyperfocal distance, it isn't always the best choice. It depends purely on the scene to be photographed and the relative distances of the nearest and furthest away points.

56

Canon General / Re: Curious Distraction: Explain your username, avatar picture, etc...

« on: January 28, 2013, 09:38:13 AM »

I joined a website many years ago and was trying to think of a suitable name. It started off as Kernuak Piskie, but was the shortened to Kernuak, which means Cornish in the Cornish language. My grandfather was Cornish and his family are from Cornwall as far back as I can trace, back to the late 1600's on one branch. My avatar photo was taken while I was on the drinking water lake for Oslo. We were collecting water samples for a research project, looking for sources of fungal infections in leukaemic patients. It was actually my first week in Norway, in March, so yuo can imagine our hands were pretty numb from holding bottles under the water. The one thing on my mind at the time was not to drop one of them .

Ha, that explains the origin of the name 'Kernow' for Cornwall, in native speak! I have used the name Kernow instead of Cornwall for my neighbouring County but was unaware of it's origin!

And the name for the Celtic language that used to be spoken in Devon was Dewnansek and the name was Dyfneint, hence Devon (I'm originally from Exeter or Isca, meaning water). Cornwall is the Angilicised version, derived from Kern Wealas, meaninig the Kern foreigners, as opposed to Wales from the same root. Incidentally, both Cumbria and Cymru, the Welsh word for Wales, were derived from Cymbrogi, meaning compatriots. Sawsnak is the Welsh/Cornish word for Saxons, which eventually came to mean English, just like the Gaelic Sassenach.

57

Technical Support / Re: at what shutter speed you turn IS off?

« on: January 27, 2013, 04:58:38 PM »

Another reason to switch it off aside from the potential effect on AF speed/accuracy is that some wildlife reacts to the sound of it.

58

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: January 27, 2013, 07:22:46 AM »

7d + 70-300L

Beautiful! Is that some type of kingfisher or bee-eater?

It looks like the common/Eurasian/river kingfisher.

59

Black & White / Re: Black and White Landscapes!

« on: January 27, 2013, 07:17:19 AM »

Wow, lots of beautiful shots here.  My landscape shots tend to be intimate in scale, as evidenced by this one.

I think if you boosted the blacks and the contrast, it would have a lot more impact. Perhaps reducing the exposure by half a stop too (so the whites don't get blown by the contrast boost). Rocks and white water can look quite impressive.

60

Black & White / Re: Black and White Landscapes!

« on: January 27, 2013, 07:14:08 AM »

Mist rolling in across Loch Leven at dawn. by Kernuak (avalonlightphotoart.co.uk), on Flickr

just saying that it would be cool to see it printed on steel

Beautiful composition and conversion

Tusen Takk.

Du er hjertelig velkommen Liker som tidligere sagt komposisjonen, og de tonale overgangene er fine. Nesten så det skulle vært printet ut på stålplate!

My Norwegian is a little rusty to reply in Norwegian, but it is important for me that I get the composition right. I don't always manage it, but I liked how this turned out after the panic trying to get a good vantage point without trees in the way. For me, a B&W has to have a full tonal range and I'm not happy if my conversion is high key, even if it works for other people. I'm yet to print this one, but a similar image with less mist works really well printed in colour, as the mountain on the right is bathed in the warm dawn sunlight, although that is slightly obscured by the mist in this one. I try to build my style on a combination of composition and light, whenever I can.
One day I would like to return to Oslo and photograph what I should have done while living there, but it was in the long period without doing any photography.

Ah, thanks, stålplate was one of the few words I couldn't work out. I'd never have thought of printing on steel.