5D MK3 vs. D800 - fredmiranda

[V8Beast]

Yeah your last sentence comes to the point. Only a small subset of shoots are amenable to that sort of carefully rigged lighting that you refer to in the first paragraph. In your world the first paragraph may feel like it covers 90% of photography but to someone in another world it may seem like that covers only 1% of photography.

I wish it covered 90% of my shooting, since it would mean someone would be willing to pay me enough to take the time rig up some crazy lighting arrangement. Not sure if I'd have the patience for that sort of thing, and I definitely don't have the talent

That said, there's a lot in between what's used in the world of commercial photography and a run-and-gun photography where it's not practical to haul around a bunch of gear. As brian's samples illustrate, balancing ambient light and flash with a couple of Speedlights can go a long way. Light is also more portable and flexible than ever with the advent of affordable radio triggers and pop-up-out-of-a-bag softboxes. Combine all that with the high-ISO abilities of modern bodies, and you can get a lot of light out of a few small flash guns.

....but I digress, since the subject at hand is landscape photography, and none of this matters

[DavidRiesenberg]

....but I digress, since the subject at hand is landscape photography, and none of this matters

 

Well, philosophically speaking, the sun is the most badass flashgun there is...or rather hot light. And while we might not be able to tame him, at least we know where he'll be each day.

[PhilDrinkwater]

I guess as a very old photographer I am used to getting the light right in the camera so lab work is at the very minimum - like Cartier Bresson.

High Dynamic Range is something that never worries me in terms of pushing it. It must be the way that I spray light around so the dark spots get a tickle of flash to help it along

This is often presented as a panacea of photography, but in fact it's not, even when taking the example of people and not a massive cliff for a landscape photographer or a bird or something, which are much more difficult to light.

Once I started looking at the intricacies of lighting and how it affects the face, skin, eyes and so on, I realised that some things can only be done with natural light. For example, I know a wedding photographer who uses fill flash extensively. He sent me a photo that he loved and the first thing that I noticed was the incredible forward facing shine on the makeup which wouldn't have been there without the flash. I also noticed the pin light in the otherwise dark eyes. Neither looked attractive to my eyes.

If you want to really get it "right" a large (very large) light source is needed and you need to block out the available light as much as possible and relight from scratch. If you're doing fill light, you need to be exact about the colour temperature of the light source or you can just tell the extra light is there. Or at least I can.

This was shot with a large light source to camera left, balanced for the ambient. Since the flash was the key light, I could get away with some of the things that I note above:

P.S this wasn't the final version of this file - it was done before LR4 and I overbrushed one or two areas. It's just the only one I have available to link.

In the cases where you don't have the option to setup a massive lighting rig, pushing the shadows might give a more pleasing (to my eye) shot than using some fill flash. That's why I say adding fill light is not the panacea it's presented as in my eyes...

Of course, this is entirely a personal opinion

[briansquibb]

In the cases where you don't have the option to setup a massive lighting rig, pushing the shadows might give a more pleasing (to my eye) shot than using some fill flash. That's why I say adding fill light is not the panacea it's presented as in my eyes...

Of course, this is entirely a personal opinion

The hardest thing is to use a very small amount of flash. I have 6 x 580 flash so a lot of power is there - but often I am usually infilling with 1/64 power with several flash just give a subtle lift.

I use a 430EXII for the onboard flash for the catchlights

[V8Beast]

....but I digress, since the subject at hand is landscape photography, and none of this matters

 

Well, philosophically speaking, the sun is the most badass flashgun there is...or rather hot light. And while we might not be able to tame him, at least we know where he'll be each day.

I take it you don't live in Seattle ?

I like the sun as a light source, but only for 2-3 hours a day

[sarangiman]

V8Beast-- you live in Seattle? We should grab a coffee some time

Perhaps you'll appreciate this shot from Rizal Bridge I took back in 2010. I went to this stop some 30 times before I finally got an epic sunset. The colors lasted for like 30 minutes... it was insane. Used a 3-stop Daryl Benson Reverse GND filter, & still merged 4 exposures by hand in Photoshop, & still have noise in the trees when I print this. When I denoise the shadows, they just turn muddy. So in the end I chose to just stick with the noise. There's even a little banding in those shadows (this was shot on a 5D). This might be why I'm so interested in higher DR given that, like I said, this was already 4 exposures merged, each taken with that 3-stop Reverse GND...

[Cptn Rigo]

V8Beast-- you live in Seattle? We should grab a coffee some time

Perhaps you'll appreciate this shot from Rizal Bridge I took back in 2010. I went to this stop some 30 times before I finally got an epic sunset. The colors lasted for like 30 minutes... it was insane. Used a 3-stop Daryl Benson Reverse GND filter, & still merged 4 exposures by hand in Photoshop, & still have noise in the trees when I print this. When I denoise the shadows, they just turn muddy. So in the end I chose to just stick with the noise. There's even a little banding in those shadows (this was shot on a 5D). This might be why I'm so interested in higher DR given that, like I said, this was already 4 exposures merged, each taken with that 3-stop Reverse GND...

Nice pic man! 

[V8Beast]

V8Beast-- you live in Seattle? We should grab a coffee some time

Nah, I was just being a smart@ss since the other poster mentioned that the sun is the ultimate flash gun Here in Texas, we get too much sun and it's already in the mid-90s! I need weather sealing to protect my cameras from my sweat, and unfortunately, that's not an exaggeration. I lived in Vancouver, WA briefly as a kid, but don't remember anything about it. The Pacific Northwest does look beautiful, though.

Perhaps you'll appreciate this shot from Rizal Bridge I took back in 2010. I went to this stop some 30 times before I finally got an epic sunset. The colors lasted for like 30 minutes... it was insane. Used a 3-stop Daryl Benson Reverse GND filter, & still merged 4 exposures by hand in Photoshop, & still have noise in the trees when I print this. When I denoise the shadows, they just turn muddy. So in the end I chose to just stick with the noise. There's even a little banding in those shadows (this was shot on a 5D). This might be why I'm so interested in higher DR given that, like I said, this was already 4 exposures merged, each taken with that 3-stop Reverse GND...

I don't need to live in Seattle to appreciate that shot. It's a great image, and it's definitely shot in a situation that could definitely benefit from more DR. Nice work! Even if you printed this one pretty big, I don't think the noise in the trees would be offensive.

[skitron]

Here in Texas, we get too much sun and it's already in the mid-90s! I need weather sealing to protect my cameras from my sweat, and unfortunately, that's not an exaggeration.

LOL, as a fellow Texan I can relate...and I even have more concern about the corrosive effect of all the salt in the sweat.

[bycostello]

all tool for the job...  all take great images....  i'd not stress about micro differences...