JChristenson

Lake Superior a drift

SONY ILCE-6000

settings

Aperture f/11 ISO 100 Shutter 1/200 Focal Length 60/1

upload_date

Jan, 2016

Views

3283

Likes

+240

Awards

Top Shot Award 21

Member Selection Award

Featured

Contest Finalist in Playing With Exposure Photo Contest

Peer Award

+99

Superb Composition

+23

Outstanding Creativity

+14

Top Choice

+12

Absolute Masterpiece

Superior Skill

All Star

Genius

Magnificent Capture

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Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken in Minnesota at Gooseberry Falls State Park, which is on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Time

This photo was taken in the later part of the afternoon around 5pm while there was still ample lighting in the east along with some small clouds.

Lighting

I personally feel the lighting adds a sense of drama and mystery to this photo. The reflection of the light from the sky in the water draws me to the shoreline.

Equipment

This was shot using a Sony a6000 using a 60mm F2.8 DN Sigma Art Lens and a tripod. I love that lens.

Inspiration

There were a couple of reasons why I took this photo. First and foremost I wanted to be able to capture the time my family and I visited the park. The second is that I was doing this as part of the my assignment in The Arcanum (www.thearcanum.com). For me specifically, my Master photographer Janice Sullivan (http://www.sullivanjphotography.com) provided us with specific tasks and goals to accomplish while we were out shooting. Not only was I attempting to take a great shot from a technical perspective, I was also trying to find something that was compositionally correct and aesthetically pleasing to look at. By doing so I could use it as a learning experience and as a talking piece w/ friends, family and potential art buyers on my website www.northerntopia.com.

Editing

Oh ya I did! As stated previously this photo was taken in the late afternoon. When I first looked at the image what I liked most about it was the shoreline. What I didn't like is the water and the sky in that they didn't have any emotion in them. To extract the look I was going for I started out in Adobe Lightroom and made my initial edits which obviously one of them was to convert the photo to black and white. I then exported it to Adobe Photoshop. My first objective was to deal with the water as the waves weren't bad that day but they still had a distracting look to them that took away from the shoreline. I've always loved the way an ND Filter can add the calm and smoothness to the water but since I didn't one one at the time, I had to use a motion blue in Photoshop. I really liked the affect I was getting in the water and just decided to carry that over into the sky which I think by doing so, allows the two components to compliment each other. I also spent a lot of time editing around the chains on the barrier to correctly blend them out of the motion blurred background.

In my camera bag

Since taking this photo I moved from a cropped sensor Sony a6000 to a full frame camera Sony a7r. I always carry my Sony Zeis FE 24-70 lens as this lens is on my camera 90% of the time. I also carry my Rokinon 100mm F2.8 Macro lens as it works great for getting up close to the tiniest subjects but also works great as a portrait lens. The last lens I carry with me is a Minolta MD 50mm 1.4 lens. I like having it with me for times I want some serious bokeh in my shots. As for the regular essentials, I have an Everyday Messenger Bag by Peak Design as well as their field pouch, wireless remote, cleaning cloth, ICE ND filter, polarizing filter, memory cards, spare batteries, lens brush, charging cables, flashlight, Ankor portable charger and a Three Legged Thing VYV tripod.

Feedback

My advice for others trying to capture something similar would be first to do some research about the place your going just to get a general idea of whats there and what you might need. I'd also encourage folks to know first how to use your camera technically. I know that sounds obvious but just doing a general search about settings and options on your camera may go along way in assisting you to take better shots. Next I would say to get it right in camera first. Take the extra few seconds to look through the viewfinder and absorb it all in. I say this because I personally don't mind cropping photos in post but I prefer not to do it if I don't have to. Look at the edges all the way around the frame and or play with the rule of thirds to see if you can get something magical. Lastly, once you're ready to edit it, find your style and go for a look that you think best tells the story about the picture.

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JChristenson

JChristenson

Lake Superior a drift

Behind The Lens

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