Panorama of beautiful blue lake
Panorama of valley reservoir lake called Lake Shastina by Mount Shasta in northern California
Panorama of valley reservoir lake called Lake Shastina by Mount Shasta in northern California
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Oct, 2016Views
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David_Blakley_Photography
November 28, 2016
Congrats on your Challenge win! This, however, should have been the grand prize winner IMHO. :)
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this panorama image when my wife and I were on a cross-country trip over the U.S. We stopped by in Weed, California at a local rental, which had this magnificent view of Lake Shastina right from the balcony. All I had to do is to choose the right time of the day and pull out my tripod and camera.Time
This was taken in late morning, when the sun was already up. Yet, because of the clouds, the light was not as harsh as during the daylight and the scene was beautifully illuminated.Lighting
I chose the late morning because the sun was slightly up and the light produced beautiful shapes and shadows on the mountains and hills in the distance, which immediately attracted my eye. Because of the sun, the left side of the image was somewhat brighter compared to the right one, which I corrected in post-processing.Equipment
I used a Nikon D810 on a Manfrotto tripod with a 70-210mm Nikon f/4 old lens. I hope to upgrade to a new version of the lens one day.Inspiration
You know, sometimes one gets lucky by just staying at a place or house with a balcony and such a beautiful view. This was one of such instances. I took many more photos of this scene, but this panorama shot captured the mood, view and distant mountains in the best possible way.Editing
I took many vertical shots and then stitched them together in Photoshop. Vertical shots convey much more information on panorama shots compared to horizontal ones and can be trimmed as necessary later without any significant loss of the scene. I did some adjustment of levels, including brightness and saturation.In my camera bag
I have a fairly compact backpack to which I almost always attach my tripod. For landscape images, I mostly use my Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, which is one of my favorite lenses for its sharpness and ultra wide-angle capability. I also have a Nikon 70-210mm f/4 lens, which is an old version of Nikon telephoto lenses that I hope to upgrade to a new one some day. I also have a Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8, which is great for street and portrait shots. I also carry a shutter release cable, and neutral density and polarized filters in case I need to alter the exposure or reduce glare.Feedback
If you know ahead of time the places you want to photograph, planning your accommodations that have captivating views of your subjects of interest may make a photographer’s life much easier. To take a good panorama shot of a lake such as this one, it was important to get as high as possible to get the entire view of the valley. Had I not stayed at this accommodation, I could have found a similar view by going as high as possible on a mountain, perhaps by a hiking trail. Also, this lake is not that well known and photographed, and I would never have thought that it was this beautiful judging by the pictures on the internet. So I suggest going to lesser known places, which may turn out incredible on your camera!
