Through The Forest
Bitumen road traversing broad valley through dense Eucalypt forest
Bitumen road traversing broad valley through dense Eucalypt forest
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NIKON D5300
Aperture f/13 ISO 400 Shutter 1/125 Focal Length 155/1 
Pemberton, Western Australia, AU
Dec, 2018Views
272
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Awards
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Contest Finalist in Straight Roads Photo Contest
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken on the Vasse Highway, between Nannup and Pemberton in the SW of Western Australia. Lovely forest country with patches of farmland.Time
Towards the end of a leisurely day's drive from Margaret River to Pemberton - I'd been eyeing off the way the road rode the rolling hills, and finally found a spot where it seemed to come together with a nice combination of forest, overhanging branches and a bit of vertigo as the road surged down off a hill with the late afternoon light behind so there weren't too many harsh shadows.Lighting
I was lucky that the light was fairly soft, filtered by high cloud, and then found a spot where what light there was came from behind, so the road was lit, but the shadows from the trees were softened by the cloud.Equipment
I had my Nikkor 80-400mm f4.5-5.6G on my half-frame Nikon D5300 as I was trying some other shots that needed the maximum reach (less said about those results the better). For this one I had it zoomed out to 155mm, used f13 (trying to get more dof than my usual f10 'sweet spot' with this lens) @ 1/125s & ISO 400. Knelt down (not much traffic!) and braced firmly on one knee with VR very much on.Inspiration
Driving through the jarrah/marri and karri forests of the SW is always a delight with the stately trees, deep shade and shafts of light, and the roads winding over and around the rolling hills. It can be hard to capture that if the light is too hard ... so it was nice to find a good composition in soft light.Editing
Didn't need to do too much. Lightened the whole image a little, as I'd underexposed to give myself a half chance of getting a sharp image with the big lens, then put a bit more saturation into the earth and trees, masked and sharpened, rotated a fraction (I can never get my horizons straight 'in-camera') and that was it.In my camera bag
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-85mm f2.8-4D and D5300 with Nikkor 18-140mm f3.5-5.6G, then my favourite Nikkor 80-400mm f4.5-5.6G which is a bit of a monster but with great reach that suits the way I see - I'm a telephoto sort of person. Normally also a Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8G - a lovely lens but sadly underused, and sometimes Nikkor 50mm f1.4 (also lovely but underused) and Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro (beautiful bokkeh). A Sirui tripod, remote for each camera, a jumble of ND and C-PL filters generally used for coastal scenes to blur the surf.Feedback
Harsh shadows are the big killer, so keep your eyes open on cloudy or misty days ( a bit of rain to deepen the colours doesn't hurt) , then you need to find a happy bit of topography, where the combination of arching trees, the contours of the land and the way the road traverses the hills and valley is pleasing to the eye. Be prepared to stop or backtrack when it all comes together - it helps if the roads are quiet!
