A walk in the woods
A welcome break from the Covid lockdown.
A welcome break from the Covid lockdown.
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Oct, 2020Views
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Awards
Spring 21 Award
Winter Award 2020
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Emotions
Happy
Top Ranks
Top 20 rank
Top 10 rank
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Top 10 rank
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This is in a winding area of parkland in the West of the city of Ottawa. We are thankful to the town planners from years past who retained these beautiful woods in our neighbourhood. They provide a wonderful place of tranquility and a sanctuary for many animals and birds.Time
We'd had a disappointing fall season with only few red trees in an area where we are accustomed to glorious fall colours. The weather had been dull and rainy for weeks. The sun came out in the morning and my wife and I grabbed our cameras and headed for the woods. The light just before midday was strong and gave wonderful shadows.Lighting
When we reached this area, I was struck by the depth of the view. The line of shadows across the forest floor seemed to enhance the depth of the shot and draw the eye in, and I wanted to see if I could capture that feeling. The sunlight turned many of the leaves into an iridescent gold which contrasted with the shadows lower down.Equipment
Canon EOS Rebel T6i with the standard 18 - 55mm zoom lens. I didn't have my tripod so I used a tree for a support. No flash or any other lighting. I set the ISO at 100 for quality, used 1/60 sec exposure at f10. The sweet spot of this lens is at f5.6 but I wanted to increased the dof as much as possible.Inspiration
We were looking for trees with red leaves which provide most of the best fall (autumn) shots but there were not many around. When I first entered this part of the woods, I was disappointed to find that there was not one red tree in sight. But as I walked I started to realize that the yellows were providing a magnificence of their own. Then I searched for a stretch along the path that would afford some good composition in the hopes of capturing the feeling.Editing
I shot the scene in RAW as usual. My regular presets in Adobe Elements are set at: Sharp 25, Radius 1, Detail 25, Mask 0. Luminance 20, Luminance Detail 50, Color 25, Color Detail 50. I didn't change any of those. In the Basic settings I increased the shadow to +28, Clarity to +13, Vibrance to +14 and Saturation to +13 One objective was to correct the colour of the trees which in the RAW looked almost black. I think I was able to get them the true shade of brown. I worked with the clarity and vibrance more than usual because increasing the contrast did not work well for this scene. Finally, I tweaked the levels to balance them a bit by reducing the input levels from 255 to 245.In my camera bag
I have the Canon with the 18 - 55mm lens installed. ISO set to 400 with aperture priority at f5.6. I have to extra lenses, the Canon 55-250 zoom and an amazing Canon EF-S 3.5 to 4.5 10-22mm zoom which produces amazing wide angle shots without any distortion. It was a much appreciated gift. I have collapsible rubber lens hoods for the two regular zoom lenses. I have a Multi use clamp/small tripod that can be used almost anywhere and a flash diffuser. Lens cleaner, air lens brush and several cloths. I carry extra lens cloths and give them away to people who ask me for help with their cameras. I am dead set against using tissues because thy will scratch the lens - very fine but they do scratch.Feedback
Let your eyes do the work for you. Once they find something interesting, use good composition techniques to transfer what attracts your eyes into the camera. Shoot RAW all the time and learn how to process it. If in doubt about the exposure, shoot one shot on Automatic settings, cameras have amazing computerized abilities. Support the camera in some way if possible - that's the only way to get great detail. Learn how to release the shutter smoothly. Squeeze the release with the camera like you would squeeze an orange. If you just press it, it moves the camera body. Some cameras allow you to shoot with a delay of two seconds after you press the release - use it! Then you don't need to worry that your press of the release will have caused some camera movement. Relax and enjoy the scene, really let it sink in and sense the emotion. There is more to life than photography.
