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Behind The Lens
Location
It was on the Alaska cruise and it was sailing along the John Hopkins glacier bay.Time
I believe it was in the afternoon around 3-4pm.Lighting
It was a cloudy day and right before I took the shot, there was some rain and I saw this angry clouds above the glacier mountain with the light not too strong, the lighting was just right like a giant soft box so it was a good timing for the shot during the day.Equipment
I shot it with my Nikon D810 and my 24-70 at 65mm F11.Inspiration
It was the cloud, the color of the mountain and the overall feeling of the majestic glacier that called me for the shot. It was at the good time of the day when the light was not too harsh. I wish that the water was calmer so the reflection could be nicer but given I shot it on a moving cruise ship, I guess this is the best I could get already.Editing
Yes I used the lightroom 5 to retouch it a bit with the color, the contrast and some sharpness.In my camera bag
I am recently doing wildlife photography and I usually carry a D4 and my workhorse 200-400 F4G VR Nikon lens, it was a great combo and I can do it by hand holding it, sometimes I use an Induro monopod or a Gitzo GT3532LS tripod when the shooting is long but I hate to use those and much prefer hand holding. In addition to that, I have a 300 F2.8G VR and sometimes I couple it with my D810 and the 1.4 TCII for a lighter kit, when I put it in DX mode on the D810 so that it has about 630mm focal length coverage. The 300 prime is also a great portrait lens with super creamy background, just love it! When I am not doing wildlife photography, I do landscape and travel photography most of the time and I usually just carry a D810 with 24-120 and a 105 f2.8 VR macro for some close up shots for things like flowers, bees, bugs, rocks, leaf etc. In addition to that, I have a 14-24 F2.8 for landscapes and interior shots, it works really great but 14-24 is the least used lens for me. Occasionally I shoot event photos and I carry a 70-200 F2.8 VRII in addition to the 24-120 F4G lens for those situations such as concerts, stage performance, weddings etc. I also use primes like Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art, 50mm 1.8G and 85mm 1.4G lens for portraits, still shots and general walk around photography but I do not use them as much as the zooms I mentioned above. My three most used lens are 24-120 F4G VR, 70-200 F2.8 VRII and the 200-400 F4G VR when I am on the move.Feedback
I think a great photo includes three main things: the good lighting, the creative composition and the compelling story. Once you have those, then look for the details in the picture such as color, shape, lines, patterns, symmetry and contrasting themes then you have a much better chance for a great photos. Also pay lots of attention to the background as well, I will say the background is as important as the main subject in the scene and avoid busy background in general and the result will be much more impacting and appealing. Less is more definitely works for me and I usually do not try to express too much thing in a single photo, keep it simple but has effective visual impact.