Tag Archives: Technique

Full Moon?

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Moonrise D-09-02-09-0133

Moonrise, Lincoln Memorial

Every so often, the full moon will rise perfectly aligned with an architectural icon, rewarding photographers who happen to be in the right place at the right time.  Such an opportunity may occur on November 6th here in Washington, DC but only if the weather forecast is wrong.  The prediction calls for an 80% chance of rain, which means that an opportunity for an image like the one above is slim.

The above image was taken on February 9, 2009 and while conditions were not perfect, we still had a chance for a nice image. (Technical data: Nikon D200 on tripod with 18-300 mm f/3.5-5.6 lens extended to 112 mm; exposure: 2.5 sec. @ f/7.1, ISO 200)  On that night, the time of the moonrise was 42 minutes after sunset, which is usually a little later than perfect. Tomorrow night, the moonrise is scheduled for only 6 minutes after sunset, which is a little earlier than perfect.  In addition, the location of the moon will be slightly to the left (north) so one would need to be a little farther south to get the same proximity with the Lincoln Memorial.

About five years ago, it was difficult to calculate the right time and place to catch the moon as it broke the horizon line.  You needed to know how to use a compass, something that was invented 800 years ago. But the appearance of “apps” such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris have made this quite easy. So check your weather forecast, and if the prospects are favorable in your area, get out there with your tripod and get the shot.

After-Before Friday Week 6

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This post is my submission to the After-Before Friday Forum sponsored by  Stacy Fisher’s Visual Venturing blog, which encourages a discussion among participants and readers on the subject of taking an original photograph as captured by the camera and transforming into the image that was envisioned by the photographer.  The contributions of other participants can be found here

This week’s image is a detail of the Fountain de Medici, located in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. The historic fountain, despite its desperate need for a major clean-up and repair, is a popular stop for tourists and when there is nice weather, many locals take advantage of the well-shaded chairs beside the long rectangular pool.   For me, the neglected state of the structure with its moss-covered stones seemed to enhance the horrific theme of the central group of statues.  The great dark figure looming above the young lovers is Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant who, according to Homer’s tale, devoured several of the crew members of the Odysseus expedition when they landed on the island of Cyclops.

The weather, bright and sunny, was not in my favor and I had time only for a few quick shots.  But I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see if the original image could be infused with the darker mood that I saw in that sculpture. I’m not entirely satisfied with the results, and would be interested in feedback from readers of this post. (Camera data: Nikon D800E with 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, extended to 66mm. Exposure: 1/100th sec. @ f/5.0, EV = -0.67)

The original image is shown as the RAW file came from the camera, before any changes were made in Adobe Camera Raw (ACR).

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RAW Image without any adjustments

The first steps were taken in ACR, and the adjustments made were as follows:

Highlights: Reduced to -75, to tone down the bright specular highlights;

Shadows:  Reduced to -44, to add shadow and darken the scene slightly;

Blacks:     Reduced to -20, just to the point of clipping on the histogram, to insure there was a touch of pure black  (Thanks to Stacy for suggesting this technique.)

Clarity:      Increased to +30 standard on most of my images

Vibrance:    Increased to +13 to give just a small boost to the greens

All other settings were unchanged.  The result was then opened in Photoshop CC and looked like this:

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Image after adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw

A quick adjustment to remove the slight tilt was made using the crop tool.  Then a much tighter crop was made to bring the central statues closer, eliminating distractions such as the large body of water in the foreground and most of the people along the sides of the pool.  At this point the statues have become the main point of interest as shown below.

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Image after first crop

But more work was needed.  I used a Curves layer adjustment (blend mode: luminosity) to darken the scene and inject a more somber mood. A mask was added to keep the statues unaffected by the curves adjustment with the intent of giving depth to the scene and drawing the viewer’s eye to them.  This was followed by another Curves layer adjustment (blend mode: luminosity) to create a vignette, darkening the areas outside the center, in an attempt to further enhance the mood.  The result at this point is shown below.

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Things were looking better, but it seemed that one more step might help.  One last crop was applied to bring the viewer closer to the scene and eliminate the bystander with the blue shirt on the right.  The final image is shown below.

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Final Version

After-Before Friday Week 2

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The ABFriday Forum, launched by Stacy Fischer, of VisualVenturing,  is open to anyone who wants to illustrate the difference between two versions of an image, one being the final result and the second being the original or starting point.  The idea is to exchange ideas about a photographer’s conceptual vision and how she or he made it happen.   The “After” image in my submission this week is shown below.

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Dawn, US Air Force Memorial (After post-processing)

This image of the US Air Force Memorial was taken just before in a light rain in April 2011.  Although there was a heavy cloud cover, the sky was much brighter than the statues in the foreground. I adjusted the exposure for the sky, knowing that I could bring out the needed detail in the statues of the soldiers during post-processing.  (Technical Data: Nikon D700 with 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1.6 sec. @ f/16, ISO 400)  The image resulting from that exposure is shown below

 

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Dawn, US Air Force Memorial (Raw Image)

 

All of the changes were made in Adobe Photoshop CS6.  When I made the original image my plan was to include the Washington Monument in the composition.  But when I brought it up on the monitor, the Monument’s small size seemed to make it a distraction more than a helpful component.  I decided to direct the viewer’s eyes to the two most important subjects: the four statues in the foreground and the base of the Memorial spires just beyond.

 

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Dawn, US Air Force Memorial (Raw Image Cropped)

Once the crop was made, there was a little bit of clean-up involved.  It’s hard to see in this size, but the sensor of the D700 was in need of a cleaning and there were also a few small drops on the skylight filter.  I used a combination of the Clone Tool and the Healing Brush to remove these artifacts.

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 Dawn, US Air Force Memorial (Foreground grass darkened)

The next step was to darken the grass in the foreground.  This is a subtle step in controlling where the viewer will look, but I didn’t want the drab lawn in the foreground to be a distraction.  The above image shows the effect of a Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: luminosity) with a mask blocking the effect everywhere except in the foreground grass.

 

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The last step lightened the statues of the four soldiers.  I used a selection tool to isolate them from the rest of the image and applied another Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: luminosity) to reveal detail in the statues.

One of the questions asked by a reader last week was how long it took to make these changes. In this case, I would estimate I spent 30-45 minutes, with most of the time involving the clean-up activity.

Thanks again to Stacy Fischer for organizing this effort.  Please check out her post and the submissions from other photographers.

After-Before Friday

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Stacy Fischer, of VisualVenturing, has launched an invitational series “After-Before Friday” in which participants may submit two versions of an image, one being the final result and the second being the original or starting point.  The idea is to exchange ideas about a photographer’s conceptual vision and how she or he made it happen.  Stacy’s weekly post will display a series of submitted image pairs, each with a brief description by the photographer.   Each submitter also has the option to provide a link back to their own blog which would provide more details on the post-processing techniques used to achieve the final image.

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Marine Corps Memorial, After Post-Processing

I really liked this idea and submitted these two images (After above) to the first running of this series.   The subject is the Marine Corps Memorial just around sunset on September 4, 2009.   A storm front was approaching from the southeast and I had a difficult lighting situation: a sky with dark clouds and bright open sections, an overall low light level, and a very dark main subject.  The dynamic range exceeded the capability of the sensor to duplicate what the eye could see.  My plan was to expose so that there would be at least some detail across the entire range and the actual scene could be restored during post-processing. After_Before 02

Marine Corps Memorial, Original RAW File

The “Before” image above is the image after a few tweaks (clarity and vibrance) in Adobe Camera Raw, but is essentially the way it looked immediately after download.    From here all changes were made in Photoshop, although there are other ways this could be accomplished.

 

After_Before 03Result after Step 1

Step 1:  A Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: luminosity) was used to darken the image as shown above.  A layer mask was added to retain the original brightness of the gold leaf insignia and lettering on the base of the statue.

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Result after Step 2

Step 2:  A Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: normal) was used to provide additional darkness to the clouds. A mask was added to block any change to the statue, foreground and trees.

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Result after Step 3

Step 3:  A selection tool was used to isolate the flag, then I employed another Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: screen) to brighten the flag.

After_Before 06Result after Step 4

Step 4:  A selection tool was used to isolate the green signs in lower left, and then I added another Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: normal) to darken the signs.

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Result after Step 5

Step 5:  I used a selection tool with a very soft feather to create an oval mask centered on the statue and extending out toward the corners. Then a Curves adjustment layer (blend mode: multiply) to slightly darken the corners.  It is pretty subtle, especially at this size and the objective is to avoid making it noticeable.  But the purpose is to help bring the viewer’s attention to the center of the image.

After_Before 01Result after Step 6

Those who have worked in a “wet” darkroom recognize that these techniques (Steps 1-5) are what used to be called dodging and burning.  At this point, the digital darkroom made it possible to consider a creative issue: should the bystanders and small dog on the right be allowed to remain in this scene?  This is not anything I would have considered in the old days of film and chemicals because I (and most photographers) lacked the skill and resources.

In this case, the decision was to remove them because they tended to detract from the composition rather than strengthen it. This is particularly noticeable when the image is printed in a large size.

Most of my images don’t involve nearly this much change from the original.  But even with all of the work, anyone who was there would agree that this is pretty close to what it looked like at the moment of the exposure (except for the tragic disappearance of the bystanders and dog).

My thanks to Stacy Fisher for her efforts in organizing the Before-After Friday series. I am looking forward to the submissions of others and learning from their experiences.

 

It was a dark and Stormy Night…

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Wind, clouds, and nightfall.  Not the usual descriptors for perfect photographic conditions, but in the right circumstances,   these conditions can produce dramatic images.  As suggested in my last post, the Navy and Merchant Marine Memorial seemed to have potential for nighttime photography.  And so, here are a few examples of my first attempts.

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Sunset plus 15 Minutes (Note Washington Monument under leading gull)

Continue reading →

It was a good plan, but….

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One of my least favorite clichés is the advice that when given lemons, you should make lemonade.  I hear it a lot when I grumble to someone about unexpected complications that ruined a plan for a specific image.  That’s all well and good (at least you have something), but you still didn’t get what you really wanted.  I don’t dismiss this advice; you should always try to make the best of any given situation.  But many years ago a photographer gave me what I think is far better advice and that was “Keep Showing Up.”

Those who read my post of 9 March already know that this is the time of year to capture a perfect solar alignment with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.  And so for the past five days I have been showing up n front of the Memorial about 30 minutes before sunrise.  What follows is a tale of following two guiding principles: making lemonade and being persistent.

The forecast for 20 March, the actual day of the vernal equinox, was for clear skies, exactly the conditions required for the image I was after.  But I awoke at 5:30 AM to find a dense fog so thick you couldn’t see half of the Washington Monument.

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and it was obvious that my chances were slim.  So I set about making lemonade.  I’ve learned you often can get the twilight blue color (see my post about Magic Hour) with cloudy weather just as you can with clear skies.  The lighting system of the Lincoln Memorial is very well balanced for this time of day.

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The artificial lamps enhance the architectural features of the building and there is just enough ambient light 20 minutes before sunrise to provide detail in the unlit surroundings.  For about 3-4 minutes, the Memorial looks like a shining jewel box set against a brilliant blue background.  The above image was shot at 6:48 AM about 24 minutes before sunrise.

The next day there was a heavy cloud cover and again things look unpromising.  But clouds can often bring drama to an

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otherwise ordinary image.  So I waited a little longer than I had the previous day in order to get greater detail on the clouds but still retain the special quality of the lighting system working its magic on the exterior and interior of the Memorial.  The above image was photographed at 6:55 AM, about 17 minutes before sunrise.

I should add that aside from weather problems, each day featured an interesting cast of characters that affected my opportunities for shooting.  It surprises most people to learn that the Lincoln Memorial is a very popular place in the early morning.  Most common is the exercise crowd.  The two most impressive in this group were the squad of soldiers in full camouflage and full equipment packs doing laps around the Reflection Pool and a trio of very fit young women who ran up and down the steps of the Memorial for about an hour with only occasional breaks for some stretching exercises.

But I digress.  On the third day the clouds were still with me and I had little choice but to make more lemonade.  At least it had been relatively warm all three days.  I decided to try my luck inside the building since I had very little of that kind of lemonade in my stock inventory.  I found a nice location on the north side of the statue that made it possible to include the key part of the statue, all of

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the dedication text above the statue, and the complete Gettysburg speech on the south wall in the background.  It may be hard to read in this version but when it is fully enlarged to about 30” X 36” the engraved writing is easy to read.  (Technical note: this image is actually 4 separate images merged together into a single image, taken at 7:18 AM, about 7 minutes after sunrise.)  I think this is the best batch of lemonade of the week.

Having already disproved the old adage that the “Third Time is the Charm” I ventured out again on Sunday morning, encouraged by the small break in the clouds to the east.  But it was more likely that the best angle this day would be to point the camera toward the Washington Monument.  A mix of clouds and open sky in the east can often bring spectacular sunrises and I thought I would try a different angle, suggested by a fellow photographer on the first day.

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If we insist on sticking with the lemonade analogy, the above image is probably Grade B, but the drawbacks (scaffolding on the Washington Monument, an near-empty Reflection Pool, and a construction crane over the new Museum of African American History) do provide some contextual interest.

So, this morning (March 24) was Day number 5 and if you have read this far, you are probably praying for a happy ending (or any kind of ending).  The forecast called for a sharp drop in temperature, some wind (ugh!) and clear skies.  And they were spot on.  The sequence of pictures below show what happened over a 5-minute period.  So it would appear that both pieces of advice were correct.  When conditions didn’t favor the plan, I was able to capture some images I would otherwise not have gotten.  And by the fact that I kept showing up, I also got the image I was after.

looking west at 7:10:38 AM Sun is partially visible just to north of Washington Monument

looking west at 7:10:38 AM Sun is partially visible just to north of Washington Monument which is behind the camera.

7:14:23 AM Sun is barely visible just to south of Washington Monument

7:14:23 AM Sun is barely visible just to south of Washington Monument

7:18:00 AM Sun is almost completely visible on south side of Washington Monument

7:18:00 AM Sun is almost completely visible on south side of Washington Monument

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7:19:17 AM

Perfect Solar Alignment

 

My First Moon Shot

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                When photographing a rising full moon one needs to know two things: when will it come up and where will it come up.  The first question is easy enough; you can find moonrise data in most newspapers, usually in the weather section.  But the “where” question is a little tricky, especially if you want it in a specific location in the composition.  The reason is that the lunar cycle is about 18.6 years, so a perfect alignment such as the image below won’t happen again for a very long time.  This is particularly important when you wish to capture the moon right next to, or just above, a specific architectural element in an urban environment.  You don’t have a lot of time to get to the exact spot because the moon’s location changes quickly as the earth rotates.  So you need to be set up and ready to go before the moon appears.  Fortunately, this is much easier to do today than just a few years ago thanks to things like smart phone, tablets, and “apps” such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris.

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                Even with all of these advantages, one still has to deal with the fact of the moon’s apparent unpredictability and do a little advance planning.  So I thought it would be useful to go back in time to about 2001, when I started chasing moon shots.  While the tools have changed, the process is still pretty much the same.  Back then, one needed an 800-year old technology known as a compass and a source for astronomical tables such as the US Naval Observatory.  I used both to capture the image above, showing the moon next to the Lincoln Memorial just as it broke the horizon.  The photograph was made on March 9, 2001, so a few days before that I consulted the US Naval Observatory’s website and determined that the moon would rise at 6:16 PM, about 7 minutes after sunset.  The timing between sunset and moonrise is important because if the sun hasn’t already set, the moon will be washed out.  (A future post will go into that aspect in more detail.)   

                Further, the USNO site showed that the full moon would rise at a compass azimuth reading of 80.9 degrees.  We all know that the direction due east is exactly 90 degrees on a compass so the moon would be coming up a little bit to the “left” of due east. But something a little more precise would be needed because in this case, one could in a position where the moon was coming up behind the Lincoln Memorial and it would not be visible until it was too late.  An accurate compass can provide that precision as shown in the graphic below.  So on the day of the moonrise, I drove down the George Washington Parkway and parked in the lot for Theodore Roosevelt Island about 45 minutes before sunset.  From there it was a short hike down the Mount Vernon Trail to a point several hundred yards north of the Memorial Bridge.  I used the compass to find a location where it was exactly 81 degrees from where I was standing to the spot where I wanted the moon to be—just to the left of the Lincoln Memorial.   I set up my tripod and camera, attached the cable release and began to wait.  I was the only photographer there.

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                It is at this point where you have done everything you can to be in the right place at the right time.  The rest is basically luck and is the element that makes these moments so special…or not.   Will the sky be overcast?   Will a small cloud obscure the moon at the critical moment?  But on this night everything worked out well:  the twilight blue of the evening sky, the dark orange glow of the moon as a result of perfect atmospheric conditions, and a small pink cloud from the setting sun nicely positioned directly above the Lincoln Memorial. 

          Since then, I have attempted many more moon shots around the city, sometimes with success.  Here are a few more from the early years:

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               Moonrise, from Memorial Bridge, January 28, 2002

          In this case, the moon came up on an azimuth of 62 degrees, much farther north than the March 9 2001. From the shooting location, it would have risen right behind the Lincoln Memorial so I had to wait for a while before it got to this point.

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Waxing moon and Capitol Dome, October 8, 2003

Again, this was taken well after the time the moon first broke the horizon, but I wanted to place it next to the dome.  This was taken two days before the full moon.  In all three of these shots, I was using a Nikon F-100 and shooting with Ektachrome 100 VS transparency film.