Landscape Photography Concepts II

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

Trying to show three dimensions using a two dimensional medium like photography is not easy.  Landscape photographers use various concepts to create the feeling of depth in their photographs.  Below are two such concepts with examples.

If you follow any Landscape photographers on Google+, flickr or other social network, you will see some patterns arise.  The one pattern I notice time and again is the use of an Anchor Point.  Moose Peterson explains it like this, “The anchor point is an item in the foreground that is in focus that the eye can lock on to and then wander out into the photograph.”  Below is a another photo of Sherman Falls from my Hamilton, Canada waterfall adventure.  Though it is easy to see what I used for the anchor point, I made sure there was no doubt I used one. 🙂

Sherman Falls near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Anchor point of a Landscape photograph.
Nikon D7100/Tokina 11-16mm, f/22, ISO 100, EV 0, 11mm (16.5mm DX) focal length, tripod, HDR Image.

The big rock was hard to miss as I walked up to the waterfall and immediately composed a few photos using it as the anchor point. If you go back to my previous blog, you will notice the use of anchor points in those photos, too.

A word about the HDR processing for this Sherman Falls image.  After I brought it into the Photomatix Pro plugin for Aperture 3, I found a black and white filter I really liked.  Except, it was black and white. I brought back the color saturation to 50% and liked how the color on the rock contrasted with the waterfall.  A little extra work in Apple Aperture 3.4 finished the image.

The next concept I call Small Subject, Big Landscape.  Moose refers to it as his favorite technique when photographing a small subject like a plant or small animal and include the environment in which it lives.  When reading about this, I immediately remembered the photo you see below. I took it in the North Dakota Badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The red arrows indicate I was shooting over the small tree.  My focal point was one third into the frame at top of the tree which gave me the hyperfocal distance at f/22.

North Dakota Banlands from the Ridgeline Nature Trail in Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, North Dakota.

Small Subject, Big Landscape concept.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/22, ISO 800, EV +0.3, 28mm focal length.

A little story to go with the Badlands photo.  Being an Easterner, I was not being very cautious when going down on one knee for this photo.  I found out fast to look for small cactus plants from there in out!

These two concepts along with last week’s blog post should get you started in improving your Landscape photography. If they helped, please, post a link to your blog or photo in the comments.

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City of Waterfalls

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

es·carp·ment – long continuous steep face of a ridge or plateau formed by erosion.

Little did I know I have been living near various escarpments around New York state all my life.  These escarpments are the reason for the gorges and waterfalls found around the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario.  The Niagara Escarpment is a long escarpment in the United States and Canada which runs predominantly east to west from New York and through Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois.  Niagara Falls being the most famous geologic formation on the escarpment.

The Niagara Escarpment and other geological formations are what gives Hamilton, Ontario the nickname, City of Waterfalls.  Within the Hamilton city limits and nearby Dundas are some one hundred waterfalls.  Thirty-four of them are protected for public use by conservation groups, private ownership and the city.  A photographer I meet on Google+ who lives in Hamilton was nice enough to tour me around to eleven of the waterfalls.  Being late summer, not all the waterfalls were photographic with little to no water flowing over them.  The following photos are of the ones with good feeder streams or with enough flow to make them interesting.

Webster's Falls is the center piece of a beautiful park setting in the Spencer Gorge/Webster's Falls Conservation Area near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Webster’s Falls is the center piece of a beautiful park setting in the Spencer Gorge/Webster’s Falls Conservation Area near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 360, EV 0, 58mm focal length.

22 meter (72 foot) tall Webster’s Falls is the centerpiece of a beautiful park setting in the Spencer Gorge/Webster’s Falls Conservation Area. The park has picnic pavilions, a unique Northern White Cedar BBQ pavilion, stone bridges and trails. Unfortunately, the trail to the bottom of the gorge is no longer open and we settled for photographing the waterfall from Dobson-McKee Lookout.  The Lookout is a popular place for people to photograph their parties, themselves, their families, pets, etc. Be prepared to wait.

Darnley Cascade near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Darnley Cascade near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D7100/Tokina 11-16mm, 2s, f/22, ISO 100, EV 0, 11mm (16.5mm DX) focal length, tripod, circular polarizer.

Darnley Cascade may only be a 4 meter (13 foot) drop but is located 225 meters (738 feet) above sea level. Making the cascade the highest waterfall in the Hamilton area.  The cascade is named after the Darnley Mill which burned in 1934.

Albion Falls is a cascading waterfall near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Albion Falls is a cascading waterfall near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/5.6, ISO 200, EV 0, 135mm focal length.

Albion Falls is a wide 19 meter (62 foot) cascading waterfall with several terraces. A rocky climb down does not seem to stop people from visiting. Making Albion Falls very popular with the public on hot summer days. It also makes photographing the waterfall a challenge.  Remembering my earlier posts on photographing at busy tourist locations, I included some of the water worshipers visiting Albion Falls.

Tiffany Falls near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Tiffany Falls near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D7100/Tokina 11-16mm, 5s, f/22, ISO 100, EV 0, 11mm (16.5mm) focal length, tripod, circular polarizer, 3-stop Neutral Density filter.

Tiffany Falls is a 21 meter (69 foot) cascade waterfall in the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area. The falls are named after the area’s first doctor, Dr. Oliver Tiffany. While not a lot of water flow was at Tiffany Falls, the ravine was full of colorful rocks, a few logs and lush green vegetation.

I can imagine in the Spring or after a summer rain storm, these waterfalls are even more impressive and, the ones which were not, would be.

These waterfalls alone make Hamilton, the City of Waterfalls.

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View 293: Sherman Falls

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography
Sherman Falls near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Sherman Falls near Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Nikon D7100/Tokina 11-16mm, f/22, ISO 100, EV 0, 16mm (24mm DX), tripod, HDR Image.

Just returned from a quick trip up to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada where I meet up with a local photographer I connected with on Google+.  I was toured around the city known as the City of Waterfalls.  We visited eleven of the thirty-four waterfalls in and around the city of Hamilton.

I will post more about this adventure later in the week.  For now, enjoy this HDR image from a bracketed set of photos of Sherman Falls.  It is a 17 meter (56 foot) tall terraced ribbon waterfall feed by Ancaster Creek.

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Landscape Photography Concepts

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

I have been studying up on Landscape Photography the past couple of weeks in preparation for my vacation next month.  I have done so much sports photography in the last year, I felt I needed to give my landscape skills a refresher.  I subscribed to Kelby Training last year to help me in learning Photoshop. It has helped me with other kinds of photography and equipment, too.  For instance, the subject of Landscape Photography has eleven video training courses which include a series done by Moose Peterson.

In those videos, Moose goes over concepts in landscape photography.  Last weekend when I was photographing waterfalls in Taughannock and Fillmore Glen State Parks, I took a little extra time in composing the photographs.

The first concept is something I have talked about before.  When photographing a landscape put something of interest in the Foreground, Middleground and Background to give the photo depth.  Using the Upper Pinnacle Falls from Fillmore Glen State Park photo again will demonstrate this concept.

The Foreground, Middleground and Background of a Landscape photograph.

The Foreground, Middleground and Background of a Landscape photograph.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 15s, f/32, ISO 200, EV 0, 62mm Focal Length, tripod, 3-stop ND filter.

Even in this compact scene, I found interesting areas in the three zones.

When people look at a painting or photograph, they will notice the bright or light areas first. You can use this inherit trait to pull a person into your photograph and create paths for their eyes to travel through it.  This is something I tried to grasp with some success.  The photo below uses the natural lighting of the gorge in Taughannock Falls State Park and the placement of the rock wall and people to give your eyes a place to start (red arrows). As you come upon Taughannock Falls, you will continue through the darker area (yellow arrows) until returning back to the starting point.

People will first notice bright areas in photographs and then travel to the dark areas.

People will first notice bright areas in photographs and then travel to the dark areas.
Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 900, EV 0, 28mm Focal Length, tripod.

It does not hurt there is a curved leading line of the stone and gorge walls. 🙂

This weekend I will be working on a couple of more landscape photography concepts from Moose I will share with you next week.

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Ding Dong the Mural is Done

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Scott Thomas Photography

Last week the new and colorful 4 Corners Mural was dedicated in a ribbon cutting ceremony held in front of the mural.  Many residents, the local public television station and the Baldwinsville Mayor were in attendance. All were there to congratulate the mural’s heart, Emily Ekross, who came up with the idea, got approval for the project, raised the money for supplies and organized the resources to get it done.

Emily Ekross standing in front of the new history mural she worked for over two years to complete at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York on Wednesday, August 7, 2013.

Emily Ekross standing in front of the new history mural she worked for over two years to complete at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. Nikon D700/24-85G, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 250, EV 0, 24mm focal length, fill flash.

Those tasks are some of the ones which fit the criteria for the Girl Scout Gold Star Award which Emily earned with the completion of the Baldwinsville 4 Corners Mural Project.  The Gold Star is the equivalent to the Boy Scouts Eagle Scout award.

Below is a panoramic of the 11 foot tall by 33 foot long mural. Click the photo for a larger version. Taken with an iPhone 5.

4 Corners Mural in Baldwinsville, New York.

Click Photo for a Larger Image

One of the interested residents at the ceremony was 91 year old Catherine Rice who proudly pointed out the canal boat in the mural was her Grandfather’s and the women sitting in it (see photos above) were her Grandmother and Aunts.

Baldwinsville native, Catherine Rice, 91, pointing out her Grandmother and Aunts shown riding the canal boat on the mural before the dedication ceremony of the new history mural at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York.

Baldwinsville native, Catherine Rice, 91, pointing out her Grandmother and Aunts shown riding the canal boat on the mural before the dedication ceremony of the new history mural at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York.
Nikon D700/24-85G, 1/160s, f/8, ISO 220, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length, fill flash.

I asked Emily if a pamphlet or website will be set up to explain the history and names of all the items on the mural.  She told me she is passing that project on to her Girl Scout troop, many of whom, helped Emily cut the ceremonial ribbon.

Emily Ekross (left) help her Girl Scout volunteers in cutting the ceremonial ribbon during the dedication of the new history mural at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. Baldwinsville Mayor Joseph Saraceni (in back) counted down the cutting.

Emily Ekross (left) help her Girl Scout volunteers in cutting the ceremonial ribbon during the dedication of the new history mural at the 4 Corners in Baldwinsville, New York on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. Baldwinsville Mayor Joseph Saraceni (in back) counted down the cutting. Nikon D700/24-85G, 1/125s, f/8, ISO 200, EV 0, 24mm Focal Length, fill flash.

Personally, I would like to thank Emily for bringing back some pride and color to the heart of the Village of Baldwinsville.  A place I have called home all my life.

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