Critique Elgol Sunset. Wind, rain and lovely light all in the space of a few minutes

SFTPhotography

SFTPhotography

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Steve
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I decided to go for an ultra wide crop. I was up high, not on the beach. Just as the magic moment was happening a squal came, and a fishing boat was sailing through so decided to lose most of the scene and focus just on the small boat, big sky and dramatic light

_DSC7182 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr

The rain went, so did the boat but the light was just too good

_DSC7197 by Stephen Taylor, on Flickr
 
It looks like the whole scene has been lit up by a giant overhead reflector. Given that the sun is low down to the right that can't have been the case, can it? Surely there should have been some deep shadows in Loch Coruisk?

Personally I'd be looking to process it differently. But that's just me.....
 
The first one has a really lovely fantasy look to it. I would like to see it so that it matches the second more however, even if just for comparison.
 
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Honestly @jerry12953 this was how it was. The sun was side lighting and the sky just picked up the colour. You'd have needed to have been there to see it but it was lit more or less like this. Other than saturation I've done very little to it bar darken the clouds down a bit for impact.

Why don't you have a play and post me an edit of what you think it should look like?
 
Looks like some great conditions. Its always like a millpond at Elgol whenever I've gone!
I think that the best image is somewhere between the two. There are components from both shots that I wish i could see together in one image. I hate it when the landscapes play you like this.
Great to see the peak in the second shot, and the light on the left is amazing, but I much prefer the added detail and snow capped peaks in the first shot. The aspect ratio of the second is a lot more pleasing.
Regardless - i'd be happy to have taken either of these
 
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I think they're beautiful Steve....a pleasant break from your (lovely) reflections.
I'm not having any problem reconciling the shadows with the position of the sun.
 
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ST4 said:
Honestly @jerry12953 this was how it was. The sun was side lighting and the sky just picked up the colour. You'd have needed to have been there to see it but it was lit more or less like this. Other than saturation I've done very little to it bar darken the clouds down a bit for impact.

Why don't you have a play and post me an edit of what you think it should look like?
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No problem, it's not important. It must have been the conditions.
 
Love the wide ultra wide crop with virtually no foreground.
Im a sucker for extreme side lighting when it is naturally diiffused and as such both images tick all the boxes for me.
Really really nice Steve
 
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stupar said:
Love the wide ultra wide crop with virtually no foreground.
Im a sucker for extreme side lighting when it is naturally diiffused and as such both images tick all the boxes for me.
Really really nice Steve
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One is my favourite, I didn't bin two just because of the light and it was so far away. I could have cropped 1 like 2 and had more sky and FG but the mood of one is all about the mountains towering over the fishing boat in that broody storm, in two I feel the sky distracts too much from the mountains but the sky was too epic not to take if that makes sense.

I always used to admire Colin Priors wide panorama images and whilst on the beach the foreground is interesting I wanted just the wide open view with no distractions for the viewer so they can see the storm and drama of the Cullins in the distant view. I'm inclined to print 1 one off, not two. I'm glad you like the crop, for me it was the only way to treat the image and a wide aspect/panorama was always going to be the shot I wanted to have for this.
 
These are "Excellent" Steve, absolutely awesome light.(y)

George.
 
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Two smashing images mate no 1 just takes for me with conditions.must have been great to see this coming in
 
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2 great shots Steve, no1 just edges it for it's atmosphere! One comment, it's probably not but it looks like some banding top left in the first pic, or is this a rainbow?
 
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Steelo said:
You simply cannot bear Elgol when it's like this. Stunning mate. Hoping for similar next week!
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I had your image in my mind when this happened. As you know I rate your Elgol Squal very highly to be honest, its one, if not the best there is of that location. I hadn't really planned on aping it so much compositionally but the beach wasn't doing much for me, I was up high and my mate @LongLensPhotography was down on the beach doing his thing and luckily the rain, the light, the clouds all just came together in a few very special moments.

Good luck on Skye next week mate. You'll get something good up there.
 
Glorious views and conditions. I'd definitely look to put more contrast in number 1, probably to the same amount as image 2. As much as I like the showers in number 1, I feel the second image is the one here as it has a more defined composition with that peak and the light hitting it perfectly. A crop taking away some of the right hand side might also work and balance out the composition
 
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Scirocco_09 said:
Glorious views and conditions. I'd definitely look to put more contrast in number 1, probably to the same amount as image 2. As much as I like the showers in number 1, I feel the second image is the one here as it has a more defined composition with that peak and the light hitting it perfectly. A crop taking away some of the right hand side might also work and balance out the composition
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Funny you mention it, one I sometimes feels lacks contrast and othertimes I look at it I like the delicate look to it. I can also see the merit in the crop re 2. I just ramped up the contrast in 1 as per your post. Looked at it and thought wow. Left it five minutes then thought it was just too much and reverted back. I could then change my mind tomorrow. Sometimes I like the subtleties of it, and other times I feel it lacks the impact factor as you've sort of said in your post. Othertimes I am glad its not a hyper real Joe Cornish style rendition of the location and others I think I could get more from it. Of all the images I've taken its the one I am least sure off PP wise in terms of contrast. The crop I would never change though.

If you could see the RAW, its so flat and faded out compared to 1 its not funny. Very bright with few shadow areas but not clipped. I knew the colour was in there but it needed a more contrast than I normally add and a whack more saturation to get it out (but I knew it was there)....

Normally I shoot in golden light so the contrast and saturation plus curves/levels adjustments are not that much.
 
ST4 said:
Funny you mention it, one I sometimes feels lacks contrast and othertimes I look at it I like the delicate look to it. I can also see the merit in the crop re 2. I just ramped up the contrast in 1 as per your post. Looked at it and thought wow. Left it five minutes then thought it was just too much and reverted back. I could then change my mind tomorrow. Sometimes I like the subtleties of it, and other times I feel it lacks the impact factor as you've sort of said in your post. Othertimes I am glad its not a hyper real Joe Cornish style rendition of the location and others I think I could get more from it. Of all the images I've taken its the one I am least sure off PP wise in terms of contrast. The crop I would never change though.

If you could see the RAW, its so flat and faded out compared to 1 its not funny. Very bright with few shadow areas but not clipped. I knew the colour was in there but it needed a more contrast than I normally add and a whack more saturation to get it out (but I knew it was there)....

Normally I shoot in golden light so the contrast and saturation plus curves/levels adjustments are not that much.
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You have the ingredients so it's probably just worth waiting a couple of weeks and seeing again through fresh eyes, when you come back to it hopefully it'll become clear in the best way to process it. I do like the delicate look but when I see it compared to number two feel it lacks a bit of punch. I know all too well what you're describing in processing, been there many times lately. Dreamy conditions though
 
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Scirocco_09 said:
You have the ingredients so it's probably just worth waiting a couple of weeks and seeing again through fresh eyes, when you come back to it hopefully it'll become clear in the best way to process it. I do like the delicate look but when I see it compared to number two feel it lacks a bit of punch. I know all too well what you're describing in processing, been there many times lately. Dreamy conditions though
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tbh its why I put them both up for C&C. I've sat on them for about 10 days now. Two I just don't like compared to one, that rain just brings back the memories of what it was like and instills the mood, the drama, the cold and dampness of the day. Sometimes it looks flat to me, othertimes it just looks great. Perhaps I should just create two versions :D
 
To me #1 has something of the quality of a Turner painting. I'm familiar with the lighting conditions this sort of weather can create and to me it looks natural, very atmospheric and utterly lovely. I'd like #2 if you hadn't put #1 up first.
 
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Very nice indeed you were lucky that you chose to be in the presence of such a spectacle and I think you captured it well nature can throw out some amazing light.
 
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Lovely shots Steve I remember a moment time like this as the sun was about to set then out of nowhere the cloud lit up the shadows with the light bounceing off the clouds lighting up snowdon, the sun was over my Right shoulder here, amazing what Mothr nature can throw up this was taken on
  • Date and Time (Original) - 2013:03:11 17:52:52
Llyn Nantlle Uchaf by Kevin OBrian, on Flickr
 
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yamahatdm900 said:
Stunning Steve it always a pleasure to look at your Steve. I was going to add your where lucky to witness such a lighting display and while that is partly true I'm a firm believer in some ways you create your own luck by being dedicated and being out there.
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You do. Ungodly starts, getting in really late, masses of driving, getting cold and wet feet. But I get to see great things and capture it. I wouldn't change it for the world.
 
@Scirocco_09. I've re reprocessed the image with fresh eyes this morning and guess what, its come out more or less looking like the one I posted.

I tried the 2:1 crop like@mattyw said. I didn't like it and I couldn't make it work. There are a few technical constraints. Upping the contrast and saturation more increases a fair few digital artifacts and some awkward colour noise. Trust me I tried. Including too much sky makes these much more visible higher up. Technically I just cannot push the file much more than this. Indeed the newer version came out slightly less vivid, less colourful than the original I posted. Looking back, it was a low contrast scene and this is just the computers way of telling me to be true to what you saw.
 
No very often you see Elgol is such glowing light, I like both images, but the 2nd just has the edge, if feels that bit gutsier (if that makes any sense)
 
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Les McLean said:
No very often you see Elgol is such glowing light, I like both images, but the 2nd just has the edge, if feels that bit gutsier (if that makes any sense)
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Cheers. It is much more contrasty (the squal left when I took it so it is much less etheral than the 1st). It is good to have both and was an epic way of spending an evening
 
Beautiful images Steve, and just a ethereal light display, I cant really separate the two because each has its own different elements of beauty. What marvellous light! As in @Kevin O'Brian shot, these events do happen. Sometime hard to describe but even when presented in photographic form, people cannot believe the reality of it. I'm sure we have all had similar. For me, colleagues here where I work, if I show them a shot like this .... they know your a photographer and there first reaction is, its been photoshopped! No matter how you try and convince them that these bizarre light conditions do actually exist.
Lately I have seen some really and bizarre colours and light in the sky, unfortunately always when driving to and from work. I've started to look a lot at light and the weather, and there is some amazing phenomenon out there.
Great Shots Steve and sometimes its hard to know how to process such and event, Love them well captured!
 
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potteringaround said:
I like both shots but will always prefer bad weather, so the first wins as it gives the images a sense of life the other lacks.

I'm in agreement that strange lighting can occur - it maybe that teh clouds are reflecting light into Loch Coruisk perhaps?
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Indeed Sam came across this today, he sat in bad weather also waiting....... classic example in my book.

Wast Water Rainbow by Dave Massey, on Flickr
 
Stephen I checked these out on Flickr, a better place to see them than here. In particular, the one with the boat really works. But across them all there's a weather-imposed vagueness that's very welcome.

I often find your work somewhat brittle, with your quest for technical perfection seeming to dominate the subject. I wonder if there's a middle ground for your image-making voice?
 
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Pic1 is absolutely fabulous imho. The composition is right, the delicate and lovely light is amazing, and the result is a wonderful image, superbly displayed in this photo
 
Well have come across this myself Rog having taken refuge behind one or two large rocks in the past when out enjoying my surroundings, how about yourself? whilst out in the outdoors with your beloved camera.
 
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ROG trust me that is not over PP been their once or twice MYSELF and seen this kind of pic PS have you ROG? if SO THEN PLEASE share WITH TP your findings, and I will wind my neck in........SO over to you ROG?
 
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