A fun shoot and some wild light.

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L, CPL. at + 2 ev.
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Moments after the storm I took this shot of a tranquil sunset.

Image: 5D Mk II, 24-105 f4 IS L
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The clouds enveloped my position from behind me and came between me and the sunset for this shot.


Image: Mt Baker and Alpine Tarn, 5D Mk II, 17-40 f4 L,3 stop GND, f11, 1/60 sec.
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On a backpacking trip to Mt Baker last night, produced some good images and when a thunder storm rolled in, made for some wild light, including glowing thunder heads and rainbows in the same shot, will try to get some images up to add to this post in the next couple of days, but boy was last night a wild ride in the North Cascades.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Image: Thunder Heads at sunset

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Image: Incoming storm over the North Cascades
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Wide Angle With a Telephoto

Image: 46mp 4 shot portrait mode panorama 5D Mk II, 300mm f4 IS L.
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Rope teams, 100 % crop, center left near summit
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Rope teams, 100 % crop, center right near summit
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Medium Format territory resolution stitch in CS4, this 46 mega pixel image, 4 shot portrait mode panorama was stitched and blended together using Photo shop, shot with a 21 mp 5D Mk II and a 300mm f4 IS L. whats amazing about this huge image is what can be seen when zoomed up, the 2 lower shots are examples, the upper of the 2 you can see the 7 rope teams as they make there summit approach above Disappointment Cleaver and the lower shot shows 5 or 6 teams near the top of Emmons Glacier. The native print size for this image is 17" x 30" and could easily be up sampled with CS4 to 24" x 40" and that is a very large print, almost to the point of becoming to expensive to mat and frame with good quality materials, one needs a buyer for this first that can appreciate the value of a good frame and mat, before dropping $300 - $400 on the frame. The mountain range in the fore ground are the Cowlitz Chimneys.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Wide Angle Landscape Shooting

Image: Mt Tahoma (Indian Name) 5D Mk II, 17-40 f4 L, 29mm @ f16, 1/6 sec. 3 Stop GND

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Shooting wide angle landscapes is one of my favorites, I have found that the key is to have a foreground subject that is tack sharp, the shot should feel balanced weight wise and if possible use the rule of thirds, this is where the new tilt/shift lenses should excel. prints from these types of images can be a challenge but when you get that shot where it all comes together the wide angle landscape can be gorgeous hanging on your wall. A GND filter is a big help in this type of image, I want to spend my time in the field not behind a computer trying to put HDR's together, I spent maybe 5 minuets putting the above image through Lightroom and CS4.

Ross Murphy Images in Light

Trying for a New Look

Image: Multnomah Falls the Classic View, 5D Mk II, 17-40 f4 L, 24mm,1/6s at f11.
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Image: Multnomah Falls, 5D Mk II, 17-40 f4 L, 24mm,1/10s at f11.
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When shooting one of those iconic landscapes see if there is an untried angle or light, work the composition, pull a detail, get down low. The above 2 images represent one of those iconic places and I knew I would have to try for something different and the second shot is my attempt, now I am sure its been shot like this, but I have never seen the image and I was pleased with my rendition of Multnomah Falls.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Vulcan Arenal, Costa Rica

Image: Margay, 5D MK II, 300 F4 IS L.F 7.1, ISO 400.

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Image:Chestnut-mandibled Toucan. 5d Mk II 300 F4 IS L. ISO 3200.

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Arenal is located in central Costa Rica 90km NW of the capital of San Jose in the Arenal Tilaran Conservation district and is home to many of Costa Rica's diverse animals and birds, it is a bird lovers paradise and a volcanologists dream, the volcano is close to La Fortuna which is every one's kick off point to explore the area, we stayed on our last trip at the Arenal Observatory Lodge which is a very nice place to stay, its clean and well equipped and as close to the volcano as you can get, as a matter of fact most rooms have a view of the volcano and the extensive grounds include acres of land and trails to explore, bird watching is supperb here. Lago Arenal is also excellent for fishing, I managed to pull a 10 lb Wapote out of the lake on one of my trips, use the local guide ,Gato Negro from the Lake Arenal Lodge. I saw 2 species of Toucan and also Toucanets while visiting for just a few days and I am not a big birder, we also saw Kinkajou and a Margay as shot above. The area is home to monkeys, Red Eyed Tree frogs, Pizotes, Sloth, Hummingbirds, Poison Dart Frogs and a large variety of exotic animals. I have visited here 4 times and still not come away with a good image of the volcano, weather usually being the part that kills it, maybe next time.

More info: Arenal.net.
Ross Murphy Images In Light

White Balance

Image: 5D Mk II, 17-40 f4 L, 3 stop GND, 2 shot Panorama.

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White balance also known as color temperature can be so important to how an image appears, the above image was giving me fits with the white balance, I ended up cooling it down a little to remove an orange cast that was caused by my in camera settings (WB set to shade), also another reason to shoot RAW, if you shoot jpg your stuck with your white balance for the most part. I shot it at a temperature of 6250K and reduced it in Lightroom to 5646K and that removed the orange cast in the image and brought out the green in the foliage and helped with the blue in the sky.

Ross Murphy Images In Light