Exposing for the Mid Tones

 5D Mk IV, EF 16-35 f/4 L IS, 1.6 sec, 19mm at f/13
Lee 6 Stop ND filter
Convict Lake, Eastern Sierra

I am always trying to expose for the mid tones, while holding back the histogram from clipping the highlights. This was a pretty bright scene late morning at Convict lake, also very windy. I used the Lee six stop ND filter here to hold back some of the light and allow for the longer exposure on the waves, giving a little motion effect and allowing for some blur on the wave caps.  I used the mid tones on the mountain to expose the image in live view, then pressed AE lock and refocused on the foreground. At f/13, this gave me enough depth of field to make this image work. 

 

 final histogram

I still needed to pull shadows and highlights in lightroom, but by keeping my histogram in check I was able to pull the needed detail in post and get the most dynamic range out of this scene as I could. Finally I cropped it to a 4:3 aspect ratio, that I like for portrait orientation landscapes.

Ross

Images In Light

When the clouds don't cooperate at Martins Beach

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 L IS, f/11 16mm and 35mm, 79 sec single exposure

I went to shoot the forbidden beach just south of Half Moon Bay for the first time and the clouds did not cooperate with me. So faced with a very boring beach shot with the Hay Stack, I thought I would try playing with zoom in a single exposure. I framed the shot at 35mm and let my camera expose for 40 sec and then zoomed all the way out to 16mm quickly to avoid shake and zoom trails and let it expose for another 39 sec, the result is the above image.

Martins Beach is in the mist of a land controversy, the land owner is denying people beach access and there is an ongoing dispute with San Mateo county, is it legal to visit this beach? the answer is currently yes, however I think this will be mired in legal BS for a while.

In the mean time I intend on returning here until I capture the image I'm interested in getting.

Ross

Images In Light

More from Big Sur

 

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 IS L, f/16, 1/60 sec, ISO 100, hand held on fence post.

 

5D Mk III, EF 16-35 f4 IS L, f/13, 1/200 sec, ISO 100, hand held on fence post.

Big Sur is sure turning in to one of my favorite places to shoot, nudge nudge, know what I mean?

A place that holds its rightful location at the top of peoples list's to shoot, I have been fortunate recently to spend some time in this area, witnessing scenes like this one unfold as I drive along the coast highway. Truly a beautiful place, sometimes magical and mystical, but always very photogenic.

 5D Mk III, EF 70-200 f4 IS L

More soon from the Big Sur coast....

Ross

Images in Light

Canons new EF16-35 f/4L IS

 A new wide angle for Canon shooters:

 A direct response to the Nikon Version ? It will be nice to have IS in a wide angle lens but I would still like to have an f/2.8 lens in this focal range, lets see how it performs, its 25g lighter than the EF 16-35 f/2.8L II that's a plus.

 Specifications

Focal Length & Maximum Aperture: 16–35mm 1:4.0
Lens Construction: 16 elements in 12 groups
Diagonal Angle of View: 108°10′ – 63°
Focus Adjustment: Inner focus system
Closest Focusing Distance: 0.92 ft. / 0.28m
Filter Size: 77mm diameter
Max Diameter x Length, Weight: 3.3 x 4.4 in., 21.7 oz. / 82.6 x 112.8mm, 615g

  

Ross

Images In light