Color or Black and White

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Choosing when to convert to black and white is not always easy, fortunately its as just a few clicks away in Lightroom. The above shots I took with black and white in mind, images with snow and rock always make for good conversions due to the high contrast.

 

Selecting the B & W tab will give you a quick preview of what your image will look like and then its a matter of processing how you like, the color slider increase or decrease the luminance of their corresponding color in the color image. Try making a virtual copy of the image and then use the compare tool to see which you like better.
 

Ross

Images In Light

Atmosphere

 Image:Near camp Kiser, 5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L II, 47mm, f/11 at 1/100 sec, tripod.

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 Image:Ptarmigan Ridge, 5D Mk III, EF 24-70 f/2.8L II, 70mm, f/11 at 1/500 sec, tripod.
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Its not always about light, sometimes atmosphere is needed to add a little extra to an image, I have had available time but decided not to go on a shoot because the weather is just to nice. I like going in to the mountains just after a storm or coming out just as a storm approaches.

I remember spending a stormy night in a lookout on top of Park Butte the next morning the lenticular cloud over Mt Baker was fantastic.

Mt Baker, North Cascades.

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Mist, fog, snow, clouds or even rain can add a lot of atmosphere to a scene, I especially like clouds swirling around mountain tops.

 

Columbia Ice Field, Banff, Ca.

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Plains in Wyoming.

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Some times its worth getting a little wet.

Ross

Images In Light

The North Cascades

Image: Kangaroo Ridge, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 106mm, ISO 100 at f 11, 1/500 sec.
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Image: Liberty Bell, 5D Mk II, 70-200 f 4 IS L, 200mm, ISO 100 at f 16, 1/15 sec.

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A couple from this past week end from Washington Pass, Hwy 20 opened 2 weeks ago and its one of the most scenic drives in the state, affording views at every corner from Lake Diablo to Winthrop on the far side.

Washington Pass

Washington Pass is the jewel of the drive with Liberty Bell and Kangaroo Ridge, surrounding you at the top.

Ross

Images In Light

Contrast and Black and White

Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L - North Cascade range just before Leavenworth
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Image: 5D Mk II, 70-200 f4 IS L - North Cascade range just before Leavenworth
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High contrast images are the ones that make for good black and white prints, especially if you can get an even exposure across the frame.

Rock, snow, blue sky and clouds, all with sun on them in the late afternoon worked well to turn these two images to black and white and thanks to the wonders of image stabilization, I was able to shoot these hand held through the sun roof of my buddy's SUV, while driving down Hwy 2 in early March. Images processed in Lightroom 3 and CS5.

Ross

Images In Light

More from Shuksan

Image: 5D Mk II, 24-105 f4 IS L at 50mm, CPL and 3 stop GND soft

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This is an image I have been wanting to get with the 5D Mk II, its a 2 shot panorama of Mt Shuksan with the fall colors and fresh snow on the mountain, I look forward to getting this one printed and framed. The 24-105 f4 at 50mm is deadly sharp on the Mk II and is a combination thats hard to beat. Right now I am very happy with the lenses I have, I do wish I could afford a 400mm f4 DO. Canons f4 series of lenses are a blessing for outdoor photographers that want to travel light and the cost is a blessing also over their f2.8 cousins.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Fall has Arrived

Image: Fall At Mt Shuksan 5D Mk II, 24-105 f4 IS L, at 35mm, 3 stop Soft GND, 1/20s, f 22.
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Probably my favorite type of image to shoot is the portrait mode landscape with foreground interest, this one has a lot to look at in both fore, mid and background, shot at f22 for maximum depth of field.
A great place to shoot, taken around 3:00 this afternoon, the most photographed mountain in the US, so I hear. Part of the North Cascade range and in close proximity to Mt Baker, about 3 hours north of Seattle.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Foreground

Image: 5D Mk II, 16-35 f 2.8 L II, 30mm at f11 for 2 sec, CPL and 3 stop GND soft. Just prior to sunrise.

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Foreground in an image like this can make or break it, I was unlucky with cloud cover but managed to get an interesting image by using the foreground to add interest, I exposed on the whole scene and recomposed and focused on the plants on the surface of the water, I used live view with exposure simulation, which I am starting to use more of, it works very well, Canon has done an excellent job with live view. I think I have come to like the 16-35 f2.8 L II, it is quite sharp and I can stop it down to f16 or more and have less diffraction than the 17-40 f4 L.

Ross Murphy Images In Light

Star Burst

Image: Mt Shuksan Sunrise, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L II, f22,1/6 s, -1.7 ev. 3 stop GND soft.


Image: Mt Shuksan Sunrise, 5D Mk II, 16-35 f2.8 L II, f16,1/8 s, -1.0 ev. 3 stop GND soft.

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F22 vs F16, tell me which you like better.

I had a chance to try out an EF 16-35 F2.8 L II this morning, so far its looks pretty good, one thing about shooting this type of lens that is a plus for landscape photographers is the round lens diaphragm you only get this on top of the line lenses, you need more blades in the diaphragm to create the round hole for shooting wide open, however when you stop down you have more intersections of the blades, this allows, when stopped down to f 22, the ability to add nice looking star burst's when including the sun in your image. Also allowing very nice bokeh at large apertures.

Ross Murphy Images In Light