Woy Woy Dawn – Digital Panoramic Stitching

Up this morning about an hour before sunrise and looked up at the bleak gray sky and for a split second I thought… is that a hint of magenta in the clouds. From past experience I have learnt not to second guess what you think you might see… if you think you see it, then it is there, so get your ass out quickly.

So I grabbed my young bloke who had just finished his breakfast and we headed out to Woy Woy and this was the result. At the rip old age of 2 years 3 months my son Christian was a great help, carrying stuff, helping me move my tripod, getting things from my bag that I asked for and also stuff I didn’t, awesome company.

This shot is a 13 image panoramic shot vertically on the 5D Mk II | 24-70 f 2.8 lens | lee 2 stop soft grad. I really try and process my digital shots so they don’t look too much like digital shots, if that makes sense so I deliberately close down the dynamic range a bit in areas to make it look more like film. Shot with the GX617 as well from this spot so will be great to see the difference in colour.

CLICK THE IMAGE FOR A LARGER VIEW.

Shooting Moonlight Photography using Digital – Video Tutorial

The first of my in the field tutorials is now ready for release. My introduction into Moonlight photography. This 50 minute video tutorial begins with an outline into the research I did to shoot the location both on digital and slide film. Starting points for my digital exposures, how the moonlight will fall on the area and the best time to head out and shoot.

The tutorial then moves into a detailed look into how the shoot went with test shots and the final exposures taken. Discussing how focusing was done, experimentation with selected f stops, shutter speeds and also iso settings. The use of long exposure noise compensation in the 5D Mk II and it compared to an image with half the iso and shutter speed… how did it stack up ???

Most importantly of all I outline what I learnt and what I would do differently next time I head out. Learning not necessary from mistakes but finding improvements in your work flow to make your next shoot better in certain areas. For me the exposure is exactly what I want but my DOF could be improved and this is discussed on how it will be approached next time.

I also process three files from RAW to final print ready master files as well. The editing of the slide film shots is not covered in this tutorial, only the settings used for the capture.

This tutorial is free for all Rubbing Pixel members, or it can be purchased by guests for viewing on line for $9.99. Here is the direct link to the tutorial.

Moonlight Photography – Forresters Beach

Ok… well for a first attempt at shooting under moonlight I think things went extremely well. Forresters Beach was the perfect place to start things off. All my planning paid off, the light fell on the subject like it should. Played around with one or two different shutter speeds and iso’s to get the perfect balance.

I will be recording the full tutorial on my shoot tomorrow, outlining my capture workflow, thoughts on the shoot, how this shot was edited from scratch, I have a list of things I want to go through with you. I will have it uploaded to the Rubbing Pixels site and I will let you know on the blog when its done. The only thing I wasn’t able to do was record out in the field as the light was too low. I needed external lighting. Other than that I think you will be in for a treat with the info I have to pass on and also how the shots were captured. Some of you might be surprised with one trick on how the shots were taken. No light painting, or exposure blending, just single shots.

For a larger view of this shot just click on it.

Soldiers Beach Capture and Edit Video Tutorial

In this masterclass I have divided it up in two sections. First I discuss the thought processes and techniques that goes into creative water movement capture. The use of shutters speeds, iso, aperture for full DOF, focus point and filters used to get that perfect shutter speed without making other elements of your image suffer as a result.

Now that I have the shot and you understand how it was taken the two selected images are processed in Camera RAW and blended together in Photoshop to get our water perfect. Further Photoshop editing is done to the image to keep it looking natural but to also slightly enhance certain elements of the image.

This tutorial is available on the Rubbing Pixels website. Free to members, but can be purchased for $9.99. This is the link to the tutorial.