Roy's portfolio - Landscape in Washington

[roygoh]

Hi,

This is a collection of my favourite lanscape shots taken over the past 2 years of my stay in Washington State. Hope to receive some comments and feedback from you.

Thanks!

Roy

Deception Pass, Whidbey Island

Saw the falled tree on the shore and thought the (once were) roots were interesting photo subjects. Tried a few different approach but finally picked this composition that included the surrounding.

Rainbow - Port Townsend

The rain just stopped and this magnificent rainbow appeared across the straits. I quickly took a few shots before I noticed the sail boat coming along from a distance. I waited patiently for it to move into my frame, hoping that the rainbow will nor suddenly dissappear.

Mount Rainier

Flowers, a rock, lots of snow, and the peak of Mount Rainier. I liked the contrast in size and chose to put everthing on the centre line of the photo. Hope this woks for you.

Tulip Festival - Skagit Valley

Bands of strong and contrasty colours leading into the pastel backgroud and sky.

Seattle skyline

Taken from Alki beach on a cold Spring morning last year. Clear blue skies on this side but thick and heavy clouds behind the city, covering the Cascades. This is stitched manually in Photoshop from 5 separate shots.

 

[Jed]

Roy nice pictures again.

A good variety and diversity of subjects means there's no general monotony with the collection which is good.

As minor quibbles on specific shots:

[1] Potentially wait for better light. Nothing wrong with this, but it's not spectacular either.

[2] Nice shot, the yacht anchors the image.

[3] I think the third shot needs a stronger anchor, the flowers are a bit small in the frame.

[4] I'd lose everything except the tulips. There's some structure sticking up above the flower line that spoils it. Nothing above the flower line adds to the picture IMO, in which case just kill it.

[5] Nice one. Even with the average lighting it still stands out.

 

[roygoh]

Originally posted by Jed
Roy nice pictures again.

A good variety and diversity of subjects means there's no general monotony with the collection which is good.

Jed, thanks again for your complements and taking the time to comment.

Originally posted by Jed
As minor quibbles on specific shots:

[1] Potentially wait for better light. Nothing wrong with this, but it's not spectacular either.

I agree than the sun was in the wrong direction when I took the shot. Since it was taken before sunset, the shadows were pretty long except that it would have worked better of the sun was setting in the East.

Originally posted by Jed
[2] Nice shot, the yacht anchors the image.

Patience and observation paid off!

Originally posted by Jed
[3] I think the third shot needs a stronger anchor, the flowers are a bit small in the frame.

Another trip to Mount Rainier is in the plans...

Originally posted by Jed
[4] I'd lose everything except the tulips. There's some structure sticking up above the flower line that spoils it. Nothing above the flower line adds to the picture IMO, in which case just kill it.

Point taken. I am really looking forward to my trip to Tulip Festival this coming Monday. Hope the weather will be good.

Originally posted by Jed
[5] Nice one. Even with the average lighting it still stands out.

This has been one of my all time favourites. I've sold a number of 8X40 inch prints of this picture already.

 

[anavrin]

Hey, great shots... luv ur rainbow pic and the tulips one...:thumbsup:

 

[roygoh]

Originally posted by anavrin
Hey, great shots... luv ur rainbow pic and the tulips one...:thumbsup:

Thanks!

 

[Jed]

Originally posted by roygoh
I agree than the sun was in the wrong direction when I took the shot. Since it was taken before sunset, the shadows were pretty long except that it would have worked better of the sun was setting in the East.

Let me clarify, after a second reading I realise I might be misinterpreted. When I said there was nothing spectacular, I was referring specifically to the lighting. It's okay but not great. The scene and composition are, imo, lovely.

Point taken. I am really looking forward to my trip to Tulip Festival this coming Monday. Hope the weather will be good.

Hoping on your behalf too! I've had a second look at the picture and actually I feel the blue offsets the tulip colours quite well, but the trees and the structure are distracting. Perhaps a total crop might not be the way to go, but it's certainly something to consider. The structure definitely needs to go though, which I suppose can be taken care of by photoshop. But otherwise when you're back there again, look to surmount these obstacles at the taking stage.

 

[roygoh]

Originally posted by Jed
Let me clarify, after a second reading I realise I might be misinterpreted. When I said there was nothing spectacular, I was referring specifically to the lighting. It's okay but not great. The scene and composition are, imo, lovely.

No problem Jed, you did say that it is a "minor quibble" so I took it as you meant it - the lighting (and only the lighting) is not great, and I totally agree. I liked the composition, regardless of what you might think...hehe.. but it is good to hear you confirm that you liked the composition also.

Originally posted by Jed
Point taken. I am really looking forward to my trip to Tulip Festival this coming Monday. Hope the weather will be good.

Hoping on your behalf too! I've had a second look at the picture and actually I feel the blue offsets the tulip colours quite well, but the trees and the structure are distracting. Perhaps a total crop might not be the way to go, but it's certainly something to consider. The structure definitely needs to go though, which I suppose can be taken care of by photoshop. But otherwise when you're back there again, look to surmount these obstacles at the taking stage.

I sure will. Getting it all right at the time the shutter is released is a never ending quest, even though I enjoy using Photoshop a lot.

- Roy

 

[nuts]

Hi Roy,
here's my take :

1. As mentioned, bcoz of the light, the log is just... a bright piece of log! (with some parts suspiciously overexposed?). Since u mentioned u tried different angles, this is probably the best of the situation, given the lighting at that time.

2. Wonderful. Always wanted to take rainbows, but its always either I have the camera but no rainbows, or a glorious rainbow in front of me, but no camera Best of the lot for me.

3. Would have preferred sharp from front to back. Even the foreground in this case doesn't look particularly sharp. Would have made a really good picture. Kinda little disappointed... mabbe after seeing pic 2...

4. Yay, disappointment gone Really nice.. Slightly different opinion from Jed. The sky and the layer below adds to the layering effect together with the tulips. Of course, that structure thingy and the coniferous trees do spoil that somewhat.
When you do get the chance again, you can try framing with only the tulip layers. In this case, try different colour layers!

5. For panaromics, I think web viewing usually doesn't do it justice, cos u need to resize it to decent viewing and u lose some scale of it. I'm sure this looks awesome in 8x40!!!

..NuTs..

 

[roygoh]

Originally posted by nuts
Hi Roy,
here's my take :

1. As mentioned, bcoz of the light, the log is just... a bright piece of log! (with some parts suspiciously overexposed?). Since u mentioned u tried different angles, this is probably the best of the situation, given the lighting at that time.

Hi nuts,

Thank you for your feedback!

The 1st pic was scanned from ISO200 negatives. The colour adjustment was tricky, and I ended up blowing out parts of the log by the time I get the colour I believe to represent the actual scene.

Originally posted by nuts
2. Wonderful. Always wanted to take rainbows, but its always either I have the camera but no rainbows, or a glorious rainbow in front of me, but no camera Best of the lot for me.

Yeah, I was lucky enough to have both the rainbow and the sail boat at the same time. The last time I spotted such a magnificent rainbow was at the Seattle airport. It was a double rainbow that seemed to end right on top of a parked truck on the ground.

If you look carefully at the end of the main rainbow you will notice that it was in front of the trees, not behind, and you can see its reflection on the wet ground.

Originally posted by nuts
3. Would have preferred sharp from front to back. Even the foreground in this case doesn't look particularly sharp. Would have made a really good picture. Kinda little disappointed... mabbe after seeing pic 2...

I agree that this is one of the weaker photos of these seriese. I was trying to present a unique view of Mount Rainier rather than the standard ones like:

Originally posted by nuts
4. Yay, disappointment gone Really nice.. Slightly different opinion from Jed. The sky and the layer below adds to the layering effect together with the tulips. Of course, that structure thingy and the coniferous trees do spoil that somewhat.
When you do get the chance again, you can try framing with only the tulip layers. In this case, try different colour layers!

Just came back from this year's Tulip Festival yesterday. Felt that the tulips this year were not as impressive as last year's. Will post my pictures shortly.

Originally posted by nuts
5. For panaromics, I think web viewing usually doesn't do it justice, cos u need to resize it to decent viewing and u lose some scale of it. I'm sure this looks awesome in 8x40!!!

..NuTs..

Yes, the picture is not meant for viewing on screen. The 8X40 simply blows people away. If only Canon would fix their $%@#!* driver to allow custom size of 40 inch length, I would be able to print it in a single sheet. Right now I have to print it in 2 pieces of 20 inches, that's why cannot charge too high.

Thanks!

- Roy