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View Full Version : Aerial - The Alaska Range & Denali National Park



Dave Taylor
03-23-2009, 02:57 PM
Well, I'm back - safe and sound. Sorry, no one gets to cash in on my camera gear
I just put a post up on the Journal about my flight Saturday with Talkeetna Air Taxi up to the Alaska Range & circling Denali. We also landed on the Ruth Glacier. Amazing scenery! Amazing conditions - not a cloud in the sky & no turbulence. Our pilot was great, as was the rest of the staff at Talkeetna Air Taxi. They have offered to give a discount for anyone who flies with them if they mention me as a referral - so just say Dave Taylor from Sixtyone North sent you! They'll treat you right.
Anyway, here's a link to my Journal post - has a bunch of photos and a fun 10 minute video from Saturday's adventure.
http://www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/

http://sixtyonenorth.com/IMAGES/AlaskaRange0309/IMG_0477forum.jpg

Harold Davis
03-23-2009, 03:36 PM
i love the light play here with the shadows and highlights. the b&w conversion is really well done. did you use silver efx for this one?

Dave Taylor
03-23-2009, 05:09 PM
i love the light play here with the shadows and highlights. the b&w conversion is really well done. did you use silver efx for this one?

Thanks very much Harold. I appreciate your taking the time to comment, always great to hear positive feedback. Thanks for the comments regarding my conversion - it's actually done manually in Lightroom. I skipped b&w when I first got into photography - but have used it on occasion when I thought it would lend itself well to the subject. In this case, it was a beautiful clear day (too beautiful in fact for color:)). No clouds, so I decided to do b&w conversions on my faves in order to make the sky more dramatic. At this altitude the skies are already fairly dark blue, so I didn't have to do to much to the images. I did boost my curves, trying to get clean whites that still had detail and deep shadows to add drama. I've always thought (for my work anyways) that hdr can leave an image feeling flat if overdone. So I went in the opposite direction with this trip, really accentuating the shadows vs the highlights play - trying to the get the most amount of texture out of an already rugged environment. It was a lot of fun! If you are interested, I'm probably going to post a "Making of" entry on my Journal page (http://www.sixtyonenorth.com/wp/) discussing my steps in photographing some of these images as well as my treatment in post. I hope this helps.
Thanks again for your time, and take care.
cheers
dt

Roman Kurywczak
03-24-2009, 08:39 AM
Hi Dave,
Looks like you had a good time up in the plane and glad you made it back safely.. I want to do more of that myself. I like the conversion and the depth the shadows add to the image. I would like a bit more seperation between the FG peak and the BG one. A little dodging and burning or a few adjusment layers will probably solve that. The dodging and burning are very old school B&W methods and can be very effective in conversions.
Nicely composed from the air.....and if you could also....please post the specs.....SS....lens.....iso....f-stop......so others learn from your efforts!

Dave Taylor
03-24-2009, 03:08 PM
Hi Dave,
Looks like you had a good time up in the plane and glad you made it back safely.. I want to do more of that myself. I like the conversion and the depth the shadows add to the image. I would like a bit more seperation between the FG peak and the BG one. A little dodging and burning or a few adjusment layers will probably solve that. The dodging and burning are very old school B&W methods and can be very effective in conversions.
Nicely composed from the air.....and if you could also....please post the specs.....SS....lens.....iso....f-stop......so others learn from your efforts!

Sure thing Roman-
Thanks for the idea about doing some dodging and burning. I had the same feeling about adding separation to the peaks, but I'm honestly not sure which areas I should touch with this image - your thoughts? I'm worried that by D&B the image, it will look manipulated - I use D&B all the time on my landscape images and some wildlife, but I'm not sure where to use it on this image.
As for the specs - this is likely going to crack you up:D

Camera - Canon G9
7.4 mm focal length
1/2000" @ f/3.2 in Aperture Priority Mode
ISO 100
RAW capture converted in Lightroom to grayscale.

I had my 50D with 12-24 around my neck. But I kept shooting with my G9, the Live View on the LCD allowed me to make easier adjustments on the fly with a lot of varying light conditions. I could see how the shadows were laying out as I made my exposure adjustment. Using Live View on the 50D, while flying at 150+ mph, over rough terrain - the AF could never keep up. I've printed files off the G9 up to 20x30, and at PROPER viewing distance - they hold their own just fine. I'm not a pixel peeper, but to each their own:)
It was tremendous fun to shoot this way. This was not only a photographic dream come true - but a personal goal. I've always wanted to take this trip, and I'm very happy at the results with this equipment. I was able to keep my eye out of the viewfinder & actually enjoy/soak in the surroundings while doing my photography. Plus, the video from the G9 is a real hit! Next time? Yeah, already setting that up. I'm going to go with another photog I know, and charter a smaller plane with the same pilot. We'll either take the door off or open a window (not options in the plane we were in for this trip). Then I'll shoot with an slr (probably 5D mk2) and really blast away. But for my first outing, I was very pleased.

Roman Kurywczak
03-24-2009, 05:53 PM
Hey Dave,
here you go with only the D&B tools. Took some time..but a little more effort can only yield even better results....well worth it IMO! Let me know your thoughts.

Dave Taylor
03-24-2009, 06:29 PM
Hey Dave,
here you go with only the D&B tools. Took some time..but a little more effort can only yield even better results....well worth it IMO! Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for taking the time to do this Roman, it's always interesting to see someone else's interpretation of a scene. I'll be very interested in hearing what others have to say about our different takes on my image.
Personally, I still like mine - but that's just my opinion (and you know what they say about opinions:D). I like the deep and elongated shadows that are present in the original post - it's almost as if the light is grazing the mountain-scape, but the mountains are defiant against the sun, and time for that matter. Your take, again - in my opinion, leaves the image a little flat. True, yours does bring more shadow detail out, but my personal style is to embrace deep shadows & let them go into rich blacks. For me, it increases the drama. In the case of this image, my intent was to really showcase the foreboding nature of the cliff walls, mountain summits, and glacial valleys - so I really boosted the blacks and contrast.
I'm very glad you took the time to show me a different view though - your view is not wrong, it's just not mine. Like I always said about smoking, I won't say it is wrong - it's just wrong for me.
Anyone else have any thoughts?
Much appreciated & cheers.

Roman Kurywczak
03-24-2009, 06:53 PM
Hey Dave,
here's one with selective color on the blacks +8...and then a LCE at 20 & 24.
Let me know your thoughts....and hope others chime in.

Hazel Grant
03-25-2009, 01:56 AM
I like the selective color post best even though that hunk of rock on the upper right seems a bit dark. the shadow plays on the snow show up better in this one.

Paul Marcellini
03-25-2009, 04:49 PM
Roman's second post is wonderful.As was his intentions, the separation really helps. Overall, I like the comp and the intimate view of these peaks. Bet you had a blast.

Dave Taylor
03-25-2009, 04:58 PM
I like the second take Roman, more drama. I am going to do some rework on the image as well, as soon as I find some time. Oh wait... As of Wednesday, last week, I'm unemployed... Guess I have some time to work on it. :) Once I do some more work on it, I'll be sure to do a repost for comparison. I'm also redesigning my website, new galleries, workshops. Thanks again Roman, as always - much appreciated.

John Ippolito
03-27-2009, 01:23 PM
I really like the image, Dave. Roman's last version has a 3D quality to it that really sings.
The folks at Talkeetna Air Taxi do a great job-I've flown with them several times over the years. They have the most beautiful DeHaviland Beaver I've ever seen.