Savage River -- Denali NP

[Ian Cassell]

From my Alaska trip of June 2009

Canon 30D
Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 @ 20mm
1/80 sec f/20 ISO 100

Crop, Levels, Sharpening in CS5

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ian, I like the way you composed the image with a strong leading line and the bridge acting as foreground interest. I also like the fact you minimalised an uninteresting sky.
A few things...You shot this at F20 which should give you plenty of DOF yet the image is a bit soft. This could be due to slight camera shake since you didn't state if you used a tripod and shooting HH at F/80 is risky.
The water has alot of glare in it which a polarizer might help to correct.
Finally the lighting is a bit flat and would probably be improved shooting this at a different time of day or better lighting conditions....

[Ian Cassell]

Thanks, Dave. I have learned a lot since June 2009 :)

I stayed away from polarizers on my 10-20 due to a misconception that they were no good on an UWA. Now I know that it can do odd things to the sky, but can still be very useful.

Camera shake is possible. It was shot handheld and I usually do pretty well with my 10-20 handheld, but I might have messed up here.

I agree about the lighting -- unfortunately, I took what I could get.

Thanks again for commenting.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ian, polarisers are good for glare and not only on water. Out west especially are known for their dark blue skies. One has to be careful not to darken them too much with a polariser.(easy to do) They work best when your shooting 90 degrees from the sun...

[Ian Cassell]

Yes, Dave, I agree. I use a CP quite frequently, but was always cautioned away from using it with an ultrawide. I'll have to dig, because I now have some good examples of what happens when you use it with an UWA lens. Because of the very wide field of view, the sky can get polarized to different degrees and you can see gradations of blue across the sky if you're not careful. I'll have to look around and see if I can find an example.

Knowing this now, I am cautious when I use it on our big western skies with my 10-20. It does still have a role, however, and is still useful when avoiding reflections/glare.

[Dave Blinder]

Looks like a great comp Ian. It does appear soft to me as well, I'm curious if brightening the midtones has caused this? Also, I think I saw some chromatic aberration or artifacting on the background mountains.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Ian,
Sorry....late to the party as I am still in the Tetons but now I have internet! Agree with the softness issue and light.....sometimes you do what you can. I do think the comp was nice. I know how tough it is to get out there in Denali early sometimes.....that's why I camp out there! Just something to keep in mind.