Table Mountain at dusk

[Mark Wiseman]

This is a blend of two images. I have previously created an HDR image, but this blended image is closer to the actual scene.
The image was taken with a Nikon D3s and processed in ACR and CS5 on a 15 inch MBP. I used luminosity masks and levels to create this image.
Any comments and critiques are welcome.
With many thanks, Mark

[Chris Twine]

You making me home sick seeing this picture....

Lovelly! I like it alot

[Andrew Aveley]

Hey Mark, great example of the masking. I may just look at toning down the whites in the fg . a little more detail in the water will add IMHO :)

[Mark Wiseman]

Thanks Chris and Andrew,
Andrew, the exposure in the foreground is such that I was trying to create the water blur and to reduce it's detail without using filters. The detail in the white sand is exactly as I feel Cape beaches are and I feel removing whites will darken the foreground excessively. The foam on the water surface on the right is most likely what accounts for the white and the loss in detail, but due to the foam I will not be able to recover anymore detail. Your comments are gratefully appreciated.
Best wishes,
Mark

[Rachel Hollander]

Mark - Beautiful colors and scene. I like the look of the water and also the placement of the ship. What were the techs?

TFS,
Rachel

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Rachel,
My intent was to complete an HDR image of the landscape. I normally expose 2 stops above and below the measured exposure and then complete the image in Photomatix. Since seeing Morkel's blended images, I have followed that route now and this image is a blend of the 2 stops below and the normal image, for the detail in the sky and the normally exposed foreground. Once I have combined the images I go through my normal workflow and then use luminosity masks on the darks, mid tones and the lights of the image using curves adjustments to balance the exposure.
The image was shot at f22, shutter speed of 5 seconds, ISO of 200 and 2 stops below. I wanted to blur the movement of the water and as mentioned above the amount of foam on the water was excessive, parts of which can be seen at the bottom left, so for me the blurred water adds to the image. I cannot wait to get back to Cape Town to take more images, especially using my Lee filters, I should get some interesting results as there are so many wonderful locations for landscapes.
With many thanks,
Mark.

[Robert Amoruso]

Mark,

I am liking this image a lot but before commenting further, I would appreciate you posting technical information such as exposure information for all blended images, lens/focal length used, filters if any, on tripod or handheld, etc.

Thanks.

[Andrew Aveley]

thanks for the reply. Sorry if my comment was misleading. I am referring specifically to the water itself as I know that sand and its textures very well :) It my feeling that foam and water would still have some detail.I use the ridge line of water for example but as you where there , its all that counts :) Still a great blend :)

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi Robert,
Sorry for the lack of details. I always use a tripod, in this case a Manfrotto carbon tripod, a Foba head which takes Arca Swiss plates and a remote Nikon shutter release. I have included a lot of details in the reply to Rachel, the only additional info I can think of is that the mirror is always locked up on landscape images, no filters were used and the focal length was 48mm. I used a Nikon D3s and a Nikon 24-70mm lens. If any more info is needed, I will provide it, but I think that should cover it. Thanks for all the help and the comments, it is always gratefully appreciated.
Best wishes,
Mark.

[dankearl]

Really dreamy looking and I like the inclusion of the ship on the right horizon.
The color range is pretty dramatic and makes it really interesting.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Mark,
I too would think the FG would have a hair more detail. Not too much as then you would lose the excellent gradient and inpact....just a touch so that you get a touch more detail in the FG. Excellent job with the blend too!

[Robert Amoruso]

Sorry Mark, had one of those DUH moments and did not realize you have included that info in your response to Rachel.

I am good with the level of detail in the FG due to the shutter speed chosen. I would try a reverse s-curve to lower FG highlights a small bit.

Nice work all around Mark.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Mark, nice capture. Love the colors and the water in the foreground. I am fine with the level of detail in the foreground also.

[Brendan Dozier]

Very cool looking composition, Mark, all the elements play off each other very well, with the FG, MG, and BG, helping to create interest and depth. Love the sky color and ship is nice touch.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Sorry for only getting to this image now, Mark...but you know where I was last week .

I love the dreamy colours and mood here, and the water blur adds to that for me. Having a tad more detail upfront would have been nice like Roman said...but I still like this as posted. Well done for a first blend!

One nit is that the ridges on top of the rocks are significantly darker than the rest of the rocks...possible because of a selection-bleed when masking or adjusting selectively.

Another note is even though it's comfortable to stick to a "2-over-2-under" bracketing method, I try to gauge the best compensation based on the scene. For scenes with a very high dynamic range (like shooting into the sunset/sunrise) you typically need more exposures as you don't want to have too stark of a difference between exposures ie dark darks and then light lights in the next frame. For these scenes I bracket at "1EV" and typically shoot 5 to 7 exposures. I might end up blending only 2-3 depending on how the images come out. For scenes with less dynamic range you might only need 2 exposures like you did here, at 2EV apart. Hope it makes sense??

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Fabulous image of a fascinating location!

I don't care about the technicals, since I'll never be able to stand at that same spot and make the same image. Who would want to?

[Mark Wiseman]

Thank you to all that have passed comment and advice. Your help is gratefully appreciated and will no doubt help to improve my images.
Morkel, I normally take 5-7 images from 3 stops above and below the normal value with one stop intervals. I tried to get the best of the sky and the best of the sea. The image as is is how I like it as the lack of detail and the fuzziness of the water is what I was after.
The lack of detail in the front of the image, as mentioned by Andrew and Roman has to do with the surface mask and the edge mask used to reduce noise and sharpen the image. With a new edge mask applied I know there will be more detail towards the lower third of the image and this is something I will look at in the next image I process. An action in photoshop does help, but it is always important to check the mask before applying the filter and in one or two cases, it is always a good idea to check the edge mask and in some instances refine it, to achieve the best results.
With many thanks, Mark.