Photography Travelogues – Freeze the action with Peter Eastway

October 6, 2011 4 Comments

Low tide in front of the Reef View hotel on Hamilton Island, Australia is the perfect location for a run and jump. This photo was taken as part of a workshop just for fun, but it shows how useful the new leaf shutter lenses from Schneider Kreuznach can be when shooting action with flash.

Flash synchronisation shutter speeds in a darkened studio isn’t a problem because if you can’t freeze the action with the shutter speed (usually between 1/60 and 1/250 second), you can use a very short flash duration instead. The low levels of ambient light in the studio don’t significantly affect the exposure and so the flash is the only illumination exposing the moving subject.

Not so outdoors (or in a fully lit studio) because the brighter ambient light at a slow flash synchronisation speed will also illuminate the moving subject and thus the image will be blurred. The solution is a faster flash synchronisation shutter speed.

This isn’t possible with a focal plane shutter. A focal plane shutter has two blinds. The first blind opens, and then the second blind follows closing the shutter opening. At fast shutter speeds, the second blind is closing before the first blind is completely open, so at no time is the shutter completely open. If the flash fires, part of the exposure is blocked by the shutter.

Leaf shutters are different. Much smaller and sitting within the lens (as opposed to in the camera), they can open and close fully more quickly than a focal plane shutter. The new Schneider Kreuznach leaf shutter lenses for the Phase One 645DF offer flash synchronisation speeds up to 1/1600 second and so you can use flash in outdoor locations and freeze the action. It’s perfect for fashion and sport.

The way it works is that when the camera shutter is fired, the focal plane shutter in the camera opens first at a slower shutter speed. When the focal plane shutter is completely open, the leaf shutter in the lens opens, the flash is fired, and then the leaf shutter closes. Finally, the focal plane shutter closes. Fortunately, all this happens without the photographer having to be at all concerned – simply attach the Schneider Kreuznach lens and it works automatically!

For this photograph, the flash synchronisation speed was 1/1600 second using a Profoto Pro-B3 AirS battery-powered flash and the IQ180 on a Phase One 645DF.

In the set-up shot, you can see that the flash is pointed too far down, lighting the foreground as well as the subjects. Sometimes this can work as an effect, but if you want to keep the light just on your subjects, point the flash upwards so the spill doesn’t reach the ground. You can also use a local adjustment in Capture One to darken down the foreground – and sometimes a combination of techniques is required.

In Capture One, the raw file was processed to maintain detail in the highlights and produce skin tones with a natural rendition. However, most of the work was done at the time of exposure, which underexposed the background by a stop or so, giving the appearance that the photograph was taken much later in the afternoon than it was. This is achieved by setting the aperture and shutter speed so the background is underexposed, and then setting the power on the flash to correctly expose the subject. You can use a flash meter to help, but with the histogram on your camera, it won’t take you long to work out the settings with a few test frames.

If you’re interested in the photography workshops I present on Hamilton Island with David Oliver and Bruce Pottinger, or you just want an excuse to visit Australia’s tropical north, please visit http://www.hamiltonisland.com.au/photography-course/ for more details, or visit my site at http://www.betterphotography.com/. It’s a great excuse for a week on Hamilton Island!

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Tweaking Your Canon Lens Performance

September 12, 2011 13 Comments

Whether you’re shooting with Canon, Nikon, Pentax or Lumix DSLRs, the lenses we use have optical characteristics that are imperfect. Some of these perfections we hate, some we love – and some we love just some of the time!

Take the wide-angle lens. Most wide-angles, including the 24mm Canon TSE used to take the photo here, exhibit some light falloff towards the edges. This is only to be expected when you apply the laws of physics. Sometimes the ‘vignetting’ is a useful compositional tool, but on other occasions, you’d prefer an even exposure across the frame.

You can also find some barrel or pin-cushion distortion (curvature) in most wide-angles, especially zoom wide-angle lenses.

 Image with no Lens Correction

Neither of these ailments are difficult to fix. In fact, in Capture One they are extremely easy to fix – simply visit the Lens Correction Tab and slide the Distortion and Light Falloff controls until the image appears correct.

Image with Lens Correction

It doesn’t take much to make the correction, but given that every photograph shot with this lens will have the same light falloff and distortion, it would be great to have an easier way to fix it.

And there is. For your Canon DSLR (or any DSLR, actually), you can make a series of lens adjustments and save them as a user preset. In addition to Distortion and Light Falloff, you can correct Purple Fringing, Sharpness and Chromatic Aberration, and all these adjustments can be saved into a single preset.

Image with Capture One Lens Correction Preset

Once you’ve made the adjustments to one photograph, go to the presets icon at the top of the Lens Correction tab (second from the right). When you click it, a list of presets is displayed. At the top of this drop down menu is the option to Save User Preset… Click on this menu item and give your preset a name – I used ‘Canon24mmTSE’ for this lens so it’s easy to recognise. No point being too tricky with your names!

Now when I open a photo taken with my 24mm Canon TSE, I can simply click on the preset and my adjustments are made automatically. And, if I have taken an entire shoot with the one lens, I can apply my preset automatically to every image as I import the files into Capture One 6.

There really is a lot of power and automation built into Capture One 6 for the DSLR user.

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Special Curves For Nikon DSLRs

September 3, 2011 5 Comments

If you use a raw converter like Capture One, you obviously have an interest in achieving the best quality possible. You’re not one of the photographers who presses the button and simply expects the JPEG file to be as good as it gets!

The advantages of shooting in raw and processing your files in an application like Capture One are well-known, but perhaps not so well-known is the range of processing methods at your disposal in Capture One.

Tonal Curves

Take tonal curves, for example. Most people accept the default curve when processing their files, but the engineers at Phase One realise you can get so much more out of files if you apply a curve that is better suited to the subject.

For instance, Nikon users have a choice of six curves when processing their files in Capture One: Film Standard, Film Standard V2 (an improved standard curve), Film Extra Shadow, Film High Contrast, Portrait and Linear Response.

Capture One includes a range of specially designed tonal curves for Nikon D3s, D3x, D3, D2x, D700, D300, D300s and D90 DSLRs. To apply the curve, go to the Base Characteristics menu in the Quick Menu tab and click on the Curve selection box.

In this screen grab, the image is shown with two identical variants, but with different curves attached. You can see slight differences.

Film Standard V2

The first image has been processed with the Film Standard V2 Nikon curve. The image has a good range of tones, but the background is quite dark in places and the highlight on the girl’s skin and t-shirt is a little strong. It’s a good ‘overall’ curve, but perhaps not the best match for what is quite a high contrast lighting situation.

Film High Contrast

Talking of high contrast, one of the curves provided by Capture One for Nikon DSLRs adds in contrast and is ideal for photographs in soft lighting. However, in this situation, you can see that applying the Film High Contrast curve has simply made the dark shadows darker and has done little to improve the highlights.

Portrait

The best two curves for a photograph like this are the Film Extra Shadow, which lightens up the shadow areas, and Portrait. Portrait also lightens up the shadows, but not as much as Film Extra Shadow. It also smooths off the transitions between highlights and shadows, which is exactly what you want for portraiture. Notice how the sunlight wrapping around the girl’s shoulder and legs is much smoother and better rendered. This has been achieved by applying a suitable curve to the raw file.

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Antarctica 3/3

September 1, 2011 2 Comments

Skontorp Cove, Paradise Bay, Antarctica

When you visit a location called ‘Paradise Bay’, you have certain expectations. We were having a barbeque outdoors on the lower deck of our ship that evening (something I still think quite strange for an Antarctica voyage), so hopes were high for a clear sky and a wonderful sunset, but it wasn’t to be. As we steamed into Paradise Bay, we could only guess what lay behind the low cloud that shrouded the entire Peninsula.

One of the challenges of transient travel is making the most of the lighting conditions you’re given. We jumped into the zodiacs for a ‘cruise’ around the foreshores and motored slowly into Skontorp Cove, one of the most picturesque locations in Paradise Bay. So I am told! However, while the cloud prevented us from seeing the spectacular mountains surrounding us, it created a very moody and appropriate atmosphere. Sheer cliffs of ice would suddenly collapse into the waters, breaking the absolute quiet, and occasionally we’d see glimpses of ridge lines high above.

And the reflections were marvellous. Not mirror smooth which has a charm of its own, but slightly mottled, like good quality marble. Keeping the camera low on the edge of the zodiac, it was a matter of asking everyone to be as still as possible so as not to create too many ripples on the water. As everyone was sitting in awe of our location, this was a lot easier than you’d expect!


Sometimes with low contrast photographs like these, it’s good to move away from the easy to use Exposure sliders in Capture one and experiment with the Levels and Curves dialogs. In Levels, I grabbed the black and white points and dragged them inwards to the edge of the histogram, and then moved the middle gamma slider to adjust the overall brightness. This improved the image, giving it more contrast, but not quite enough.

Moving down to the Curves dialog, I selected the ‘Mid-tones Darker’ preset which increased the contrast and improved the image even more. Using the Curves presets, you can just drag your mouse over them and watch the effect on the preview, so it’s easy to experiment.

As with most landscape photography, the sky is the brightest area in the scene, so I set the background exposure with this in mind, and then I used the Local Adjustment brush to lighten up the foreground. I clicked on the Local Adjustments tab, clicked the ‘+’ button to add a layer and then pressed ‘B’ to select the Adjustment Brush. After setting its size and softness, I painted in the foreground (shown as the red area in the screen grab above). You can set the red mask to appear only when you’re painting it in, and then it disappears so you can see what your adjustments will do. I lightened the foreground using the Exposure and Contrast sliders.

One trick I have found with snow and ice, especially on overcast days, is to edit the file with local contrast. In Capture One, this is the Clarity control. I added in another Local Adjustment layer, brushed over the ice wall and its reflection, and then dragged the Clarity slider to a setting of 80. This is higher than I am normally comfortable with, but it shows that so often the adjustments we use are dependent on our subject matter. I also used the Exposure slider to lighten up the ice wall.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s images on Antarctica, visit his website at http://www.petereastway.com/showpics.taf?portno=57&PortName=ROCKHOPPER%20EXHIBITION

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Playing With ICC Profiles in Capture One

August 30, 2011 Leave a comment

We spend a lot of time ensuring our cameras and our software reproduce accurate, natural colour, but sometimes we should leave this to the men in white lab coats and use our tools simply to create the best result aesthetically. Accurate colour might not look as good as colour that is enhanced.

Outdoor Daylight ICC profile

Take this photo exposed under late evening light at Joffre Falls, Karijini, Western Australia. When processed using the ‘correct’ ICC profile setting in Capture One (Outdoor Daylight), the result is magnificent with the strong colours beautifully reproduced.

Portrait ICC Profile:

Now take a look at the same file with the ICC Profile in Capture One set to Portrait. The Portrait profile for the Phase One P 65+ back has been designed to give reds and yellows a bit of a lift, and these characteristics also work brilliantly well with many landscape photos.

Note how the reds in the Portrait ICC profile have been strengthened compared to the Outdoor Daylight ICC profile and a little more detail added into the shadows!

Depending on your camera, look at both the ICC Profile and Curve settings in the Base Characteristics tool and test various settings – you may be surprised at what works!

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Antarctica 2/3

August 5, 2011 10 Comments


Malcolm, Neko Harbour, Antarctica

It was steep. Really steep. Well, at least that is my memory of a mid-morning stroll that turned ugly. I was wandering up to the top of a headland for a view over the glacier that falls into Neko Harbour, Antarctica. It wasn’t a difficult walk, but you had to dig the edges of your shoes into the snow to stop yourself from slipping backwards. A good pair of snow shoes would have been helpful, but I was in the waterproof Wellington boots needed to make the wet landings. We’d leave the ship once or twice a day in inflatable zodiacs and usually you’d disembark into shallow but icy cold water on the beaches. The Wellington boots were perfect for that, but not ideal for snow mountaineering!

I found a great view of the glacier at the lookout, but within a few minutes, the weather deteriorated badly. Catabatic winds, produced by the micro climate over the now hidden glacier, played havoc with everyone. In fact, the winds were so strong many people decided to slide back down the hill, rather than risk being blown over the edge!


I had a little Panasonic Lumix GF1 tucked in my jacket, so I sacrificed it to the elements and took a few photos of what was an amazing scene. Looking out from inside my hood and jacket, with the wind at my back, it was easy to imagine I was in a cinema watching a movie, except my feet were a little cold!

I photographed Malcolm, one of the photographers with me on the expedition, walking up to the lookout. He was struggling against the winds and each step appeared laboured, as though he was walking in slow motion. Holding his camera and tripod over his shoulder, he reminded me of a mountain climber with a flag, about to claim a first ascent.


The Lumix GF1 shoots raw files and the file quality is great. However, as expected, the original capture was relatively flat. After all, this is exactly what the scene was like – flat and lightless – but a little bit of contrast fixed that. What I was most disappointed about was how sedate the hill appeared. It looked flat, nothing like the steep incline I remembered!

I must have tilted the camera awkwardly at the moment of exposure – at least that’s my story! And it’s a good thing Capture One has a few tools to correct such poor camera technique!

I selected the Straighten tool in the toolbox at the top of the Capture One screen. By holding down my mouse on this tool, a small drop menu opens and I selected Rotate Freehand. From here, I clicked in the preview window and dragged my mouse down and around – the image rotates and crops automatically. Most importantly, I was able to recreate the steepness of that mountainous trail that led up to the lookout.

Within the image was a marker and another climber, so I changed to the Crop tool and removed them from the photo. A few more adjustments were made in Capture One and then the image was exported to Photoshop for some final fine-tuning.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s images on Antarctica, visit his website at http://www.petereastway.com/showpics.taf?portno=57&PortName=ROCKHOPPER%20EXHIBITION

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Antarctica 1/3

August 5, 2011 2 Comments


Leopard Seal, Foyn Harbour, Antarctica

Winter was holding on tightly in Antarctica, but a slight reprieve in the weather allowed us to venture out from our vessel and explore the snow covered foreshores within Foyn Harbour. The weather varied from heavy cloud to overcast with sporadic spots of sunlight, not ideal, but it hardly dampened my enthusiasm!

The radio cracked into life and our guide responded, turning the zodiac around and speeding off in between icebergs. One of the other zodiacs had found a leopard seal snoozing on an ice floe and we were off to investigate. A hundred or so metres away, our guide cut the engine and we slowly and silently drifted into position. It was a young leopard seal and while fully aware of our presence, was barely interested.

On an Antarctic expedition, everyone is a photographer and all ten of us had our cameras trained on our new friend. The guide moved the zodiac around, providing a variety of angles and giving everyone the opportunity for a clear angle.

Using a Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III and a 300mm f2.8 lens, I was able to shoot a series of images from full length to much closer, but there was very little time as you never knew when the leopard seal might decide to leave. Shutter speeds were kept high using 1/3200 second at f3.5 and ISO 100, plus I had image stabilization turned on. The image is sharp!

As the zodiac turned around, I kept my camera focused on the leopard seal, firing quickly. Just when the leopard seal lifted his head, the zodiac turned a little further and one of the guests in front of me obscured my angle. There was hardly any time to notice and I just kept shooting. It was only later when reviewing the images in Capture One that I noticed the best shot of the leopard seal also had the red suit of the guest in the foreground.

However, there was a solution.

Here’s the full frame. You can see the problem easily.

Cropping the image helps by limiting the problem, but it is still there. I have also tweaked the file a little in Capture One, adjusting exposure and brightness, and ramping up the saturation to increase the colour in the background.

The solution can be found by using the Advanced Colour Editor. I chose to add a Local Adjustment layer first and used the Draw Local Adjustment brush to cover up the unwanted red colour in the image.

With the selection made, I used the Pick Colour Correction tool to select the reds and then dragged the Saturation slider back to -100, removing all colour in this area. Since the background is already white, the effect is pretty good and to a casual observer, you’d never know there was a problem.

By selecting other colours, further refinements can be made. In theory, I didn’t need a separate adjustment layer to achieve this result as there are no reds anywhere else in the scene. However, the combination of a local adjustment layer mask and what is effectively ‘colour masking’ can be very powerful.

To complete the image, two more local adjustment layers were added, one to increase the clarity around the leopard seal, and a second to add some highlights to the subject’s eyes.

The image was enlarged and using a small brush, the eyes were masked. Then it was simply a matter of adjusting the exposure and contrast sliders to produce an effect that was natural – well, at least it is natural to my non-technical eyes.

While I might not be able to adjust the light like this for scientific applications or even a book on wildlife, as an improvement for an album or audio visual on my trip to Antarctica, it seems to give the leopard seal a little more zest.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s images on Antarctica, visit his website at http://www.petereastway.com/showpics.taf?portno=57&PortName=ROCKHOPPER%20EXHIBITION

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Karijini National Park 3/3

June 8, 2011 Leave a comment

 

Living Dangerously In The Pilbara 

One wonders how it happens, or perhaps why it happens. As I walked over to the lookout above Circular Pool at Dales Gorge in Karijini, the first thing that struck me was the sheer red cliff face stretched across the horizon, backed by a rich green canopy of wet season foliage. The sun had set and there remained a hint of pink in the blue sky. Everything was bathed in a soft, delicate light. And then I noticed the equally delicate position of a large gum tree, hanging on precariously to the edge of the precipice. How long would it last on such a narrow perch?

Although situated in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia, the tree reminded me of another tree similarly perched on the edge of a ravine at Epupa Falls in Namibia. I’m not sure if the baobab is still there, or if the falls I visited 30 years ago have succumbed to a planned dam, but I remember spending hours in the darkroom refining the black and white print and using a brush with Farmers Reducer to bleach back the tree.

However, there’s no need to bleach back the white gums in the Pilbara. In fact, the trick when photographing them is to retain detail in the tree trunks so they don’t reproduce as ugly white blotches. To process this file in Capture One Pro 6, I began with a base exposure that retained full detail in the tree trunk.

One little trick I discovered by accident when processing my files, was to begin with one of Phase One’s ICC Profile presets under the Base Characteristics tool. Normally for landscape work, I’d use the Outdoor Daylight profile, but I found selecting the Portrait setting added in a lovely warmth. (Of course, the availability of this feature depends on the camera you’re using as not all models have a range of settings to choose from.)

To refine the image, I used the Exposure, High Dynamic Range, Clarity and Vignetting tools which I have collected together under my Quick tool tab.

The main issue with this photograph was the difference in exposure between the sky and the cliff. They required different exposures, but this is easily fixed using Capture One Pro 6’s new Local Adjustment tool. I chose to set the exposure for the cliff face correctly with my background layer, and then add in local adjustments to darken down the sky and increase the colour saturation of the green trees.

I also named the local adjustment layers, but I confess only because I was posting this blog, but it is a useful feature as instead of ‘Layer 1’, you can call it ‘Sky – First Pass’ etcetera.

Whether using layers in Capture One or Photoshop, I’ve found it is better to build up an image with two or three small adjustments, rather than one strong adjustment. I also prepare separate, slightly different masks for each local adjustment, the idea being I want my adjustments to be ‘invisible’ when finished.

To darken the sky, I used the Local Adjustment brush to paint in the sky. I find making a precise mask problematic, especially where the sky meets the earth, so instead I use a large brush with a soft edge (setting 0) which feathers the transition nicely. With the selection made, I then used the Exposure and Contrast sliders to darken the sky.

The next local adjustment selected both the sky and green foliage, again using a large brush with a soft edge. This time, I increased the contrast slightly, but I also used the Advanced Colour Editor to select the greens of the trees and increase their saturation.

After reviewing the file, I felt the sky was still a little light, so I repeated the process for the first local adjustment, but with a different mask and slightly different settings for Exposure and Contrast.

From here, the file is ready for processing for web, slide show or printer, straight out of Capture One Pro 6.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s photography techniques, including his Landscape Photography MasterClass, please visit http://www.betterphotography.com/.

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Karijini National Park 2/3

June 7, 2011 8 Comments

Dales Gorge, But Not Sunset

Things are not always what they seem! The strong reds and oranges in the photograph of Dales Gorge in Karijini National Park, Western Australia are not from an early morning sunrise or a late sunset. Rather they are from sunlight reflected off red canyon walls.

Australia’s ‘Red Centre’ is at its reddest in Western Australia and there are few places I have visited that are as colourful as Karijini. As you walk down into the gorges, steep textured cliffs rise above you and if they catch direct sunlight, it is reflected strongly into the water pools and cascades below.

It might seem like a relatively straightforward matter to walk along the base of the gorge, looking for reflections – and to a certain extent it is. But those reflections don’t stay in the one place for long and so you can find yourself constantly moving your camera angle to retain the light and the colour. For images like this, mid morning and mid afternoon are usually the best times because this is when the sun is strongest on the gorge walls, but the gorge itself is still in shadow. The dim surroundings contrast wonderfully with the rich colours reflected from the cliffs up high.

This image is taken with a mid-telephoto lens, ideal for the angle I wanted, but challenging in terms of depth-of-field. To make the most of the location, I wanted sharp focus all the way from the bottom of the frame up to the top. A small aperture (like f22) almost gave me what I wanted, but as you stop down a lens (use a smaller aperture), diffraction increases. Diffraction reduces image clarity and occurs when light is forced through a small aperture, so while a smaller aperture is increasing image quality with more depth-of-field, at the same time you’re losing image clarity through diffraction.

My solution is to use a wider aperture – such as f8 or f11 – and shoot a series of images, each focused at slightly different points.

This series is then ‘stacked’ together. A popular program for ‘focus stacking’ is called Helicon Focus (www.heliconsoft.com) and while originally designed for scientific applications, it can work wonders for landscape photography as well.

To get the best results from focus stacking, you need to ensure your camera is locked off on a sturdy tripod. Although the light was changing quickly, I forced myself to slow down and ensure I had a good camera angle. I use an Arca Swiss Cube head on my tripod and it allows very precise positioning and once set, the camera won’t move. With the camera ready, I switched to manual focus and took a series of six images with different focus settings, beginning close to the camera and extending out to infinity. It’s a good idea to use manual exposure mode as well to ensure the exposures are consistent.

In Capture One Pro, turning on the Focus Mask quickly shows you where each image is correctly focused, the green ‘mask’ covering the areas of critical focus. If you’ve focused accurately, you can determine which frame gives you best focus in the foreground, and then follow the exposures through until you find the one with the best focus in the background.

Once I had selected the five files I needed, I refined the exposure, colour and tonal settings on the first frame. Then I copied up these adjustments (using the upward sloping arrow icon) and applied them to the other four images (using the downward sloping arrow icon). The images were then output – I produced full size 16-bit TIF files.

With my five files processed, I then opened Helicon Focus, selected the files and further processed them into a single file where the small curve of rock in the bottom left of the frame is just as crisp and sharp as the small cascade in the middle up the top of the frame.

The result is an image with more clarity and sharpness than a single frame taken at f22, both in terms of the extent of focus, and the lack of any diffraction.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s photography techniques, including his Landscape Photography MasterClass, please visit http://www.betterphotography.com/.

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Photography Travelogues by Peter Eastway – Karijini National Park 1/3

June 6, 2011 5 Comments

 

In the coming weeks, landscape photographer Peter Eastway will share his passion and knowledge about photography with the readers of the Image Quality Professor’s blog. Peter will take us with him through his recent photographic experiences in Karijini National Park. He will write about his preparations, what gear he uses and finally how he uses Capture One to get the best out of this photos.

Karijini National Park is one of Australia’s largest national parks, and arguably one of the most spectacular. The park is famous for its sheer gorges, waterfalls, cool swimming holes and amazing photographic opportunities.

Hancock Gorge, Karijini, Western Australia

Some places are simply difficult to get to, but the effort is worth it.

Carved out of the iron-rich stone of the Pilbara region in Western Australia, Hancock Gorge lies hidden in Karijini National Park. Leaving the dry heat of the surrounding desert, the trail to this tapering cascade starts with a steep descent down a rough bush track, followed by a rickety steel ladder. This brings you to the bottom of the gorge and from here it’s a further kilometre of rock-hopping, scrambling and swimming to get into position. The most difficult section is a crab-walk along a 200 metre rock wall, its near vertical sides punctuated by narrow, uneven ledges. It would be quite fun without 20 kilograms of camera gear on your back, a large tripod and just one spare hand.

Shoes are off for the last stretch down the narrow Spiders Trail, the cool water rushing around your feet, your legs pushed out to the sides of the cutting for balance, before opening up into a beautiful swimming pool and the cascade at the far end.

Of course, for many people, getting down into Hancock Gorge is a stroll in the park. If you’re fit and active, it’s not a problem, but you need to be careful. Every year there seem to be a few walkers who are seriously hurt or even killed because they didn’t watch their steps carefully enough.

Each time I visit Hancock’s Gorge, it’s different. The time of day and cloud cover affect the way the light bounces off the gorge’s walls, creating different colours and reflections. And rain followed by flash-floods re-arrange the large rocks and boulders strewn along the gorge’s floor.

However, one thing that remains the same is the sense of tranquillity I have as I set up my camera. There’s no need to rush as the light won’t change too quickly. Tripod legs can be spread across the watercourse and the camera pointed down. Generally speaking, a wide-angle is useful for tight locations like this, but maybe not as wide as you think.

As you can see by referring to the original image above, I ended up cropping this photo, choosing a square format so I could centre the water cascading over the stone steps. I also tilted the frame so the image looks level. I actually think the camera was perfectly level when I took the frame, but when I cropped the image, it looked too angled, so I used the Rotate Freehand tool to make it look visually correct. This left a sliver of image missing in the bottom right corner, but this would be easily fixed after processing out the raw file using Photoshop’s Content Aware Fill feature.

After cropping, I have used my Quick tab in Capture One Pro 6 to set the exposure, contrast and colour saturation accurately for the entire image, except the bright flowing water in the centre. When you’re sitting in this position, you’re keenly aware of the colours in the rock, but they don’t always translate onto the sensor because of the cool, blue skylight illuminating the scene. Capture One Pro 6’s Advanced Colour editor let me select the yellows and blues in the rock and give them a little extra saturation.

I also remember seeing the pools down the bottom of the gorge as being iridescent green – they certainly are when the sun is striking them directly in the middle of the day, so I decided this needed to be corrected as well. This meant I had two areas in the image – the flowing water and the distant pools – which needed local adjustments. This is where Capture One Pro 6 really shines!

I add a Local Adjustment layer and worked on the flowing water first. When you use the Local Adjustment brush, you can control the area you want to change by adjusting the size of the brush and the edge of the brush (whether it is ‘hard’ or ‘soft’). This means you can be as accurate as you need to be, but I’m a bit lazy and prefer when I can to use larger brushes with a soft edge. This lets me feather the local adjustments into the image, so you can’t easily see where the adjustment begins and ends. I like to think of this as ‘invisible editing’ – you know I’ve done something, but you can’t really tell where!

To control the water which was overexposed, I found that darkening it made the image look a bit muddy, so I also increased the contrast setting. This rescued some of the detail in the rocks below the running water, while maintaining some white highlights and sparkle.

For the distant pools, I added a second Local Adjustment layer and using a small brush with a hard edge (around setting 80), I carefully selected the two small pools. I then used the Advance Colour Editor to change the golden yellow colour to a more ‘accurate’ green.

Hancock Gorge is a place you never tire of and I can still see some angles I have yet to try.

To see more of Peter Eastway’s photography techniques, including his Landscape Photography MasterClass, please visit http://www.betterphotography.com/.

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