Went out shooting with my dad and sister. This is my favorite image from that, it is a composite of two exposures 120 sec on the foreground and 15 sec on the tower and sky, with several orange flash pops on the tower.
Went out shooting with my dad and sister. This is my favorite image from that, it is a composite of two exposures 120 sec on the foreground and 15 sec on the tower and sky, with several orange flash pops on the tower.
Hi Dillon, I think this is a really great shot! The tower is an interesting subject--was it ever a lighthouse? If not, what is its purpose?
A few suggestions:
--it looks like there's some slight haloing on the left side of the tower, particularly in the sections that have the darker clouds in the background. It looks like there is also some along the landmass above the lights from the town in the background.
--the rocks along the bottom edge that are just barely in the frame are a little distracting, so I might crop them out of the frame or clone them out, whichever you prefer.
--I'm not sure if this was your intention, but the warmness of the orange flash very closely mimics the colors in the sunset, and my brain wants to associate them, but obviously they couldn't be related given that there's no direct lioght on the scene at all, and if there was it would be hitting the opposite side of the structure. This is really personal preference, and it may not bother other people.
As I said, great work though! I think this is an interesting composition, and I particularly enjoy how the tower almost looks like it's being absorbed into the cliff.
Hi Josh, Thanks!
I honestly do not know much about the tower, just knew it was there and wanted to get some shots of it. I am actually really struggling to remove that haloing around the tower haha, around the land is definitely me just being kinda lazy. I noticed those rocks after I posted this cloned them out and it definitely looks waay better! I do not know how to show it but there is actually an orange light on the cliff behind the camera which is what gives that orange glow on the sand/water in the foreground, but I am also okay with the disembodied lighting of the tower because it makes it look more interesting than just a naturally illuminated tower. Thanks again for your feedback it is always welcome!
Got it, that makes sense. I thought that you might have been lighting the tower yourself, in which case I thought you might be able to switch to a different color setup--I work mostly with natural light, so not sure how absurd that assumption was. Your explanation makes way more sense, and nothing you can do about that! I do think that the artificial lighting adds some interesting texture to the tower.
And on the haloing, I always seem to be better at noticing it than removing it, so I know that struggle!
Haha the Haloing is the bane of many a photographer!
Very moody image Dillon. Josh Sanders, The tower was built in the 1920s and serves as a way for the homeowner on the adjacent land to take stairs down to the beach. Many of the home owners situated on a bluff/cliff in Laguna have private stairs that lead down to beach access, this house probably has the most unique of them. Most are just exposed wooden staircases.
Interesting, thanks Ryan! Definitely a cool take on beach access stairs.
Hey Dillon - Fantastic shot! I love it!
I hope you can figure out about the haloing on the tower. I don't mind the glowing light or other things mentioned (although pointing them out was legit), but right where the rough rock of the tower facing joins the smooth top portion the halo is so bright that it is hard to not notice.
There are images that get posted that I look at and think "wow that's nice', leave a comment and then don't think about again. This one I look at, thought "wow that's nice" and then looked at it more, and more, and more. I look around in it (if that makes sense) and I think this is the sign and a great shot!
All in all - one of my favorite images recently.
Wow thanks Ruth! I will look into the halo when I get time!
It's all about Luminosity masks and exposure "matching". Take that and run with it.
Hello Dillon. I like this picture as well. I thought I'd make a suggestion that follows up with Josh Sanders comment on the halo coloring in the top portion of the tower.
I'm just now starting to learn and use blending modes in Photoshop. I did a quick search trying to figure out how to resolve your issue. One possible solution I found is more for fringing created around tree branches and such when you've applied contrast or sharpening. But I applied it to your image and with a little modification, I was able to remove most of it.
First, make a duplicate layer of your picture. Next, select "Color" as a blend mode which is near the bottom of the blend mode selections. Then select the image around the tower, or basically, you want to do a selection so that the tower isn't affected with the clone stamp tool.
You could select the left edge of the tower and across the top and along the top of the cliff. You can then also try and use the "select and mask" feature to select as much of the branches and bushes you can by the tower and on the cliff top.
Lastly, using the clone stamp tool select the clouds just a little ways from the tower as the source and then run it over the halo area. This will remove the halo coloring. Even if you don't select the branches they will not be covered up by the clone tool. But they will lose the orange tint which also would happen with the tower if you didn't protect it by selecting it.
I'm sure there is an easier way to do this but it did work when I gave it a try on your image a bit ago.
Have fun!
Awesome thank you! I will do that!
Great find and dramatic shot Dillon.
I was not familiar with this structure and your shot has just inspired me with a new location to hit-up once I feel like battling the 405 to OC.
Do you know whether this stretch of beach is walk-able at high tide? If you don't, no worries, I can research, but was just being lazy =)