Hi everyone,
This is a windfarm that's recently been completed in our neighbourhood. The primary thing I am trying to resolve in this shot is the apparent haze so it's more of a landscape issue than an industrial panorama question but if I'm in the wrong forum please let me know. Is this something I can fix in camera or is it something I can only fix when processing it. Also, technically the sun shining on the metal has caused some of the highlights to blow out but I'm not sure if I should be dulling that down as it was the gleam that caught my eye when driving by early morning.
If someone has some pointers on how to improve on this shot I would very much appreciate your input.
Thanks,
Anna
id start off by cropping out the tower on the left. haze and reflection are things you want to control as much as possible when ur taking the photo. Obviously you can only control the weather so much, the best light is usually at sunrise or sunset. as far as post production id begin by getting familiar with the develop panel in camera raw. Also try the dehaze and clarity sliders to see if they fix the haze that is bothering you.
Thanks Francisco. I agree with your comment about the left tower. It was still up on my screen this morning and I thought, "hmmm, probably should have looked along the edge of my screen before I pressed the shutter button. I wouldn't mind betting there's another wind tower to the left of the power pylon that would balance the shot if I went back to the site and set up a proper panorama rather than crop it in post. I did play around with dehaze and clarity to no avail. It was taken about an hour after sunrise hence why the transformer is gleaming with white light. I think it is a subject matter I can keep practising on as it is about an 40km from home. Thank you for taking the time to comment :)
Hi Anna! Nice capture.
In reference to what group to put it in, as with many photos, this one obviously covers a few genres. It's part of a Landscape so it isn't in a 'wrong' group, but may do better in another. You can post to more than one group.
This photo and composition is a good start. I may suggest cropping off that tower all the way on the left side frame, and balance that first windmill(?) similar to the one all the way on the right. The low light is nice, if you are able to return to this place one or more times at the golden hours and try out different lighting situations (maybe something warmer?) you may get one with a bit more interesting color. But as it is, it's a good photo.
Thanks so much Joe. Yes, this is Australia and we have very harsh light and high dynamic range. This shot was taken about an hour after sunrise on a winter's morning. I am definitely going to crop out that power pylon to the right and also go back to the site and see if there is perhaps another wind turbine to the right although from memory it won't be as near to the camera as the one on the right. There will be 130 turbines when this farm is finished and lots of public access roads so I am looking forward to trying out some other techniques like bracketing on these structures and definitely some sunset and astro.
Hi Anna! It's a good image as is. I like the panoramic crop, and agree with the others. In fact, I've done a little edit as soon as I saw your image, and before the others' comments. I've done very little; apart from that crop, I've increased clarity overall, and further increased contrast, exposure, and clarity in the grass to highlight the textures and enliven it. Finally I added a vignette to the top and sides.
The haze seems to be really there, and part of the scene, so I'd leave it. There's a little pallor just above the horizon, maybe from processing, as often creeps in, which may make the haze look odd to you as it 'floats' above paler sky. Maybe I've missed your point about why the haze bothers you.
Small "blown-out" highlights off metal or white objects aren't a problem, often adding a lively sparkle. I'd emphasise that a little, if anything.
Post more! This is a great start, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see more from you, judging by this and your spirit of enquiry.
Thank you, that looks a lot better. I better get back in Lightroom and have another go. Thank you Chris :)
Don't you think the haze was actually present? I've often seen similar.
Beautiful!!!!!