Jenolan Caves images 45 image mosaic

[gregbradley]

I have been to the fantastic Jenolan Caves in NSW several times in the last few months. I've been photographing the caves and they are quite challenging to image. If you use flash it will wash out the delicate hues easily. Much like photographing coral. They need natural light.

Of course in a cave lighting is artificial and relatively dim. It puts a lot of pressure on the camera's low light imaging performance and autofocus in low light performance.

I used a Fuji XE1 for these and found the Fuji does very well.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815711 45 image mosaic of the Gem of the West regular size,

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815711/original large size Gem of the West.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815749/large regular size 45 image mosaic of large Column.
http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815749/original 45 image mosaic of large Column large size,

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815713 underground Jenolan River 15 image mosaic.

http://upload.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/148815864/large ribbon shawl and various formations.

http://upload.pbase.com/image/148816001 underground Jenolan River.

Greg

[jjjnettie]

:) Stunning!!

[Larryp]

Yes, stunning is the word. Jenolan caves are magnificent. Great photos, Greg!

[RickS]

Fantastic pictures, Greg! Have you tried the D800E in the caves at all?

I saw some cave photos on the weekend that were done using a small LED panel light. It looked like a neat unit.

Cheers,
Rick.

[gregbradley]

Thanks JJJ. The caves are the best I have seen anywhere but imaging them is a bit tricky due to low light and subtle colours.



Thanks Larry. I was happy with the mosaics.



That sounds interesting. Where did you see that?

Greg.

[sheeny]

Well done Greg, considering the limitations of the lighting you had available. I liked the ribbon shawl and the river the best. I notice considerable barrel distortion in the mosaic of the "large stalagmite" (actually a column;)) - is that inherent in your lens or a result of your mosaic procedure? I don't want to sound overly critical, but the detail is lost in the straws of the Gem of the West.

Cave photography is generally a little different to other types, usually because of a combination of subtle colours, extreme depth of field, and usually total absence of light. Usually its a team effort, and a large part of the skill is in flash placement to highlight the features you want without losing detail in the highlights (or shadows). We typically used 3 to 7 flash units, triggered either manually or as optical slaves, sometimes with multiple flash activations in the one exposure. The camera bit of it is nothing unusual, just set for the desired DOF and keep the shutter open for the duration of the exposure sequence:). It works marvelously in big avens and caverns, and in long tunnels:thumbsup:.

Al.

[RickS]

I was a long way from home picking up a new piece of astro gear :o The previous owner showed me some of his cave pics and the LED lighting panel he had used. Apparently, they are used with television and video cameras. It was dimmable and had an array of LEDs in two colours. These were white and an yellowish colour - varying the relative intensities changes the colour temp. If you do a google search for "video led lighting panels" or similar you should come up with a bunch of hits.

[sheeny]

Don't worry about that question, Greg... I think I've figured it out. Because the column is so close to the camera the mosaic is simulating a fisheye lens, so, of course, there will be barrel distortion!:rolleyes:

Al.

[gregbradley]

Thanks for that Rick.



Yes there is a bit but that is pretty close to what it looked like visually. I think the projection methods have their slight distortions and I tend to try different one to see which is best. The fence poles are relatively straight except for the background one so there is some distortion. Other projections may minimise that but they sometimes shrink the field of view as well.

Greg.

[gregbradley]

Thanks for that Al. You'd have to have some agreement with the guides to be able to do that as you are not allowed to use a tripod even and have to keep up with the tour. The Gem is a tad overexposed and I tried shadows and highlights tool but it wasn't helpful. Fortunately that is really what it looked like visually with strong backlighting in an otherwise quite dark surrounding. Maybe next time I will have another go at it and be ready for it. I agree the River areas and the shawl turned out nicely.

Yes you are right that should be a Column - oops - corrected.

Greg.

[sheeny]

45 images is a big mosaic. You did very well to get that many shots in one location on a public tour. I guess I've been fortunate with cave photography opportunities either by being known the guides on public tours and, of course, being caver, so not having to be restricted to a public tour. Most of what I've taken on public tours I'd class as "happy snaps" apart from a few occasions... the good stuff we usually do on dedicated trips;).

Al.

[astronobob]

Sensational Greg, Id even say Very Cool also ;)
I missed getting into them caves when I was about 7, I was there but I didnt know they were Iced at that age, & left my shoes in the car, sad story, no brother, sister, parent would come back with me to get them so I had to wait outside freezing my bloody feet off till they all came back :rolleyes: wont forget it either :argue: :rofl:
They are brilliant pieces of work, I havent even seen any images of what is in them caves, right up until today, untill these of yours !

Thanx for showing, i beter get, before I start misting :sadeyes:

Cheers :cool2:

[ourkind]

Nice shots Greg :thumbsup: I love the Jenolan caves, it's one of my favourite drives, nothing beats reaching the bottom of ther mountain and litterally driving through a cave in order to park your car!

[gregbradley]

That is a great advantage. Jenolan has adventure tours now and that would appeal to those who are cavers. I have done a little bit of caving in the past. It was fun.



Well I am glad I have helped show what you may have seen that day. That's quite a story, sorry you missed out.





Yes that is a sensational entrance.

Greg.