Bastion

[Octane]

I drove to Sydney on Friday night to visit Chris (Omaroo). We stayed up most of the night, as we usually do, heading to bed in the wee hours of the morning, only to rise up again at 3:45 AM for a 4 AM departure to travel 90 km to my favourite location on Sydney's coast.

On less than 2 hours sleep, it seemed like sunrise was an epic fail as the entire eastern sky was covered with clouds. We saw the pre-dawn cirrus light up in crimson splendour, but, we were missing the main event.

Shortly after sunrise, the clouds gave way to an incredible display of pristine first light.

Presented here, is a dynamic scene where waves reach for a rocky moss-covered shoreline while a halo adorns our precious star.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
1/13s f/16.0 at 17.0mm iso100

Large version available here (http://users.tpg.com.au/octane2/b.html).

Please note that this image hasn't been touched up in Photoshop -- this is directly from Canon's Digital Photo Professional software. I don't have time at the moment (backlog of work) to be processing images through completion. Having said that, in my biased opinion, this stands on its own without requiring further processing treatment.

The 5D Mark II is a landscape eating machine. If you can afford one, get one, then come join me for some fun on the coast in a workshop in the not too distant future.

H

[Omaroo]

My father was president of Sydney's Northen Suburbs Camera Club for almost a decade. He won literally hundreds of awards all over the state for his black and white landscapes and portraits. I know and understand what makes a good competition photo, and cute & interesting doesn't do it. Technique does. Humayun, you have it in spades. You need to go and enter into high-level competitions were they know what they're looking for. You'd give them a god shakeup for sure. I wish I had half your talent, I really do. I look up to few photographers, my late father being one. You're on the list...

Great shot. I was there, and I saw the three hands you used to capture it.

[Ric]

Lovely work H, very serene.

The larger version definitely does it justice.

[Rick Petrie]

That's a nice H.:thumbsup:

[DavidTrap]

Looking forward to hearing more about your workshops H!

DT

[troypiggo]

Another tricky exposure handled masterfully. Those rocks look cool! Love to get down there some time.

[midnight]

Pristine.

Marvellous as always.

Darrin...

[mishku]

Just gorgeous, H

Sat and pondered the large version while I sipped my morning coffee. What a great way to start the day

[spearo]

Very nice
well done
frank

[lacad01]

Very nice work H., great composition. Out of interest are you using any filtering i.e. ND or similar?
cheers
:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Paddy]

Very nice H.

[PCH]

Hi H,

great shot as the others have said. But in the camera settings that you've provided for this shot, what does the '17.0mm' refer to. You know I'm a beginner in this field, so I hope this is not too stoopid a question ;)

Also, is there a safe way for those of us who don't have live-view cameras to try shots like this? Obviously we don't want to be lining shots like this up through the viewfinder. Maybe the experts can point out a safe way.

I have the 400D - I'm thinking maybe I should upgrade. Well, it is coming up to Christmas time after all, and I know she won't want to dissapoint me :lol:

[Jone5y]

Its the focal length of the lens. In the case of the lens H was using (17-40mm) he had it zoomed out to its maximum extent. To give a point of reference, the human eye views @ approx 50mm.

[Octane]

Chris,

Thank you so much for your very, very kind and humbling words. :blush:

I will have ten days of holidays coming up (end of year shutdown) and would like to do some more coastal stuff. Perhaps, even down south. :D

I've entered two photographic competitions in my life. One are the Malin's, and, one is the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year awards. Well, the Malin's came up trumps and I made a shortlist for the landscape category of the latter.

As you know, I do these for myself, but, if someone likes my work and wants to pay me for a print, as an artist, what more could I possibly ask for as a compliment? :)

Thanks, again!



Ric,

Thanks, matey. It is a very peaceful scene. :)



Rick,

Glad you like it, matey. :)



David,

Soon. :D



Troy,

Thanks, buddy! In winter time, those rocks are bare. Come spring and summer, they're full of seaweed and algal growth. It's like walking on a slippery carpet.



Thanks, guys!

H

[Octane]

Darrin,

Oh, you're too kind! Thank you. :)



Mish,

Thanks, babez!



Frank,

Thanks, mate. :)



Hi Adam,

Cheers!

Yep, you're right -- I don't leave home without my filters. Bestto get it right in-camera than to have to mess about with crapafterwards. I used a 3-stop hard grad for this image. Iknow that the vignetting is heightened as a result, but, I think ithelps to accentuate the halo in this instance. I also used awarming polarising filter, which, while pointed at the sun, doesn't doanything for the image, but does help warm the scene so that I don'thave to pump saturation aftewards.



Patrick,

Thanks, mate!



Thanks, all.

H

[Octane]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the compliment.

As Steve pointed out, the 17.0mm refers to the focal length of the lens. In this case, the widest the lens zooms out is 17.0mm on the 17-40mm f4/L USM.

I always initially line up images like this through the viewfinder. At that time of morning, the sunlight is so soft, it's not going to hurt you if you quickly judge where you want the scene to fall. This is going to sound crazy, but, I often see the scene in my head before I even set the camera up. It's called previsualisation, and, it is a very important thing to learn to give your photographic endeavours some purpose or a goal. Anyone can pick up a camera and can shoot something, but, not everyone can previsualise. Again, some people can previsualise naturally, others learn to.

Once I've got the scene falling how I want, I'll then fire up LiveView and finesse it.

So, yeah, there's nothing stopping you from attempting similar! Just make sure the sun's low so you don't burn your retinas. :D

Nothing wrong with the 400D. Please don't fall into the trap of thinking that buying a better camera will make you a better photographer. It's not the way it works. Some people buy high end gear and by the next day, think they're professionals. The measure of a photographer is how he uses his tools -- not what tools he has. And, a poor tradesman always blames his tools. Some of the best photography I have seen in recent times has been taken with 4x5 field cameras that are 60-80 years old.

Having said that, if you feel you're ready to deal with a shallower depth-of-field that a full frame camera provides coupled with top quality glass, by all means, go for it. :)

H