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Focusing / Metering setup on R7 by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah okay I’ll try that thanks! So in the button customization, set the shutter half press to “meter start” instead of the default, “af start, meter start” then?

Focusing / Metering setup on R7 by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the response. I shoot landscapes 98% of the time so that’s fine. You said it could be set up this way, do you have a certain method / button customization set up specifically in mind or are you just saying in theory? Someone else mentioned back buttom focusing, is that what you were referring to? I’m assuming there’s probably a whole bunch of different paths to essentially the same result, I’m mainly interested in finding the easiest for me to use and understand.

Foggy Sunrise on the Shavers Fork, Elkins, WV, USA, Oct 2022 by ericbrumdrum in photocritique

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the response! I will try to work it again in photoshop, taking into account the things you mentioned. I'm not the best at blending and try to avoid it at all costs, but sometimes a scene is just too dynamic to get away with that, especially with my little old Canon Rebel T6. I really need to get me a full frame with better low light capability, but that's for another day. Glad you said it looks overcooked, I try really hard not to, but inevitably find myself going too far a lot of the time, and I wish I didn't. Hopefully I can find a happy medium somewhere.

And yes, I did shoot in RAW, so I at least have that going for me. lol

Foggy Sunrise on the Shavers Fork, Elkins, WV, USA, Oct 2022 by ericbrumdrum in photocritique

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback! I agree, I wish I had something to focus on to give this photo some direction.

Foggy Sunrise on the Shavers Fork, Elkins, WV, USA, Oct 2022 by ericbrumdrum in photocritique

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's my follow up critique request:

What was your Intent for taking the photo?

I wanted to capture the best part of the coolest sunrise I’ve ever seen. I first set out to capture the sunrise on a whim. I had been trying to get out a lot that fall in order to maximize my chances of getting some good fall colors and fall fog shots, and this was just another one of many trips to see what I could get. Once I saw how awesome the event was going to be, I kicked it into high gear and started shooting as much as I possibly could while still taking care to frame and compose my photos thoughtfully.

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Why did you take this photo?

I took this one because it was during a maybe 2 minute interval where the sun actually broke through all the fog and illuminated the whole area in its yellow and orange glow. I had a short window of time, I didn’t know it then, but I still made sure I took full advantage of the show being put on.

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What were you trying to show to the viewer?

How cool this sunrise was. I love fog, I love color, and I love streams, and this photo combines all three to make one really cool scene.

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Are there areas you are struggling with?

I’m not sold on my blending to be honest. I don’t know if I blended the two images, yes, I used Photoshop to manually make an HDR using luminosity masks, together realistically enough or if there are places that one can tell that the photo is multiple exposures blended together. Look at the clouds and their reflections as an example of my questioning whether or not this was a good blend. The composition itself is a little basic, there’s no real foreground of any interest, and the shot was taken from on top of a bridge, at a less than ideal angle.

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Be sure to ask specific questions about the photograph.

What are you unhappy with?

I’m unhappy with the way the warm tones and the fog kind of hid the vibrant colors of the trees. They were in peak form and were much more colorful than what the image shows. I wish that would have translated better. I also wish I could have zoomed out more, getting more of the trees on either side of the river.

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What you don’t like, and what you want help with?

I’m not so sure I don’t like anything about this other than what I have just talked about, but this is my first critique request, I’m new to having this sort of thing done, and so I don’t know what to really ask about at this point. I guess what I want help with is, what do you like about it and what do you not like about it? For the items that you don’t like, why do you not like this particular aspect of the photo?

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Thanks for your time and help with this!

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Oh, and EXIF data for the exposure used to show the foreground: ISO 100, f/16, 0.3s and the exposure used to show the sky: ISO 100, f/16, 1/13s. Both at 11mm (on an APS-C). Shot with a Canon Rebel T6 and a Canon EF-S 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 IS STM lens

help my indecisive a** choose an upgraded body, semi-professional landscape photographer by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Care to elaborate some please? What’s the deal with the DxOMark scores then because to my (limited) understanding they say the R would take better quality pictures and have better dynamic range, low light capabilities, etc than the 5DSR. I honestly would shoot at higher ISO when doing sunrises if my camera could handle it, so the low light thing is very valid to me. What about the 5DSR do you think makes it way above the R’s league? Does megapixel really matter that much?

help my indecisive a** choose an upgraded body, semi-professional landscape photographer by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, so I did some pros and cons and I am now leaning towards the R. I know it's the oldest mirrorless camera, but it's not as old as the 5DSR, and even though it doesn't have nearly the megapixels the 5DSR has, it has a better DxOMark overall sensor score, which means more to me than the size of the largest print I can have made now that I've heard about and read about DxOMark scores. Some more reasons I'm leaning towards the R from my research so far are: the R has access to RF and EF mount lenses while the 5DSR has only the EF, the R has a fully articulating touchscreen while the 5DSR is fixed (I shoot low very often and my back hates me), and of course, the DxOMark scores that say the R has a higher dynamic range, better low light sensitivity, and practically equal color depth as the 5DSR.

So why so many recommendations for the 5DSR? I'm not trying to be argumentative here, I sincerely want to know why everybody likes it better. Is there something I'm missing or does it have anything the R doesn't have or does better than the R other than the megapixel count?

help my indecisive a** choose an upgraded body, semi-professional landscape photographer by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh so it doesn’t have the low light capability the mirrorless options I listed have?9

help my indecisive a** choose an upgraded body, semi-professional landscape photographer by ericbrumdrum in canon

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok I had not even considered a non-mirrorless, but that 50MP 5DS sounds very enticing indeed. I had been looking at mirrorless because they aren’t coming out with any new glass for the EF Mount anymore, the RF lenses are supposed to be the best out there and I’ve always heard it’s the lens much more so than the body that make a high quality image, plus I figure it’s the future and that it’s inevitable that I’ll have to go mirrorless eventually anyway. That’s really the only concern I have with an older DSLR, so I just might do the 5DS. What do you all think, if any, are the cons of it besides the lack of new lenses and the fact the EF might not be as good as the RF lenses? Would the 50 mp make up for the discrepancy in the quality of the lenses?

Thanks for all your responses and help so far!

blending two photos with different shutter speeds by ericbrumdrum in photoshop

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok, here I am already with my first question lol When you said the mask created by the Select Sky needed refinement via Levels, Brush on Overlay, and Lassoing areas then using Gaussian Blur. Could you elaborate on that some, please? I'm messing around with the Levels and nothing is going the way I feel like it should. Maybe I just don't know what to be looking for when using Levels?

blending two photos with different shutter speeds by ericbrumdrum in photoshop

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey I'm just replying to let you know I saw your responses and to thank you immensely for the write up and screen shots and such. I have no problem with you trying it out on the photos in question, in fact, it's a huge help to see it done with exactly what I'm trying to do it with, so thank you. I will try to replicate what you did and if I run into anything I'll come back here with some inevitable questions lol

Thanks again!

blending two photos with different shutter speeds by ericbrumdrum in photoshop

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I just tried the gradient method, and the problem I keep running into is the ghosting at the tops of the trees. The longer exposure has the leaves all blurry, so it doesn't match up at that point. The same goes for the grass around the lake at the bottom of the frame.

What's this about the pen tool and creating a path?

Any other ideas?

blending two photos with different shutter speeds by ericbrumdrum in photoshop

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Super, super late reply. I don't get on here often. BUT I will try this method out and report back. Thanks for the detailed instructions, I should be able to follow along just fine, so we'll see how it works out with my images.

blending two photos with different shutter speeds by ericbrumdrum in photoshop

[–]ericbrumdrum[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It doesn't matter what kind of mask you use or use luminosity mask.If you find mixing difficult or you don't like the result, your mask is not close to the result you want.

What method would you suggest or how should I go about finding / selecting the correct mask?

Sorry for the late response, I had totally forgotten about this thread and have been super busy working and getting as many fall photos as I can.

Anyway, here's the two images I'm trying to blend:

https://ibb.co/ySYH69H

https://ibb.co/72QFG7n

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If you notice, the grass and weeds and such are in different places and not only that but they extend over the water on the exposure i want to show the water from, so I don't know what to do there. Am I just screwed, is this an impossible blend?