Dr. Isaac Vaisman, PPSA
May 2021 - The Dance
About the Image(s)
The Dance is a sculpture located in downtown Sedona, created by the artist James Muir in Bronze. It is on a rotating platform that has an inscription: “Marriage is a journey of Love where two set out and arrive as One”. An additional inscription reads: “The Heart Has Reasons that Reason Does Not Know”.
The sculpture faces the red rocks in the background. The day of our visit was sunny and plenty of contrasting clouds on the blue sky and very harsh light. My composition was intentional to have the couple frame one of the picks in the background. I shot two sets of three images for HDR rendition, one set focused on the statue and the second set on the red rocks in the background. Each set was processed individually and the combines by Focus stacking for the final image. Cropped so that the clouds frame the statue. The green bushes were left for added color, and adjusted for clarity and vibrance.
Nikon D850 with Nikkor lens 24-120 mm f/4 @ 78 mm. ISO 640, f/14 and 1/8000-1/2500-1/640 (the three exposures for HDR)
This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted
Thank you for the details as to how you shot your photo. I've not done any HDR or stacking, but judging from your wonderful final result, I'd say your settings and edits were perfect. You note that you left the bushes in to add color. I think the image would be more balanced if there was the same amount of space on the left and right sides, as in the crop I did. Posted: 05/07/2021 19:31:29
Isaac, nice composition, but a bit confusing, with an almost square format. Also very sharp image and lucky to catch that clouds just over the rock. Did you ask for? ☺️☺️However, I'm not sure if you are trying to show us the statue or the rock, also beautiful. I'm not sure why you, given the almost perfect light conditions, have HDRs the files. And if I got that right you note shows a f/.14 that was used on all the shots changing only the shutter speed, which in my poor understanding shouldn't make much difference on the final file. As Susan suggested I think, as well as Susan, that it should have bene a little better framing with more space around the scene. I mean the statue and the rocks. Posted: 05/08/2021 09:06:58
Susan, accepted suggestion Posted: 05/08/2021 11:06:19
Gabriele, time of day almost noon. Light very harsh. On this light conditions I always use bracketing, and generally three images keeping the f/stop constant. Here I am showing a screen capture/comparison of the three images. I guess I just do it as a habit. Now, with respect to your question what am I trying to show, actually, both the statue and the rocks, and as you can see, the statue is framing the red rocks in the background. Posted: 05/08/2021 11:25:31
Isaac, I understand the difficulties posed by the time of the day but with the due respect to you I never heard about using the HDR like you do. I always knew the the primary purpose of the HDR was to equalize the exposition between the shadow area and the well lit area, and not to correct just the exposition, using 3/5 different focal. Also I understood that you were showing the rock framed by the statue. But here we are talking about "travel images" you and I both have done the on line course Advanced Photo Travel. If I have learned anything I'm not sure that I would give to this image an high mark. Maybe the acceptance but nothing more. Let's go back to the tech data of your image. It looks obvious that you have 3 different exposed image, but I do not believe, sorry Isaac, that changing the shutter speed it should not change the exposition. At least in those light conditions. I believe that your camera should have the iAuto, that feature is good enough to correct automatically the differences between a shadowy and well lit areas. Actually your image looks to me a pretty homogeneously lit area. Personally I take 2-3 shot of each scene, but I try to get them well exposed. So I do not need to waste time in an additional time consuming pp passage. Another way of shooting the right way is using an about $9 iPhone app. The TPE (The Photographer's Ephemeris), a tremendous app that helps immensely with sun/moon direction and the best shooting point in a given location. Check it. Posted: 05/08/2021 12:07:22
Gabriele, I shoot manual, and nowadays, "film" is almost free. You are correct when you say that "I always knew the the primary purpose of the HDR was to equalize the exposition between the shadow area and the well lit area, and not to correct just the exposition". The back of the statue is very dark in the originals. In the combine image (shown) you can see detail in the back. Oh well, we can discuss the issue of HDR to exhaustion, and I still will do it. It does not affect the PTD image if you keep it natural, as I did. Now, the composition and interest of the image will be in the judge's eye. Posted: 05/14/2021 15:13:02
I appreciate your explanation concerning your focus and bracketing detail. I clearly see the reason for proceeding in this fashion. I also like a slight positioning to the right as it seems more natural to me. I am curious about the small image (detail)coming from the clasped hands of the couple. It appears like the head of an animal! - I guess it is just the form of some of the background mountains. - Just wondering - A beautiful and well captured, formed shot! Posted: 05/18/2021 07:20:53
Julie, see my note to Tom Posted: 05/23/2021 11:11:52
Very original and different. Most people would have tried to get as much of the statue into the picture, but here the couple is a closeup and frames the peak in the background, and the statue's texture and color contrasts really well with that of the mountain. The animal in the background looks like the head of a monkey. Is it part of the statue? Would you have been able to block it if you had moved to the right? You write that the statue is on a revolving base. Does that mean you had to hurry to take your three shots? Posted: 05/20/2021 14:30:46
Tom, what you mention about "the animal in the background", it is not. It is a rose in the woman's hand, and yes is part of the statue. About the revolving base, it is not motorized, it is hand driven. Posted: 05/23/2021 11:11:06
(Group 3)
I like the title related to the location, the sharp focus of the dancers provides impact. I have no comment on the techniques used. Posted: 05/26/2021 05:14:04