Todd Grivetti  

Mt. Rainier by Todd Grivetti

January 2021 - Mt. Rainier

January 2021 - Todd Grivetti

Original

About the Image(s)

Equipment: Canon EOS T6, Tamron 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 Di II VC, Manfroto MT055X PRO3 tripod.
Settings: Manual Mode - ISO 400, 1/60 sec, f/8, 18 mm focal length.

About/Technique: Sunrise capture of Mt. Rainier from Reflection Lakes. I arrived at the lakes around 7 am just when the blue light was fading out and the golden light coming in, in order to find the right location to set up. I capture several images from several vantage points to review. I experimented with several setting changes including ISO 400 - 800, f/4.5 to f/8, along with exposure times from 1/40 - 1/200 and trying various compositions. (I might share another view next month).

For this specific image, I was set up on my tripod along the edge of the water. I really liked the composition with the reflection of the mountain and the trees along the opposite shoreline captured by the water. There was little to no breeze this morning and the temperature was about 36 when I arrived. It did warm up nicely however during the rest of the morning. This shot was way before the smoke arrived in the mid-late afternoon with the breeze.

Post Techniques:
I've made two versions of this image and I liked this one better: - On this image I utilized one of my presets to enhance the colors and lighting. I then added radial button enhancements through the trees and the reflection of the trees in the water to add warm sunlight to the foreground and middle third of the image. As you can see from the Original, the image was quite dark, except for the reflection of the mountain. I wanted to enhance this further by adding light, so I had to mirror the radial settings for the water from the forest settings.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
13 comments posted

Bud Ralston   Bud Ralston
Hi Todd - Love it. Since I can see Mt. Rainier from the top of my driveway, I'm always trying to figure a way to get a great shot of Rainier. You obviously have done so. Loved your light effects, especially in the lake reflection. Well done.

(Now how do I get to Reflection lakes?) ;-)   Posted: 01/06/2021 16:53:24
 
Thanks much Bud. It was a beautiful moring for sure and well before the smoke filled the valley.   Posted: 01/10/2021 07:27:52
Michael Weatherford   Michael Weatherford
What a beautiful scene! I would try a couple of things on this image. De-haze the mountain and sky so it looks a little more like the reflection, which is very clear. Crop the left side to the point where the forest intersects with the ridge line, and take small crops on the top and bottom to balance the sky and reflection. You might try backing off the brightness of the highlights in the forest so it matches the level in the reflection. Thanks.   Posted: 01/08/2021 10:42:26
 
Thank you Michael. I'll play around with these suggestions. I do notice the forest is a bit brighter than the reflection in the water. I utlized two radial sliders for each, and mirrored the settings for both. I like the concept of balancing the top and bottom and will have to do the same for the L & R sides as well.   Posted: 01/10/2021 08:12:36
Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Like the others I really like this image and I do feel the reflection makes all the difference especially when you got to use such wonderful light.

I see you used a variety of shutter speeds and aperture settings. I'd trying to figure out why the mountain is not as sharp as the reflection. Thus I will be quite interested in see the shot at 1/200 to see if the issue is wind matched to your slower shutter speed. The other thing I'm wondering is where your focus point was located. Do you happen to know? I'm guessing it was in the center, but if you happen to know, I'd be interested.   Posted: 01/08/2021 13:19:45
 
Hi Larry: Focal point was primarily in the middle of the trees if I recall correctly. However, reviewing the image closer, I am actually wondering if I set the focal point to water wanting to capture a clearer image in the reflection.

This is one of the images I captured at 1/200. ISO was set higher for the low light at 800, 15mm f/4.5. It becomes very grainy when enlarged. and this has no significant changes other than an increase in exposure, shadows, sharpening and noise reduction. Location is the same as the one posted for the round. This was at 7:34 am, and the one for the round was taken at 8:04 am, so a 30 min time difference.   Posted: 01/10/2021 08:04:03
Comment Image
Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Todd. To my eye it looks like the focal point was the water. If so that might account for the softness to the mountain due to shooting at f8, the hyperfocal length of focus might let the mountain fall just outside the useful range. Generally an fstop of f13-16 is best.

It is still a beautiful image but I look for little things that catch my eye and always wonder.   Posted: 01/10/2021 15:30:06
 
Thanks for the keen eye and feedback. A couple stops down from f/8 may have sharpened the upper portion.   Posted: 01/10/2021 17:12:06
Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)
Larry, please see my question below--I asked about the sharpness question. Thanks.   Posted: 01/26/2021 13:35:04
David Kepley   David Kepley
Todd: This is a beautiful image! You worked some real magic from the original. I love what you did to suggest sunrise on the trees. Terrific. The only two suggestions i might make to improve this image is that I think you've got a little too much yellow on Mt. Rainier and I would consider enhacing the blue of the sky just a bit.   Posted: 01/08/2021 13:25:37
Richard Matheny   Richard Matheny
What a beautiful place to be at 8:30 on a morning like this. I think this is a special image. While it can certainly stand as is you can always play around with some of the suggestions from the guys. I took the liberty to play around with it. A little crop, I reduced the brightness of the forest and up the clarity in the trees just a little and opened up the shoreline just a tad. I tried reducing the haze in the sky but didn't feel it worked well. I would expect the distant Mountain to have some misty look to it. Anyway Todd I think it is a wonderful image.   Posted: 01/10/2021 14:49:58
Comment Image
Stephen Levitas   Stephen Levitas
(Group 32)
This is a wonderful shot and I want to follow up on the discussion about the focal point. My question is for everyone who has commented on the focal point.

Am I wrong to think that the focal distance to the mountain and to its reflection are about the same? The reflection is not an object in the water 50 feet from the camera--it's light and image comes from the mountain. So focal point does not explain the apparent sharpness of the reflection. I blew up the image and see no difference in sharpness between mountain and reflection. Rather, I see the reflection as "easier to view," perhaps because its brightness range is somewhat darker than the mountain.   Posted: 01/25/2021 23:17:09
Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
When you focus a lens the sharpest point in the images is the actual point at which the lens was focused. In this case the trees in the reflection. The basis of
Hyperfocal Distance is the idea of ACCEPTABLE SHARPNESS. Most people just assume that when using Hyperfocal techniques that is the lens is focused at infinity and infinity is half way through the image that the distance will be in perfect focus. This is not the case. As you retreat into the frame you reach what is called ACCEPTABLE Focus and beyond that things do get a little bit softer. Hyperfocal tables are based on how the photo looks as an 8x10 enlargement. As such, although your image using Hyperfocal Distance may be acceptably sharp for small prints, you may find it incredibly unsatisfactory for larger prints, particularly at the extreme edges of your depth of field. You also have to factor in that the image we are seeing has been drastically reduced in size and clarity and therefore what may have been minor imperfections on the 8x10 print will be magnified in the smaller resolution image.   Posted: 01/26/2021 15:17:59