Twas foggy morning (but not much) and cold
Shots from couple weeks ago
With light like this the thing to do is to shoot Raw. At least with my Z7, you can expose for the highlights and bring out a lot of detail from the shadows. This I believe is the big advantage of larger sensors.
It's impressive to see how well it could be picked up in areas with light pollution, like your daughters picture, I'm quite surprised by that. Could she actually see it at the time?
I very nearly didn't go out myself, having just got back from an exhausting (but enjoyable) day in The Lakes, but I saw the reading on Aurorawatch which was dramatically higher than I've ever seen it and figured it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this elusive phenomena this far South, so I dragged myself out of the house and I'm glad I did, not just for the photos, but to have seen it with my own eyes, it was an amazing thing to see.
It was difficult to photograph, with the main effects being very high in the sky, so including some foreground element to contrast against it was a bit of a challenge. Surprisingly, we had White Coppice and the moors pretty much all to ourselves, it seems most other local photographers headed for more significant and recognisable landmarks such as Rivington Pike and Anglezarke.
Just to prove I was actually there, although there is a bit of fakery with this one, I was wearing this ridiculous looking bright orange top, which stood out a bit too much here, so I've colour replaced it with something more conservative. The rest is real though (albeit tweaked in the usual way).
Twas foggy morning (but not much) and cold
Enjoyed these high key shots, well done.
@Wormsmeat has written: @SteveMonks has written:Obligatory Aurora Pics
This week's post was going to be all about yesterday's trip to The Lake District which yielded some nice images, despite being a bright sunny day, but last night's events changed that plan.
I've captured faint aurora pictures here in Lancashire, before, but last night was astounding. Not only did the camera pick it up rather well, but you could clearly see the shape and colours with the naked eye. Even weirder, rather than a faint band along the northern horizon, most of the action here was directly overhead, even pointing the camera South captured some interesting details.
Amazing. Nobody will believe they're real! The tree looks like a Harry Potter wand. My daughter rang me at 11pm to tell me to look, I was asleep. Couldn't see much from where I was and was so tired after a 3 day fishing trip that I gave up. Wish I had stayed with it now. I also wish it would have happened while I was sitting watching the night sky whilst fishing.
My daughter took this from her balcony in Bromley.It's impressive to see how well it could be picked up in areas with light pollution, like your daughters picture, I'm quite surprised by that. Could she actually see it at the time?
I very nearly didn't go out myself, having just got back from an exhausting (but enjoyable) day in The Lakes, but I saw the reading on Aurorawatch which was dramatically higher than I've ever seen it and figured it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this elusive phenomena this far South, so I dragged myself out of the house and I'm glad I did, not just for the photos, but to have seen it with my own eyes, it was an amazing thing to see.
It was difficult to photograph, with the main effects being very high in the sky, so including some foreground element to contrast against it was a bit of a challenge. Surprisingly, we had White Coppice and the moors pretty much all to ourselves, it seems most other local photographers headed for more significant and recognisable landmarks such as Rivington Pike and Anglezarke.
Obligatory selfie
Just to prove I was actually there, although there is a bit of fakery with this one, I was wearing this ridiculous looking bright orange top, which stood out a bit too much here, so I've colour replaced it with something more conservative. The rest is real though (albeit tweaked in the usual way).
Ha! Couldn't have you overshadowing the lights. And yes, she saw it with the naked eye.
Obligatory Aurora Pics
This week's post was going to be all about yesterday's trip to The Lake District which yielded some nice images, despite being a bright sunny day, but last night's events changed that plan.
I've captured faint aurora pictures here in Lancashire, before, but last night was astounding. Not only did the camera pick it up rather well, but you could clearly see the shape and colours with the naked eye. Even weirder, rather than a faint band along the northern horizon, most of the action here was directly overhead, even pointing the camera South captured some interesting details.
According to aurora watch the solar storm is still blazing away as I type this, so we may even get another show tonight.
These images were taken between 23:00 and 01:30 last night / this morning. I ended up going through them until 03:00 this morning, followed by about four hours sleep, so I feel like death today, but it was well worth it. Regular viewers may recognise some of these locations. This is just a small selection of the images from last night as I'm sure the thread will be awash with this sort of thing before the day is out, but let me know if you want to see any more as I have loads of them.
All images taken entirely in manual mode with the Nikon Z8 and 14-30 f/4.0S lens (manual focus, 13sec exposure at f/8 as ISO 1600). Processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23. I did try running a few through Topaz to clean up the noise, but it just introduced additional artefacts, so I discarded those. As the aurora action was mostly directly above us, most of my images ended up in portrait orientation to try and fit as much of the higher angled sky in the shot as possible.
Spectacular! You were lucky to have had clear skies too.
Twas foggy morning (but not much) and cold
Shots from couple weeks ago
I really like the tranquillity and pastel shades of this set.
@SteveMonks has written: @Wormsmeat has written: @SteveMonks has written:Obligatory Aurora Pics
This week's post was going to be all about yesterday's trip to The Lake District which yielded some nice images, despite being a bright sunny day, but last night's events changed that plan.
I've captured faint aurora pictures here in Lancashire, before, but last night was astounding. Not only did the camera pick it up rather well, but you could clearly see the shape and colours with the naked eye. Even weirder, rather than a faint band along the northern horizon, most of the action here was directly overhead, even pointing the camera South captured some interesting details.
Amazing. Nobody will believe they're real! The tree looks like a Harry Potter wand. My daughter rang me at 11pm to tell me to look, I was asleep. Couldn't see much from where I was and was so tired after a 3 day fishing trip that I gave up. Wish I had stayed with it now. I also wish it would have happened while I was sitting watching the night sky whilst fishing.
My daughter took this from her balcony in Bromley.It's impressive to see how well it could be picked up in areas with light pollution, like your daughters picture, I'm quite surprised by that. Could she actually see it at the time?
I very nearly didn't go out myself, having just got back from an exhausting (but enjoyable) day in The Lakes, but I saw the reading on Aurorawatch which was dramatically higher than I've ever seen it and figured it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see this elusive phenomena this far South, so I dragged myself out of the house and I'm glad I did, not just for the photos, but to have seen it with my own eyes, it was an amazing thing to see.
It was difficult to photograph, with the main effects being very high in the sky, so including some foreground element to contrast against it was a bit of a challenge. Surprisingly, we had White Coppice and the moors pretty much all to ourselves, it seems most other local photographers headed for more significant and recognisable landmarks such as Rivington Pike and Anglezarke.
Obligatory selfie
Just to prove I was actually there, although there is a bit of fakery with this one, I was wearing this ridiculous looking bright orange top, which stood out a bit too much here, so I've colour replaced it with something more conservative. The rest is real though (albeit tweaked in the usual way).
Ha! Couldn't have you overshadowing the lights. And yes, she saw it with the naked eye.
I was trying to avoid comments such as "annoying distractions at the edge of the frame leading the eye away from the main subject" ;-p
Anyway, here's a before and after, showing the amount of tweaking in that image, but also with the colour replacement layer turned off...
The untweaked side is quite representative of how it looked live.
@SteveMonks has written:Obligatory Aurora Pics
This week's post was going to be all about yesterday's trip to The Lake District which yielded some nice images, despite being a bright sunny day, but last night's events changed that plan.
I've captured faint aurora pictures here in Lancashire, before, but last night was astounding. Not only did the camera pick it up rather well, but you could clearly see the shape and colours with the naked eye. Even weirder, rather than a faint band along the northern horizon, most of the action here was directly overhead, even pointing the camera South captured some interesting details.
According to aurora watch the solar storm is still blazing away as I type this, so we may even get another show tonight.
These images were taken between 23:00 and 01:30 last night / this morning. I ended up going through them until 03:00 this morning, followed by about four hours sleep, so I feel like death today, but it was well worth it. Regular viewers may recognise some of these locations. This is just a small selection of the images from last night as I'm sure the thread will be awash with this sort of thing before the day is out, but let me know if you want to see any more as I have loads of them.
All images taken entirely in manual mode with the Nikon Z8 and 14-30 f/4.0S lens (manual focus, 13sec exposure at f/8 as ISO 1600). Processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23. I did try running a few through Topaz to clean up the noise, but it just introduced additional artefacts, so I discarded those. As the aurora action was mostly directly above us, most of my images ended up in portrait orientation to try and fit as much of the higher angled sky in the shot as possible.
Spectacular! You were lucky to have had clear skies too.
Indeed, particularly considering the weather we get up here in northern England, the chances of clear skies coinciding with an event like this are very unlikely.
Mountain Lakes
They all look beautiful but this is my pick. I like seeing into the foreground water.
It is late Autumn, early Winter here and we're starting to get some foggy mornings.
These are a few shots last Thursday morning as the fog was lifting.
I'm only viewing on my phone while travelling but this looks really good, atmospheric.
Obligatory Aurora Pics
Astounding. I'm so jealous! I picked up the alert, but I doubt it was visible as far south as Montenegro 😔
Your images are wonderful. Great to share a little of the excitement.
I posted an early evening shot from this viewpoint before, this is a little later.
Very nice, really love the horizon with gold and blue colours. The only thin, I am not sure if the foreground adds much.
I never would have thought that retirement would mean I am here less often but that is how it has been working out. My Saturdays have been busy. I've been putting lots of miles on my bike and my car. Tonight I have an outing with my Camera Club so I will be staying home to save my energy for that.
Very nice, peaceful...
Mountain Lakes
It was a lovely spring day last Sunday, so I decided to have a wander around a series of lakes up in the Apennines. These are on the Emilian side of the ridge that divides us from Tuscany. I have never seem the water so high in the two small lakes. I have posted pictures of the small lake before.
4 Lake Scuro. It is the first time I have seen this lake so full, it is usually about 2 meters lower.
5 Lake Scuro
6 Lake Scuro
I love Tuscany. I am surprised to see that there is still snow on the top of the mountains.
It is late Autumn, early Winter here and we're starting to get some foggy mornings.
These are a few shots last Thursday morning as the fog was lifting.
Very dramatic shots, the last ones my favourite.
@Daneland has written:I love Leica but I must say I love Panasonic more 😎
If Panasonic releases a fixed lens Leica/X100V competitor, I will buy it. I can't see a difference.These are SOOC, Leica is less underexposed and made highlights blown out. But I think S5II files have more head room but it might be my imagination .
It's not quite a scientific experiment. Apart from the exposure, which might be equalized, and the fact that they are jpegs from the camera, the focal length and aperture of the two cameras are diffrerent. I think the Q3 would trump both of them. But it costs three times as much, and perhaps I am prejudiced. 😉
Tha said, they are all very nice photos!
David
No definitely not, there are second hand Q3s with full of accessories asking less than £5K but I don't think that I will get Q3. I am really waiting for a Panasonic fixed lens camera.