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Wagon Hill - Re-Discover
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Wagon Hill - Re-Discover

by Harry Lichtman

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 13, 2014452 views12 comments
I have largely ignored Wagon Hill Farm near my house for 15 years, heading toward NH's mountains whenever possible. This spring I was around and re-discovered the potential that the area has. Largely a dog walking paradise in the warm months, sledders seek out the hills in the winter. I lucked out with this sweet sunrise last week when many of the swamp roses were in bloom. Like my previous Wagon Hill shot, I moved very close to the cluster and stacked several shots for DOF and another exposure for the sky. I was hoping the sun would break through the low clouds to give some more intense backlight to the flowers as in my previous post, but the sun was snuffed out and it never happened. Still, a great time amongst the poison ivy :biggrin:

5D II, 16-35, ISO 200, 6 images for DOF at same exposure, 1 shot for sky exposure

Comments

12 comments
Comment posted by Ronald Murphy on June 13, 2014 at 2:36 PM
Great photo! Looks like manual masking for DOF would be difficult with so much overlapping of different depths. Did you use an automatic masking technique?
Registered on March 13, 2012, 279 Posts, 975 Comments
Comment posted by Pat Sampson on June 13, 2014 at 4:12 PM
The stack looks good to me Harry and I love the color with the sky as a background. Beautiful image.

pat
Registered on May 19, 2007, 953 Posts, 15989 Comments
Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on June 13, 2014 at 4:36 PM
Ronald - I used the Auto Align feature in PS CS6 to get me part way there. I then used the Auto Blend feature in the stack layers mode. Unfortunately, there was still much manual blending needed for this type of image since each layer did not line up nicely. I'm sure sandstone or other solid FG features would work easier. I then brought in each image individually that was used in the automatic blend and compared it to areas in the composite for sharpness, and manually erased the sharpest parts into the areas of softness. A bit tedious, but the only way I know how :biggrin: I often take a couple shots at a higher ISO, 800 or 1250 to ensure a sharp exposure if I need to blend it in to the mix of ISO 200 exposures. For this shot it wasn't needed.

Looking back at this shot, I kinda wish I had shot from a slightly higher vantage point, as the top part of the flowers seem to bump into the top of the hillside. I may have needed to tilt the camera up for a final exposure in order to keep more of the sky. The processing of this kind of shot requires you to work backwards from a construction standpoint so that all of the pieces can fit together in the end.
Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments
Comment posted by Scott Smorra on June 13, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Very nice image Harry. It's great that you have a place like this so close to your home. I really like the sky here, but it's those drops of water on flowers that really make this image work for me. Nice job with the blending as well.
Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments
Comment posted by Jared Warren on June 13, 2014 at 10:20 PM
Fantastic image, Harry. The blend looks great to me - I know how tedious that process can be and this result looks very crisp. Amazing sky, and the water droplets bring the image up even another notch. Really well done. :toast:
Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments
Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on June 13, 2014 at 10:41 PM
This works wonderfully. Don't you love finding unexpected pictures in unexpected places?
Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Reid on June 14, 2014 at 9:11 AM
The large version is just great Harry. Wonderful sky and the flowers with the water drops are just great. Like this a lot and great processing. :toast:
Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments
Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on June 14, 2014 at 11:48 AM
Sweet, Harry. You did a great job, here. I really like the rain drops and the drama in the sky.

--P
Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments
Comment posted by gary phillips on June 14, 2014 at 12:55 PM
Really nice, Harry. The blend looks perfect and that sky is very nice. I love finding local gems, it seems they are everywhere, we just have to find them.
Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments
Comment posted by Lucy VanSwearingen on June 14, 2014 at 4:36 PM
Very cool photo. But, I would level the far left with the far right side of the horizon. It appears a little off kilter to me. And I would close out the two scraggly trees on the horizon. Just my opinion. But a FANTASTIC image, nonetheless! :toast:
Registered on May 23, 2009, 800 Posts, 2042 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on June 15, 2014 at 7:28 AM
Harry--the lighting is perfect. The wide angle view and colorful subject matter works for me :toast: ...........................Jim
Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments
Comment posted by Bill Fach on June 15, 2014 at 8:00 PM
Harry: Can't pass up commenting on this great Flora image :wink: Wonderful scene and light and a really fine capture. >=))>
Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments