Grand Canyon - Sun rise

[sury]

These three are examples of three different methods I have used. All images were taken at sunrise.

This one is with HDR bracketing and Luminous Landscape for merging.



The next one is a simple two image pano stitch.



This is standard single shot with 70-400G

[Birma]

Hi Sury - it is stunning scenery, especially with the low morning light. I like the colour and contrast best in the middle one I think. The multiple exposure in the first has introduced some motion blur in the trees - some people like this effect, but I guess you could reduce it by favouring just one of the exposures for the tree area (not always possible I know). I wonder if the middle one would look better if the strata in the rocks was leveled up a bit?

[Greg Beetham]

Awesome place Sury, I like the graphic detail in the second one and the precarious looking lookout in the first too.
I am also impressed with the scant regard shown to level horizons. Horizons smorizons who cares, I’m with you, did you chuck a rock over the side to hear how long it took to reach the bottom?
Greg

[bakubo]

Cool!

When were you at the Grand Canyon? We were there on 2/19. I guess it was about the 4th or 5th time for us so we just spent about 4 hours there this time. From about 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. We spent the night in Flagstaff the night before and then took a side trip to the GC and then spent the next night in Kingman. Nice weather, but not the great early morning and late afternoon and evening light. In 1999 on our first trip to the GC we were there until after dark. I had my Minolta 9xi on a tripod at sunset and took a bunch of photos on film. Great light and wonderful colors. Scanning the color negative film though gave disappointing results. See my earlier thread about scanning:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =13&t=8068

[Birma]

Awesome place Sury, I like the graphic detail in the second one and the precarious looking lookout in the first too.
I am also impressed with the scant regard shown to level horizons. Horizons smorizons who cares, I’m with you, did you chuck a rock over the side to hear how long it took to reach the bottom?
Greg

[sury]

Andy, that was certainly a blur induced by 1s exposure. I was ill prepared temperature wise. My business part of the trip took me to southern part of Arizona where the temperatures were at 15C at 7AM. In Grand Canyon, it was -2C at 7AM. I was freezing, and though I tried to rest the camera on a railing (being a pipe didn't help I suppose) but did not fully succeed.
Since this is a bracketed HDR, I found it captured one image but saved as 3 (as if I did exposure bracket). Good thing is I don't need to align images. Horizon levels, is altogether a different matter. It was way darker and my camera was on ISO200. I would have gotten a sharper image with auto ISO perhaps.

Greg,
I did not throw any rock down. It was too cold to try anything. The average depth is about 1600 Meters.
Here are the straightened ones. I wish I had my tripod with me and I was warmer. I was dashing into the car to warm
up every 5 min. or so.

Scant disregard for level horizons?

[sury]

Cool!

When were you at the Grand Canyon? We were there on 2/19. I guess it was about the 4th or 5th time for us so we just spent about 4 hours there this time. From about 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. We spent the night in Flagstaff the night before and then took a side trip to the GC and then spent the next night in Kingman. Nice weather, but not the great early morning and late afternoon and evening light. In 1999 on our first trip to the GC we were there until after dark. I had my Minolta 9xi on a tripod at sunset and took a bunch of photos on film. Great light and wonderful colors. Scanning the color negative film though gave disappointing results. See my earlier thread about scanning:

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =13&t=8068

Henry,
I was there last weekend (March 15 and March 16). Drove up from Phoenix (I was on business trip to Phoenix and Tucson)
and managed to squeeze in the weekend trip to Grand Canyon on Saturday. On Sunday, it was a drive from Flagstaff to
Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon, fabulous drive and more memorable drive was Sedona to Prescott via Jerome on Route 89A.
I will check your thread.

Sury

[Greg Beetham]

Ah now I understand Sury, I’ve been in about zero C (true) in the dim early light trying to photograph a frozen butterfly (it’s on film somewhere) and I was nearly as frozen as it was, so I can imagine what -2C with windy drafty conditions would be like.

Btw there was no need to straighten the photos, now there is some cool stuff missing on #1 (former #2) although I suppose the lookout one has a better outlook now.
Greg

Ps the butterfly started to move one of it legs a little bit after a while, I put it in a fork of a tree where there was some dawn sunlight so I could take a photo of it, I originally thought it was dead from being frozen.

[sury]

Greg,
I know exactly how that butterfly felt. Straightening cropped the image.
One of the things that I (usually) don't pay attention to (like many) is the
level horizon. I need to get that into my psyche.

Sury

[Dr. Harout]

Sury my friend, I think you need a sensor cleaning.
On a second thought, you don't have to clean it, instead you need an a99, because:
1- at least there's the horizon level (I had the same problem before my a77)
2- you have passed the 50,000 milestone
3- you need a new camera
4- and then you have to persuade yourself to not persuade yourself of not buying an a99
5- EVF is cool

[Dr. Harout]

Oh, and go to http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =41&t=7210 and vote

[sury]

Doc,
I have been waiting for your comments on the sensor cleaning. I was going to take it to the "cleaners"
but the trip came up suddenly and couldn't do it. I promise I shall get it done in the month of March.

Why A99? Just curious and I know this is not the right forum/thread for it.

Sury

[Kalainen]

Sury, these are good photographs. I like the first one best (from straightened set), because it shows so nicely the distance and how it effects on contrast of far objects. You have a good light in these. Nicely done!

-Toni

--
Toni Ahvenainen (1976)
Year of the Alpha - 52 Weeks of Sony Alpha Photography: http://www.yearofthealpha.com
Flickr-account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/109262328@N06/

[Dusty]

I like the photos, Sury.

I was just reading a book on the Grand Canyon: "The Grand Canyon, A Quick Trip Form Top To Bottom" by Ilene Dover and Ifell Down.

(Ducking and running)

Dusty

[sury]

Thank you Toni and Dusty. Your comments much appreciated.
Dusty, Ilene Dover? Good one.