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Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
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Jul 26, 2007 - 01:55am PT
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That's called Art, Spongerbob. Nice Job Misha, keep up the great work. Did you shoot any artful nudes or portraits up there you can post with the landscape background?
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BASE104
climber
An Oil Field
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Jul 26, 2007 - 08:43am PT
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Those are some extremely good photographs. The tonal range is really good. On a monitor they look like 4X5's.
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426
Sport climber
Buzzard Point, TN
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Jul 26, 2007 - 08:44am PT
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great stuff...
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BadInfluence
Mountain climber
Dak side
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Jul 26, 2007 - 09:59am PT
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An array of Singh-Ray Graduated Neutral Density filters.
which filters 3stop hard 2 stop soft? any of the warming sunset filters?
excellent composition on your photos makes the eye viewing flow
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Misha
Trad climber
Woodside, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2007 - 12:24pm PT
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Thanks again for all your feedback.
The Alpine - I sure do... it is VerglasPhoto.com (needs a bit of updating)
Mtnmun - Only for my private collection :)
BadInfluence - Most commonly I use 3-stop hard edge, 3-stop soft edge and 4-stop soft edge, but I also have a couple of 2-stop filters. I don't use warming sunset filters (yet)
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jstan
climber
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Jul 26, 2007 - 12:55pm PT
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Just a non-photographic comment.
You are going to want to be doing this for another forty years. You need to stop carrying 70# packs unless you are confident artificial knee technology will come to equal or surpass original equipment. You might consider taking on students. Big strong ones.
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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Jul 26, 2007 - 01:52pm PT
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Hi Misha. Great photos, as usual! You have a fantastic eye for light for composition and are getting amazing clarity. However, the hyper-saturation thing is a slippery slope. Be careful.
"Eventually, I graduated to digital SLRs and my recent goal was to get as close to Velvia with digital as I possibly can."
Still trying to decide if/how I should respond to this. Basically though, you might want to touch base with your roots and shoot a couple rolls of Velvia again. The results may surprise you. It'll seem dull compared to what you're getting now. Perhaps the Velvia look isn't quite what you're after, which is fine, just different.
Happy trails,
Jerry
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marky
climber
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Jul 26, 2007 - 02:01pm PT
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I found the "two schools" soliloquy informative. The pictures are obviously colorful, but maybe a bit too precious. Increasingly it seems that the modern trend is toward saturation
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Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
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Jul 26, 2007 - 02:32pm PT
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Misha, simply breathtaking.
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G_Gnome
Sport climber
Everywhere, man...
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Jul 26, 2007 - 03:06pm PT
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Beautiful Misha. Glad you enjoyed your peak bagging. ;)
I would agree with Jerry though, those are more saturated than any Velvia ever was. A little far down the path for my tastes too but if we didn't all shoot what we like it wouldn't be art now would it. I hope you had a great time.
If you are in the Meadows in the first half of August, come find us in the campground under my name or Badyrka.
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SamRoberts
climber
Bay Area
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Jul 26, 2007 - 03:19pm PT
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Great shots, Misha!
I'll ditto what Jerry said about doing the comparison between Vevia and digital capture. I've been shooting with a Nikon D200 lately and found, like Jerry suggested, that my minds eye wanted me to increase saturation well beyond how Velvia would have seen the world. But, maybe this is just your interpretation of the scene before you. Ultimately we want our images to evoke an emotional response from the viewer, and your fine shots certainly do that!
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Misha
Trad climber
Woodside, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2007 - 06:04pm PT
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jstan - haha, isn't what kids are for? Not that I have any yet but I should get one or two helpers by the time when I cannot carry my pack anymore :)
Jerry/Sam - thanks a bunch for chiming in and giving your advice. I treasure your kind and frank feedback. I am definitely still on the fence about saturation and have been experimenting with various camera settings for quite some time. At the end of the day, I want my photos to look as close to what I actually saw with my eyes as possible. I also want them to look realistic even if they are sometimes outrageous (isn't it what we, landscape photographers, are after?:), at least for me and most of the people out there. I realize that I can't please everybody. I will have to dig out my Velvia shots and compare but you may be right about me being after a different thing, even if subconsciously. Are you still shooting with Velvia at all? I was curious to try Fuji dSLRs since they have an in-built Velvia emulator.
G_Gnome - As a matter of fact, I will be in Tuolumne on Aug 11-12. Are you going to be there? Is the campsite under the name of 'G_Gnome'? :)
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SamRoberts
climber
Bay Area
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Jul 26, 2007 - 06:15pm PT
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I do still shoot Velvia, but usually only if a client wants film (which is very rare nowadays). The other reason I use it is that I still have a shelf of it in my fridge!
I heard that Fuji might be coming out with a new Velvia50- you guys hear anything about that?
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the Fet
Knackered climber
A bivy sack in the secret campground
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Jul 26, 2007 - 06:27pm PT
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Fantastic!!!!
I wonder why they call it Isosceles Peak, was he the first guy to climb it or something?
I like the super saturation, I like black and white, I like natural, it's all good!!! Probably best to do a variety and simply pick your favorites.
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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Jul 26, 2007 - 07:51pm PT
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You're right Misha, we want to recreate a true sense of what we experienced. But just what it really looked like is relative to your interpretation. There are moments which are so spectacular that no medium can completely capture them as if you were there. There's just no substitute for that tactile experience. Images dripping with color are now the norm. The best photographers know how to caress the edge of believability with their credibility still intact. It's a real gray area open to personal expression.
I think this image of yours is just gorgeous...
...even after desaturating it by twenty points in photoshop.
I still use Velvia 50 all the time. I haven't seen the new version of it yet. When the stash in my freezer runs out I'll have to look around and see what to do next.
Edit:
Doug (DR) said in another thread the other day: "I am drawn as if to the dark side, to walk into the gallery in Bishop. But it is a weird fascination with what I've come to think of as the "glitter effect." Weird how turning up the saturation ends up sailing those images right out of the realm of believability. Now they're eye candy. To represent the Sierra that I recognize, I have no Galen on my walls but rather Vern Clevenger, and even moreso Claude Fiddler."
Worth a read...
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.html?topic_id=351542
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G_Gnome
Sport climber
Everywhere, man...
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Jul 26, 2007 - 08:00pm PT
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Misha, we'll be there. Ask at the kiosk for McCollum or Badyrka and that will get you to our site. We will have a bunch of sites and often have room for another car for a small donation.
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno, CA
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Jul 26, 2007 - 08:39pm PT
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Last time we spoke about it, you weren't running on a calibrated system, Misha... Is this still the case? This would definitely come into play.
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Misha
Trad climber
Woodside, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2007 - 08:58pm PT
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Sam - I am not sure about the new Velvia 50. Regardless if Fuji actually releases it, I doubt that I will use it. I am too comfortable with digital nowadays, developed my automation and workflows, etc. Producing film is IMHO just too expensive and time consuming comparing to digital, although, I understand why some professional photographers still use it.
the Fet - Here is a sniplet from Summitpost.org about Isosceles Peak: "Isosceles is named after it's geometric symmetry, visible only from certain directions."
Jerry - you sum'd it up beautifully! Thanks. The thread that you linked is awesome; definitely a lot of insights and opinions about Galen. Although, I haven't met him, I can imagine that he was a controversial personality because of his drive, methods and competitiveness. However, for me, he is the main reason why I even got into serious photography. Him, climbing hard, going light and fast, and photographing as an extension of his other outdoor activities is what I crave the most. I have to admit that I love his later more saturated work but I also fully understand why some (like Doug) don't. I am trying hard not to emulate him but his views and theories sneak up on me more often than not.
Anyway, I am only in the process of developing my own style and vision as an adventurer and photographer, and all your feedback has been of tremendous help.
G_Gnome - Aha... now I know who you are!!! :) See you in the meadows soon.
Randy - I've been using GretagMacbeth EyeOne calibration for quite some time. In this particular case, I just did not feel like *reducing* color saturation after I opened the files that I got from the camera. I kept them largely as-is with the exception of sharpness and contrast. Maybe next time I will reduce saturation, maybe not. We'll see how I feel that day :)
On a separate subject, I am surprised that nobody here admitted to having climbed West Arete on Winchell. Anybody!?? I am suspecting that we've done one of the rare ascents of that route but I'd love to learn more...
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Jerry Dodrill
climber
Bodega, CA
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Jul 26, 2007 - 10:10pm PT
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You're doing just fine Misha. Keep at it. And believe me, I KNOW what you mean about GR's influence creeping into your work. It's really hard to shake. Just be glad he doesn't torment you in your sleep.
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Misha
Trad climber
Woodside, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2007 - 11:40pm PT
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Thanks for the encouragement, Jerry. I really appreciate it.
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