Landscape Photography - Newbie poster

[drnotes26]

Finally put more pictures online. This is my 1st post actually on D70users.com, so enjoy. Feedback welcome.


1. http://greatoceanroad.kkwy.com

Photos taken on a 3-day trip from Melbourne, through the Great Ocean Road, Cape Otway, to Woornambool/Port Fairy. Port Fairy is definitely worth a visit. There is a small island there called Griffiths Island, it's about a 1-hour walk around it, surrounds include the beach/ocean, the lighthouse and bushland. I came back home via inland, which has the largest salt-lake in Australia.



2. http://midnorthcoast.kkwy.com

I took these last october, which covers Port Macquarie, Waterfall Way (Dorrigo National Park, Ebor Falls and Wallaman Falls (but it has no water).

Closer to home, the dam was taken near Barrington Tops National Park, and north of that is the Ellenborough Falls.

Wallaman Falls and Ellenborough Falls are the 2nd and 3rd longest waterfalls in Australia, actually.

DrNotes26

[MHD]

Welcome!!! Now to have a look at your pics!

[MHD]

WOW!

[jdear]

love the great oceanroad ones! what kit were you using? filters? tripod? test us all!

certainly a fantastic eye for comp.

Well done and a big welcome! look forward to seeing your other photos!

JD

[sirhc55]

DrNotes26 - welcome. Your photos are excellent in particular the Great Ocean Road group. Also like your photos of the lighthouse at lighthouse beach Port MacQuarie.

The shots of the Great Ocean Road include one of a few rocks in the foreground and a much biggers rock in the background - was this a wide angle lens or the kit lens?

Chris

[drnotes26]

Thanks JD,

I must say, why are so many people on this forum during business hours!

(don't take this as a complaint of course!)

I like the Ken Duncan quote btw, JD.


Actually It's just the D70 with kit 18-70 lens. I don't use filters except for a skylight to protect lens, and it's a skylight only because for months I couldn't get a hand on a 67mm Hoya UV filter!

Shot RAW, ISO 200, lowest contrast setting, AdobeRGB colorspace, and highest saturation in-camera. Edited in Nikon Capture only to change white balance and adjust levels.

I did spend about $300 getting a 77mm polariser with ring adapters, and it's now sitting in the cupboard doing bugger all. And I feel happier that way. Maybe I'll drag it out if I see some of other's inspiring work, but I think timing (time of day) is probably the more satisfying way to 'paint' a photograph.

Regarding tripod, for the GOR trip I didn't take tripod. The MNC waterfall shots I used the stock standard Manfrotto tripod, (141/190?? combo) that I see a lot of people have.

Basically I try to use as little gear as I can, because it's just heavy having to lug around multiple bodies, filters, etc etc. Walking down Ellenborough Falls is a 1km trip downhill and I would not have enjoyed it being my own lackey.

Look forward to some of your thoughts.

DrNotes26

[skippy]

Finally! Only took about two weeks of nagging to get you on the forum!

You realise the danger of making these pics your first post - you have a lot to live up to now if you're going to top them.

[birddog114]

drnote26,
Welcome to the forum!
We're working and doing R&D on photography for the company

[jonnydee]

Welcome to the forum! Thanks for posting your images, I really liked them, you've got a great eye. This might be a stupid question, but what settings do you use to ensure the best DOF for your landscape shots? Do you use apeture priority, or full manual? I'm still learning and would love to take shots like those...

Cheers,

Jon

[Onyx]

Hi Dr, welcome to the forums. Your landscape pics are fantastic!

Your question of why so many of us are here during business hours is a fair one... I can't speak for the rest but you too will find yourself coming on here more and more. It's that addictive!

[BBJ]

Welcome DrNotes26, i like all your pic i think they are very nice and well done.
I should oneday get over that way as i am not that far away and travel to Warnambool now and then. 2 hours for me to there as i live just over the SA border. Enjoy your stay with us and look forward to seeing more of your collection.
Cheers
John
BBJ

[drnotes26]

Aperture Priority is what I set on my camera by default. I will switch to Shutter-speed priority when I want so blurred shots.

Can't say that I have done much empirical studies on sharpness of lenses, but from what I have read around the place, between F8-F11 you get significant DOF, and the best sharpness from pretty much every lens on any camera. That's my rule of thumb anyway.

The other thing I forgot to mention before, is that I don't sharpen (Unsharp Mask) my pictures, which I probably should. I would like to hear your thoughts on that.

Also, the point at which people focus on, the hyper focal distance, I don't get either. Guess I'll find those things out as I go along.

DrNotes26

[pippin88]

Great shots.

I like your use of shadow in some of the cliff face shots.

[meicw]

DR, Welcome. You have some great pics there. I have friends at Fernmount (near Bellingen) and got there often to visit. You have taken some shots around Dorrigo that I haven't noticed before. Have to look around a bit more next time I get up there.

Regards
Meic

[mudder]

G'day drnotes26,
I went trawling through yoru gallery and was really impressed, there are some very nice images there, you seem to have an excellent eye for composition...

My favorite would have to be Great Ocean Rd - DSC0015127.jpg that one really grabs my attention... Quite inspiring... Thanks for sharing...

Cheers,
Mudder

[tsanglabs]

Welcome!!

WOW, I'm blown away. Great stuff esp the great ocean road pics. You had good luck with the weather on that day.

[Geoff]

Dr Notes - hello and welcome to this awesome forum! I'd firstly liek to point out that the time of this post is after business, hours..I finished work tonight at 7:30pm and I'm here checking what's happened in the last 16 hours or so already, and has Onyx has pointed out...you will soon find it's VERY addictive, but a very healthy addiction might I add!
Congratulations on your shots, I haven't scrolled through all of them yet but just seen the first 3 shots from the GOR, brings back great memories of a trip my best mate and I did in about 1997...ahh the memories. Keep up the excellent work and please, tell us, how much experience have you had in photography prior to owning your beautiful D70? Would love to know. Cheers, and welcome once again! Happy posting,


Geoff.

[robw25]

like everybody else has said .... excellent photo's
the beautiful skies you caught did it for me !

welcome

cheers rob

[Matt. K]

Geoff
You finished work at 7.30! Are you a cop!

[drnotes26]

about 2 years since I took photography seriously.

I did the beginner's classes at ACP (http://www.acp.au.com) which taught me the basics. 2 years ago people are still on film SLR cameras.

Mostly I look online. nikon.net's legends, and photoserve.com is where I study other's work.

Colour-wise I benchmark against slide film like Fuji Velvia so that's how I try to interpret my images.

Thanks for the feedback.

DrNotes26

[Nicole]

I also like the colours and the compositions. You really have an eye for it.

Cool pics.

[lejazzcat]

like everybody else has said .... excellent photo's
the beautiful skies you caught did it for me !

cheers rob

Ditto,
My girl and i did the road trip a few years ago and we were totally blown away by the views - actually no pictures do the place justice to be honest.

I didnt have a panaramic camera( the best for these landscapes IMHO) but stitched a few series of 50mm together...

The sight of a glorious panoramic sunset over the sea! (new to this eastcoast boy), the clouds aflame, and that orange reflected light off the cliff walls and mars-like terrain, aqua waters ... heavenly .

There are even reasonably priced 15/30min charter copter flights over the area for aerial shots of the area!

Make it your next holiday i say.

Keep up the good work .26