Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 27, 2009, 02:02:51 PM
I'll post these as I go the next few days. This first photo is Moraine Lake in Banff. Yeah, the water really is that color. Amazing lake and one that graces many covers of books and magazines every year.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/Moraine%20Lake%20800%20px.jpg)
Post by: coop2424 on September 27, 2009, 02:13:18 PM
Post by: dontgetcrabs on September 27, 2009, 02:14:10 PM
Post by: Jeffrey on September 27, 2009, 02:28:55 PM
Post by: shanevg on September 27, 2009, 02:45:04 PM
I'm excited for your pictures, as always I am sure they are great!
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 27, 2009, 04:42:35 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/kids.jpg)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 27, 2009, 05:38:31 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/sunrise%20sheep.jpg)
Post by: bow4elk on September 27, 2009, 05:40:21 PM
Post by: luvtohnt on September 27, 2009, 05:46:18 PM
Brandon
Post by: andrew_12gauge on September 27, 2009, 06:45:38 PM
I climbed with a headlamp to the top of a mountain in the dark to get this sunrise shot. I was kind of scared of griz and had my hand near the bear spray at all times.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/sunrise%20sheep.jpg)
this might be the coolest photo ive ever seen on the site(besides some of the hunting success pics), nice shots pope
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 27, 2009, 06:46:16 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/lake%20louise.jpg)
Post by: Wea300mag on September 27, 2009, 07:12:30 PM
Post by: shanevg on September 27, 2009, 07:30:16 PM
I climbed with a headlamp to the top of a mountain in the dark to get this sunrise shot. I was kind of scared of griz and had my hand near the bear spray at all times.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/sunrise%20sheep.jpg)
I love that one!
Lake Louise is a great place. By the way, if you are into goats they are located on that mountain just below the glaciers... Have a fun hike!
I'll have to go check them out sometime! ;)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 27, 2009, 10:27:59 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/mud%20flinger.jpg)
Post by: JoeVon on September 27, 2009, 10:32:16 PM
Post by: tony04 on September 27, 2009, 10:54:25 PM
Post by: shanevg on September 27, 2009, 10:54:41 PM
That last one is F@#$kin sweet!
:yeah:
Plus, if that is a satellite bull I would sure love to hunt that herd!
Post by: scoyoc5 on September 28, 2009, 04:07:18 AM
Post by: robb92 on September 28, 2009, 04:07:52 AM
Post by: kitsap on September 28, 2009, 07:34:37 AM
Absolutely outstanding pictures!
Thanks for sharing.
DougF
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 28, 2009, 07:44:01 AM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/7x7.jpg)
Post by: Tom Reichner on September 28, 2009, 09:26:15 AM
That's a great bull. I was down in CO photographing elk while you were up north. They just don't grow that big down there. Many of the herd bulls there were about as big as the bull in your satellite pic. It was a great photo trip, but it looks like you've certainly found the better place for trophy-caliber subjects.
Along with everyone else, I look forward to seeing many more pics from your trip!
Post by: backwoods_boy on September 28, 2009, 01:58:51 PM
Post by: tlbradford on September 28, 2009, 02:54:46 PM
Post by: rosscrazyelk on September 28, 2009, 03:22:14 PM
Post by: Ricochet on September 28, 2009, 05:15:46 PM
Post by: mossback91 on September 28, 2009, 05:25:10 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 28, 2009, 05:54:32 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/lab.jpg)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 28, 2009, 06:08:10 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/alien.jpg)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 28, 2009, 06:10:40 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/sunrise.jpg)
Post by: JoeVon on September 28, 2009, 06:22:34 PM
Post by: PacificNWhunter on September 28, 2009, 08:29:13 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 29, 2009, 08:33:51 PM
Regardless, I love it when you can see their breat in the first hour of daylight.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/breath.jpg)
Post by: luvtohnt on September 29, 2009, 08:38:02 PM
Brandon
Post by: shanevg on September 29, 2009, 09:06:29 PM
But a park ranger killing a herd bull with a crossbow? Seems weird to me...
Post by: Timber on September 29, 2009, 09:24:31 PM
Post by: boneaddict on September 29, 2009, 09:31:46 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 29, 2009, 10:56:52 PM
Do park officials regularly kill big bulls with crossbows?
Brandon
Thanks all. The rumor is the park was killing bulls because they were causing havoc and attacking cars. A few of the big herd bulls were really not scared of people and charging them. The rumor is the park service took a few of the big bulls out. Because they could not shoot them with a gun, they could have been shooting them with a cross bow. One elk didn't die from the shot though and they were tracking it for a few days.
I'm not saying this is true. This is the rumor I heard from a few photographers. Interesting conspiracy theory though if true.
Thanks all.
Post by: Tom Reichner on September 30, 2009, 07:44:35 AM
Did anyone ask a ranger point-blank if the officials had done this? I've asked things like that at Yellowstone and gotten some surprisingly honest answers.Do park officials regularly kill big bulls with crossbows?
Brandon
Thanks all. The rumor is the park was killing bulls because they were causing havoc and attacking cars. A few of the big herd bulls were really not scared of people and charging them. The rumor is the park service took a few of the big bulls out. Because they could not shoot them with a gun, they could have been shooting them with a cross bow. One elk didn't die from the shot though and they were tracking it for a few days.
I'm not saying this is true. This is the rumor I heard from a few photographers. Interesting conspiracy theory though if true.
Thanks all.
Post by: zackmioli on September 30, 2009, 08:53:18 AM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 30, 2009, 01:04:21 PM
Post by: Curly on September 30, 2009, 01:09:38 PM
I hiked a long ways for these goats. No billys but lots of nannies and kids. Here the two kids were pushing each other to see who would jump off this mini cliff first. It was about 15 feet down to the next ledge and they eventually jumped it. More to come.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/kids.jpg)
I love all the pics, Pope......but this one with the kids is great. I love the expression on the kid's faces. :)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 30, 2009, 01:15:42 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on September 30, 2009, 06:40:11 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/ptarmigan.jpg)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/ptarmigan%202.jpg)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/ptarmigan%203.jpg)
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/fire%20elk.jpg)
Post by: olsy on September 30, 2009, 06:51:35 PM
Post by: bowelkaholic on September 30, 2009, 07:30:17 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 18, 2009, 11:24:20 PM
I had amazing light in Canada for about 2 minutes one evening. You only get light like this once every year or so as the whole sky and everything lit up pink. I had been shooting mountain goats and dropped my camera bag throwing stuff to find my wide angle lens. My wife was calling me on the walkie talkie whining she was hungry and I just ignored her, set up the tripod, and snapped one shot before the light went away. I took 5 more shots after the light went away but none came out like this shot.
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/Lake%20Louise.jpg)
Post by: swanny on October 19, 2009, 07:49:08 AM
Question, what does your post processing typically consist of? One thing I am always curious about when you see the EXIF date that people post with their pictures is how true that information really is still. I am at no way doubting that you take AMAZING pictures, but it's just something I have always been curious about.
I try to keep all my photos as close to original as possible, generally they get sharpened greatly when put on the computer, but if I do bump anything exposures, white balance, etc up or down (which usually I do) I try to keep it to only one click either way. If it gets to be more than that I know the picture didn't turn out.
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 19, 2009, 12:50:55 PM
I bought a book by Art Wolfe this weekend as I mentioned. I would note that in his famous book Edge of the Earth, Corner of the Sky he did a lot of post process photo manipulation. He was open and honest about it and there were major changes to photos in the book. Everyone has their limit on what they can and will do and I don't think there is anything wrong with someone who manipulates it highly and someone that doesn't as long as they are upfront and honest about it.
Me personally, I am ok with photo manipulation to a point. I like HDR, but like to keep it as close to real or what I saw than to really HDR the heck out of it. I think a light HDR is actually closer to the original scene than taking a shot with a small dynamic range camera. Your eye has more dynamic range than a camera so why can't your images reflect that? Sure, it may not look real in terms of what you are use to with photography. But if it looks more like the scene that you shot why is that wrong?
For the photo below I didn't do much of anything and most shots I don't do too much. For the photo below I simply did a white balance change to "shade" as there was no sun and it was a shade situation. I did bump the contrast a tad and pulled the "recovery" slider up to get some detail back in the blown out clouds. That's it. I didn't even sharpen the photo as I forgot. In fact, this amazing light is something I don't see but once every 5 years or so. I can truly say that the light below was some of the best I have ever experienced in nature. It was so odd how the whole sky and mountain lit up pink. I will post a shot of the same scene only 1 minute later when I get home. The lack of pink will astound you and it's amazing how light plays such a key role in good photos.
My normal processing strategy is to adjust the exposure, white balance, recovery or fill light as needed, contrast, and then sharpen. On some photos you don't need to do all those steps. Occasionally I'll run a noise plugin on noisy photos as well. I have rubber stamped out a barbed wire fence or distracting artifacts but that is rare to do and I don't have any ethical problem with that.
So, if you want to just go one click either way that is great. I'll go as far as I need to get the scene back to what it looked like when I took the photo. If that means dropping the exposure 2 stops because I messed up on the exposure than so be it. My goal is to create art. By the way, that is the whole premise with shooting RAW. RAW allows a greater latitude than shooting jpg photos. That's the one and best reason to shoot a dslr. By the way, I use to be a photojournalist and couldn't do much of anything but a light burn or dodge on photos. Also, I learned photography with slide film so what you shot is what you got. If you were off on exposure by 1/2 a stop, it was a ruined slide. Honestly, that wasn't fun. I welcome the latitude we have these days. Photography is much more fun now.
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 19, 2009, 12:57:02 PM
Post by: swanny on October 19, 2009, 04:34:49 PM
The extremely colorful sky photos are always the pictures I tend to have to look at twice. It's so hard to get that pink and purple sky that a lot of photo's have that it makes you wonder, as it's not always something you see. Like you said, it's something you only get one every 5 years, and that statement can't be more true.
Your tutorials and willingness to help explain how you got a photo to look like it does are truly appreciated. They really make me look forward to the next time I get out to shoot some photos.
Post by: boneaddict on October 19, 2009, 05:24:06 PM
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 19, 2009, 06:49:16 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/Lake%20Louise%202.jpg)
I wanted to also talk about a photo trick I used recently in the Yellowstone thread. It is the shot of Mt. Rainier that is bright red. While the sunset was amazing that day (due to that huge wind storm in eastern WA a few weeks ago), I used a technique to isolate what I wanted and that makes the picture seem almost unnatural because of the color. The whole sky is bright red/orange and there is no blue in the sky. we all know that can't happen. I was using a 70-200mm lens plus the 1.6x crop factor with a crop camera for a focal length of about 320mm. Then I cropped heavily just the mountain to get only that portion of the sky that was red. This technique only works for silouette images because you could never see the detail in the mountain from such a long distance. I took that shot from Ritzville outside of spokane and made the mountain look big. Here is a full size image and not one thing is altered on this photo including the original white balance. No cropping or sharpening other than what you get when you save as jpg. Notice the cars from the freeway in the foreground... :chuckle:
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/Mt_%20Rainier.jpg)
Post by: DesertBighorn on October 19, 2009, 08:55:54 PM
-Doug
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 22, 2009, 06:59:44 PM
(https://hunting-washington.com/cpg/albums/userpics/10250/Alberta%20Bighorn.jpg)
Post by: Hornseeker on October 22, 2009, 08:46:38 PM
Post by: elkaholic123 on October 22, 2009, 09:52:53 PM
so I know how beautiful it is up there! :)
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 22, 2009, 10:22:33 PM
Post by: Tom Reichner on October 23, 2009, 08:07:13 AM
What a great point! My goal with processing wildlife images is to make the photo look as close to what I saw as possible. Sounds so basic, but it's much easier said than done. Cameras just aren't anywhere near as good as our eyes. Our eyes see things so well, even when the light is brutally harsh, or exceptionally dim. Cameras really struggle to capture things accurately in these conditions, so processing can help to make the image a bit more like the real thing.
Me personally, I am ok with photo manipulation to a point. I like HDR, but like to keep it as close to real or what I saw than to really HDR the heck out of it. I think a light HDR is actually closer to the original scene than taking a shot with a small dynamic range camera. Your eye has more dynamic range than a camera so why can't your images reflect that? Sure, it may not look real in terms of what you are use to with photography. But if it looks more like the scene that you shot why is that wrong?
I'll go as far as I need to get the scene back to what it looked like when I took the photo. If that means dropping the exposure 2 stops because I messed up on the exposure than so be it.
Post by: scoyoc5 on October 23, 2009, 08:48:12 AM
I was thinking about adding one of your pictures to my phones wallpaper but wanted to ask you first. Is that ok with you?
Post by: popeshawnpaul on October 23, 2009, 09:00:57 AM