Photographer's Note
You won’t find Flowerpot Point on any maps of the Great Ocean Road. This is just the name I gave it with this strange rock formation I found here. This spot is just a couple of miles west of the 12 Apostles. There was a gravel spot to pull over, next to the highway and there was still a little light left so we pulled over for another shot. This weathered formation was here. It reminded me of the rock formations found on Flowerpot Island in Georgian Bay (Canada) so that’s where I came up with the name. It might have another official name, but I couldn’t find it.
This is a sunset shot, with a narrow band of the sun coming in low below the clouds (and over some other rock cliffs), behind me. This worked out great as it lit up the face of the cliff and the pair of “Apostles” you can see so well. If we’d been here probably 15 minutes earlier we might have had more light on the cap of the flowerpot as well, but then it might not have been as good on the far cliffs. I was still happy with what we did have.
Workflow was as follow:
Shot in Raw - NEF files adjusted for highlights and shadow
Adjusted levels
Adjusted curves – sky separate from land and sea
Dodged and burned with overlay layer (5% opacity brush)
Reduced noise on the sky, then did it again for the overall shot (so the sky got it twice)
Added a layer for sharpening and “over-sharpened” with Smart Sharpen
Modified sharpening with a layer mask (20% opacity black brush)
Saved as a tiff
For this post, cropped further to 14 x 8 format (wanted to keep the swan in the sky and the flowerpot), hid the first sharpened layer and created another and applied USM for the reduced size – modified this with layer mask, framed, and saved as a jpeg
Other than values used much of this workflow is similar to many of my previous postings until that final step. I’ve been struggling with the sharpening process so did a couple of things different here. 1st I started fresh with the TE version (based on a suggestion from Peter Boehringer which I much appreciate). 2nd I went back to using USM rather than smart sharpen, neither of which I fully understand yet, but it seems to give me more control overall. I still was able to “over sharpen” and use the layer mask to tone it down where I wanted to.
nivaldo, gunbud, deblink, MLINES, jmcl, pboehringer, jhm, mvdisco, wishlist, pablominto, mpb001, lilimih33, brevbrev14, berek, pierrefonds, jusninasirun έχουν(ει) επιλέξει αυτή τη σημείωση ως χρήσιμη
Critiques | Translate
nivaldo
(15417) 2007-06-12 20:08
Hi John!
What for a beautiful sightseeing! Amazing!
Excellent POV and nice colors! Sharp!
TFS, many greetings from Recife-Brazil,
Nivaldo
Cormac
(26565) 2007-06-12 20:21
Wow, great shot! The lighting is very good, with the sun on the distant cliffs showing them very well, and also dividing the frame. I like the way you used the rock in the foreground too, adding some depth and giving this 3 dimensions. Great processing notes too, and the result is wonderful!
gunbud
(34066) 2007-06-12 22:11
Hi John,
Excellent lighting renders very clear colors and sharp details to this seaside landscape. Excellent idea to feature the stormy sky to show the contrasting colors. I love the placement of the unique rock formation.
Regards, Tom
dhurjati
(2709) 2007-06-13 0:57
Hi John,
This one looks very nice.Nice calm and serene atmosphere depicted here, a perfect place to enjoy nature with your close one's it seems!!The light and shade is very nicely used.The golden tone on the rocks is gorgeous.But, truely the sky looks bit unnatural to me,specially the top left part.....
Greetings from India,
Dhurjati
deblink
(2548) 2007-06-13 1:56
Hi John,
The rock formation is very interesting, very weather beaten. The distant cliffs look great too, lovely colours. All round a beautiful image with a very dramatic sky. Wonderful POV.
Cheers,
Debbie
MLINES
(12516) 2007-06-13 6:35
Hi John. Very good example of sidelit scenery as mentioned by the Nat Geographic photographer in Sydney a few months ago. It is most effective and gives brilliant colours on the majestic cliffs. Well presented. Murray.
jmcl
(14535) 2007-06-13 23:32
Hi John,
Great glowing golds and greens .. wonderful depth .. meditative powerful vastness .. very nice.
take care,
John
jhm
(211734) 2007-06-14 7:30
Hi John,
I readed the critique of Peter, indeed we try always do better but I find this picture a beautiful sightseeing, colours and composition are very well. TFS.
Regards,
John.
pboehringer
(770) 2007-06-14 9:57
John, the composition and the colors are really great. You got the right moment of the day to get this shot. Wonderful detail of the sun ilumminated coast in the background against the foreground in the shade an yet enough details and sharpness to provide enough depth. Well done. The sharpness overall is much better but can still be improved. Would you mind in sending me the TIFF file so I can try a little bit around?
Regars, Peter
mvdisco
(17798) 2007-06-15 0:04
Bonsoir John,
Excellent composition and beautiful colors of the rock,beautiful Sky and excellent POV. Nice sea picture ..Well done..
Michel
wishlist
(4133) 2007-06-15 9:20
Hi John,
this is great..you've managed to catch an amazing light and the result is a sort of 3D effect..shadows and highlights worked very well together in your favour.
Good dof and light control above all are great and colours are stunning. Good pp too!
Thanks for sharing
Igor
pablominto
(53746) 2007-06-21 7:48
Hello John,
I think part of the attraction here is the varied light!
The bright cliffs in the back contrasting the darker foreground is an amazing effect...
The image is well composed, with good surf and attractive sky!
Greetings,
Pablo -
mpb001
(4602) 2007-06-28 12:51
I really like the quality of light here, John. Nice composition too, with the sweeping coastline and the eroded remnant of rock.
Mike
lilimih33
(9918) 2007-06-28 19:45
Hello John!
Great light and beautiful colours in your composition!
Lovely sky and good perspective!
Nice frame!
Excellent done!
Lili
brevbrev14
(140) 2007-07-06 1:37
Hi John, beautiful place!
and the iamge is very good..
I like a lot the light here and the wide view..
your hig POV is perfect to show the beauty here!
well done!
ciao!
Valeria
Glint
(6171) 2007-08-09 0:40
hello John,
lovely golden lit cliffs set against the blue of the sky and sea makes for a perfect landscape. Well composed too withe the flower
pot positioned just right.
regards
Bev
berek
(50518) 2007-08-13 21:42
Hi John,
its really impressive landscape. good composition and nature colours . I like your clouds show. greetings.
B.Erek
pierrefonds
(113572) 2007-08-17 4:50
Hi John,
A good POV of Flowerpot Point and of the sea, the photo has a good composition, DOF and nice colors. Thanks for sharing.
Pierre
lousat
(138599) 2007-11-24 16:29
perfect choice of the moment to take the pic...the position of sun light and the colours of clouds are fantastics,very good work,Luciano
jusninasirun
(17529) 2008-04-03 19:43
Hello John. You have spotted this perspective brilliantly with the cliff showered by the light from the right giving nice vibrant color of the rock face. The subject in the foreground is in superb sharpness under the shade and the curve shoreline leading to the horizon is just too perfect. I like it and very well done. Best regards. Jusni
Photo Information
-
Copyright: John Plumb (JPlumb)
(3159)
- Genre: Τοποθεσίες
- Medium: Έγχρωμο
- Date Taken: 2007-04-04
- Categories: Φύση
- Camera: Nikon D200, Nikkor 18-200mm 3.5-5.6 G ED AF-S VR, Sigma EX Wide Circular PL 72mm
- Έκθεση: f/5.6, 1/60 δευτερόλεπτα
- More Photo Info: view
- Έκδοση φωτογραφίας: Πρωτότυπη έκδοση
- Date Submitted: 2007-06-12 20:00