RMC Art Class 247 Final - A Presentation of 30 Nature Photographs

I have wanted to take this class for several years and was so excited when I was finally able to. I have struggled with learning photography from books. I had attended several lectures in the community by Dave Shumway and knew he was a great nature photographer and also a good instructor. I was confident that by taking his Nature Photography course, I could really improve my understanding of photography and my ability to take better photos.

I have experienced a lot of frustration in the past in not understanding what I should be doing to take the specific types of photos I was interested in. Dave has made all the aspects of photography that were bouncing about in disparate chunks in my mind, come together in one understandable and cohesive unit. 

There is so much more to learn and so many more photos to take to help me advance my skills but this class has provided me an excellent grounding in the basics that I can build on.

The class final is presenting 30 nature photographs taken during the period of the course. Here are mine.

Getting An Earful

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f 4.5-5.6 @ 158mm, ISO 200, f7.1, 1/2000 sec, no flash.
Settings: Could have used ISO 100 and had a good shutter speed.
Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpen, desat water because it was too bright and drew attention from the subject.

Here's Lookin' At You, Kid

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 269mm, ISO 400. f/8, 1/500 sec, no flash.
Wanted to make sure I stopped action and had a close shot.
Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation, +sharpen, selective -exposure on tree & sky patches, vignette

Keeping A Hawk's Eye

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 275mm, ISO 400, f/8, 1/400 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted to stop action. Hawk constantly turned head. 

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpen, selectively burned large branch because it was too bright.

Yellowstone Valley Overlook

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 200, f/20, 1/30 sec, no flash, circ polarizer.
Settings: Wanted a wide view and good depth DoF. 
Edit: crop, + exposure, + contrast, + clarity, + vibrance, + sharpening, - hilites & whites, + shadows & blacks, +NR luminance, adj. tone curve (faux LR4 HDR), adj blue HSL for more natural looking sky. sharpened.

Golden Grove

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 15mm, ISO 100, f/13, 1/40 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted a wide-angle view and good DoF. 

Edit: crop, + exposure, + contrast, + clarity, + sharpen, +yel & orange saturation, adj for lens distortion to make tree trunks parallel.

Peering Into The Abyss

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm  f4-5.6 @103mm,  ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/320 sec, no flash
Settings: Wanted to stop torpedo action of active chipmunks.
Editing: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sat yellow, +sharpen. Wanted small chipmunk looking into large space.

Sunrise Among Pines

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 109mm. ISO 100,  f/20, 1/30 sec, no flash.

Settings: Used moderate telephoto to bring sun in. Wanted good DoF for trees and sun. 

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpening, + orange saturation, +sharpen, +NR luminance.

His Majesty

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 264mm, ISO 100, f/9, 1/100 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted telephoto and reasonable shutter speed to stop elks movements, DoF was secondary. 

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation, slight +red & +green sat, +sharpen.

Drought

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 29mm, ISO 200, f/20, 1/125 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted medium angle and good DoF.

Edit: Edit: crop, tone-mapping, sharpen

Likin' Lichen

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 15mm, ISO 200, f/14, 1/30 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted a wide angle, moderate DoF.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, -hilites, -whites, +shadows, +clarity, +saturation, +yellow & red saturation, +sharpen, vignette

October Survivor

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 17mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/400 sec, no flash.
Settings: Could have used lower ISO and still had good shutter speed. Wanted shallow DoF.
Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +yellow & purple saturation.

Red Swath

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 23mm, ISO 200, f/18, 1/16 sec, no flash, circ. polarizer.

Settings: Wanted fairly wide angle.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +red saturation, +sharpen.

Autumn Stream

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 200, f/20, 1/20 sec, no flash, circ. polarizer.

Settings: Wanted wide angle, good DoF, minimize bright reflections on water.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation, +yellow saturation, +blue saturation & luminance, +sharpen

Baby Dragon Driftwood

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 25mm, ISO 100, f/5.6, 1/50 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted medium-wide angle.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, + shadows, +clarity, +red saturation, +sharpen.

Glorious Morn

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 200, f/11, 1/3 sec, tripod, no flash.

Settings: Wanted a wide angle to encompass as much of the scene as possible. Used a little higher ISO to get enough light for a reasonable shutter speed. Used tripod to stabilize.

Edit: crop, adj. temp, -exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +vibrance, +saturation, +NR luminance, +sharpen

Surveying His Kingdom

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 240m, ISO 200, f/8, 1/600 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted faster shutter speed for hand-held and in case deer moved. Wanted background blur.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpen, +NR luminance.

Sculpted Boulder

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 23mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/25 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted medium angle, good depth of field, adequate shutter speed for hand-held.

Edit: crop, +contrast, -hilites, - white, +shadows, +black, +clarity, +vibrance, +sharpen, +NR luminance, adj. tone curve (faux HDR settings).

Emblazoned Autumn

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 103mm, ISO 200, f/20, 1/25 sec, circ polarizer, tripod, no flash.

Settings: Telelphoto lens to foreshorten scene. Wanted good DOF. Polarizer for color enhancement plus control flare.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, -hilites, -whites, + shadow, +black, + clarity, + vibrance, +NR luminance, adj. tone curve, (faux HDR settings), +sharpen.

Tumbling Waters

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 34mm, ISO 200, f/18, 1/5 sec, tripod, circ. polarizer, no flash.

Settings: Moderate angle. Good DoF. Very slow shutter to blur moving water. Could have used an even lover ISO and it might have been better.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, -hilites, -whites, + shadow, +black, + clarity, + vibrance, + green saturation, +NR luminance, adj. tone curve, (faux HDR settings), +sharpen.

 A River Framed

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 42mm, ISO 200, f/16, 1/50 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted moderate angle of view and good DoF, Need to hand-hold because of bushes.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +yellow, +orange, adj. blue saturation & luminance, +sharpen, vignette.

We Are Family

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 205mm, ISO 400. f/9, 1/640 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted fast shutter speed to stop any movement, telephoto to bring subjects inclose, moderate DoF.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpen

Silvery Seedheads

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 61mm, ISO 200. f/4.1, 1/640 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted narrow DoF to make subject prominent. Probably could have gone 100 ISO.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation, +red, +green luminance, +sharpen.

Follow The Light

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 37mm, ISO 100, f/20, 4/10 sec, no flash.
Settings: Was in a hurry. Didn't check settings. Shutter speed too slow so photo had motion blur.
Edit: +contrast, +vibrance, +saturation, dry brush filter in PSE.

Desolation

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 400, f/20, 1/30 sec, no flash.
Used high ISO to get adequate Tv in fading light & DoF. 
Edit: temp adjust (was too blue), crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation on sky, +NR luminance on sky, -exposure on foreground log, +sharpen.

Red Ripples

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 400, f/20, 1/8 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted wide angle and good DoF.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +vibrance, +saturation, +orange saturation, +sharpen.

Evening Reflections

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 14mm, ISO 100, f/20, .30 sec, no flash, tripod.
Settings: Tried to get good DoF and good quality.
Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +vibrance, +saturation, +sharpen.

Sanguine Sun

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 162mm. ISO 200, f/11, 1/100 sec, no flash, 
Settings: Wanted telephoto to bring subject closer. Pinkish tinged sky created by using cloudy WB.
Edit: crop, -exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +NR luminance, +sharpen, vignette.

Fading Mountains

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @26mm, ISO 100, f/20, 1/6 sec, no flash.

Settings:Wanted wide angle and good DoF.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +vibrance, +saturation, +yellow saturation, magenta filter to add sky color, +sharpen, +NR luminance.

Storm Over Beartooth Mountains

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 29mm, ISO 400, f/4.9, 1/640 sec, no flash.

Settings: Wanted wide angle. Probably could have used smaller aperture. 

Edit: crop, adj temp & tint, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +sharpen, +NR luminence.

Bobby Sox Trees

Panasonic DMC-G2, Panasonic 45-200mm f/4.0-5.6 @ 158mm, ISO 400, f/20, 1/13 sec, no flash.

Settings: Needed high ISO to allow a small aperture for good DoF and good enough shutter speed to hand-hold.

Edit: crop, +exposure, +contrast, +clarity, +saturation, -yellow saturation, -magenta saturation, +sharpen, +NR luminance

In the past, if I took a good photo, it was mostly accidental, now it will be purposeful. Watch out all you interesting and beautiful scenes because I will be looking to capture you.