More canoes

[ulf]

Last Sunday it was more cloudy so I returned to Borgeby Slott and it's surroundings.

I had two objectives for the trip. One, to test yet another lens for IR. Two, to get some photos of the castle  in a less contrasty illumination.

Down by the river there were more activity by the canoe rental shed and out on the water. I saw people on SUP-boards, in sea kayaks and canoes.

 

Camera: FS-converted Sony A7III, Filters Zomei 850nm, on the Irix lenses rear putty mounted filter glass rounds from 37mm filter rings, else front mounted filters. 

Irix 15mm f/8

 

By the Canoe rental shed I got some interesting photos.

Irix 11mm at  f/6.3

 

Irix 11mm at  f/6.3

 

The innermost canoe was blue while the rest were green causing the difference in brightness.

I wanted these two images to be darkish to enhance the dramatic feeling of the clash between man made objects and the naturalistic surroundings of the dark river, the trees and clouds.

---

I have always had a soft spot for wide angle lenses. The Irix 11mm is my most extreme one and I am very happy that I got it.

I was inspired to buy it by Birnas photo of the Camaro wreck here on the forum.

 

I know that you have to compose very carefully to avoid too much of the stretching effect of a rectilinear super wide angle lens. It was easier than I expected.

---

When down by the river I took some new photos of the river alone:

Irix 15mm at f/8

 

Canon TS-E 24mm at f/10

 

[photoni]

@ulf I really like them all !!!
but or we have differently calibrated monitors
or we have different tastes
they all seem overexposed and soft :)

[ulf]

Thank you Tony,

Maybe both different taste, monitor calibration and viewing conditions.

 

I try not to over-sharpen my images.

I also dither back and fourth when editing and have difficulties to decide.

I think it is easier to crop than to edit curves and do local enhancements.

 

If you want I can share a / some raw files for you to try.

It would be interesting to see your interpretation.

Just let me know. 

[photoni]

@ulf I'd be happy if you want a comparison.
I'm waiting for a link with wetransfer
photoni@tiscali.it

[nfoto]

I'm in a middle position. These images are not appearing overexposed, but they do look on the soft, greyish side and would perhaps improve if contrast had been adjusted. I did download the last image taken with the 24/3.5 and sharpness as such wasn't to blame for the soft impression. On a tangential note I was amazed to see the banding in the sky -- is this normal for IR images with this camera?

[photoni]

I don't have A7III an 850nm, but my A7 with Hoya R72 always produces overexposed and very soft files.
I always set -1 for IR 750 nm
with UV filters (ZWB2+TSN) imposed +1
@nfoto ... it would be interesting to see how others develop the latest RAW; so let's see if the banding is sel sensor or soft.

[nfoto]

I'd like to try the 24/3.5 RAW, if possible.

[Andrea B.]

Ulf, the 2nd and 3rd canoe fotos are wonderful!! The contrast of the canoe "patterns" against the natural landscape background plays so well.

 

Any of the cameras with PDAF (which is almost all of them) can produce banding in some scenarios. Such banding seems to show up more in our IR and UV photos. (Remember Birna's converted Z examples??)

 

Adjusting local contrast in an IR foto is usually much more useful to reduce the inherent "softness" from the long IR wavelengths than is simple sharpening. This is best done after resizing the photo for posting.

Also making sure the black point and white points are well set can be helpful.

 

[ulf]

Thank you Andrea,

 

I have been missing seeing you here. I hope you are fully recovered now.

 

The 2nd and 3rd canoe fotos are my favourites too.

I think they would be nice in big format on a wall as a pair.

 

Thank you for the tips.

I have been trying to find the cure for the banding problem, but without success so far. 

The photos are taken at ISO125 and I sharpen only for local contrast at the very end.

 

Let me know if you too want to play with the RAW-files.

 

/U

[Nate]

Nice ones Ulf, Have you ever rented one of the canoes? That looks fun

[ulf]

16 minutes ago, Nate said:

Nice ones Ulf, Have you ever rented one of the canoes? That looks fun

No I have not, not at that canoe shed.

However a long time ago during an all day company event we paddled down stream that river the whole day.

The whole setup was a surprise event. 

We paddled in pairs, in similar canoes. At some points you had to drag the canoes over land.

I remember being paired up with the heavy wife of the CEO / owner of the company.

She was rather long gone in her pregnancy and not that efficient in paddling.

The last kilometers it became rather windy too in westerly direction against us.

When returning home that evening it felt like my arms should fall off.

At he same company, some fifteen years later, at the west coast of Sweden, I tried a tandem version of the sea kayak like the ones on the first image. 

That was a wonderful experience in very calm weather, lasting a few hours.

[photoni]

6 hours ago, ulf said:

When returning home that evening it felt like my arms should fall off.

@ulf ... They are very difficult files to develop !

I don't have an 850 nm but it seems to me that it puts a lot of stress on the Sony sensor,

the data uses only a part of the RAW, the highlights and shadows are missing.

Here is the dramatic version of your event :)

 

.

 

[photoni]

For banding, I tried developing with Adobe Camera Raw and with Capture One.
the second is more flexible and has included the photographic film option, which minimizes the problem.
I think a 40x60cm print would look great with grain.

 

 

 

this is the brushstroke version of light

 

 

 

 

 

[photoni]

This is my favourite, it was a lot of work getting here

(Capture one + Photoshop)

 

 

[ulf]

Thanks Tony for working on my images,

 

Indeed they are difficult to post process.

I think your interpretation of the first image is too heavily contrasted for my taste.

 

The lessons learned from that image is that when expecting a dynamically changing motif with people,  I will in the future change to multi exposure. 

It is really annoying that the reeds are obscuring two of the faces.

If the photo was taken a split second before or after, it would have been better.

Some extra photos on the memory card costs nothing more than wear off the camera mechanism. 

 

I see that you also have been struggling with the PDAF banding in the second image without any real success.

I too am looking for a reasonable way to decrease the problem.

You have found my favourite image and your interpretation is better than what I came up with, but not that much different.
 

I like the way I also have cropped away a bit of the right side to get rid of the distracting pattern in that rightmost Canoe's seat.

That could also be doe by lowering the contrast and brightness locally, but I think a cropping is better.

What do you think.

 

Do you think these two 11mm canoe images work as a pair?

[photoni]

Indeed they are difficult to post process.
Oh yeahhh

 

I think your interpretation of the first image is too heavily contrasted for my taste.
de gustibus non disputandum est !

 

The lessons learned from that image is that when expecting a dynamically changing motif with people, I will in the future change to multi exposure.
It is really annoying that the reeds are obscuring two of the faces.
I find it a plus :)

 

You have found my favorite image and your interpretation is better than what I came up with, but not that much different.
Okay

 

I like the way I also have cropped away a bit of the right side to get rid of the distracting pattern in that rightmost Canoe's seat.
That could also be done by lowering the contrast and brightness locally, but I think a cropping is better.
What do you think.
the original image seems more "centered" to me

 

Do you think these two 11mm canoe images work as a pair?
no the other image is unbalanced, too much sky and little "earth"

P.S. your irix work fine, i wish i had 11mm for the nikon z7