� Jacques-Cartier Valley �, a photo from Quebec, Central

Photographer's Note

ok, I've been on and off lately. More off than on...ok, I've ben completely off lately.

I present you my first ever try at HDR. I did not have a ND grad filter when I shot this scene. So, the sky came off pretty washed up and the foreground was pretty dark. But I shot it in raw so it gave me enough dynamic range to make something out of this nice landscape. So I decomposed the raw file into 3 different tiff files with 3 different exposures :one for the sky, one for the foreground and one that was well-balanced. After combining the 3 files in photoshop and making some digital alterations, I came off with this, which, I must admit, surprised me. I was surprised that so much information was contained in one single file. Anyway, it was a funny exercice that opened the door for many of my shots that I thought were ruined�

The picture is from a place near my home. It𠏋 a park managed by the government where many animal and floral species are conserved. Many hiking trails are prepared in summer and winter for those who like to take some pressure off by walking in the nature. It𠏋 one of the most beautiful place to see in the region of Quebec, Canada. I was surprised to notice it was soooo under-represented here on TE. Here is a link leading to the webpage hosted by the organism taking care of the park. I have plenty of pics from there, so I might post one here and there�

Cheers !

Marc

gokanlam, Floydian, mvdisco, burGu, chinchini, Silversnow, InasiaJones, pboehringer, riclopes, basithry, korbee has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gokanlam (6605) 2008-05-06 8:11

Hi Marc,
i like your POV here.. you are very luck to have a house near such a beautiful place.. it is vary far away from city crowd.. and always fres air.. i like green tones and intensive clouds in the sky.. Good Job!
ReLa

Floydian (30970) 2008-05-06 8:34

Hi Marc,
Let me first say how i like your pov and the whole overal composition. Man you really foud a great spot here, wish that i stood beside you in creating this one. The whole setup is wonderful with that river running through the landscape. If you told me it was Brazil i also would believed you.
I don't like HDR taken at daytime, the result always looks fake, to plastic with a bad play with light and shadow. But here i have to make a remark on your great job you did here. The light and shadow is very good, doesn't look fake at all, congratulation.
Those areas of green (near the river) where the sun is shining could even have some more light to give it even a bit more in saturation and light, but only on those bright parts..
Anyway, you present a fine picture in an excellent composition...well done..!!!
Regards, Henk

P-S-I-G (25536) 2008-05-06 8:34

Bonjour Marc,
Je souhaite du succ鋊 � cette photo car j'aime beaucoup la tr鋊 bonne exposition. Malgr� un ciel couvert, on a un bon contraste et de belles couleurs dans la v嶲彋ation. Le POV est 憝idemment remarquable. Superbe.
Amicalement,
Fabrice

mvdisco (17798) 2008-05-06 8:52

Bonjour Marc,
J'aime bien les paysages comme celui-ci, la composition,le contraste,lumi鋨e et pr廥entation de toute beaut� sous un ciel partiellement nuageux, et les couleurs sont d'un naturel frappant avec un point de vue magnifique, belle perpective de la rivi鋨e qui serpente la vall嶪, Mes compliments et f幨icitations..
Amicalement
Michel

burGu (4840) 2008-05-06 8:59

Hi Marc,
I was almost bored of looking your never updated gallery for a long time. I had a very bad feeling about the disappointment issue, I don't know if you remember. Well, so you are back, ha? :)
This is my second comment today with an HDR photo. I don't know a lot about the technique and I still doubt about the reality of an HDR photo. But what I see in the final photo is really wonderful. But! I have a question. If I am not wrong at least three shots of same view are used for an HDR photo each taken in different exposures. So, what is the exposure info written in exif data?
About your photo, I must say, I am jealous of your house's outlook. What a lucky person you are. There is a little colored body around the small islet which looks like a rainbow reflection and I like it very much.
Good result for first HDR photo, congrats.
Best wishes,
Burcu

japiey (10163) 2008-05-06 10:30

Hi Marc,

Excellent image.
I like the vertical format here...
You have done it fine...
Beautifull is the valley...
All the best.

jp

jemaflor (147156) 2008-05-06 10:36

Salut Marc,
Ce point de vue est superbe avec une vue plongeante vertigineuse sur la foret et ce lac � la surface tr鋊 lumineuse, joli ciel pour changer des cieux tout bleu...

chinchini (31529) 2008-05-06 10:45

Salut Marc,
Ce qui est rare est cher, et ce qui est cher est donc beau. Mais � raison d'une image par mois, si belle soit elle, c'est peu pour nous pr廥enter le Parc de la Jacques-Cartier. ;o)
C矌� technique, le r廥ultat obtenu en post traitement tel que tu le d嶰ris est tr鋊 int廨essant. Tu m'apprends quelque chose. Je ferai plus de RAW pour voir.
La neige a-t-elle disparu aussi dans ta r嶲ion ? Pense � ce que nous avions projet� : meeting avant mon retour le 10 juin !
Ciao mon Ami
Pierre

Silversnow (2319) 2008-05-06 11:46

Wow, tr鋊 bonne photo, les contrastes sont vraiment super, 蓷 donne envie de se mettre au RAW ;-)
La montagne � l'夗aule est vraiment pratique d'acc鋊 par le sentier de l'夗eron, et malgr� la m彋廩 chancelante c'est une excellente composition, tr鋊 efficace.

InasiaJones (31566) 2008-05-06 17:22

Salut Marc,

Gros coup de canon ici, oui, oui, Mr Manamo d嶰ide de nous en mettre plein la gueule par ce mardi qu'on croyait jusqu'ici tranquille...

C'est dans notre province ce truc immense!!!! Wow, c'est la premi鋨e fois que je suis fier d'皻re qu嶵嶰ois... LOL! Je croyais voir un grand fleuve d'Amazonie, en t'imaginant avec un tamarin dans le dos et une fl嶰hette empoisonn嶪 dans le cou... C'est plut矌 une horde de maringouins autour de la t皻e et un 嶰ureuil qui te rongeait le mollet que tu as d幯ich� comme compagnons de route... :-P)

Je te l鋦e mon chapeau (d'indiana Jones...) pour ton super traitement PP intelligemment dos�. Je vois que tu d憝eloppes tes Photoshop skills apr鋊 avoir investi du temps au niveau de la prise de vue. Tous les trucs verts sont g幯廨alement difficiles � aller chercher et � moins de bracketer ou de pousser un peu en surex, 蓷 devient facilement vert fonc� qui tire sur le noir... Ici, peut-皻re parce que c'est la couleur dominante, tous les d彋ails sont superbement mis en valeur. Juste � voir le ciel, je ne doute pas que tu as d� avoir recours au HDR, mais je le r廧鋈e, c'est subtil et bien fait.

Qu'est-ce que vous avez toi et Claire de Lune � ne publier qu'une fois tous les 4 ans??? La raret� cr嶪 l'int廨皻, je sais...

Bravo Marc!

Andr�

placombe (7715) 2008-05-06 18:12

Salut Marc
Superbe PDV, paysage grandiose. Couleurs, nettet�, profondeur et contraste, tout y est.
Pierre

asr (648) 2008-05-06 21:10

Beautiful shot Marc, I love the S-shape in the river. Which trail is this taken from?

PixelTerror (0) 2008-05-07 1:49

Salut Marc,
Le point de vue est excellent et ton travail de l'image itou, une grande profondeur, un beau modele des nuages et une lumiere un poil dramatique, le tout sans trop forcer l'effet. Stricto sensu je pense que tu as fait la plutot du exposure blending que du pur HDR, mais au final le resultat est vraiment superbe.
Bonne journee jY

bwiti (402) 2008-05-07 17:19

Comme ce qui est rare a toujours plus de valeur, je me vois oblig� de venir commenter celle-ci...
Ca sent � plein nez le HDR ou clarifier, me trompai-je ? En tout cas voil� une utilisation tr鋊 � propos de la verticale, cela donne un tr鋊 bel aper蓰 du spectacle que tu avais devant les yeux...
On s'imagine bien revenir 200 ans en arri鋨e et s'imaginer en trappeur dans ces for皻s sauvages...
Un tr鋊 beau clich�...
J'esp鋨e que tu m'as compris dans mon explication peut-皻re un poil brutale, au cas ou : D廥ol�...

Leilani (1385) 2008-05-09 5:00

Hi Marc - This is a beautiful valley. How lucky to be so near! Thank you for the hdr information in your note. very useful. It's amazing that you can recover an image using that technique. It would be interesting to see the original in the workshop ;) I love the many varied colours of green in this stormy image and that little bright bit of sand! Rgds, Leilani

cam (9043) 2008-05-11 18:20

Bonsoir Marc
Oui, une nouvelle photo de toi, une qui r憝eille de beau souvenirs de cet endroit magnifique.Il est tr鋊 difficile de reproduire en photo la grandeur de l'endroit et tu t'en approche assez bien.
Quel photo tu aurais obtenu en d嶵ut d'octobre, avec tout ce jaune dans le paysage.

Un HDR bien r徼ssie, car on ne voit pas le travail que tu as accompli, ce qui est parfait.Une bonne maitrise de la technique.

Je viens de lire le commentaire de Henk.Tr鋊幨ogieux

Bonne soir嶪
� bient矌 j'esp鋨e.
Charles

pboehringer (770) 2008-05-18 8:52

Marc,
..... I'm in complete awe. The POV is just perfect with the view of the bending river through the thick forest and hills. But this shot isn't just about the composition, it is about colours and light. The air is filled with light and touching the landscpae just at certain parts but with an intensity that drives my retina to craziness. This is the perfect example that to get a great shot you don't need that deep blue polarized sky with nice popcorn clouds. A dark, dramatic sky will do it too or even better!
Peter

derek3755 (2341) 2008-05-18 10:24

Hi Marc

lovely POV and composition. great job with the HDR. and to top it all you live nr such a view, now i am jealous

Regards
Derek

riclopes (35577) 2008-05-27 3:38

Ol� Marc, I would like to compare this image with one taken with my camera at the same time and POV, right next to your shoulder :D I don't use RAW, nor HDR, nor grad filters, so that's why I can't post so many landscapes I have in my archives.
Looking at this, I envy the place where you live. I really need more green in my life.
About the photo: the result is superb and with great details which surprises me - I always have problems in compressing photos for TE with so many green details. The best is that winding river shinning into the distance. Good that some rays of sun coming from the left are iluminating some parts in the center and revealing the place where I want to be right now, which is that little island :D The conditions weren't good, but this is beautiful - even the heavy sky has a nice brush stroke effect...and some rain in the distance I would say. Good work with the HDR.
ric
p.s- 1 post while I was gone? Yes, you have been completely off :)
p.s.1- My trip was very tiring, but also with many rewarding landscapes, totally diferent from what I'm used too - almost no green at all.

Hellas (7123) 2008-05-28 5:17

Beautiful, very beautiful landscape my friend! From top to bottom all are so attractive! The light and the shadows on the earth!
The sharpness and the colours, the nature herself, make me so happy to see them all herein! Thank you very much for sharing.

Warm regards,
Athanasios.

alainh (33209) 2008-06-05 13:41

bonsoir MArc
quelle ambiance. superbe poinr de vue et tres belle image de coin sauvage comme au premier jour. le ciel de plom dope l'atmosphere.
vien vu, bien pris
amcialement
alain

dta (98848) 2008-06-15 12:01

Bonjour Marc ,
j'aime beaucoup l'ambiance cr澭e par ce ciel lourd , la belle lumi鋨e , les couleurs sombres , et ce superbe paysage o� la rivi鋨e attire immanquablement le regard .
Une magnifique image .
Bravo
Denis

capthaddock (28790) 2008-07-30 16:36

A grad filter would have helped, still it's a sucessful HDR shot, the bottom half is perfect, the sky is good, the only giveaway to the HDR is where the tree covered hill at right contacts the sky, which has that that signature HDR, though it's barely noticeable.

I noticed you're leaving in october. I will be buying my tickets soon, and will be in Quebec at the earliest on 9 October. I was planning on staying in or near Montreal until Saturday 11 Oct, and be in Quebec City on Sunday 12 Oct. I will send an e-mail to you, Charles and Andre after I buy the ticket. Will you already be in Asia at that time?

leDoc (691) 2008-08-04 18:01

F幨icitations pour cette magnifique photo du parc Jacques-Cartier. Je connais bien cet endroit mais je n'ai jamais r徼ssi une aussi belle photo. La dynamique est bien rehauss� par le traitement HDR sans en faire trop au point de paraitre irr嶪l.
Andr�

cdmonson (5304) 2008-08-04 19:41

I like this one a lot. The composition seems to flow very smoothly, as the river and the motion of the clouds lead the eye from one corner to another of the frame. You couldn't ask for a better composition for this scene. As for the HDR, this is a very good job, particularly for a first attempt. I'm not a particular fan of the technique myself, but when it's done this well it's hard to complain! All in all, great shot.

Clark

sunamoon (10) 2008-08-28 15:29

Hola Marc:

Una foto impresionate, es una vista para quedarse sin palabras, el contraste esta perfecto, el rio entre esa monta鎙 tan verde, me ha gustado mucho la foto, la voy a poner entre mis fotos favoritas!, Felicidades..
-------------------------------------------------------------
An impressive photo, I am a view to remain without words, the resistance this perfect one, the river between that so green mountain, have liked much the photo I am going, it to put between my favorite photos! , Congratulations.

Un saludo,
Elena

korbee (6619) 2010-05-13 3:43

Hard to imaagine this is Canada,because the thick forrest looks very tropical,the sun breaking through the clouds is doing a fine job here!.
well done Marc.

jan

Vanessa132 (94) 2011-02-11 6:18