Location: Bilgola Beach, Northern Beaches Sydney Australia.

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Lens: Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM

Focal Length: 16mm

Shutter speed: 0.8sec

Aperture F: 22

ISO: 100

Filters: Lee 100mm system with 2x filter slots. Lee - 1x Lee 0.6 ND GH (2stops), 1x Lee Coral 3G ND.

Tripod: Manfrotto 055XPROB + 494RC2 mini ball head (I used to use the 327RG2 but moved to the mini ball head as I find it easier to make small tweaks for landscapes)

Shoot techniques

One thing I wanted to get right for this image was creating a realistic portrait of what the scene was like. I wanted to keep the shadows dark as if you were there. I (and a lot of photographers IMO) are guilty of is over processing shadows in an attempt to not having any clipping in histogram. This IMO can look really unnatural and it is something I’m actively working. So my aim was to embrace natural shadow / negative space with a single image to process, but not over process. This makes exposure vital and to get to right I will always bracket so I have a range of exposures to choose from later.

Composition

I’m always looking for something interesting like a gutter and this gutter caught my eye some time ago. I think it has a lot to offer and I would like to shoot it again with different skies and at different angles. I moved around the area until I was happy with the fundamentals of image composition. Things I focused on were rule of thirds, leading lines and foreground interest. Once I found my spot I set up and check the scene with live view. I like to do this because what I seen with the naked eye is often needs subtle tweaks.

I like to use live view to review the scene and get the exposure roughly correct from behind the camera. Once the basics of composition (rules like rule of thirds, leading lines, level the horizon) are complete I then do a quick check of focus. I start with infinity focus then zoom in to a part of the seen like a rock and sharpen the focus. Finally, I will refine my exposure.

Exposure

I like to limit my ISO as much a possible to reduce image noise. In general, I stick between 100 & 800 ISO. Aperture (f) for landscape varies a bit but I will commonly use a small aperture unless light is a limiting factor (usually compensated by shutter speed). I will never go larger than f8.0 but average f16 – 22. For this shot I used f22. After exposure was correct I bracket the exposure with time and aperture.

Filters

I use the 100mm system with 2x filter slots. Filters - 1x Lee 0.6 ND GH (2stops), 1x Lee Coral 3G ND. I lined up the graduation along the sky line for both. This cut down the light in the sky, warmed the sky and allowed me to achieve a more even exposure across the image in a single shot.

Shutter speed

I bracketed between 0.5 and 2secs. This was a good range for achieving correct exposure and water movement. This image is 0.8sec. Not because I specifically went out wanting to use 0.8sec. This just happened to be the image I chose to edit out of the set.

Post production editing

 LightRoom for global and some local edits then into Photoshop. I did less global edits in LightRoom than usual for this image.

Photoshop assisted with plugins (Topaz, Alien Skin Exposure 5) to refinement and experimenting with colours, contrast and mood with a series of layers used selectively with layer masks and opacity variations. 

What I’m happy with

I think this is a really natural scene that reflects the moment well. I really like the light reflecting off the wet rocks. I have tried to not over process the shadows as I wanted a more realistic representation of what it looked like at the time.

What I would correct next time

I would like to shoot this again with a better sky.

Q&A for learning photography

Feel free to post a question about any of the information above.

Cheers

Matt