Sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest
We had a wonderful time up in redwood country. It’s such a beautiful area, and we had great conditions – plus two really nice groups of people, and the relaxing ambience of the Requa Inn to come home to after a long day of photography. It was a memorable and enjoyable two weeks.
I’ll post more images from the area soon, but I’ll start with this one showing sun breaking through the fog in a redwood forest. It can be difficult to work with this kind of splotchy light, but I loved the mood of this scene, and luckily the sun hit just the right spots, creating a nicely-balanced pattern of light and dark.
Lightroom 5
Just when I got back, Adobe released Lightroom 5. There are no big surprises – it’s essentially the same as the beta version released in April, with some bug fixes and minor improvements.
While Lightroom 5 isn’t the game-changer that Lightroom 4 was, there are some great new tools for streamlining your workflow. At the top of the list are the new Advanced Healing Brush, and the “Visualize Spots” checkbox. You can read my thoughts about all the new features of Lightroom 5 in my post about the beta version.
For an in-depth look at what’s new in Lightroom 5, Craft & Vision just released a new ebook by Piet Van den Eynde called Lightroom 5 Up to Speed. Piet does a good job of explaining all the new features of Lightroom 5 in a clear and comprehensive way, and it delivers on the promise to get you “up to speed.” You can also get Lightroom 5 Up to Speed bundled with Piet’s previous ebook, Lightroom 4 Unmasked, for $20 – a $5 discount. You can read my review of Lightroom 4 Unmasked here.
Many readers have asked me when I’ll be releasing a sequel to my Light & Land ebook. I’m happy to report that it’s nearing completion. When I got wind of Lightroom 5 coming out I delayed the release so I could incorporate all the new features of Lightroom 5. I can’t tell you yet exactly when this new ebook will be available, but I can tell you that it will have some exciting new interactive features that will make it an even better tool for learning how to process landscape photographs in Lightroom. Stay tuned!
— Michael Frye
Related Posts: In Redwood Country; Lightroom 5 Beta
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author and photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, plus the eBooks Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, and Exposure for Outdoor Photography. He has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Absolutely stunning! Look forward to seeing more 🙂
Thank you Claire!
Very nice image. I was just up at Prairie Creek, and I can appreciate your comment about high contrast light. It looks like the fog softened the light just enough to keep the contrast under control.
It was very frustrating trying to capture the feeling and atmosphere of the old growth groves. The Rockefeller Grove in Humboldt was a new location for me, and the cathedral-like presence of those awesome trees proved impossible to capture. So far. Your work gives me hope 🙂
Thanks Eric! It can indeed be frustrating to try to capture redwoods. It’s not easy. Fog helps a lot! Soft light can work if you can find some color (like rhododendrons), and sun filtering in can work if you can find the sun hitting just the right spot or spots. But either shade or sun are challenging compared to fog.