This turned out to be the nicest thing I shot of the snowstorm. It's a merged panorama composed of four frames shot with the X-T2 and 14mm ƒ/2.8. I was standing on top of the ancient picnic table I inherited when I bought the house.
To be honest this looks "miniaturized" when it's 23 inches wide on my monitor. It loses impact at blog size. I hope you're not reading on your smartphone today!
I was just trying to show, plainly, what the fallen oak looked like. It turned out to be quite a beautiful photograph.
It's curious how often "plain" or "straight" documentary photographs turn out to also be beautiful. You're just trying to show something specific, clearly, and it also works artistically. Thinking about it, I think I have a faith in that. Show something true and clear and as often as not it will work as a picture.
Every time I remember this I go look at Shorpy.
By the way, does anybody know where Adobe put perspective corrections in ACR 10? It used to be in Lens corrections > Manual, but they moved it. (And by the way, this is one of the things that drives me nuts about editing software. Say what you will about the darkroom, but at least in the darkroom I decided when I was going to break my workflow, and whenever I lost something I knew whose fault it was: mine. Every software provider does this—they change things arbitrarily that don't need to be changed, which means you have to re-learn things you already knew how to do. I suppose this is easy for people who are software ninjas, but the rest of us are relegated to becoming "intermittent idiots." I can only remember about 50 software commands at a time, and my life demands that I memorize 50,000.
Whoops, slipped into rant mode there by mistake. I'd apologize, if I was sorry.)
Anyway, this should be a 5-foot-wide print. But I haven't the means to make such large prints nor anything to do with them once they're made. So that's kinda frustrating. In my mind's eye it looks good, so I guess that will have to be where it resides.
Mike
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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:
Kenneth Tanaka: " In ACR 10.2 (and previous version) you'll find the transform functions via a skewed box icon (8th from the left) at the top of the editing window."
Mike replies: Ah. Thanks Ken.
...at least in the darkroom I decided when I was going to break my workflow, and whenever I lost something I knew whose fault it was: mine...
It's your fault now too, Mike. A continuous stream of new digital cameras and software isn't necessary, and that's what breaks the workflow. :-)
Posted by: Sal Santamaura | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 12:52 PM
They split the lens corrections – the pincushion/barrel corrections are in the same place, but the vertical (and similar) corrections are on the toolbar at the top now, next to the Spot Removal tool (the icon is like a perspective grid).
Posted by: MikeK | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 12:53 PM
Mike,
Look at the top of the tool bar for 'transform'.
Posted by: Dan Meyers | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 12:58 PM
Yes, I agree, a very nice image. Shows the scale, the story, and the way it bends through the photo looks great, with that other section on the right. Pastoral, perhaps.
Posted by: John Krumm | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:04 PM
"...in my mind's eye..." Boy, do I have a boat-load of those! And I have them in all media, not just photography. Sheesh. And, yes, where do you put these large things? Even museums have critical storage space problems.
Now for something marvelous: I've been with my wife since 1974, she 17 me 18. Married in 1980, 2 super successful daughters. That's marvelous enough right there...but there's more!
So, as a kick, we have sent in our DNA testing kits, which had to be registered, and there's a questionnaire. Through that, my wife discovered that she has aphantasia---she cannot form an actual mental image of anything while waking, only perhaps in dreams, which she has infrequently. And only now finding out this astounding thing! And she's a curator! Isn't life amazing?
Posted by: Tex Andrews | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:38 PM
Hi Mike,
Didn't you get an Epson P800? I'm having an absolute blast with mine and the new roll paper holder I just bought. No limit to the width of panos! I do love yours of the fallen tree, it deserves to be set free. And BTW, those white geese in snowy field are ... wait for it ... snow geese.
Posted by: Mark Kirkpatrick | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:39 PM
That is a beautiful photo. Even on my cell phone. Ship me the file and I’ll happily make you a big print. I can drop it off the next time I pass through.
Posted by: Dave Levingston | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:55 PM
I see it conveniently fell near the woodpile. Now you've got an excuse to get a chainsaw.
Posted by: plus.google.com/114824186603451301825 | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:58 PM
Mike, it IS a beautiful photograph and should be printed.
I have two sets of flat files about 50” wide full of very satisfying prints
Your printer can probably print 17 x 50 why not?
Posted by: Michael Perini | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 01:59 PM
Here's the official Photoshop documentation on it:
https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/using/automatic-perspective-correction-camera-raw.html
Posted by: Tommy Williams | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 02:09 PM
Absolutely stunning photograph! Certainly looks good on a 27" screen and I can imagine it would make a fabulous big print.
Posted by: Mark Cotter | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 02:29 PM
Mike,
a former colleague of mine prints quite big on some Canon 2000 "Prograf" or so, like 24" wide, and with "endless" paper. The quality he gets out of prints from his Fuji cameras is simply amazing, so I guess that would be something to try. Maybe someone in your vicinity has a device like that, and can help?
Posted by: Wolfgang Lonien | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 02:32 PM
What you're looking for is now in Develop > Transform, directly below Lens Corrections. They didn't move it far, but yes, they did indeed move it.
BTW, what's up with all the good photographs of late? I'm beginning to think that you really do use your cameras, if only infrequently.
Posted by: Gordon Lewis | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 02:43 PM
". . . does anybody know where Adobe put perspective corrections in ACR 10? It used to be in Lens corrections > Manual, but they moved it."
Still there in my ACR 10.2. On the right panel, below the histogram, sixth icon from the left, like a lens design cut-away, roll over label "Lens Corrections", tabs "Profile" and "Manual".
Seems to me it's always been there, but I use ACR almost daily, so an old change could be forgotten. Perhaps duplicated on the top line of icons in the past?? Dunno, didn't use it there.
Posted by: Moose | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:17 PM
Nice shot even in small scale.
In Camera Raw look at the top left of the screen for a trapezoid icon - that's for Transform. that's where it is on a PC.
Posted by: James Hildreth | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:20 PM
Right click the crop tool ... I think the perspective correction you are looking for is there ... 2nd choice. Hope that helps?
Posted by: Michael H | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:28 PM
I should have said ... right click the crop tool in Photoshop ... not ACR. Sorry.
Posted by: Michael H | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:30 PM
Looks great on my screen. But Mike, you do have what you need to print this at about 3 feet (judging by the proportions). As I recall, you have a P600 printer. That printer comes with a roll-paper holder, so you can print very wide. Try it! BTW, Epson makes a variety of photo paper rolls in the 13 inch width, all available at B&H, mostly in the $30 to $50 range. (Please insert your buying links here.)
Posted by: Bill Tyler | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:31 PM
Perspective correction in ACR 10 is on the upper leftish toolbar - between the level icon and the brush icon.
Posted by: David Barry | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 03:44 PM
Hi Mike,
in ACR 10 there's a new transform tool right beside the level (upper left side of the ACR window, also reachable via shift-T).
Kind regards, Georg
Posted by: Georg | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 04:36 PM
Rant away Mike :-)
It’s becoming a peeve for me too. Just when I’ve worked out how to use technology / software comfortably, it changes. Not a huge amount, but enough to be noticeable. I know English is constantly evolving as a language, but I can keep up with those around me, and the evolution makes sense. However, I have to keep re-learning to ‘speak’ tech, and I feel like I’m getting further and further behind, because the changes seem so arbitrary!
Posted by: Not THAT Ross Cameron | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 04:54 PM
"...Anyway, this should be a 5-foot-wide print. But I haven't the means to make such large prints nor anything to do with them once they're made..."
Just a few days ago I wrote the same thing on my site after creating a panorama that could easily span 8 feet. No place big enough in my house to put such a beast!
Still...it was fun to create!
Posted by: DavidB | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 06:45 PM
Gorgeous! I would try printing it as a black and white photograph.
Posted by: Steve Rosenblum | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 07:09 PM
"The Fallen Oak" Nice. Works well for my eyes.
An earlier comment had me not missing the snow. Actually this natural monochrome you get in the winter? Well..it is missed maybe a bit.
Posted by: MJFerron | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 07:09 PM
It makes me crazy when software changes for no good reason. Adding new functionality and grouping things differently so like goes with like, ok I can see that. But just making changes, or tweaking things that make sense to the people that work with it every day (who wouldn't understand this tiny little icon will do THIS, if you press several other keys when you click and hold, providing three other settings are set correctly, and the full moon was last Tuesday). Bah! I gave up using Evernote for that reason, I looked at the new so called improved interface, and didn't have a clue how to add a new note. I gave it up and never looked back.
Posted by: Keith | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 07:35 PM
I think this would look good in your current office in the space above the windows in front of your desk. Look at Bay Photos options for printing.
Posted by: Mark Kinsman | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 08:52 PM
I like it. Print sale coming up?
Posted by: Bear. | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 10:45 PM
Another image not shot on an iPhone.
Posted by: Michael Mejia | Tuesday, 06 March 2018 at 10:54 PM
Big snow storms almost seem to beg to be photographed. We get our share of them here in Maine so I can relate to the appeal. I especially like the light that develops just as the storm clears and for a short time afterward.
Mostly I wanted to say that I'm delighted to see you out and about with your camera. Filling up a card! Excellent! Roll with it. Fill another and another!
Posted by: Tim Smith | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 06:51 AM
Might the local furniture makers want the wood? I suppose they'll have plenty, though, after this.
Posted by: Luke Smith | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 07:13 AM
Oh yes, that is a quite nice photograph even form the small size it shows on screen. I can imagine how nice it would look as a print.
Posted by: D. Hufford | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 08:29 AM
My apologies, Mike. You were asking about ACR. My brain ignored that and assumed you meant Lightroom, probably because that's what I use. To add to the confusion, Lightroom's raw conversions use ACR 10.2. It's a wonder any of us can understand anything someone else says.
Posted by: Gordon Lewis | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 08:55 AM
I like the photo as well. I enjoy photographing in the winter (northern Vermont), especially after snow storms because, although the colors are present, it is the closest we get to living in a black and white world. All the colors become very muted and the world changes to an interesting gray scale image.
Posted by: John Doty | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 11:01 AM
P.S. Any comments on whether the Fuji X-T2 will stay in the TOP camera stable? I am interested in upgrading to a lighter travel package (currently Canon 40D and assorted lenses).
Posted by: John Doty | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 11:03 AM
The MO History museum is currently running an exhibit called "Panoramas of the City" (St. Louis) which are enormously wide (sometimes 40 feet or more?) documentary photos from the late 1800's to early 1900's. At first I was awed by the sheer size of the prints, but that quickly turned into trying to figure out how they scanned a banquet-sized negative to make a 40 foot image that looked wonderfully sharp on backlit fabric. They also had a vintage banquet camera as well as a vintage panorama camera in which the lens moved along the film plane during exposure. Needless to say, very impressed with the free-to-the-public exhibit. http://mohistory.org/exhibits/panoramas-of-the-city/
Posted by: jayphotodd | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 11:08 AM
Beautiful picture, Mike!
Posted by: Dave in NM | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 11:43 AM
Elco Color (elcocolor.net, NJ based lab) has a poster special that makes big prints easy and affordable. Over the last several weeks I've had them make a couple batches of 17"x60" prints for a series I'm working on. They're not Duggal or Laumont, but they offer easy ordering, quick turnaround, good quality and reasonable prices.
Get that 5' print made.
Posted by: Michael Meyer | Wednesday, 07 March 2018 at 02:03 PM
That is a beautiful photo. Maybe it should be in one of your print sales.
Interesting (to me anyway) how snow can make something like this look beautiful. It's not the case in Florida when trees are down after a hurricane.
Posted by: John | Thursday, 08 March 2018 at 08:54 AM
I like the photo. I also thought "Ah, a good black and white" So I tried it. Nope. I really like the exposed wood of the broken branches and the muted green of the pine behind it. Just that little splash of color really helps.
Posted by: John Willard | Thursday, 08 March 2018 at 10:49 AM
An "event" that begs capture cannot always be named. While there may be items in an opportunity one can name, or relationships between them, those may not be what transfix us. Sometimes we just "see" a thing that resonates at a gut level. From these impressions a skilled photographer doesn't ask questions about definition but gets to work to frame, focus and get a good file.
We shouldn't be surprised at success but charmed at what we have revealed to ourselves in a moment of occasion.
Posted by: Michael Mejia | Thursday, 08 March 2018 at 01:10 PM