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3 Mostly failed to take a good shot in the Everglades

Erk1024

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I've been trying to find good photos to take in the Everglades, and up to this point I've mostly failed. This one is the best I've managed. The problem is I don't think I can get from "ok" or "good" to amazing with this subject. For a while I didn't even know what this color was coming from because as you fly out there, all you see is blue water and green. But when you tilt the camera down, you get this tan color. As near as I can tell, this is shallow water with trees (bushes?) growing in it.

 
I've been trying to find good photos to take in the Everglades, and up to this point I've mostly failed. This one is the best I've managed. The problem is I don't think I can get from "ok" or "good" to amazing with this subject.
For a start, it's quite overexposed.
i-hBx33x5-XL.jpg


Adjusting the exposure makes quite a difference. Here's a rough attempt at fixing exposure.
i-t54GZnw-XL.jpg
 
For a start, it's quite overexposed.
i-hBx33x5-XL.jpg


Adjusting the exposure makes quite a difference. Here's a rough attempt at fixing exposure.
i-t54GZnw-XL.jpg
I think it would look more dramatic and interesting in B&W. Contrast can be bumped up with S curve, sky darkened etc. Perhaps worth exploring.
 
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You might try shooting at several altitudes. I shoot a lot of panos for creating a reference image for a new location; I can zoom in and look for things that warrant a closer look. I usually shoot at 100', 200' and 400' to start. Sometimes lower-level panos, 50' or so, are very interesting.

I agree that the image is overcooked. When using auto mode in a location like that, I typically bias the exposure down 0.7 stop and sometimes more.

Yep, almost all bushes. The high spots may have a few short scrubby trees. That's a very interesting location. Keep shooting and share some more shots.
 
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I tried to do a top-down shot and go for an abstract. This really does look like mold on a shower curtain. This is a pano of about 20'ish shots. 3 columns. This is the "scanning" instead of "rotating" type pano, and it tends to make things look flat (no perspective).

I think this is a fail, but top down shots of the larger pools might be interesting.

1732150517010.png
 
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For a start, it's quite overexposed.
i-hBx33x5-XL.jpg


Adjusting the exposure makes quite a difference. Here's a rough attempt at fixing exposure.
i-t54GZnw-XL.jpg

Good suggestion. Let me go edit...
 
I tried to do a top-down shot and go for an abstract. This really does look like mold on a shower curtain. This is a pano of about 20'ish shots. 3 columns. This is the "scanning" instead of "rotating" type pano, and it tends to make things look flat (no perspective).

I think this is a fail, but top down shots of the larger pools might be interesting.

View attachment 179251
I think you are being too harsh on yourself. Not sure what you try to achieve but if I were you I would spend more time in Photoshop and really go nuts with contrast, saturation etc etc. These photos are looking lame not because of the subject but because of your interpretation of it. Go bold, be brave. You can alway go back a bit but to me these photos are lacking character. Photoshop can make them pop🙂
Just my 2 cent worth
 
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Just remember: "Practice Makes Perfect!"
 
I love these landscapes, I take a lot of this type in a similar local spot. It's amazing how many pictures I take and how many i end up editing that I'm happy with.... cool location!
 
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Lol, probably more than you wanted to see I keept going through to upload lol.... all of these are within a few miles of each other in a swampy area of Houston.

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Lol, probably more than you wanted to see I keept going through to upload lol.... all of these are within a few miles of each other in a swampy area of Houston.

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Very nice. You see this is what the OP should look at and take inspiration from😀. Nice and punchy photos not flat and lifeless 👍. Processing is the king
 
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Very nice. You see this is what the OP should look at and take inspiration from😀. Nice and punchy photos not flat and lifeless 👍. Processing is the king
For me, the experience of finding a nice spot is 1/3 and the editing after is 2/3 of the fun :) it's amazing what you can create the more you take pictures and the way your style works with the original and the edit.
 
Lighting is everything in photography. Besides the over exposure thing, try shooting in the early morning or late afternoon. Shadows help give depth and definition to your subject.
 
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For me, the experience of finding a nice spot is 1/3 and the editing after is 2/3 of the fun :) it's amazing what you can create the more you take pictures and the way your style works with the original and the edit.
To me the top down shots are always interesting in locations like these. I love the infinite number of possible compositions. Just move the drone around until everything looks harmoniously beautiful, click. The rest is processing..
 

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To me the top down shots are always interesting in locations like these. I love the infinite number of possible compositions. Just move the drone around until everything looks harmoniously beautiful, click. The rest is processing..
Wow. Those are awesome! Nice work.
 
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Here's one I took on Friday. This was taken at Clam Pass in Naples, FL. This is a crop of 29 shots.
Zoom in, it's big. That pure white beach looks really interesting. Have to come back and shoot just the beach. It was *windy*, like 15-18mph but the Mavic-3 handled it no problem, despite some high wind warnings. Caused some stitching problems because everything was moving, and there was some parallax.

 
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Here's one I took on Friday. This was taken at Clam Pass in Naples, FL. This is a crop of 29 shots.
Zoom in, it's big.

Thanks for the compliment on my two photos.
Your's is truly impressive! The waterway looks like a snake. Very nice indeed. I was looking for you on the bridge but could not spot you. Are you anywhere in the photo? It would a nice "selfie" in that case🙂
 
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Caused some stitching problems because everything was moving, and there was some parallax.
Very nice
The cause of your issues was more likely to be because of the subject matter.
A little wind won't cause stitching problems.

I'm not sure what you mean about there being some parallax?
 
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Very nice
The cause of your issues was more likely to be because of the subject matter.
A little wind won't cause stitching problems.

I'm not sure what you mean about there being some parallax?

The problem with doing photos by *moving* instead of by *rotating* is that if the subject has any height, then you will have parallax problems. For example, a light pole will look slanted up in one photo, but in the following photo it will be slanted down. I agree the stitching problems were likely caused by that instead of the wind. Also the light was changing because it was so close to sunset.

This is the same area in two different photos, but look at the marker pole. Even the trees look really different. No wonder the stitching software struggled with these images.

The best remedy for parallax is to get higher, but I was already at the 393ft limit.

1732493677404.png
 

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