The Mobius Trip

[TonsOfFun]

[quote=DR. Rock]
In the photo referenced, I bracketed 5 RAW frames, exposed at -3, -1.5, properly exposed, +1.5, and +3 stops. Photomatics Pro synthesized the 5 images into one .tiff file some 100Mb large, to which I then cropped, and applied some minor tweaks in LightRoom, and then down-sampled it to a .jpeg. This is called High Dynamic Range photography. Some will argue that the resulting photo doesn't look "real" (and when taken to the extreme, I would agree). However, I would counter that we are conditioned to have expectations of what a "real" photograph looks like based on the historic limits of prior technology, (ie. film, scanning, printing, sensors, and monitors) and an HDR rendition doesn't meet our preconceived expectations.


I know German glass is good but I knew they were not "psychedelic" good.
I thought you were photoshopping... but couldn't figure out how you achieved the sharpness without pixelation and degradation.
Would this "layering" also account for the fantastic depth of field?
Are the adjustments only brightness and contrast or also saturation?
Have you done this with your digital point and shoot camera images as well?
Years ago my dad developed cibachrome prints that had similar results from a single image. I'm not sure a Hasselblad would survive your mode of travel.

Clever technique, and an outstanding final effect.

This new generation of sony point and shoot does something similar within the camera.
http://www.photographybay.com/2010/1...-nex-5-review/

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

I know German glass is good but I knew they were not "psychedelic" good.
I thought you were photoshopping... but couldn't figure out how you achieved the sharpness without pixelation and degradation.

The glass delivers the photons to the sensor without distortion. You can't make sharp if you don't have sharp to begin with. Lack of pixelation is a consequence of the full-frame sensor capturing in RAW. The depth of data generated by each pixel is immense. Good processing software allows you to selectively and artisanally choose how all that information is presented. If you don't do it yourself on a computer, the tiny lame processor in the camera will make its best guess. When a camera spits out a .jpeg, it's doing exactly the same thing, only by algorithm, not by hand.

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

Would this "layering" also account for the fantastic depth of field?
Are the adjustments only brightness and contrast or also saturation?

I like LightRoom a LOT. I'm not doing anything with the photos that I wouldn't do in a darkroom. My goal is to make the shot look how I remember it. I'm not adding or removing any data that isn't in the native file (erasing signs, or distracting elements, adding color washes, etc). Disclaimer: I was wearing grey sunglasses when it was sunny, and yellow-tint sunglasses when it was overcast, so that has affected my memory. But like I said, I'm processing with the intention to make the images look like how I remember it.

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

Have you done this with your digital point and shoot camera images as well?

Some processing (manual white balance, graduated filter, cropping, rotating, contrast, exposure, brightness, recovery, fill-light, clarity, saturation, vibrance, vignetting) is potentially applied to each photo from all three cameras. Yes.

Is HDR being applied to every photo? No... In Mobius 6, there have only been seven HDR images presented.

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

Years ago my dad developed cibachrome prints that had similar results from a single image. I'm not sure a Hasselblad would survive your mode of travel.

It's more about the size of the kit for me. Margus and Kariina travel with a Medium Format Mamyia, so it can be done; and while all their photos are outstanding, the ones from that camera are over the top.

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

Clever technique, and an outstanding final effect.

Thanks, as a scientist, it appeals to me, because it forces me to think about how we perceive, and what our brain is actually doing when we see an image, and appreciate how inadequate the tools available are to reproduce that system. That I end up with an image worth viewing at the end of the exercise is a bonus.

Originally Posted by TonsOfFun

This new generation of sony point and shoot does something similar within the camera.
http://www.photographybay.com/2010/1...-nex-5-review/

I've seen that development, and I am not thrilled. My philosophy is "the right tool for the job". A camera is the right tool for capturing photons. A computer is the right tool for processing data. Any computer they stuff into a tiny camera, even a task specific computer, will never match what you can do with a good desktop computer, a quality monitor, good software, and then adjusting the image by hand to your eye.

[TwilightZone]

>"Patagonia. ... reality was probably off the hook visually. I want to go and see it for myself now."

MOBIUS 7... or 8... ?

[redog1]

Originally Posted by DR. Rock

so we stepped out to deal with the laundry, and to take some photos.

I really like this last shot, very nice .

Enjoying the ride report.

[DR. Rock]

Originally Posted by redog1

I really like this last shot, very nice .

thank you... and that last shot is, in fact, the only HDR of the series.

[DR. Rock]

I stole a few photos from Joanna Marracelli that she and Laurant took of the grizzly we passed. I don't think she'll mind since we're Facebook friends now. And that's what friends do -- they steal from each other. No, wait, that sounds bad.

Our crappy photo, shot from a crappy wide-angle point & shoot, taken blindfolded while standing naked on a rough-idling dirtbike, slathered with honey and Doritos:



Same bear, photos taken with a Canon 6DMkiv and a 600mm f1.2 lens from the safety of their Chrysler company's fortified Jeep bunker .







Thanks, guys!

Remember, their most excellent book of photos from Patagonia is available here!

[DR. Rock]

So, I finished processing these photos last night, and, I gotta say... looking them over, we had a kick-ass day. The weather was absolutely perfect. Great company riding with Tim, John, and Chi... some funny videos, a long day riding, with some technical sections at the end. Simply magnificent. The day started at Eagle Plains, and ended at the confluence of the Yukon and 40-mile rivers, 13 hours and 320 miles later. Only one minor tiff in Dawson City, but we'll get to that.

I woke up at 4am to take a leak, and found that the sun still hadn't set:



kinda cool.

[DR. Rock]

and got our usual late start... There was a thin dusting of clouds,



and that would be pretty much it, for the rest of the day!

[DR. Rock]

just a beautiful day,



A taste of the riding:

[DR. Rock]

joy and terror of facing a semi-trailer rig bearing down on you at full speed...

see it up ahead?



for your viewing pleasure:



that wasn't so bad, was it?

[DR. Rock]

into the Ogilvie River valley,





we caught up with Tim & John and Chi. We'd be leap-frogging with them for the next couple of days.



I don't care what you say... Canadians are OK.

[DR. Rock]

Hey, does anyone recognize John and Tim?



I know they're somewhere here on ADV, but I don't know their screen names.





Anyway, if you do, tell them we said "hi".

[DR. Rock]

I mention in this video that we just got passed by Scary Mary and her parakeets.

[DR. Rock]

[DR. Rock]

at least I did: