Camera Labs

I'd like to introduce you to a place called Emerald Valley, also known as Lovers' Valley. It's about an hour's bus ride from where I live in Huangshan. Famous for its emerald green / turqoise water pools and waterfalls, it is a really beautiful place.

I wanted to experiment more with my new Sigma 10-20mm using it for landscapes. I always thought landscapes should be taken using an aperture of f22, but then found out that that can cause aberration...not sure what that means, but it don't sound good! Then I read more and people said f11 and f16 is best for landscapes, but it all depends on the lens. I also read that the Sigma gives great depth of field even at f8 and Thomas told me yesterday that even at f5.6 you can get pin sharp landscapes if you're not too bothered about the foreground....so that's what I wanted to experiment with. Also wanted to practice more at capturing water in motion to get that silky effect.


10mm - f5.6 - 1/50 - iso100


15mm - f8 - 1/25 - iso100


14mm - f8 - 1/13 - iso100


13mm - f8 - 1/50 - iso100


14mm - f8 - 1/40 - iso200 (not quite sure why I changed the iso!)

Hope you like the pics, any comments most welcome

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Wow Those pictures are incredible. I wish I could have the chance to visit this place one day. Is the land easily accessible? From the terrain, it seems quite wild.

The shots though are so crisp, colorful and perfect. Really good job on capturing them!

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Nikon D40x | AF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II | AF-S 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 VR

Thanks Andy! Yes, the place is easily accessible, but they've done it in a way so that the walkways are quite narrow and they don't kind of intrude into the scenery if you know what I mean. There's a whole path that goes right around the valley and every so often there are steps where you can go down onto the rocks, but they are a bit slippery and harzardous....worth it for photos though

It's turning into a bit of a tourist trap though.... well for Chinese tourists anyway. We went early and even at this time of year when there aren't that many tourists around, when we were leaving there was a huge coachload of people that had just arrived so we were lucky not to get caught behind them on the paths!

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Really nice shots Mark, especially number 3...

Did you tweak the colour, contrast and sharpness at all?

Thanks Gordon. Yes, the colours straight from the camera were pretty bland and didn't do the place justice at all. I had to add contrast and saturation to bring it up to how it really looks. For sharpness I finished with a high pass filter with a hard light blend and used an unsharp mask to make them pop more.

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Mark
Nikon D300 / Sigma 10-20mm / Nikkor 17-55 f2.8 / Nikkor 18-200mm VR / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 / SB600 Speedlight
Mark Amy Photography
My Squidoo lens - Images of China

Really good pics Mark, well done.

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Canon EOS 400D, Canon EOS 30V, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, EF 70-200mm f/4L USM, Speedlite 430EX, Kenko & Cokin filters

Great pics!!! Especially number 3. Well done!!!:D

(Borat accent) Very nice!

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Nikon D80+Nikkor 18-200mm VR f/3.5-5.6, Manfrotto tripod-190XDB/Head-804RC2
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hero_of_the_jay/

Great pics Mark
The 10-20mm is a gem during these shots !
Love pic 1 - the contrast of the water is so clear..

Just love the places you have been...

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Nikon D7000 and a bunch of Nikkors

Hey, great looking shots, In fact for a second I was sure that a Canon had taken them as I find Canon shots come out more punchy out the box, ragardless if the colours are as true to life as the D80's or not.

Any chance you could squeal on the exact enhancment levels? I.e in photoshop say, adjusted contrast to +7 etc.
-greg

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I've upped my Iso, now up yours.
Nikon D700, Nikon D80, Micro Nikkor 105 f2.8 AI-S,Nikon 85mm 1.8D, Nikon 50mm 1.8D, Nikon 35mm F2D, Nikon 16-35 f4 VR, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8 AF-S, Nikon 70-200VRII, Nikon 70-300mm VR, 300mm f2.8 AI IF ED, SB-800, SB-900. Noiseware pro,NIK Dfine, Nik Colour Effex, Nik Sharpener Pro