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FINISHED! Boulder Field - High Plateau between Kunanyi Summit and Thark Ridge - OOC - 22" X 42"
Got the canvas covered tonight.
This is on the mountain about 30 minutes from my house in Hobart. It's a wild place. No one lives up here. It's too cold and windy and covered in snow for months each year. There is a narrow road up to a viewing point near the summit. It's very popular with tourists who make day trips up here. They get out of their cars and usually take photos in the opposite direction - looking down on the city and the sea - then hop back in their cars and drive down again. They miss so much.
Still many adjustments to make - it's still a WIP. If anyone can see things that need fixing or that don't read right I'd really like to hear it. If there are things about it that you like it I'd appreciate hearing about that, too.
Thanks for looking and commenting.
Rob
(Edit: I've replaced the original WIP photo with this better one taken in sunlight which shows the painting at its almost complete stage. )
Comments
Here's a better photo taken with my camera in grey daylight. It still doesn't capture much of the structure in the clouds which I tried to adjust post exposure but without much success.
There's still some to do on this - I need to do more work on the rocks for example.
Thanks again all for your comments.
That's how I felt when I stood there marveling at the jagged ranges and the boulders strewn across the plateau.
I took this photo in sunlight with my Olympus camera but the structure in the clouds just doesn't show up. The camera can't pick up the subtleties in value in the clouds. The sky overall is very bright even though it's overcast. I tried to adjust it post exposure but without much success.
Still, I'm pretty satisfied with the painting. It will be the first in my "Mountain" series. Let me know if you see problems. And if you think it's ok, I'd like to hear that, too.
Thanks for the comments thus far.
Rob
Great painting.
Skies will never behave if you want correct exposure for the land. The contrast is just too disparate.
The solution is to prepare for this in advance. A polarising filter helps. Best solution is to take a bracket of exposures at the same time and place. Stop down the aperture for the sky shot and use the meter for the ground shot. The two can be digitally stitched together. Some cameras can achieve this gymnastic trick with a setting called High Dynamic Range but it’s easy to lose reality.
Denis
Next time I'll try taking a photo of the sky part of a painting and then one of the land part separately. Then I'll try to stitch the two together in Affinity Photo.
On my Samsung S20 phone there is an HDR setting but I've found it makes things look weird - values and colour out of whack everywhere - so I don't use it.
Cheers
Rob
Yes, some of those are big. And the shapes are weird. It's the way dolerite weathers I think. It flakes off in layers. And the wind up there gets them from mostly one angle and produces these blade like shapes. So, in fact, they're ventifacts. I love the different coloured lichens on them, too.
Some stunning HDR shots on the web of Mt Wellington. Shows the value of a good sky.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/iksanaimagery/15985550248
Denis
Yes, the Australian landscape has a particular look. And Tasmania even more so. Apart from a few high spots on the mainland Tasmania was the only area in Australia that was covered in ice caps and glaciers during the last glaciation and that helped produce it's unique look. Then there's the weird fauna and flora.
Yes, I did a web search before I went up and took my own photos. I've got more trips up there planned for winter. It's very photogenic. But I can't just paint the usual pretty shots with photoshopped skies for my show. I've got to work to get unique views that few people see when they drive up there. The shot you posted is the classic tourist shot of Hobart and the river from near the summit . Few people venture off the walkway. But it's off the walkway that the best bits are to be found. Some of the rock formations up there are amazing if you walk just a few hundred meters off the walkway. There are marked trails but it's very hard going.
I've spent a year painting close-up rocks and water. Hopefully, these more expansive views of the mountain will get better as I get used to painting them. I hate winter but this year I'm impatient for it to arrive so I can go up there and get some snow shots.