NORTHERN LANDSCAPE ISSUE # 01 * APRIL 2013
FEATURED WORK THE BIG CHALLENGE PANORAMA TUTORIAL THIS IS (HI)STORY!
HAVING COFFEE WITH RAOUL MADDEN
COVER LAKE LOUISE IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES by Raoul Madden Lake Louise in Banff National park, Canadian Rocky Mts. Image captured in the (very) early morning light with a Nikon D90 and 18-200 VR lens.
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FROM THE EDITOR And here am I, just 2 weeks before launching the magazine, with some fever and an sore throat trying to do my best to put this thing together. What to write? I have never done this before... Well, probably I should tell you why I did decide to create this magazine, right? Ok, let’s do it...
Editor Chief
The reason why I created this magazine was just “because”! I mean... why not put some of my skills at the service of something that can be a common good for some other people? Yes, I do believe in that! I do believe that if you try to work out in team instead of competing individually, sooner or later you will get something good in return. I didn’t invent this theory! There was a guy born in Palestine for about 2013 years ago that was already saying that! And the most famous person saying it for the last time was John Nash that even got a Nobel prize for it! - see the movie “A Beautiful Mind”. The man said “the best result will come if everyone in the group do what’s best for himself and the group!” - he can’t be wrong, can he??
Graphic Artist
João Figueiredo
Test readers Malin Lundgren, Daniela Monteiro, Sophie Brain
João Figueiredo
Web site www.northernlandscape.org
E-mail contact info@northernlandscape.org
Featured artist Raoul Madden
So, here I am, throwing a seed on the ground and hoping that this will be the best for myself and for the group! With this action, I am hoping to promote the best work (and it’s authors) of this amazing group, that can eventually bring more purchase on your shots (no promises, ok?) or can even be the vehicle for a better personal/ professional promotion! As for my side, what I am hoping to get with this, well... obviouslly the satisfaction of doing something awesome for my group and get some credit for it (I’m not going to be hypocrite about this!) in any possible way. And who knows, maybe all together we will be able to achieve amazing things... 3, 2, 1, lift off!
Northern Landscape Magazine • 3
02 About the cover 03 From the editor & technical data 06 March features 74 The BIG Challenge ~ March 81 Featured artist 82 Having coffee with Raoul Madden + his Featured works
84 NLM photo tutorial #1 92 This is (hi)story! 100 Northern Landscape: Some facts 103 Back cover artist 104 Back cover
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INDEX
Northern Landscape Magazine • 5
MARC FEATU 6 • Northern Landscape Magazine
CH URES 132 FEATURES
31 DAYS
Northern Landscape Magazine • 7
Dunnet Beach~ ~Chris Cardwell
Keep away from Me~ ~karina5
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A Cold Day At Cow Green ~ VoluntaryRanger
FEATURES IN DETAIL H
ere you can delight yourself with what were the first group features in more than two years!! If there is one thing that I am amazed with is that despite the group was in “coma” for about 3 years, it wasn’t so hard to convice people to come back, and above
all, come back with quality works! There are still around 1400 works left to moderate from all these years that the group was abandoned and people were just submiting their work into the group hoping for better days to come. Now the challenge will be to keep on moderating all these
images and trying to attract even more quality work into the group at the same time that I still have to select work to be or not featured!
Mam Tor Sunrise~ ~Mat Robinson Nome do autor e da fotografia
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Portaferry Sunset~ ~Fara Sunset along the Alaska Highway~ ~Yukondick
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Boreray from Hirta, St Kilda~ ~Christopher Thomson
EVENING LIGHT WASDALE..~ ~johnrace
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Owl House - Side View~ ~Patrick Kavanagh Reflection in the Bend~ ~John Dunbar
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Dancing Lights~ ~Ólafur Már Sigurðsson
NEIGHBOURS..~ ~johnrace
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Hathersage Moor Sunrise ~ John Dunbar
Train station in fog ~ Henrik Hansen 14 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Degeberga perspective V ~ JoĂŁo Figueiredo Dead Mans Hill~ ~James Elkington
Northern Landscape Magazine • 15
Reflection of Copenhagen~ ~Mjay
Aurora Borealis over Haja island -II ~ Frank Olsen 16 • Northern Landscape Magazine
October sunset ~ Agnes McGuinness Buachallie Etive Mor~ ~Andrew Littlejohn
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North Sea ~ Bogdan Ciocsan Elevated environment III~ ~zumi
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Beautiful Nidderdale ~ James Elkington
Above Scarhouse and Angram Reservoirs~ ~Kat Simmons
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Nordic Wilderness ~ Maria Sรถderlund
The Lone Fishing Boat~ ~Fara
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Mono world ~ clickinhistory
The Lake District: Grasmere Symmertry~ ~Rob Parsons
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Yin Yang Landform ~ Mui-Ling Teh
Silence at Sunrise~ ~John Dunbar
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Tangle Falls~ ~EchoNorth
Whiteswan Storm~ ~EchoNorth
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May The Light Shine Down On You~ ~Mark Williams
Lonesome Shell at Findhorn Beach~ ~Christopher Thomson 24 • Northern Landscape Magazine
Through the Glen~ ~kalaryder
Whistler Panorama~ ~Charles Kosina
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Heading East~ ~John Dunbar
A whiter shade of pale~ 26 • Northern Landscape Magazine ~Stephanie Owen
Hubberholme In Upper Wharfedale~ ~SteveMG
Wintery Pennines~ ~Stephanie Owen
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Little house~ ~zumi
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Nybrokajen, Stockholm ~ JoĂŁo Figueiredo
Scrabster Lighthouse~ ~Chris Cardwell
Dow Crag~ ~VoluntaryRanger
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Frozen~ ~Bogdan Ciocsan
Bogense~ ~Bogdan Ciocsan
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The Edge of Skye~ ~Jeanie
Nature 30~ ~BKSPicture
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The Golden Touches~ ~John Dunbar
Athabasca Falls 1 ~ Charles Kosina
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View from Strengen~ ~Algot Kristoffer Peterson rubha nam brathairean~ ~Jeanie
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The Road To Blencathra~ ~VoluntaryRanger
The river ~ pascalplus
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Muncho Lake~ ~Yukondick
Tay Bridge heading to Dundee~ ~dgscotland
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Blencathra..The Southern Aspect~ ~VoluntaryRanger
Drifting Morning Mist ~ John Dunbar
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The Road To The Fells~ ~VoluntaryRanger
Wyming Brook Valley~ ~John Dunbar
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Nature 13~ ~BKSPicture
Lapland~ ~Tim Topping
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The Brecon Beacons~ ~Steve Liptrot
Ogilvie River ~ Yukondick
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The Clocktower, Montreal~ ~NeilAlderney
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Aurora Borealis~ ~Ulf Bjolin
Cray’s Limestone Shelf~ ~SteveMG
Under the Bridge~ ~Roddy Atkinson Northern Landscape Magazine • 41
Hengifoss~ ~Roddy Atkinson
Sheep on Maiden Moor, Lake District, England~ ~JMChown
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Peaceful~ ~Brian Kerr
MORAINE LAKE~ ~Raoul Madden Northern Landscape Magazine • 43
Isle of Skye: Golden Glen Sligachan~ ~Angie Latham
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“Fiery sky II”~ ~peaky40
Morning Light on Eilean Donan Castle ~ Angie Latham
Bales ll~ ~Mark Williams
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Misty Idle Sunrise~ ~John Dunbar
Lake Louise, Rocky Mts, Canada~ ~Raoul Madden
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Mornings Embrace~ ~John Dunbar
The Old Man of Storr~ ~Brian Kerr
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Isle of Skye : Glen Sligachan~ ~Angie Latham
Sognefjell - Norway~ ~Arie Koene
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Water Path~ ~Tamara Al Bahri
Approaching The Old Man~ ~VoluntaryRanger
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Bubble on the bubble~ ~João Figueiredo
Skogar, Iceland~ ~Graeme Hyde
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Benbecula, Outer Hebrides, Scotland ~ Justin Foulkes
Misty dawn in Glen Affric, Scotland~ ~Justin Foulkes Northern Landscape Magazine • 51
Husky Sledge, Lapland~ ~Tim Topping
Marieholm’s bruk~ ~João Figueiredo
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Beyond the Dawn~ ~John Dunbar
Winter Sunset~ ~Silken Photography
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Reflections on Landmannalaugar~ ~Silken Photography Hengifoss Waterfall~ ~Silken Photography
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Moon over Helvellyn~ ~Justin Foulkes
Le Massif in Quebec at fall time~ ~Manon Boily
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Knik River Aurora~ ~mikewheels Isle of Skye: Sligachan Waterfalls~ ~Angie Latham
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Isle of Skye: Quiraing Sunrise~ ~Angie Latham
Coral Beach Panorama ~ mikebov
Northern Landscape Magazine • 57
Details of an enchated forest III~ ~JoĂŁo Figueiredo
Sunlight thru the trees.~ ~Stephen Thomas
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North Klondike River~ ~Yukondick
Views From A Lay-By In Spring~ ~VoluntaryRanger
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Dawn on the Farm~ ~John Dunbar Cruise Ship Anchored in Geiranger Harbour Surrounded by Mountains~ ~Gerda Grice
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Rural Norway~ ~Margaret Hyde
Milarochy~ ~mikebov
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HelnĂŚs Lighthouse~ ~Bogdan Ciocsan
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Icebergs in Jokulsarlon, Iceland~ ~Margaret Hyde
A Moment of Sunrise~ ~John Dunbar
Sunrise at St Mary’s Lighthouse~ ~John Dunbar Northern Landscape Magazine • 63
Snowfield II~ ~Ludwig Wagner
Tip Of The Point~ ~Jeanie
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Winter Trees I~ ~Ludwig Wagner
First Light ~ Jeanie
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White Pass Yukon Railroad~ ~Nancy Richard Norwegian Landscape IV~ ~Igor Shrayer
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Kaknästornet~ ~João Figueiredo
THE LONG ROAD HOME...~ ~johnrace
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Eilean Donan Castle at night~ ~Steve
Lighthouse at Chanonry Point, Black Isle, Scotland~ ~Steve
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Dark Sky over Norway~ ~Steve
Village Church Snowdonia~ ~AnnDixon
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Seton Lake, British Columbia, Panorama ~ Yannik Hay
Lake Moraine - Alberta, Canada~ ~Yannik Hay
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December Dawn~ ~John Dunbar
Clayworth to Hayton II~ ~John Dunbar
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The Jacobites Last Stand (Loch Arkaig, Lochaber, Highland Council, Scotland) ~ Yannik Hay The Buachaille~ ~Roddy Atkinson
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Fairy tale waters~ ~MarianBendeth Norwegian Fjord, 1972.~ ~johnrf
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THE BIG CHALL 74 • Northern Landscape Magazine
24 ENTRIES 60 VOTES 1 WINNER 6 DAYS FOR VOTING
LENGE ~ MARCH Northern Landscape Magazine • 75
LAKE LOUISE IN THE CANADIAN ROCKIES
RAOUL MADDEN
TOTAL 13 VOTES
STEVE LIPTROT THE BRECON BEACONS 11 VOTES
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THE BIG TOP TEN
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JOÃO FIGUEIREDO
RODDY ATKINSON
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VÄRNAMO & LAGAN
HENGIFOSS
6 VOTES
5 VOTES
CHARLES KOSINA
ANNDIXON
BLACK TUSK, BC
5 VOTES
TRAWSFYNYDD LAKE REFLECTION, NORTH WALES UK ....
JUSTIN FOULKES
REINEFJORDEN, LOFOTEN ISLANDS, NORWAY.
4 VOTES
4 VOTES
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BRIAN KERR
MISTY MORNING AT THREAVE CASTLE
MARK WILLIAMS
DGSCOTLAND
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BALES II
OVER THE BRIDGE
4 VOTES
4 VOTES
4 VOTES
FEATURED ARTIST RAOUL MADDEN
R
aoul Madden’s description of his chosen avatar for the Northern Landscape Magazine:
It is a the red-headed, white breasted male Gouldian Finch from Australia. It is a mutation. Normally they are purple breasted and there are actually three varieties in the wild: the red- headed, the black-headed and the yellow headed (that in fact is an orange rather than a yellow hue). I breed them !
THIS SHOT MADE RAOUL WIN OUR FIRST BIG CHALLENGE! Northern Landscape Magazine • 81
INTERVIEW # When did you join Redbubble? I joined redbubble in March 2009. # What can you tell us about yourself? I am a retired primary school teacher, enjoying life with my wife linda in Adelaide, South Australia. My northern connections are through my wife who is actually a canadian citizen. We met a decade ago while she was in Adelaide on exchange as an infant teacher from Edmonton, Alberta. Linda’s daughter and our grandson keep us going back to Canada. We have visited the Canadian Rockies three times now which suits me enormously as I am able to pursue my photography in earnest. The scenic wonders there are fabulous.
# How does photography fit in your life? And where do you want to get with it? Photography has been my hobby for many years but it was the digital revolution that revitalized my interest. I now never go anywhere without my camera bag. I belong to a camera club in Adelaide (Para Camera Club) that has many very good photographers…. google our website and LAKE LOU take a look. I like the competitive aspect of our club... we have monthly comps and guest judges. I really enjoy photographing landscapes, waterfalls and animals…. especially birds and I’m forever trying to improve on my last shot. If I was younger I would probably have tried to break into the professional ranks but I have photographed over a dozen weddings. I classify myself as a competent, amateur photographer always trying to improve.
# What photographic gear do you have? I use nikon gear. I began with a D70, upgraded to a D90 and now use a D7000. My lenses are limited but I do love the Nikon 18 – 200 VR for its versatility. I use the Nikon 70 – 300 Vr for capturing bird images. I have to say I’ve been well satisfied with both lenses.
# How does it feel to be the very first winner of our very first BIG CHALLENGE and have such a feature LAKE LOUISE IN THE CANADIAN on the first issue of our motnhly magazine? It is indeed an honour to have won the Big Challenge. My wife says I ROCKIES should enter more and perhaps enter some photgraphy comps outside redbubble. Maybe i will.
# Tell us about the winning shot! My image of lake Loise was taken at about 6.30 am one day in June a couple of years ago. When I arrived at the lake it was overcast and quite unspectacular but within ten minutes it cleared and at that time of the morning the reflections were magnificent. I was very happy with the results I got . I actually returned to the spot later in the day and all the reflections were gone... as you’ll often read, early morning and late afternoon light is the best for photos. How true it is.
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UISE, ROCKY MTS, CANADA
d k a
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Having coffee with Raoul Madden + his Featured works
# Describe us how would your perfect photo be! My perfect photo…. well, it would probably be a landscape from my home state of Tasmania where I grew up... what a photographer’s paradise that place is. If I was into photography when I was younger I would probably not have moved to mainland Australia. The perfect shot would be beautifully composed, sharp with appealing colour and contrast... no blown hilights and contain the wow factor, and hopefully be taken by me LOL. My advice to anyone wishing to improve their photography is to join a club, listen to suggestions and dont be afraid to ask questions, exercise lots of patience and above all, take lots of photos.
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MORAINE LAKE Northern Landscape Magazine • 83
NLM PHOTO T
MAKE FIRST CLASS PANORAMAS
Welcome to our very first tutorial my dear reader!! In this tutorial I will tell you how to make successfully a panorama in some simple steps. Here you can already see the final result, a panorama done with 4 images. No need for complicated techniques or expensive material, everyone can do this! Go ahead and turn the page and I will explain you step by step how I did this with a standard camera and some computer programs.
AT FIRST SIGHT THIS LOOKS LIKE A SHOT TAKEN WITH A WIDE ANGLE L 84 • Northern Landscape Magazine
TUTORIAL #1
LENS, BUT ACTUALLY I DON’T HAVE ONE! THIS IS A NICE STICHED PANORAMA! Northern Landscape Magazine • 85
M
any times we tend to make things complicated when in fact they are quite simple. Have you ever wanted to make great quality panoramas but never realley knew how? Well, here’s how to!
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MATERIAL YOU WILL NEED:
A camera. Nearly any camera will do! If you want to make this right, the camera shoud have a tripod dock, so that it can fit into a tripod.
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A tripod! You can have the tripod you want. If you don’t have a tripod, be creative, a bench, a chair, whatever that can make your camera stable while shooting. I once made a long exposue macro with my camera on the top of a pile of books!! Nothing is stupid as long as it works! Remember that when doing a panorama, the level of the different images is of extreme importance so that you don’t miss or crop something or even take a shot with the wrong angle! So, having your camera fastened to something or standing on a plane surface is the best thing you can do!
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A computer with some image processing software like Photoshop, Lightroom, GIMP, etc in order to put together our panorama. If you are searching for ways to do an HDR image (in case of doing an HDR panorama), I will not explain today how to do it, but you can also use Photoshop for HDR or the most popular one, Photomatix. Personally I use Oloneo PhotoEngine because I believe it is the best. You can use the ones you prefer, but in this tutorial we will be explaining everything with Adobe Photoshop CS6.
GETTING YOUR HANDS DIRTY: Many people say that you need to plan ahead before shooting. I am not going to say that you don’t need to do it, but I almost never do it. I choose a destination, take my material and go! When I am there things usually get quite obvious but it also happens that sometimes I need to take a look around before inspiration comes. If you can plan ahead, that’s good, but if you cannot, it’s not going to be the end of the world! In this case I was with my family in Stockholm for a few days and had nothing planed. I was doing things as I went and had an oportunity, so this
way you will be forced to try and explore and actually learn something! Load your files and play with the different options to see the results and choose the one you like the most. Else, just choose the auto option which is not allways the best option. Just make sure that the option “Blend Images Together” is on (marked in blue on the image on the right). This will make that your images appear smoothly attached to each other and not just place next to each other.
proves that even though it is good to have some planing, it is not 100% vital as long as you have your tripod and camera with you. So, just like boy scouts, “Be prepared”!
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As you can see in the images on the previous page, I decided to do the panorama by dividing my target into 4 pieces. But you can do it diferently! You can step back and divide the shot in two, or zoom in and divide the shot in 12. The more shots you have, the more work you will have in setting up the panorama but the better resolution and quality you will have on your final result! Remember that if you choose to have complex panoramas made with a lot of photos you will need a computer that can handle “heavy stuff” or otherwise there is a good chance of crashing the system or having to wait an eternity to make only one panorama.
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After you have taken the shots to your subject, open Photoshop. Do “File --> Automate --> Photomerge” (shown in the image above). You will see a window like the one shown below. Over there you should just explore the different options, so I will not tell you which one I did use for this tutorial. This
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As soon as your image is blended together, there is a very good chance that it will be distorted. That’s when you will have some fun playing with the Free Transform Tool. You can easilly access the tool by pressing “Ctrl+T” on a PC or “Command+T” on a Mac. What many people do not know about the Free Transform Tool is that you don’t use it only to scale the picture in matter. You can also add some perspective to it by clicking “Ctrl” key on a PC or the “Command” key in a Mac at the same time that you drag the corners of your photo! This way you can correct all the distortions that Photoshop did while it was creating the panorama! Check images on the next page!
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The image on the left shows how Photoshop delivered my panorama in the first place. To help me out, I allways place some guides before I play with the Free Transform Tool, it allways helps out to keep a straight horizon at the same time that these guidelines help me out to have a good picture of what can be cropped for the final photo. All I have to do is put the guidelines near the where I want to crop later on. Everything that is not inside of the rectangle created by the guidelines is going to be cropped later on. I could have push the guideline on the left a bit more, but I wanted that the focus of the eye would be the main building. Therefore I decided to sacrifice a bit of the image in order to get more focus where I wanted. The second image on the left shows how it looks like when using the Free Transform Tool. As yoou can see, I am pressing the “Ctrl” key on my keyboard at the same time that I am dragging the bottom left corner to the inside and the top left corner down. I do this until the weird distortion effect disapears so that in the final result you can’t even notice that this is a panorama. But in your shots the boss is you! You can allways decide how much of perspective you want on your panoramas! If you are using as many photos as I did in order to make the panorama, there is no need for worries when streching out the image because after blending together 4 or more photos your image will be big enough for any croping you may need. You will also need to be a bit intuitive when you decide where you are going to crop. You need to think about what do you have in your image that can be saved from croping and not. For instance, in this case there is a lot of blue sky. A very nice and smooth blue that can easily
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be cloned or disguised. This means that I can allways extend the border of my canvas outside of the limit of the photo itself because later on it will be easy to “manufacture” more blue sky! After you are done with the Free Transform Tool just press “Enter” key and let the computer do it’s work. When it’s ready, press “M” on your keyboard in order to select the Rectangular Marquee Tool and select the area inside of your guidelines. Go to “Image” and select “Crop”. At the left you can see what was the result.
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Step 4: Fixing the damages! This where the fun begins: fixing errors and “inventing” missing parts! Before I start to explain the image above, I need as well to explain that Photoshop has created masks when blending your images together instead of just croping them and puting them together. This means that if your image does not get a final result as clean as mine, you can allways select the desired mask on the layers window and hide or show how much you like of each photo. You do this by selecting the brush tool and painting the mask with black or white. Black for hiding and white to show. Now, analising the image show above: Just like the image above is showing, you will need to press with the right button of your mouse (single long click on
a MAC) on your layers to gain acces to their options. Press where it says “Merge Layers”. This will merge all layers and masks into a single layer, allowing you to fix all the missing parts of your image. You could keep the layer masks on, but it would give you much more work fixing everything. This is a much simplier way. If you are worried about keeping the original layers, save a PSD file before you do this step. After you are done with the layer merge, all you have to do is press the “S” key in order to get access to the Clone Stamp Tool. With this tool you can clone the contents of an image. All you have to do is press “Alt” key to select the area you want to clone from and then click with your mouse on the place where you want to produce the clone! Nothing more simple...
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WANT TO SEND US YOUR TUTORIAL?
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MA
AIL US TO:
FINAL RESULT!
INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG
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THIS IS (HI)ST
THE MAGIC OF FORTER CASTLE Built by the Ogilvys of Airlie in 1560 to protect the entrance to the Balloch pass to Glenshee and then the more important pass to Royal Braemar, Forter Castle stands proudly in solitude and peace. But the Highland air was not always so peaceful at the time of construction, with fighting between the Scottish clans regularly shattering the tranquil setting. The majority of the fighting was based on religious differences between Catholics and Protestants. This amazing building was the choice of international singer Mick Hucknell of Simply Red for his wedding.
DEREK GERRARD TELLS US A GREAT STORY ABOUT FORTER CASTLE AND 92 • Northern Landscape Magazine
TORY!
HOW THIS AMAZING LANDMARK BECAME FOREVER A PART OF HIS LIFE Northern Landscape Magazine • 93
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uilt by the Ogilvys of Airlie in 1560 to protect the entrance to the Balloch pass to Glenshee and then the more important pass to Royal Braemar, Forter Castle stands proudly in solitude and peace. But the Highland air was not always so peaceful at the time of construction, with fighting between the Scottish clans regularly shattering the tranquil setting. The majority of the fighting was based on religious differences between Catholics and Protestants.
It stands in a commanding position and has natural barriers all around, such as the approach to Glenshee with its lofty mountain peaks, making it difficult for trouble makers to negotiate. The elevated position makes it especially difficult to take the castle by surprise from any angle.
The castle was equipped with the very best defences known at the time and when put to test, it faired very well.
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But one cold night in 1640, it eventually fell under the force of attack of a group in excess of five thousand men, backed by heavy artillery. The castle was destroyed and raised to the ground.
The grounds lay in ruin until the estate was purchased by the Pooley family in 1998. They were faced with debris a metre thick and two mature trees had flourished in the centre of the rubble. The only inhabitants of Forter Castle for the last 340 years! They assembled craftsmen from all over Scotland, many who were skilled in long-forgotten techniques and the restoration began.
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It took over 2 years to finish the re-building of the main structure and the re-instatement of the rooms.
The Great Hall with its oak panelled ceiling supported by 12” thick beams and hand-painted mural proved to be particularly impressive. This alone taking over 30 days to complete. On the 7th of July 1990, the 350th anniversary of the castle’s destruction, Robert Pooley held a gathering to celebrate the re-birth. The interior was designed by Robert’s daughter, Katharine, who has an interior design business in London.
She drew on all her experience and found inspiration from her world-wide travels. The castle is filled with antique paintings and treasures from Tasmania to Nepal and each room is a little, unique gem in itself.
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Forter is now used as by the family as a Highland retreat from the stresses of London life. Somewhere to come and enjoy the pure, clean air of Scotland and the rolling scenery. Also, the castle is popular as a venue for weddings and corporate hire. Indeed, it was the choice of international singer Mick Hucknell of Simply Red for his wedding. He said to the media that he was going to Scotland to do some fishing. Looks like he returned with more than just a nice salmon. Set in a truly stunning location in Perthshire, just 20 minutes from my hometown of Dundee, it may not be the largest castle around, but it is one of the most magical. Surrounded by purple heather and steep mountains, their summits lost in the mist, you would struggle to paint a prettier picture.
Why is this place so special to me? Well I also chose Forter Castle as the venue for my wedding 18 months ago.
BY DEREK GERRARD
WANT TO SEND US A STORY ABOUT YOUR LOCAL HERRITAGE?
MAIL US TO:
INFO@NORTHERNLANDSCAPE.ORG
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NORTHERN L SOME FACTS
This is a photography only group about in all the northern countries: Alaska (and Alaska only, not the whole USA), Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, UK, Ireland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany’s and Poland’s Baltic Coastline, Belarus and northern Russia. The northernmost point of all these countries is the Kaffeklubben Island (83° 40’ N 31° 37’ W) , a territory under the administration of Greenland which in it’s turn belongs to the Danish Realm. The secon northernmost point is Cape Columbia in the Ellesmere Island in the Nunavut territory (83° 07’ N 69° 57’ W). Closing the top 3 we have Cape Fligeli at the Rudolf Island, in the Arkhangelsk Oblast - Russian Federation (81° 51’ N 59° 14’ E) in which it is as well the northernmost point of the European continent.
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LANDSCAPE -
FACTS T
his month the Northern Landscape Magazine is featuring the UK in it’s April issue. Here’s some info based on it’s Wikipedia page: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom or UK) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another country — the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the west and north, the North Sea in the east, the English Channel in the south and the Irish Sea in the west. The form of government is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. The capital city is London. It consists of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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The latter three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capital cities, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast respectively. Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man are Crown dependencies and are not part of the UK. The United Kingdom has fourteen British Overseas Territories.These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, encompassed almost a quarter of the world’s land surface and was the largest empire in history. The UK is a developed country and has the world’s sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and eighth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world’s first industrialised country and the world’s foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946. It has been a member of the European Union and its predecessor the European Economic Community since 1973; it is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G8, the G20, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization. The UK’s de facto official language is English. Four Celtic languages are spoken in the UK: Welsh; Irish; Scottish Gaelic; and Cornish. The first three are recognised as regional or minority languages, subject to specific measures of protection and promotion under relevant European law. Cornish, although recognised, is not specifically protected. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh, an increase from the 1991 Census (18%).In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England. In the same census in Northern Ireland 167,487 people (10.4%) stated that they had “some knowledge of Irish”, almost exclusively in the nationalist (mainly Catholic) population. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides. The number of schoolchildren being taught through Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish is increasing. Among emigrantdescended populations some Scottish Gaelic is still spoken in Canada (principally Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island), and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina. Scots, a language descended from early northern Middle English, has limited recognition alongside its regional variant, Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland, without specific commitments to protection and promotion. Major sports, including association football (soccer), rugby league, rugby union, rowing, boxing, badminton, cricket, tennis, darts and golf, originated or were substantially developed in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. In most international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland usually field a single team representing all of Ireland, with notable exceptions being association football and the Commonwealth Games. The 1908, 1948 Olympic Games and 2012 were held in London, making it the first city to play host for a third time. A 2003 poll found that football (soccer) is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom.
102 • Northern Landscape Magazine
BACK COVER ARTIST S
teve Liptrot owns our last page and back cover. All he did was entering a stunnign shot into our monthly BIG Challenge. Not so complicated, you can also do the same, and if people like your shot you can achieve the same as Steve did! As you can see on the images here, Steve got tied in the first place with Raoul Madden, both with 6 votes. Steve’s entry got in first place due to he placed his shot into the challenge before Raoul, but both had 6 votes. Therefore I decided that it would be fair to do a tiebreaker challenge where we would know once and for all who would get the the first place. In the tiebreaker challenge Steve got a honorous second place in a very tight race where the vote difference was of only two votes. After all, it was a challenge between the two best shots of our BIG Challenge! Here’s some words about Steve writen by the own in his Redbubble profile: “I have always had an interest in photography from a very early age. It was my dad’s fault! He bought me a Kodak for a Christmas present which took twelve black and white grainy photos and since then I have been hooked! I originate from Chorley, Lancashire but now I am based in Blaenavon, South Wales. I am an Aerospace technician which takes me all over the UK. My dream is to be a Professional Photographer. Maybe one day…… Enjoy my images” - Steve
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NORTHERN LANDSCAPE ISSUE 01 * APRIL 2013
THE BRECON BEACONS BY STEVE LIPTROT
The Brecon Beacons (Welsh: Bannau Brycheini o g ) i s a m o u n t a i n r a n g e i n S o u t h Wa l e s , U K . Nikon D3 _ Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens
NORTHERN LANDSCAPE MAGAZINE - ISSUE #1 - APRIL 2013