| Cool cab, Cuba! | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 7D | Lens: EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM | Date: 17-11-2010 23:43 | ISO: 1600 | Exp. bias: -1/3 EV | Exp. Time: 1/6s | Aperture: 10.0 | Focal Length: 15.0mm (~24.3mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM | |
This doesn’t need much explanation. Forgive the slight camera shake, but a 1950s Ford Consul does vibrate a bit. Who cares!
| Bolting horse buggy, Vinales, Cuba | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 7D | Lens: EF-S15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM | Date: 17-11-2010 22:06 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: 0 EV | Exp. Time: 1/50s | Aperture: 8.0 | Focal Length: 53.0mm (~85.9mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM | |
I wanted to use the shot of the old guy with the cigar to illustrate my main post, but this was arguably yesterday’s shot of the day. The buggy had just become trapped on the edge of a building while trying to turn round, and the horse was getting a bit nervous. A passerby freed the buggy, and it shot off like a greyhound out of a trap. Fortunately for once I was quick on the button, and my Canon honoured its sporting roots!
| 0410 40D 0586 a TM | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 25-04-2010 21:40 | Resolution: 2577 x 3866 | ISO: 200 | Exp. Time: 1/159s | Aperture: 7.09 | Focal Length: 22.0mm (~35.7mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
I’ve been playing around with the previous image a bit more, and I’ve come up with this version – taken from a single original RAW file, but processed twice as a sort of “pseudo HDR” to knock back the highlights and open up the shadows slightly.
It conveys a completely different mood to the other version. I’m torn between them: the first conveys a slightly ethereal feel, but I suspect will look too dark on some monitors and prints. The second is a much more straightforward “happy garden” shot, really bringing out the colours, but losing some of the fascinating complexity of the tree’s shadows.
What do you think?
| Fallen blossom from a Malay Apple tree, at the Andromeda Tropical Gardens, Bathsheba, Barbados | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 25-04-2010 21:40 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: -2/3 EV | Exp. Time: 1/160s | Aperture: 7.1 | Focal Length: 22.0mm (~35.7mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
Although I love tropical gardens, photographing them can be a challenge: there’s often so much greenery that isolating a subject becomes a real challenge, and since most are closed during the “golden hours”, you can be battling quite harsh light and very high dynamic range. My previous visits to the Andromeda Botanic Gardens on Barbados have always suffered from this – I’ve come away failing to do justice to the beauty in front of me.
This year, however, luck was with me. We came round a bend to be met by this amazing sight – a Malay Apple tree (Syzygium malaccense), coming to the end of a dramatic blossoming, with the discarded blossoms forming a wide pink carpet.
This shot is pretty much as it came out of the camera, just a slight tweak to vibrance and curves – no HDR trickery needed on this occasion. I have done an HDR treatment which lightens up the shadows a bit, but I’m not sure it’s an improvement. I might post that as well and see what people think.
Score 1 to the Andromeda Gardens!
| Grockles! Other tourists (I suppose I have to admit I was one of them :) ) taking in the sunset at Oia, Santorini | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Date: 30-09-2009 16:56 | ISO: 200 | Exp. Time: 1/60s | Aperture: 6.3 | Focal Length: 110.0mm (~178.4mm) | Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | |
Well, I’ve finally finished processing my shots from last year’s trip to Santorini. As expected, lots of blue church domes and sunsets over the caldera, but a few more unusual images as well. The sunset light there really is quite magical, and lifts even the banal to something special. Getting a spot in Oia for the sunset show can be a bit of a challenge, as the above shows.
The portfolio also includes some of my most successful underwater pictures so far. I’m finally getting the hand of using my Canon G10 underwater, and then properly post-processing the shots.
Let me know what you think.
Andrew
| Sunset over the Caldera, Santorini | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 01-10-2009 16:59 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: -1/3 EV | Exp. Time: 1/250s | Aperture: 8.0 | Focal Length: 38.0mm (~61.6mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
Sorry there was no photoblog post last week, but I was busy processing my shots from the wedding of my good friend, Dave.
Here’s a third (and, I promise, final) “Caldera Sunset” shot from my Santorini trip. This one works, I think, because of the way the ripples on the sea and the clouds repeat similar shapes. Let me know what you think.
| "Caldera Sunset Zen" Oia, Santorini | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 30-09-2009 16:12 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: 0 EV | Exp. Time: 1/125s | Aperture: 5.6 | Focal Length: 47.0mm (~76.2mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
I’m making good progress on sorting out my photos from last year’s Santorini trip, with the intention of getting them finished before the anniversary… 🙂
I was going to publish a series of the Caldera sunsets in weekly instalments. I may still do that, but processing this wonderfully peaceful image made a slight departure from the plan irresistible.
I call it “Caldera Sunset Zen”. Let me know if you like it.
| Sunset over the Caldera, Santorini | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 29-09-2009 16:46 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: 0 EV | Exp. Time: 1/400s | Aperture: 7.1 | Focal Length: 110.0mm (~178.4mm) | Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | |
I’m finally getting round to processing the shots from my Santorini trip – only about a year late! The sunsets over the Caldera really are quite amazing. Here’s one, and I’ll post a couple more over the next few weeks.
Also, if you’re interested, I’ve recently added more shots from Europe last year to my online album. Have a look and let me know what you think.
| View from the end of Wollestraat, Bruges, at sunset | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 7D | Lens: EF-S17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 20-08-2010 20:57 | ISO: 1600 | Exp. bias: -5/3 EV | Exp. Time: 1/4s | Aperture: 5.0 | Focal Length: 17.0mm (~27.5mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
After writing “What I Want From My Next DSLR” I finally bit the bullet and upgraded my two DSLRs. While they are basically superb cameras, one, my new Canon 7D, is badly let down by some very poor ergonomics. This article describes my findings so far, what the cameras do well, and the things about the 7D I really don’t like!
| The Motor Museum in Turin gives cars something rather unusual: space. This is the entrance hall, featuring a FIAT concept eco-car. | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Date: 20-08-2009 10:28 | ISO: 200 | Exp. Time: 1/100s | Aperture: 11.0 | Focal Length: 17.0mm (~27.6mm) | Lens: Canon EF-S 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM | |
There are lots of great car museums in the world, and I’ve visited more than a few. However, the majority are difficult or impossible to photograph, unless you’re a “down in the details” sort of photographer, which I’m definitely not.
The honourable exception is the Museo Dell’Automobile “Carlo Biscaretti Di Ruffia” in Turin, Italy. Here the curators have given the cars something they almost never have in other museums: space. The result is a beautifully lit environment for the equally beautiful exhibits, and when I visited last year I managed to make several images I’m very happy with. Visit my portfolio, and see whether you agree.
(PS – according to their website, the Museo Dell’Automobile is currently closed for restoration works, so please check the website before you visit.)
We used to take the mickey out of Japanese user manuals for not being written very well. My favourite example was “engine not turning very round”, although sadly I suspect that may have been apocryphal.
Now, I think there’s a danger they are swinging the opposite way. Yesterday, in the manual for my new Canon 7D, I found a word I never expected to find in a camera user manual: “hereinafter”. Correctly used as well, but is this quite the language we expect of a user manual for the masses?
| Front of the Grand Hotel Suisse, Montreux, Switzerland | |
| Camera: Canon EOS 40D | Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | Date: 14-08-2009 18:12 | ISO: 200 | Exp. bias: 1/3 EV | Exp. Time: 1/1600s | Aperture: 6.3 | Focal Length: 110.0mm (~178.4mm) | Lens: Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM | |
Here’s a picture from my Swiss trip last year. I was a little disappointed with my shots from Montreux – it’s such a compact town it’s very difficult to isolate the buildings and features from one another. However, I’m reasonably pleased with this one. The palette’s great: everything the same yellow and red, with the rest almost monochrome (I haven’t made any adjustments apart from a slight overall saturation boost). Of course, if I’d been taking a commercial shot with the hotel’s permission I’d have tried to get all the blinds deployed to the same length, but I didn’t have that control. Still, I think it’s balanced enough to work.
Let me know what you think.
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