Parliament HDR

Canada's Parliament in all its grandeur! I took this a while ago. I have two more on my Flickr account. The other one was done with Photoshop which I do believe is possible to make HDR images with. In fact it is possible to do so with the quality of photomatix. However it is TONNES of work as it involves lots of masking and blending!

There is distortion in this picture... however it has to do with physics and not the lens. I am taking this shot from a low point shooting upwards. Personally i think it adds to the grandeur of the architecture. For those of you who have actually been to Parliament Hill you will understand that getting level with the building is hard to do because, as the name implies, the building is on a hill and that every other building is restricted to lower height building regulation.

In any case.. the D300 and D3 have been announced today along with 2 professional zooms and a bunch of prime tele's. The debate running through my head right now is if I should get the D300 which is still a DX format camera.. or the 24-70mm 2.8. Both I have been waiting for... for quite some time now!Anyway I have until November to decide and then I will have to fight pretty hard for one!

EXIF available on flickr just click on the image!

Relic of the Past

I am very satisfied with this program. I guess alot of stuff still needs to be learned as alot of the highlights are still blown out in this image. However, being my first real HDR, I decided to post this.

I really like this photo because it reminds me of the Hogwart's Express... haha Cheers to J.K. Rowlings for her work which has brought happiness and joy to countless millions!

Best Viewed Large to see all the detail!

EXIF on Flickr

Steven Avenue HDR

My second attempt at HDR (I am addicted already). I used less of the colour smoothing tool and it gave a painting effect much like many of the HDR shots I have seen on Flickr. Again some of the highlights are washed out, I need to investigate into this!

Taking pictures in downtown Calgary always brings about a new experience. This time while taking some shots a homeless man came up to me claiming that I did not ask for his permission to take his photo and that I was violating his "Rights," which I guess is all he has. Naturally, with all my camera gear on me I did not want any confrontation and I had to show him the pictures I took to get rid of him. Teddy Roosevelt once said "speek softly but carrying a big stick," I guess my monopod with ballhead attached will be that big stick next time I venture alone downtown at night.

This shot is nothing out of the ordinary because many people have done it before. Nevertheless I found it to be quite intriguing! However, like my older shots I will probably pooh pooh it later!

My first attempt is on flickr, just click on the picture and it will bring you to my account!

EXIF on Flickr

Reflections in Motion

Just got off work... FREEDOM.. I pulled out my camera... but there wasn't really anything interesting. Taking candid pictures of people is always difficult. If noticed you just look and feel like a creeper! Using a Hasselblad for candid is a bit better because most people don't know what you are doing or how a Hasselblad works. Lets hope I find a reasonably priced one soon!

I must admit... i didn't intend for this shot to turn out this way.. rather I was trying to get some good motion blur.

EXIF on flickr

Natural Springs

Went to Big Hill Springs by Cochrane on the weekend. However, I am not really totally happy with this shot. I guess what the eye sees and what the lens sees is two different things. From my perspective I was able to see more of the waterfall above the left rock. However from the camera's angle that part is missing. Oh well I guess you learn from your mistakes.

I took a few more of these shots on Reala and Velvia on my F100. We shal see how those turn out later.

EXIF on flickr. Just click on the picture!

Tranquility

On my way to Big Hill Springs. We stumbled across this field. At first there was a shadow cast directly on the house and flowers in the distance. However by the time we got out of the car and got the camera ready the light was gone. I took some of this scene with my F100 as well. We shal see later how those turn out!

EXIF available on Flickr just click on the shot!

Ultimate Sharpness

Creating an image that is sharp with the utmost precision is indeed a very difficult task. A mirror lock up function would help but the D70 does not have this feature. The wind is also a variable that needs to be put into consideration and of course lens blur/out of focus region/depth of view must also be put into consideration.

Of course composition, the mood and feel of the picture should always come first. This is an aspect of photography that I know I need to keep in mind.

This shot was taken on an overcast day. August in Alberta is supposed to be HOT. However it feels more like spring as constant rain barely double digit temperature has loomed for most of this week. However, overcast means plenty of white light, perfect conditions for portraits and macro

EXIF available on Flickr

Flames

I realize that my posting has been on the low side as of late. I have been using my F100 quite a bit lately. Needless to say finishing a roll of film and development takes a bit of time.

Fire has always been an intriguing thing for me and I have always wanted to take a shot of it. However, I discovered that it is not the easiest of things to shoot. Overexposure is a constant plague. A shot with good dynamic range is just difficult.

Again I had to use layers to improve the midtones of this shot.

Exif available on flickr

Dragonfly

My second attempt at taking shots of dragonflies. The results were much better however I didn't get any spectacular depth of view. Utilizing a f/stop over 18 significantly diminishes the resolution of the shot so I refrained from that. Perhaps backing up a bit and cropping would be a good idea.

Nevertheless, by delving into the macro world you will undoubtedly notice the intricacies of life.

Best viewed large!

exif on flickr

Warm Summer Light

Nothing really special about this shot but I really like the effects of the warm summer sunset. This particular evening was actually primarily intended for my F100 and my Fuji Reala film however I had my D70s with me since i was taking pictures of dragonflies earlier... didn't really get any good shots though = (

This is a shot of the Calgary skyline during magic hour.

Exif on flickr

A Step into the Past

It has been hard keeping this blog up to date. Recently I have been just posting these pictures on my flickr space (www.flickr.com/photos/drfung/)

I took this shot on the red mile on July 22, 2007. It was a very bright day and not the ideal light for shooting. As a result I had to process this shot quite a bit on Photoshop. I used my newly acquired skills in the use of layers and managed to come up with this.

EXIF on Flickr (Just click on the picture)