Having been to India more than a few times, I’ve come to appreciate the simplicity of life there. Most of us feel we need much more than this to be happy but the quality of lives don’t depend on the things we have. At least it’s not the complete picture. I thought this image embodied the essence of how I experienced that land. This old man probably didn’t own much more that what he was wearing. Water, symbolizing life and the stonework, somewhat worn and broken, symbolic of time. This scene could have been the same centuries ago.
Seaweed pile
I liked the way this pile of seaweed presented itself on the shoreline. Somewhat dramatic lighting at the end of the day. Slightly darkened around the edges for artistic effect.
Rome
I had a brief stay in Rome in 2007. Loved the Umbrella pines which gave a distinctive look to the streets and worked well with the architecture having expansive canopies but allowing you to see through them. Canon 10D (most likely).
This looks to me like a set of a movie - actors waiting around for cameras to roll. It was too long ago now to remember the location.
Old and New
Taken around 2014 in Tasmania: Nikon D800E 18mm lens.
Beach Scene
This scene, in particular the sky looks heavily manipulated. In fact, it looks like some battle taking place in the heavens. A simple double conversion from a standard jpg taken on the iPhone to Fujicolor Pro 400H then to BW with a yellow filter. Actually a very pleasant spring day with lighting that was a little dramatic. I regret not having the regular camera at hand.
Storage Solutions
I had about a dozen archival photo storage boxes where I used to live and had them stored in a shed. They didn’t directly come in contact with water but it’s a mountain region that’s pretty wet a lot of the time. Anyway, after sitting around for several years, I went to retrieve them. Alas…
I had to sacrifice them. Probably around 200+ prints (A3 and A4).
Three elements
Although not visible in this image, there was a howling wind. This is a 4 sec exposure so water surface is also smoothed out. Sand texture was nicely detailed. A few shots didn’t work out as the tripod couldn’t be kept still enough even standing in front of it.
Six Poles
This photo was taken at 7:50pm if the EXIF data is correct. Late evening in Tasmania on the east coast. It’s from 2014 and I’m just processing it now. Not a very long exposure as is popular nowadays (thank you Michael Kenna). I don’t mind a little texture or movement in the water. I never noticed the wispy clouds near the moon adding a little something more to the mix.
Nearly missed out
I’m finding more and more that when going on photo trips by car, it pays to allow some extra time for unscheduled stops. Especially, if the weather provides good photographic conditions. Nothing worse than having ordinary weather for a stay then conditions changing on a return trip and having to drive straight back with little time for a break. I tend to do random stops anyway and arrive late at my destination.
Returning last year from a trip to Victoria, I came through some country towns and places that I wasn’t familiar with as notable photo destinations. This location - Woolshed Falls, was one of those places. It was a few kilometres out of the way and somehow I’m reluctant to make detours when time is limited and it turns out the waterfall may have dried up or some other unknown factor is at play. In this case I was happy I took the risk. A little gem of a place with very few people strolling around or perched on rocks for lengthy periods. For that reason, weekdays are a good options for travel.
Mad Tree disease
I posted this image about 10 years ago. You may not have scrolled back that far in the blog so here it is again. Driving through New Norfolk in Tasmania, this tree was some 100 metres from the road but stood out. It resembled a crazy person to me at the time. What made it more interesting was the passive cow standing nearby. Mad cow disease was in the news around this period and this image seemed to reflect a reversal of roles.
A side note - in the conversion process from a colour image, I’ve been using a baseline starting point, and this is useful whether you’re processing for either colour or B&W. Instead of selecting Landscape, Vivid or even Adobe colour, in the profile option select Adaptive colour. Check out Mark Denney’s explanation on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KijswhEgovs&t=2s) for a detailed explanation as to why this is a more useful option. You will need to start out with a RAW file to make use of this setting.
Yangshuo, China
China is such a reflective place. As a photographer there is a lot to take in. On the whole I didn’t see a lot of tourists. This photo was taken around September 2007. Looking back, I would have liked to stay here for several days instead of just passing through. It requires more time to explore, but it’s a goldmine really - plenty of atmosphere and old world charm. It’s so refreshing to be in a place that has a lot less of the modern trappings. Colours here are rich and muted. It was either misty or drizzling for most of this portion of the trip. These limestone stacks are a common sight in this area, not far from Guilin. Access was along the Li River. I was fortunate enough to have a translator ( a friend who was Chinese ). Otherwise, travel, food and accommodation would have been much more complicated.
Cormorant man was well known and sought after apparently for promo purposes.
Small format
I can’t remember which camera I used for this photo. I suspected the Olympus EM5 MKIII. The original seems to have disappeared from my drives and so this conversion comes from the jpg file. Not a rubbish camera by any means and certainly portable. If the weather is bad I can pretty much hide the camera in a pocket. The 12-24mm f2.8 produces as good result as either the Nikon 24-70mm or the equivalent Canon lens. Who cares if the f stop is closer to f5.6 on full frame. For most landscape images it’s neither here nor there. However…. I believe this was taken with an iPhone! The file numbering gave it away after closer scrutiny.
This image, apart from the excellent detail produced in the rock, shows how nicely suited to landscape photography the 4x3 format is. All the diagonals in this image give it a significant dynamic effect. Fortunately no highlights were clipped/harmed in the making of this image.
B & W Processing
There are so many ways to convert a colour image to B &W these days. At the turn of this century maybe before some of the current batch of software was developed, I remember using channels. A good range of options were provided through that process. Nowadays, depending on your ‘upbringing’ in the B & W genre, that may still be your choice.
My preference is to begin with a flat file, meaning less contrast, less saturation with brightness levels also reduced so that the file isn’t close to clipping in the highlights. Then Silver Efex provides plenty of options: I use a variation of 6-8 of those of which I typically use 3-4 depending on the nature of the image - if it has clouds or snow etc. My most used are probably More Silver and Full Dynamic (smooth). Neither are too dramatic with the More Silver leaning a bit stronger towards the darker tones. These can be moderated if required by using the yellow filter option. Finally, if it’s still too dark, going to Shadow/Highlight adjustment in PS can slightly raise the darks further if required.
Bent tree
Quite a while back I posted a photo of this tree from another angle. Although only a small portion of it is visible, there are a couple of elements that help make the image work: The bush on the left serves to keep focus on the tree shape with it’s lumpy root. above ground and the thinner vine like roots/branches add a little interest also. It was snowing on this day but not much has penetrated the forest floor at this point.
There was a time
when… I would have only seen and printed this image in higher contrast. I find it useful now to see these images in a more high key way. Where the subject of the image is not so contrasted and removed from the supporting elements but the unity of the image is maintained. We are so used to every image having ‘punch’ and stand out characteristics. We make every effort to separate the elements. I wonder if the Japanese have a word for this?
No Lifeguard Today
Egyptian style
Taken from the waterNSW website: The gates were inspired by the popularity of all things Egyptian following the discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. Construction of Cordeaux Dam started in 1918 and was completed in 1926.
The dam itself can be seen at the end of the walkway. Below also some young gum trees and bushland.
Window view
Shame on me. I have lived in this area for over 5 years and I’m visiting this place (Cordeaux Dam) for the first time. It’s only a few kilometres away. In my defence I have seen other dams which didn’t hold much interest for me. The surrounding area was bush, but here there were some interesting gums (gum trees). I will post more images later in the week. Just inside the entrance to the walkway leading over the dam are two small rooms either side. The left side had this view of the reservoir from a small window.
Almost Surreal
I took a couple of lenses for a walk this afternoon. Dumb luck strikes again. Late in the day the clouds and sky turned interesting. It looked like a storm was brewing. As it happens on this part of the coast, ships are always toing and froing. This ship headed south adding some extra interest to the scene. Taken with Fuji GFX and 90mm f2.8 Pentax.
This image has a little extra shading, more particularly on the left side due to the tilt/shift adapter which moved from the centred position.
Honeycomb Rock
On the coast - most likely Tamarama ie McKenzie’s beach cliff face.