Here's the fourth Istanbul diptych I'll be posting, and probably the most abstract of the set. The image on the left is an aluminium table top, while the one on the right is a shot of a piece of painted board resting on the pavement.

There's no cash prize, but heaps of kudos to the first person who can correctly identify both the scale and content of this shot.

This is the first of two iPhone shots I'll be posting this weekend, both of which were taken with Hipstamatic.

Unlike tomorrow's image though, which is a straight shot, this one was fairly heavily edited, mostly because it was very flat, but also because I decided that the colour version didn't work that well. Both problems, if I think about it, were entirely my own fault as I used the Chunky lens (which adds 'light leaks', thereby lowering the contrast) and the Ina's 1935 film (which adds a range of rich, warm tones).

Anyway, while both choices seemed like a good idea at the time, during the editing I decided that I'd have been much better off choosing a lens/film combo that added contrast and either no colour, or colder colours, as both seemed to suit this image a lot better.

As for what it is: I suspect it's fairly obvious but, if not, feel free to guess :)

Five points for identifying the subject matter, another five for correctly identifying which camera I used :)

Update (November 3rd): Congratulations to Mark Alcock for working out that this is a shot of an aluminium flight case taken with an iPhone 4.

This was taken during my landscape photography workshop at this year's Gulf Photo Plus training event back in March, as an aid to demonstrating how to pre-visualise an image based on its post-production. And if you take a look at the original you'll see why this is a good image to use: there's not much merit in the original, and very little apparent detail. With the addition of a couple of curves though, one of which is almost vertical, the latent detail in the scene becomes much more apparent. The end result isn't exactly a masterpiece, but it is a whole lot better, and does illustrate the importance of thinking through how to transform a scene, rather than simply accepting it at face value.

If you're interested in the specific steps I went through to post-process this one I've added it as this week's Mini-PSD.

On a related note ...

We're offering a 20% discount on our tutorials to celebrate the 4th of July: on our annual subscriptions, lifetime memberships, and lifetime membership upgrades. If you're not currently subscribed to our tutorials then this is definitely worth checking out as we'll be increasing the price of our annual subscription on August 1st – our first major price increase since 2007. If you already have an annual subscription, or take one out before now and then, don't worry, it will remain at £25.00 for the lifetime of your subscription.

We're also discontinuing our lifetime memberships. Again, if you already have one, or take one out before August 1st, it will remain valid, but we're not going to be selling these, or any lifetime membership upgrades, beyond the end of this month.

In short then, it's a great time to sign up as our tutorials will never be this price again!

For further details, take a look at our main tutorials page:

http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

2.36pm on 10/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 50mm f/5.6 1/40 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 1x1

This is the second of three shots I'll be posting from our trip to the Buzludzha monument. It's also the image I've used for this week's Mini-PSD as I thought the transformation was sufficiently interesting to be worth sharing.

In other news ...

Check back tomorrow as a) I'll be posting my favourite shot from the trip (an HDR of the exterior of the monument), and b) will be letting you about some new web pages I've been developing for the photography and post-production training events we have planned for later this year :-)

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

2.41pm on 15/5/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 35mm f/4.0 1/125 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail minor

The Gulf Photo Plus event is now at the end of day two. I've presented my 'Creating Dramatic Images', 'Portrait Retouching', and my 'Photoshop: from download to print' workshops, and will be running my 'HDR Crash Course' tomorrow, followed by my landscape workshop on Thursday and Saturday. I'll also be giving one solo presentation during Photo Friday - An Introduction to HDR Photography - and will be taking part in a panel discussion on 'Getting your work out on the web and on social media' with Joey L and Manny Librodo. A busy week, but a great one :)

As for this shot ...

I suspect that most of you know what class of item this is, but will be really impressed if anyone can provide an exact identification :)

One of the key things I try to get across in my teaching is that it's a mistake to think of post-production as something that just comes after you take a shot. In a literal sense of course it's clearly something that occurs later – you can't post-produce a shot that doesn't exist – but, in terms of the photographic process as a whole, a better understanding of what's possible during post-production can change the way you shoot.

This image is a good example. It was taken during my Creating Dramatic Images workshop in Austin, and while the original has virtually no intrinsic merit, the final version is a lot more interesting. From a purist's point of view then, the shot wasn't worth taking: it's dull, flat, and uninteresting. With the addition of a few masked curves, a big boost in saturation, and some detail enhancement using Topaz Detail, it's considerably improved. In other words then, because I could evaluate the original scene and visualise how it could look, I knew the shot was worth taking, and while it's not going to win any awards, it is a good illustration of this point :)

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

12.57pm on 6/2/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 35mm f/4.5 1/160 aperture priority +1 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail no

As I mentioned yesterday, Libby has been back in the UK this week, while I've been at home in BG looking after the kids, and while I can't say it's been easy, or that I've enjoyed every minute, it has been rewarding. Anyway, in light of her imminent return, I looked through all the shots I have that are blogable, in search of something symbolically relevant to post. Unfortunately though I don't have any flower shots, or anything even vaguely romantic, so settled for this one: two tracks converging and running together. Not the most obvious of heartfelt messages, but the best I could do :)

In other news, my Creating Dramatic Images workshop that I'll be running in Austin (TX) early next year (Feb. 5th and 6th) is now full. There are a few spaces left on my one day HDR Crash Course though (Feb. 4th). So, if you're interested in learning more about HDR photography, and can get to Austin on February 4th, drop Dave Wilson a line (who will be organising both workshops):

dave AT davewilsonphotography DOT com

And if you want a bit more info about what we're going to be covering, take a look at this page:

http://davewilsonphotography.com/workshops/

And if you still have any questions, drop me a line:

djn1 AT chromasia DOT com

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

10.26am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/5.6 1/160 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor transformation

Although there's not much I can tell you about this shot – it's the headlight on a Toyota Land Cruiser, taken while out in the desert in Dubai – I would be interested to hear what you think.

On a different matter ...

As I've mentioned a couple of times, I'm running a couple of workshops in Austin (TX) in February: a one day HDR Crash Course on February 4th and a two day Creating Dramatic Images workshop on the 5th and 6th. There are still a few places left on the HDR workshop, but only one place for my Creating Dramatic Images workshop.

If you think you might be interested in attending drop Dave Wilson a line who is coordinating both workshops:

dave AT davewilsonphotography DOT com

And if you haven't seen the details, take a look at the page linked below for info on content, pricing, and so on:

http://davewilsonphotography.com/workshops/

captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter image editor plugins (etc) cropped?

5.32pm on 4/11/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 16mm f/5.6 1/30 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 200 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail minor transformation

Before we headed out to the desert my students and I spent some time discussing the types of shots we should aim for. It was a landscape workshop, so clearly we needed some shots of the dunes, the sky, and so on, but we also discussed a range of more specific shots we might take: footprints in the sand, tyre tracks, people, patterns in the sand, and so on.

This is my 'patterns in the sand' shot.

In other news ...

Bobbi and I head down to Abu Dhabi this morning, to deliver a few more workshops, but after that we're off to Muscat (Oman) for some serious 'people and places' shooting :)

As most of you will know I've been posting the original image with virtually all of my recent entries. In this case though, as the transformation was slightly unusual, I've decided to hold off adding the original until you've had an opportunity to tell me a) what this is, and b) what additional post-production was done to the shot. What I will tell you is that it was shot during my journey from the UK to Bulgaria :)

Update: As Marcel has managed to identify the shot – it's one of the travelators at Manchester airport, warped in post – I've added the 'show the original' link. As you can see, the original is blue, but the perspective is slightly different in this version (courtesy of the warp tool) ;-)

I've had a great week in the UK. I met up with my good friend Craig (who I haven't seen since we moved to Bulgaria in May 2009) and we took a couple of strolls along Fleetwood beach and co-shot a wedding in Kendal at the weekend. I also had a great 1-2-1 training session today with a photog who wanted to improve his post-production skills. We spent most of the day working on the Curves tool, but also covered black and white techniques and RAW conversion using Camera Raw. It's always a pleasure to teach someone who's passionate about improving their skills, and really rewarding to be able to help them.

As for this shot: there's not much I can tell you about it other than to explain that it's a shot of the waves breaking against a groyne on Fleetwood beach. As always, let me know what you think.

If you're interested in seeing the exact changes that I made to this image it's our latest Mini-PSD. Further info here:

http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/mini_psds.php

If you've been following our Photoshop Tennis page on Facebook you will have already seen this image. It was shot in Dubai earlier this year, and as you can see if you take a look at the original, the post-processing was extensive but straightforward: it was straightened, after which I used different 18 masked curves (one for each pane of glass), another for the frame, and then a couple of other adjustments to alter the colour balance.

In other news: I'm heading back to the UK tomorrow, to shoot a wedding on Saturday (with my good mate Craig) and to deliver a 1-2-1 training session next Tuesday. I'm also hoping to find some time to head down to the beach in search of clouds, waves, and washed up stuff. I'm really looking forward to it :)

Here's another shot I took while in Dubai a couple of weeks ago, and beyond that I'm not going to tell you anything about it as I'm using it as the basis for our latest competition to win a lifetime membership to our Photoshop tutorials. If you're interested, there's some further information linked below:

    http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/competition.php

It's not often that I'm a passenger in a car at night, but when I am I often sit there shooting out of the window, just playing around with the lights. 99 times out of a 100 I end up with pretty much what you'd expect – a blurry load of crap – but every once in a while I do get one that I like.

If you're interested, the original is here:

.../archives/light_trails.php

The post-production was mostly carried out in Camera Raw: I added some contrast and shifted the hue of some of the colours to broaden the colour palette.

On a different matter: if you didn't read my previous entry, I posted my initial thoughts on Topaz Detail, a plugin that does a great job of bringing out the detail in an image without introducing any obvious processing artefacts. If you haven't tried it I'd definitely suggest that you download the demo version and try it out.

I'm pleased to say that Libby is back from the UK – just one week later than expected – and I now have my new 5D Mark II. I haven't had a chance to use it in earnest yet, but did snap a few shots this morning. I'll post some more images and my first impressions over the next day or so.

In the meanwhile, here's my first effort.

Oh, and this one definitely looks best with the black theme.

I had hoped that this post would be a shot from Bulgaria, not another from Dubai, but since posting my last entry I've been somewhat under the weather (i.e. being ill, laying in bed, and generally feeling sorry for myself). The good news is that I'm now feeling a lot better so should be out and about shooting again fairly soon.

In case you're wondering this is a shot of a part of the DIFC – part reflection, part distortion through a window – and beyond that I don't have too much else to say about this one other than that I like the detail and the way in which the various elements of the original scene interact/overlap. As always though, let me know what you think.

On a different matter: I'm pleased to say that Craig and I are now in Bulgaria. I drove down to Welwyn Garden City on Monday, picked up Craig at around 1pm, then drove down to Dover. We then got the ferry to Calais and drove until 1am - through France, Belgium, Holland and a small part of Germany. On Tuesday we drove almost 1000 miles: through the rest of Germany, all of Austria and most of Hungary, which took us 15 hours. We spent the night in a small campsite at Mako, a few kilometres short of the Romanian border. On Wednesday we drove through Romania, which can best be described as hellish: not least because it took almost 17 hours to traverse the potholes and roadworks. We were also slightly hampered by the fact that the van broke down at one point. It has an electronic throttle: which failed; i.e. you could press the pedal, but nothing happened. It recovered after we stopped, but it did add a certain tension to the rest of the journey :)

We've been busy since we got here, so haven't had any time to shoot yet, but I'm hoping we'll get out over the weekend.