All the entries on chromasia are placed into one of seven primary categories: six to reflect the aspect ratio of the image, and the seventh to indicate that an image isn’t available as a print. This is purely to simplify the ‘buy this print’ page for each image. Additionally, each photograph may be assigned to one of more additional categories or subcategories, e.g. my photo friday category, self-portrait category, children category, and so on.
Miscellaneous detritus from along the shore.
I took Rhowan and Harmony up to see what's left of the Riverdance ferry this morning. Since it got stranded at the end of January there have been several attempts to re-float it, all of which failed, so they're now dismantling it instead. I imagine that it's going to take quite some time.
As for this shot: it was taken from a similar position to this one, and it's an HDR image, constructed from a bracketed sequence of seven shots using Photomatix Pro.
I didn't get any other decent shots of the boat, but did get several of Rhowan and Harmony - well, two of Harmony and one of Rhowan - that I'll post over the next few days.
As always, let me know what you think.
Oh, and I haven't posted the EXIF data but the sequence was shot at f/8.0 at 200mm.
This is another of my 'testing my new Canon G9' images – a three shot HDR of a tyre on Blackpool beach, processed with Photomatix Pro. On the whole, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
|
captured camera aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
5.11pm on 3/7/08 Canon G9 f/5.0 1/125, 1/500, 1/2000 aperture priority n/a evaluative 80 14.8mm no RAW Photomatix Pro 3x2 |
I took part in the annual Fleetwood Wreck Trek today, a six mile walk over the sands of Morecambe Bay with guided visits to the Wyre Light (an abandoned lighthouse) and the site of Stella Marie wreckage on North Wharf Sands. When I got back I discovered that most of my shots of the lighthouse were terrible, which didn't surprise me as it was raining when we got there and the sky was dull and flat, but what did surprise me though is how much my legs ached - I obviously need to get off my bum a bit more often :-)
Anyway, my shots of what's left of the Stella Marie wreck were also pretty hopeless, but I did shoot a series of shots of this structure. As with most of my recent HDRs, this one was constructed from a seven shot sequence using Photomatix Pro.
I'll take another look of the shots I took of the Wyre Light, and the wreck, and will post something tomorrow if I can salvage any of them.
I thought it was about time for a change from all the HDR stuff so here's another one to add to the the beachcombing gallery.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.16am on 1/4/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 28mm f/8.0 1/500 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 16x9 |
When I posted Riverdance #7 I said that I wouldn't post any more shots unless something eventful happened ;– as you can see, it has – in fact two things have changed. First, it's now laying almost entirely on its side, and second, if you compare this shot to one of the first I put up, you will see that it's acquired a couple of large tanks on its hull. Apparently these will be filled with water – to act as ballast – when they try to re-float the ferry at some point over the next few days. In fact, since this was taken a few days ago, two more tanks have been added just to the left of these. If and when they do attempt to re-float it I'll try and be there to photograph it.
Oh, and I haven't posted the EXIF data as this is an HDR, constructed from three bracketed exposures.
As I mentioned yesterday, unless something especially exciting happens, or I come up with a new way to photograph this scene, this will be the last of the shots of the stranded ferry Riverdance.
As for this one: it's another attempt to capture the scale of the scene, but this time I wanted to focus on the salvage going on in and around the boat, rather than just the boat itself.
In terms of post-production, this one was relatively straightforward other than the fact that I altered the colour temperature when I processed the RAW file (as described in my first digital workflow tutorial); i.e. it's considerably warmer than the actual scene.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
4.48pm on 6/2/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM 70mm f/4.0 1/640 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 2x1 |
First of all, thanks for all the great comments on yesterday's shot. I really liked it, so it was good to hear that you did too. The downside is that it's all downhill from here, at least as far as the Riverdance is concerned, as I don't think I'm going to get a better shot than that one.
As today's: unless I can think of a new angle, or something dramatic happens, then this will probably be my penultimate shot of the Riverdance. As with yesterday's one of the things I was trying to do is capture/illustrate the scale of this boat – and I think it comes across reasonably well in this one.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the line of people in the distance, they are standing at the other side of the exclusion zone; i.e. around 800m away from where I'm standing.
I've also posted the original image, not because there's anything special about the post-production, but because I thought you might like to see the original scene:
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
3.33pm on 6/2/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM 70mm f/8.0 1/100 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 2x1 |
When I post a shot in my beachcombing category it's normally quite a safe bet that nobody else has photographed the bucket, or piece of driftwood, or whatever else it is I happen to stumble across as I wander along the beach; i.e. there's no competition, and the shot stands or falls on its own merits (or lack of them).
In this case though, there are hundreds of photographers taking photographs of this stranded ferry, so I wanted to make sure that I got at least one decent shot today – and I'm pleased with this one. Because of the angle it was taken from, it doesn't do a great job of conveying the scale of this boat, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result nonetheless.
I haven't posted the EXIF data, as this was an HDR constructed from three bracketed exposures, but all were taken at around 180mm with my 70-200mm zoom.
As always, let me know what you think.
This is probably the last of the shots I'll be putting up from my trip the other day but I may try to shoot a couple from a different vantage point tomorrow. I did go out this morning, at around 7am, as I had two shots in mind that I wanted to try. The first was a long exposure of the waves around the boat (the tide was in this morning) but all of these ended up being blurred. I've got a pretty steady tripod, and did my best to shield it from the wind, but obviously didn't do a good enough job and they're all far too soft to post. The second shot I tried, which I may well try again tomorrow afternoon, is one from further up the coast – looking back towards the ferry and Blackpool Tower. Again, I tried this shot this morning, but by the time I got there the sky was far too bright in comparison to the water (which was still partially shaded by the coast), so none of these worked out either.
As for this shot: it's my favourite of the four I've posted so far, but do feel free to disagree.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.48am on 1/2/08 Canon 5D EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM 200mm f/5.6 1/1000 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 400 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
One of the things I enjoy the most about post-production is that it allows you to create interpretative photographs rather than literal ones; i.e. it provides an opportunity to explore different ways of looking at or representing the same 'facts'. For example, I've already posted two shots of this boat: the first one was an attempt to capture the drama of the scene, while yesterday's was more literal. Today's and tomorrow's however, take a slightly different approach; i.e. they are both attempts to offer a slightly more surreal view of the same scene. This one does so using colour, while tomorrow's (my favourite of this short series) is more to do with contrast.
For me though, the important thing is that I see all of them as real images, that all express some fragment of the 'truth' about the 'reality' of this stranded ferry.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.04am on 1/2/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 43mm f/6.4 1/320 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 16x9 |
Here's a second shot of the stranded ferry Riverdance, taken about a minute after the coastguard had told us to "move at least another 300m away, please."
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.05am on 1/2/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 34mm f/6.4 1/640 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
This is the first of a number of shots of the ferry Riverdance, which was blown ashore a couple of miles north of Blackpool last night. If you're interested, there's a BBC news report here.
So far, I've processed five shots that I like, but probably won't bore you with all of them ;-)
Oh, and this looks best with the black theme.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.59am on 1/2/08 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/6.4 1/320 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 2x1 |
I'm not sure why I didn't post this one at the time it was taken, but having worked on it again I did think it was worth putting up. As with a lot of my recent work, this was processed in LAB Color mode rather than RGB, though in this instance I think I could just have easily have used RGB.
If you're interested, the original is here:
.../archives/in_the_seas_grip.php
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
2.12pm on 30/8/06 Canon 20D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 32mm (51mm equiv.) f/4.5 1/1600 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
I can't decide whether I prefer this one to the original dear liza, or dear liza #2, but I am pleased with it, mainly because I managed to bring out the detail in the bucket without the processing being too obvious. As you can see, there's quite a large difference between this version and the original:
.../iblog/archives/dear_liza_3.php
As for the processing: five masked Curves for contrast, one unmasked one to tone the image, and a Selective Color layer to add a bit of yellow to the highlights.
As always, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
12.38pm on 31/11/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 16mm f/3.5 1/250 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 2x1 |
I'm not an expert on fireworks, but I suspect that there are few that are more bizarrely named than this one ;-)
|
captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
4.26pm on 7/11/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 35mm f/1.4L USM f/1.4 1/400 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 1x1 |
I didn't think I was going to get out today, but I managed to grab an hour on Fleetwood beach where I got this shot and one other that I'm happy with. And the title refers to the post-production, not the bottle: it was pretty much this lurid shade of pink when I found it.
|
captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
4.35pm on 7/11/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 35mm f/1.4L USM f/1.4 1/3200 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 1x1 |
I do have two more shots of Ryan and Fiona, and several of Fiona on her own, but in the meanwhile I thought I'd share this one; and while I've found quite a few old tyres washed up on my local beaches I didn't really expect to find one in Nassau :-)
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
5.36pm on 27/8/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 32mm f/8.0 1/640 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to lost and lonely objects.
Update #2: The subscription based tutorials are now live. Full details can be seen on this page :-)
Update: in case you've been wondering about why I haven't posted any new material over the last couple of days it's because I'm working flat-out to sort out the first subscription based tutorial. It will be available at some point early next week and I'll update the tutorials RSS feed as soon as it's released.
The feed, if you haven't already subscribed, is here:
http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/comments/index.xml
|
captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
3.38pm on 30/7/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 35mm f/1.4L USM f/5.6 1/400 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW RAW Developer minor |
I'm not especially happy with this one either, but no trip to Fleetwood beach would be complete without a photograph of a washed up piece of junk ;-)
Oh, and I did wonder if this one was a bit dark, but it looks OK with the black theme.
|
captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
3.59pm on 30/7/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 35mm f/1.4L USM f/3.5 1/3200 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW Adobe Camera Raw no |
I met up with John yesterday and we spent a couple of happy hours pottering around on Fleetwood beach. I didn't get many photographs that I'm happy with. In fact, I didn't really get any that I'm especially happy with, but it was a good trip.
|
captured camera lens aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
4.30pm on 30/7/07 Canon 1Ds Mark II EF 35mm f/1.4L USM f/3.2 1/160 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW Adobe Camera Raw no |
This is more an exercise in using Photoshop than a piece of fine art, but it was quite good fun to produce.
If you're interested, the original is here:
.../archives/the_colour_of_wood.php
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.26am on 17/6/07 Canon 5D EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM 62mm f/7.0 1/60 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro no |
I met up with John today, which was good as I haven't seen him in ages, and we took a walk along Fleetwood beach. The weather wasn't great, and I don't think I've got anything else to put up other than this shot, but it was an enjoyable trip.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.19am on 17/6/07 Canon 5D EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM 24mm f/5.6 1/800 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
This is another one from my trip to the beach, and I have one more that I'll put up tomorrow. After that, all being well, I've have one or two from my trip to the desert this afternoon (though the light was really terribly so I'm not quite sure what I've got yet), and then maybe a couple more from a late afternoon trip to the beach that I have planned for tomorrow.
Normally when I take this type of shot, especially at this time of year, I'm laying on my stomach on a cold and wet beach, wearing a shirt, fleece, coat and hat ... with numb fingers and a feeling that I might freeze to death at any moment. Here though, things are a lot warmer, and despite it being winter in Dubai too, it felt more like a balmy summer's day. Which, given the last few months of drab, damp and cold weather we've been having in Blackpool, was a decidedly pleasurable change.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.53am on 20/3/07 Canon 5D EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM 43mm f/11.0 1/160 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
Apologies for not posting yesterday, but I've been wiped out since finishing the book, in addition to which I'm away next week and had quite a lot of stuff to prepare before I go. Hopefully, I'll get something up tomorrow, but I'm travelling for most of the day so may not manage it. If not I should certainly manage to post something on Monday.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.58am on 14/3/07 Canon 5D EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM 29mm f/5.6 1/800 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |
Today was a good day, not least because we sent the last sections of the book to the publisher. I also managed to spend a couple of hours at the beach. Most of the stuff I shot was pretty terrible, but I really like this one.
I also managed to update the tutorial pages and have added some details about our training weekends for this summer.
Tomorrow though, I'm going to relax :-)
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.23am on 14/3/07 Canon 5D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 40mm f/5.6 1/400 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro 1x1 |
Here's the second of four shots taken on my trip to the beach yesterday morning. And though I'm loathe to admit it, I owe a thank you to everybody who moaned about the baby shots (see the comments on this entry if you're not sure what I'm talking about) as a) I now have some different images to put up, and b) the break did me good. Over the last week or so I've gradually been getting quite fed up with writing this baby book, not least because it's seemed like a never ending task. But after taking some time off yesterday I was much more productive today, and enjoyed the writing – which is a big improvement on a few days ago.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.55am on 7/3/07 Canon 5D EF 24-70 f/2.8L USM 34mm f/4.0 1/2000 aperture priority +0.0 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor rotation |
One of the things I love about the beach is the seemingly endless variety of odd things that appear as the tide recedes. And then, just as quickly, they're gone.
(... and this one looks better with the black theme).
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
11.06am on 14/1/07 Canon 20D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 38mm (61mm equiv.) f/8.0 1/250 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 200 no RAW C1 Pro minor rotation |
I know I said I was going to put up a more dramatic shot this evening, but I thought I'd post this one instead (and the more dramatic one tomorrow. It's much the same scene as yesterday's, but I've gone for a 'colder' feel to this one. Let me know how you think they compare. I think I prefer yesterday's, but I'm quite pleased with this one too.
Oh, and as quite a few of you commented on the masking for yesterday's shot: both yesterday's and today's are a combination of two TIFFs processed from the same RAW file, one at the normal exposure, one overexposed by a stop. The mask was used to seperate the original exposure (the sky and some aspects of the background) from the overexposed shot – the bucket and most of the foreground. I did think about doing both as HDRs, but decided to go with a more 'traditional' approach for these two.
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.36am on 14/1/07 Canon 20D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 21mm (34mm equiv.) f/8.0 1/320 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro no |
This is the first of two beachcoming shots, and as usual I can't decide which I prefer. This one is probably the best photograph of the two, but tomorrow's is a bit more surreal and dramatic. I'll let you decide :-)
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
10.33am on 14/1/07 Canon 20D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 20mm (32mm equiv.) f/4.0 1/640 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor rotation |
Top marks to whoever explains the title of this one first ;-)
|
captured camera lens focal length aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO flash image quality RAW converter cropped? |
2.54pm on 17/12/06 Canon 20D EF 17-40 f/4L USM 35mm (56mm equiv.) f/5.6 1/125 aperture priority -2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW C1 Pro minor |

































