On the basis that I would really like a quiet and tranquil day today, here's a shot to set the mood, taken on Fleetwood beach last September.

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9.58amm on 15/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/11.0 1/125 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor rotation

This was taken back in September during my Creating Dramatic Images workshop in Blackpool. It's a shot of Blackpool's Central Pier, taken from the North Pier, and while it's not an especially dramatic seascape I do like how it turned out, particularly in terms of the detail in the foreground waves.

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3.44pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/3.5 1/1600 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 1x1

This is another image from my recent trip to the UK, taken on Blackpool seafront. What most attracted me to this one was the way in which the ring had marked the wall, gradually smoothing the concrete to leave a trace of it's movement, but I also really liked the detail in the sky. Given that both elements had caught my attention I shot at f/22 to maximise the depth of field, ensuring that both were as sharp as possible.

Often, when I shoot at one aperture extreme or the other (f/22 to maximise DoF, or f/2.8 or thereabouts to minimise it) I'll also shoot a range of alternatives. In this case that might have been f/16 and f/8 and f/4, giving me a range of alternative images to work with. On this occasion though I only took one shot, but I wish I had shot a few with a shallower depth of field as I don't think my initial decision was a particularly good one. The problem, I think, is that while the ring looks great, and the detail in the clouds is good too, the detail in the sea causes a problem insofar as the boundary between the sea wall and the sea isn't especially obvious. You can see what I mean below:

So, given that I didn't take any alternative exposures I thought I'd blur the background a bit, creating a more distinct transition between the wall and the sea. I'm still not convinced I've got the absolute best out of this image, but I do think that this version is an improvement on the original.

Let me know if you think it was a good decision.

I've also added this image as this week's Mini-PSD.

In other news ...

I'm heading off to Istanbul in a few hours to run a Faces & Places Photo Tour of Istanbul with Bobbi Lane. We'll be there until the 12th, after which we'll be heading to Dubai for the Gulf Photo Plus Fotoweekend. It's going to be a hectic couple of weeks, but I'm really looking forward to both events.

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3.03pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/22 1/50 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail and Bokeh no

This is a shot of one of my favourite structures, the old end of the pier at St. Annes, on the north west coast of England. I've photographed it many times before but this is one of my definite favourites.

I've also added this one as this week's Mini-PSD as the processing was quite interesting, particularly in terms of balancing the left side of the image with the right. If you've taken a look at the original you'll see that the left-hand third is quite a bit darker than the rest of the image. When I took the shot I thought that this would prove to be an interesting aspect of the final image. The more I worked on it though the less I liked it – it just looked wrong, as though I'd added the extra darkness/density on purpose.

Anyway, after a while I realised that it wasn't going to work so reprocessed it to balance both sides. If you're subscribed to the tutorials and download this Mini-PSD you'll see that the first curve is labelled Curves 17, a fair indication of just how long I messed around with this one before deciding on a strategy that would work :)

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1.29pm on 20/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/11.0 1/320 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Denoise 16x9

This is a shot of the coastguard station at Rossal Point near Fleetwood, a building I've blogged twice before, once in 2006 and then again in 2007. For some reason that I can never quite work out I find it difficult to photograph, possibly because it forces me to shoot along the coast or back towards the shore – when my natural inclination is to point my camera out towards the sea – but whatever the reason, I'm happy with how this one turned out.

As you'll see if you've taken a look at the original, the post-processing wasn't especially extensive, it was just a question of focussing the light onto the building and shore, balancing the contrast between the sky and the reflection, converting the image to black and white and then toning it using a curve.

On a different matter ...

This is the fifth entry I've posted using the Disqus commenting system and I think I've ironed out most of the initial kinks. If you do come across any problems though, in terms of functionality, usability, and so on, just let me know.

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9.26am on 15/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 59mm f/8.0 1/50 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor rotation

This is a companion shot to the one I posted a few days ago and, while it's a bit more contrived, I am pleased with how it turned out.

As always, let me know what you think.

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10.46am on 15/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 45mm f/11.0 1/200 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none no

It's been a while since I changed the way this blog worked but today I implemented a new commenting system, powered by Disqus rather than Movable Type. As such I'd be really grateful if you could leave a comment on this image just to check that everything's working OK.

All the old entries will still use the Movable Type script – there's no way to import 48,911 comments into Disqus – but all new entries will use Disqus: it's faster than Movable Type, has a lot more features (including automatic notifications of new comments), and is generally a more capable solution. Fingers crossed it all works as expected :)

As for this shot, it was taken during my recent trip to the UK, on Blackpool beach. Let me know what you think.

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10.25am on 15/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/11.0 1/160 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 2.39x1

This is another image taken during the Creating Dramatic Images workshop I ran in Blackpool recently and one that I may well reference during my Dramatic Post-Production workshop that I'll be giving for Creative Live this weekend (Fri 7th - Sun 9th). If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, it's a three day workshop, that's FREE to watch online. Let me know if you're going to be tuning in :)

And if you're interested, Creative Live have just published a blog post about my workshop here:

http://www.creativelive.com/blog/david-nightingale-how-did-he-create-image

Oh, and I've also added this shot as this week's Mini-PSD as there were a couple of interesting transformations: one to the lower section of the image (it was scaled upwards), and another to repair the mask around the railings.

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3.22pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/10.0 1/320 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor transformation

This is another shot taken during the recent Creating Dramatic Images workshop I ran in Blackpool, and a fitting one to post as I'm currently getting ready to fly to Seattle to present my free, online Dramatic Post-Production workshop for Creative Live. I'm looking forward to it, but the though of presenting a live three day workshop to an online audience of several thousand people does seem a bit daunting at this stage :)

I leave for the UK first thing tomorrow, then fly on to Seattle on Monday, so expect another blog post at any point from Tuesday onwards.

In the meanwhile, wish me luck for Seattle and let me know what you think of this shot of the seafront in Blackpool.

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3.06pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 70mm f/5.0 1/800 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail no

This was taken on Blackpool beach, facing north towards Fleetwood, at around 9pm last Friday evening. We'd been down on the beach photographing this year's International Fireworks competition (which was a bit disappointing in comparison to some of the other display's I've seen in recent years) and then decided to hang around and do some night photography.

If you've already taken a look at the original you'll see that a) I used two images, and b) that the final version is quite different to both of them.

I did plan on shooting this as a single frame (the image on the left) but the sky in the upper-right section ended up being very bright and featureless. The reason for this is that the clouds were drifting across the sky during the two minute exposure (f/5.6, ISO 100). The other shot started out as a test image, taken to calculate the exposure time I'd need for the longer exposure. There are different ways to do this, but I typically shoot at f/2.8 and ISO 6400, and then work out the exposure from there. The benefit of doing this is that you can easily calculate the exposure you need, but you can also check the composition (often difficult when it's very dark).

So, the exposure for the test shot was 0.6s at f/2.8 and ISO 6400, which translates to 2 minutes at f/5.6 and ISO 100.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the sky looked better in the test shot, but the detail in the lower section was compromised through shooting at f/2.8 and ISO 6400, so I merged the two and then noise reduced the sky from the test shot. I also changed the white balance of both shots (to almost blue), tweaked the contrast, then added shifted the saturation and tone to produce a darker, colder shade.

Let me know if you think it was worth the effort.

I've just finished three days of great workshops. I ran a black and white workshop on Friday, and a two day Creating Dramatic Images workshop over the weekend. We spent Saturday morning talking through a variety of topics, but headed out for a shoot in the afternoon. It had been raining for most of the morning, and was really windy, but by the time we went out the rain had stopped. The waves were crashing against the sea wall, the clouds were fantastic, and we all managed to get some great shots.

The best I've seen from the shoot so far was taken by Ian Mylam. I'm sure it will make its way onto his website soon, but in the meanwhile he's posted it on Facebook. As I'm sure you'll agree, it's a great shot :)

As for this one: I probably would have taken it anyway, but couldn't resist the "Libby Love You Too" :)

Oh, and I've also added this one as this week's Mini-PSD.

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3.41pm on 17/9/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/8.0 1/250 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor rotation

It's been a while since I posted a shot of the old pier at St. Annes, and while this isn't especially dramatic I do like it.

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3.05pm on 26/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 57mm f/11.0 1/60 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail minor

This shot has annoyed me on several occasions since I shot it back in February as I really struggled to come up with a version I liked. What made it especially annoying is that I couldn't work out why: it has all the ingredients of a decent shot – the composition works, there's some good detail in the sky, the exposure's OK, and so on – but no matter what I tried I kept up with something that looked almost as drab as the original. To give you an idea about what I mean, here's an earlier version:

.../archives/fleetwood_light.php

Not great.

With my previous attempts I'd assumed that the sky needed to be dark and dramatic – it seemed like the best solution, both technically and aesthetically. Despite numerous attempts though it either ended up looking drab (as with the version I linked above) or overly dark.

Today though, while sitting in the Ford garage in VT waiting for them to change a couple of wheel bearings on our van, I tried something different, i.e. adding a very steep curve to brighten the mid-tone values in the clouds. It might not be the best solution for this image – I'm sure there's probably at least another couple of versions lurking in there somewhere that would top this one – but it's definitely a whole lot better than it was :-)

As always, let me know what you think.

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3.14pm on 12/2/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 57mm f/8.0 1/50 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor rotation

This is a second shot of the wrecked boat I posted on Wednesday, and while it's not as abstract I do prefer it. Let me know which of the two you like best.

In other news ...

My sixth Creative Workflow tutorial is now live: a 50 minute walk-through/analysis of the Omani seascape I posted earlier this week. If you're not familiar with my Creative Workflow tutorials (part of our online Photoshop tutorials), take a look at the following link for further details:

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

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1.28am on 27/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 44mm f/11.0 1/320 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor rotation

First: thanks for all your likes, comments and tweets on my previous entry: the shot of the Dubai skyline taken from the Four Points Sheraton hotel on Sheik Zayed road. It's always great to post something that gets a really positive response :-)

As for this one: while I don't think that this one will generate quite so much interest I am pleased with it as it's been almost two years since I posted a shot of any of the wrecked or abandoned boats at Fleetwood. I also have a second, slightly less abstract/graphic shot that I'll post on Friday.

As always, let me know what you think.

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1.17pm on 27/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 44mm f/11.0 1/500 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 2x1

This is a follow-up shot to the sky rolled down, taken about five minutes after that one. In this instance, I shot from very low to the ground to capture some of the reflected sky in the water on the beach. Of the two I think I prefer the previous one, but am really pleased with how this one turned out too. Let me know which is your favourite.

Oh, and as we the previous shot I mentioned, this one was also constructed from two originals: one exposed for the sky, and a lighter shot to bring out some of the detail in the foreground.

I'll also be adding this one to our collection of Mini-PSDs, probably at some point tomorrow. It's due to be uploaded on Monday, but as I'll be spending most of the day travelling back to the UK with the kids I think I'll post it a day early.

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10.19am on 10/2/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 35mm f/11.0 1/800 & 1/2000 manual n/a evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor

It's been a worrying few days.

Libby went back to the UK on Thursday and was quite unwell when she left. I was worried about her, but not unduly concerned as I knew she'd be able to have a good rest when she got back to our house in the UK. I thought she'd probably have a couple of rough days, but then bounce back.

Unfortunately though, by the time she got there she was a lot worse, and ended up in hospital a few hours later. I couldn't speak to her on Friday or Saturday, but did ring the hospital who told me that although she had a chest infection and her asthma was playing up, she was "comfortable". Not especially informative, but nothing to cause immediate alarm.

Anyway, after finally managing to speak to her yesterday it turns out that she was a lot more poorly than I realised. She has pneumonia and has been hooked up to various antibiotic IVs and oxygen since she got there on Thursday. Fortunately she's a lot better now – fingers crossed she stays that way – but I wish I was there. There are many benefits to living in both Bulgaria and the UK, but being separated at a time like this isn't one of them.

Anyway, I was going to post a different shot today, but this is Libby's favourite of the ones I have left from my recent travels, so I thought I'd post this instead. And in case you're wondering: it's a sculpture on Fleetwood promenade, called Welcome Home. According to the plaque it "was erected as a tribute to the families of Fleetwood fishermen who have, down the years, shared the dangers and uncertainties of the industry. Around this spot families have gathered for generations to 'welcome home' their menfolk from the sea. Welcome Home is provided by Fisherman's Friend with the assistence of Wyre Borough Council. It was designed and sculpted by Anita Lafford."

Anyway, Libby isn't home yet – either to our house in the UK or Bulgaria – but I'm sure she'll be there soon.

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3.19pm on 12/2/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 30mm f/8.0 1/125 aperture priority -1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor

I've still got quite a few shots to post from my trip to Austin (TX) but thought I'd post this one first. It's one of two images I shot yesterday, both of which were taken on Blackpool beach: facing south towards the South Pier. And in case you're wondering about the processing ... I was out shooting with a one-to-one client who wanted to learn more about shooting and processing HDR images so shot a range of brackets, including a few like this one that included the sun.

When I ran this sequence through Photomatix though I wasn't especially happy with any of the tone mapped variants I came up with so decided to manually blend three of the original exposures (the darkest shot, two EV lighter, and two EV lighter again). The net result is a rather moody, dark image, but given that the sky contained a lot of interesting detail I'm happy with the end result.

If you hover your mouse over the 'show the original' link (bottom-right of the image) you'll see the three shots I used to construct the final version.

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10.12am on 10/2/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM 16mm f/11.0 1/8000, 1/2000, & 1/500 manual n/a evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minor

If you followed our games of Photoshop Tennis (which we're planning on resurrecting some time soon) you may remember this image: taken from Blackpool's North pier last October.

And talking of Blackpool ...

I'm heading back to the UK twice over the next few months, and have set aside some dates when I'll be able to provide some one-to-one training, either from our Blackpool office or possibly elsewhere in the UK, on either photography, post-production, or both. Some of the dates have already been booked, but the following are still available:

Thursday 10th February
Friday 11th February
Saturday 12th February (may already be booked)
Sunday 13th February (may already be booked)

Thursday 24th March
Friday 25th March

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10.52am on 14/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 25mm f/8.0 1/160 aperture priority +2/3 evaluative 200 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none minimal

This is a companion shot to this one, a shot of Blackpool Tower, taken on my trip back to the UK in October. In many ways I think I prefer the first shot I posted, but I do like this one too.

On a related note, I'll be using this image for our latest Mini-PSD: the 52nd to be added to the archive since we started including them as part of our tutorials. If you're interested, I'll be uploading it at some point tomorrow morning.

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?

10.52am on 10/10/10 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/16.0 1/1000 aperture priority -2 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 16x9