I finally managed to liven up a bit today, and while most of the shots I took were a bit of a disappointment, I was pleased with how this turned out. As with most of my recent HDR work this one was also processed with Photomatix Pro, from a seven shot sequence bracketed at 1 EV intervals (as described in this tutorial).

Oh, and this one works better with the black theme.

Once again, my apologies for not posting over the last few days but this cold has left me feeling totally bereft of both energy and enthusiasm (and if I had a photograph of a bloke pushing a rock up a hill I'd post it). As it is, I came across this one in a folder of images I'd put aside from this year's Blackpool Pride event and decided it was worth posting. And yes, in case this one causes as much confusion as the last one, he is wearing make-up :-)

Anyway, I'm hoping I'll be over this cold in the next day or so, after which I'll get out and shoot some new material.

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I'd been up to Fleetwood to shoot some HDR sequences, and that none of them had worked out, but I finally managed to sort out one of them. The reason I said that I didn't think that any of them would work is that I initially tried to process them using Photomatix Pro, but just couldn't get rid of the halos around the various struts and ironwork.

So, having failed with Photomatix, I thought I'd try a version using FDRTools and, as you can see, it's done a pretty good job. There were some HDR artefacts that needed correcting, and some minor haloing in some parts of the image, but on the whole I think it's done a pretty good job. There are still some minor areas of the image that I think could do with a bit more work, but I ran out of editing time today.

Anyway, this is a shot of the underside of Fleetwood Pier (as was this one). It was constructed from a seven shot sequence, all of which were taken at f/11.0 with a shutter speed range of 1/640s for the darkest shot to 1.6s for the lightest. To give you an idea of the dynamic range of the original scene, here's a straight conversion of the metered exposure:

.../archives/under_fleetwood_pier_2.php

As always, let me know what you think.

This is probably the last shot I'll be posting from my recent trip to Barcelona, and while I know that this style of HDR image isn't to everyone's taste, there was something about the composition of this one that made me think it was worth posting. I did try to produce a straight shot, but if you take a look at the original you'll see that there wasn't a great deal I could do with it:

.../archives/barcelona_9.php

This is a shot of one of the many street performers in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, and I initially thought that the shots I'd taken of this woman probably wouldn't work out. If you take a look at the straight shot you'll see why (processed with the default settings in ACR):

.../archives/barcelona_7.php

So, given that the straight shot wasn't up to much, I decided to try a pseudo-HDR version (tone mapping a single RAW file using Photomatix Pro). As I hope you'll agree, this version is a big improvement.

This is the second HDR image from Barcelona that I mentioned yesterday. This one was also processed with Photomatix Pro using the Details Enhancer method, but in this case it was created from a single initial exposure rather than a bracketed sequence of shots.

As I mentioned yesterday, I prefer this one, but would be interested to hear what you think.

This is the first of two HDR images from Barcelona. This one was taken near the Olympic stadium and the tall structure to the left of the image is a communications tower. Of the two Libby prefers this one but I think that tomorrow's has the edge.

As with most of my recent HDR images this was processed with Photomatix Pro using the Details Enhancer method (as described in my HDR images: part two tutorial, but in this case I used a three shot rather than seven shot sequence (the 5D will only auto-bracket three shots while the 1Ds Mark II can shoot seven).

This is the first of two shots of Maurice, a Blackpool based cabaret singer I photographed yesterday afternoon. My brief was to produce some images that could be used to promote his act, some of which needed to include a recognisable local landmark, so what better landmark to include than Blackpool Tower.

In terms of the post-production: this is a combination of a straight shot and a pseudo-HDR image. I used the HDR version to bring out the detail in his trousers and waistcoat - both of which are a dark brown pinstripe - as despite the use of fill-flash these still appeared too dark in the final shot.

As always, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

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.

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.

As I mentioned near the start of this month, things have been extremely hectic and I've hardly had a minute to myself, let alone any time to take photographs. I've been working on a couple of external projects, that I'll tell you about at some point, and Libby has been busy as a finalist in the Outstanding Woman in Business Award category in the ABF Tiger Awards, 2008 and attending other events.

And next week isn't going to be much different, not least because I need to finish my latest Digital Workflow tutorial by Friday (or thereabouts). After that though, things should be a bit quieter and I'm hoping to spend a lot of time in July and August just taking photographs.

As for this one: it was taken this afternoon down at our local park with my new Canon G9, and combines a few of my recent passions - it's an HDR shot, processed using Photomatix Pro and a three shot bracketed sequence, and it's also processed in LAB Color mode, the topic of my latest tutorial. In this instance I used LAB to change the colour of the foreground from a fairly lurid shade of green to the more neutral blue/grey you can see here.

On a related matter: I don't know how many of you know about the annual European Photobloggers meetup, but this year's event is in Barcelona. I'm hoping to go along as I attended the first meetup in London in 2005 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I missed the last two though – Amsterdam in 2006 and Berlin in 2007 – so thought I better make more of an effort this year :-)

If you're interested, there are some further details here:

http://europephotobloggers.org/2008meetup

Given that my previous image received a mixed, though mostly positive response I'd be interested to hear what you make of this one. Like the previous one, it's an HDR, constructed from a seven shot bracketed sequence using Photomatix Pro, but while the last one had almost CGI feel to it, this one is a lot less intense.

That said, if you didn't like the last one because it's an HDR, you're unlikely to like this one any better ;-)

Nonetheless, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts as this is a technique that a) I still find fascinating, and b) will probably do quite a lot more of in the future.

My apologies for not posting recently but things have been hectic over the last few weeks; i.e. far too much work to do, and not enough time to blog - and it's going to be much like that for the rest of this month. And in the scale of things that's a lot better than having no work, but right now I'd settle for somewhere between the two extremes :-)

Anyway, I found some time to wander down to the North pier today and decided to shoot some HDRs. Most of them probably won't work out (for one reason or another) but I like this one, not least because it's a completely over-the-top use of this technique.

As always, your thoughts and comments will be gratefully received.

Oh, and I haven't posted the EXIF data but all the shots were taken at 16mm and I used a seven shot sequence with a 1 EV spacing between them.

This is a shot I took of Rhowan some time ago, taken an a wedding we all attended. It was taken quite late in the evening, by which time Rhowan was a bit tired and fed-up - hence her morose expression. As for the photograph though, she really likes it – mostly because she loves her Barbie boots – though Harmony, her little sister, did ask "Why are Rhowan's knees so grubby?".

For a split second I thought I might try and explain the complexities of tone mapping a psuedo-HDR file generated from a single RAW file using Photomatix Pro, but Harmony's only five, so I didn't :-)

If you're interested, there's an uncropped version of the original image here:

../archives/the_anti_barbie.php

Once again, my apologies for not posting much, but things have been hectic - some of which has been great, some not. On the 'not' side, I currently have Rhowan sat next to me, who isn't at all well, so I won't write more now. I'll catch up with you all tomorrow.

As for this one: it's a single shot HDR of some torn posters I spotted in a shop window on my way to town this afternoon.

This is my final shot from my recent trip to Dubai and was taken facing away from the DIFC towards one of the countless new buildings that are springing up all over Dubai. As with a lot of the architectural shots I've posted recently, this one is also an HDR. In this case it's a seven shot sequence, with a one and a third EV interval between each exposure; i.e. the original scene had a dynamic range of around 15 stops. The sequence was shot at f/16 and theshortest exposure was 1/4000 while the longest was 1/15.

What I especially like about this one is that it would be totally impossible by any other means other than HDR, i.e. there would be no way to capture detail in the face of the building without blowing out the sky. That said, it would probably have been better if I had used a larger interval between the exposures, as I only just managed to capture the detail is the shadows at the bottom of the building, but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

As always, let me know what you think.

This one was taken from Madinat Jumeirah, with the Burj Al-Arab in the background - supposedly the most luxurious hotel in the world. You get your own butler, chauffeur driven roller, and so on.

Having visited the Sky Bar on my recent trip though (the Sky Bar is the cigar-shaped bit jutting out near the top of the hotel) I have to say that there's a definite difference between opulence and wealth on the one hand, and taste and class on the other. The place screamed money, but it screamed it so loud that I failed to come away with much of an impression of anything else.

That said, if you fancy spending an evening in a room that looks like a cross between a Blackpool nightclub, albeit one with a slightly better view, and an LED science project gone wrong, then you'd probably have a good time :-)

To get back to this image though: this is an HDR, constructed from a seven shot sequence using FDRTools. Once I've had a chance to use the programme a bit more I'll let you know a bit more about it.

This is my last shot of the DIFC, until next year at least, so I thought it was fitting that this one was a bit different. Like a lot of the recent shots I've posted it was taken with my 15mm fisheye, but the distortion is much more pronounced in this one. I know that won't be to everyone's taste - the fishy look can become a bit repetitive - but I do think that it suits this subject.

As with a lot of my recent shots, this one is also an HDR (produced with Photomatix Pro), though I only used three shots spaced by around one and two-thirds of a stop. In this case I didn't want to produce a typical HDR-like image, but did want to bring out the detail in different areas of the image without using a whole load of masks and adjustment layers. As such the final image required nothing more than an increase in contrast (using a single Curve) and a minor boost to the saturation.

I do have a couple more shots of the DIFC that I'll be putting up over the weekend, but this one is the last of the HDR's (the final two were shot at night, and while I did blend the exposures, they're not true HDR images).

As with the previous ones I've put up, this was constructed with Photomatix Pro from a seven shot sequence (-3 to +3 EV). Unlike the others though, I've gone for a slightly less dramatic look with this one, and may include it in my next tutorial.

As always, let me know what you think.

I do have another eight shots that I'll be putting up from my trip to Dubai, but by the time this one gets posted I'll be nearly home – sitting on a train, somewhere between Manchester airport and Blackpool. I'll probably be complaining about how cold it is, despite having spent the last two weeks moaning about how hot it's been in Dubai, but I'll definitely be looking forward to getting back to Libby and the kids.

As for this one: it's another HDR of the DIFC, and the twin towers in the background are the Emirates Tower hotel - the 3rd most luxurious in the world (according to their website).

This is the third in this small series, and like the previous two it's an HDR constructed from seven RAW files, merged using Photomatix Pro.

Unlike the previous two though, this one's a bit more abstract, not least because it's mostly a reflection in an opposite building. I nearly posted this in black and white, to match the other two in the series, but decided I preferred the colour version of this one, not least because the detail in the building stands out a bit more.

Tomorrow's image, by way of contrast, is a portrait, after which I'll post two more HDR shots of the gate, both of which also include the Emirates Towers hotel in the background.

Like yesterday's this is a shot of the underside of the DIFC, and also like yesterday's it's an HDR, constructed from a seven shot sequence using Photomatix Pro.

Unlike yesterday's though, it's considerably more angular as it was shot at 16mm with my 16-35mm rather than the 15mm fisheye. When I first processed both these images I preferred yesterday's, but now I'm not so sure. I like both of them – there's something about the curvature of the reflection that I really like – but think that maybe this one has the edge.

As always, I'd be interested to hear what you make at it, and which you prefer.

Tomorrow's image, by way of comparison, is a street scene taken in Al Seef, after which I'll post a somewhat less stark shot of the DIFC.

As many of you who follow chromasia know, I don't often post architectural shots, not least because there aren't any especially striking buildings in Blackpool other than the tower and the piers, neither of which are typical buildings.

While I've been over in Dubai though I've had permission to photograph the DIFC, so have made the most of the opportunity and have quite a few shots to put up. Most are HDRs (as I shot from underneath the structure) and all of them were processed with Photomatix Pro.

I'll put another one up tomorrow, but then will post some different material after that.

Oh, and as this is an HDR I haven't put the EXIF data up, but the sequence was shot with a 15mm rectilinear fisheye at f/8.0. The one I'll be posting tomorrow was shot from a similar position, but was taken with my 16-35mm, so looks quite different.

Finally: Jennifer pointed out that I forgot to mention what had caused the blur on the shot I put up the other day – sorry about that. It was taken through a waterfall.

As I mentioned, this one was shot from a lot closer to the ground than yesterday's :-)

It was taken in Al Seef, one of the less opulent areas of Dubai, and is a seven shot HDR processed with Photomatix Pro. What I really like about this technique is that it allows you to produce images that you just couldn't take with a single shot. In this instance there's a full range of tones across the tyre of the cart (what would be the shadow area of the metered exposure), but lots of detail in the wall too (midtones and highlights).

As always, let me know what you think.

On a related matter: David Hobby (of strobist fame) is also at the GPP event this year, and we went up to the hotel restaurant to shoot the sunset yesterday evening. If you're interested, there's a shot of me hard at work here ;-)

And if you're not familiar with his site, go check it out, as it's probably the best 'how to do lighting without spending a fortune' website on the internet.

When I was younger I used to enjoy climbing – not in a north face of the Eiger sort of way, but I did enjoy it. The older I've got though, the more I really don't like heights, so struggled a bit with this one. It was taken from the helipad of the building I shot the Burj Dubai from, and what made it especially unnerving was that there were absolutely no safety measures: no guard rails, no netting, just a long drop down.

Anyway, I was perfectly safe, and didn't get within five feet of the edge, but my knees were feeling decidedly rubbery by the time I'd composed the shot and taken the three images I used for the HDR. And if you're interested, the building on the right of this image is the one that was on the left of my shot of the Burj Dubai; i.e. this one was taken about 90° to the left.

The shot I'm going to put up tomorrow, while nowhere near as dramatic, is probably one of my favourite HDRs in recent months. It was also taken from much nearer the ground :-)

Over the next week or so I'll be posting at least five more shots of the DIFC, but most of those concentrate on the building itself. While I was there though I thought I'd shoot a few HDR self-portraits, of which this is the only one that worked out.

Interestingly, it was constructed using FDR Tools rather than Photomatix Pro. I've only had a quick chance to play with it, but it seems to produce more naturalistic results than Photomatix while being more flexible than Phtoshop's Merge to HDR facility. When I've had a chance to use it a bit more I'll let you know what I think.

I haven't posted the EXIF data, but the seven shot sequence was shot at 70mm, f/8.0, with a 1 EV spacing.

Like yesterday's shot this is an HDR image constructed from a bracketed sequence of seven shots, spaced 1 EV apart. And also like yesterday's it was constructed with Photomatix Pro. Unlike yesterday's though, it wasn't taken in Blackpool, nor anywhere near. I'll probably tell you where I am tomorrow, but in the meanwhile I'd be interested to hear your guesses. What I can tell you is that regular visitors – i.e. those of you who have been visiting for over a year – may well have an advantage :-)

Also, one of the original sequence (the +1 EV original) is here:

.../archives/the_snow_queen_2.php

And for those of you who haven't been visiting long, the poster in this image is based on this one, a shot of my daughter Rhowan. In this instance it's being used to publicise an event I'm taking part in next week.

Oh, and this one looks much better with the black theme.

This is an HDR of Blackpool's North Pier, constructed from a bracketed sequence of seven shots (1 EV spacing), tone mapped with Photomatix Pro. If you're interested, the fourth shot in the sequence (i.e. the metered exposure) is here:

.../archives/the_evening_gathers.php

I shot the sequence yesterday evening, just before meeting up with a film crew from the BBC programme Inside Out. They were shooting footage for a programme on piers in the North West of England and had googled Fleetwood Pier. After finding some of my shots of that pier they asked if they could interview me. Anyway, we spent about 40 minutes strolling up and down the beach, chatting about the local piers and trying to look as though we weren't half frozen to death. It was fun, despite the near Arctic conditions.

If you're interested, the programme airs at 7.30pm on the 2nd May, but it's a regional programme so you'll only be able to watch it live if you live in the North-West of England. I think it will be available on the Inside Out website shortly afterwards though.

On a totally different matter: I've been involved with helping out with the development of an OS X screensaver/desktop feed, that feeds images from chromasia and Daily Dose of Imagery to a folder on the client's computer. If you're interested in taking a look the script and instructions are here:

www.cneophytou.com

And finally: this entry should be automatically posted at 7pm tomorrow, round about the time I'll be clearing customs after a two-leg flight to somewhere considerably warmer than Blackpool. All being well I'll post something on Monday and let you know where I am.

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I'm going away at the weekend and have loads to do before I go. Fortunately, I'm probably going to get it all done, but I haven't had time to take any new photographs. I have found a couple that I think are worth sharing though, starting with this one: a shot of Harmony with her buggy and bubbles at our local park. I'll post the second one on Saturday.

This is a psuedo-HDR image, processed from a single RAW file using Photomatix Pro, and the default ACR conversion and the tone mapped versions can be seen here:

.../archives/a_time_to_play.php

My reason for using Photomatix Pro, rather than working with a straight RAW conversion, is that I wanted to produce an image with a more even distribution of tones. This is much easier to achieve with a tone mapped image as it tends to create an image with a normally distributed histogram: i.e. the tones are bunched in the middle, tailing off towards both the highlights and shadows.

As for whether it works or not, that's another matter :-)