My apologies for not posting anything yesterday, but I've come down with one of the many summer colds that are doing the rounds and didn't manage to take anything worth posting.

And today, things just got worse.

Our new puppy had a fight with one of our cats, and left the kitchen looking like an out-take from the Texas Chainsaw massacre, and Libby blew the engine on the car. The dog's fine (it was worse than it looked), but it looks as though our trusty old Volvo 940 has come to the end of the line. It was due it's MOT later this week, and we already thought it might prove too expensive to fix (it's only worth a few hundred quid and has done almost 200,000 miles), but it looks like it's either blown the cylinder head gasket or the turbo. Either way it's going to be too expensive to fix.

Anyway, virii, pets, and vehicles aside, I was browsing through some of the shots I took last summer in Germany, and came across this one: a shot of Roman Niewodniczanski, the owner of the winery I was photographing during my trip.

I did say that I thought that yesterday's would be the last one from my recent trip to Barcelona, and this one isn't especially striking, but there's something about the shoes under the bench that I like. And in case you're wondering about the location: the building in the background is the leftmost edge of the main building in this shot.

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:

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The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that all the shots I've posted from my trip to Barcelona were taken with my 24-70 and 5D. This is because I was travelling light and didn't want to take a huge amount of kit with me. One other lens that I did take though was my Holga on a lens cap as it weighs next to nothing and doesn't really take up much room. I didn't use it much, but thought it might work well with this scene. Personally, I'm happy with how it turned out, but would be interested to hear what you think.

And I should probably add that other than a minor bit of colour and contrast tweaking this is pretty much a straight shot.

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):

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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.

If you ever wondered what the footprint of a world champion skier looked like, now you know. This was taken outside the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, alongside a range of other footprints, and if you're interested the original is here:

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As you can see, I exposed to the right, to maximise the amount of data in the original capture (as described in my digital workflow tutorial), then used a couple of masked curves to bring out the details in the plaque and the surrounding concrete.

And finally: this one looks much more dramatic with the black theme.

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 was taken in Las Ramblas (Barcelona), a 1.2km promenade running through the centre of the city. As for the subject matter: I'm not quite sure why he was offering free hugs, and judging by the expression of the guy on the right, neither were most of the people walking past, but he did seem like a genuinely pleasant guy.

If you read my last entry you will know that I was trying to be a bit mysterious about where the shot was taken, but Guillermo let the cat out of the bag within twenty minutes of me posting my entry. In fact, not only did he identify the location as Barcelona, he knew the exact square in which the image was taken :-)

So, yes, yesterday's, this, and the next few images I'll post were all taken in Barcelona. I flew out there last Tuesday, provided a couple of days of training for Xavier – my host for the trip – walked the entire length and breadth of Barcelona (at least that's how it seemed), burnt the top of my less than hairy head, went sailing on a catamaran, ate great food, drank great wine, and had a thoroughly wonderful time. Thanks Xavier.

As for this one: it was taken down at the port, but beyond that I can't tell you much more about the location. All being well Guillermo will stop by and tell us the exact grid reference ;-)

My apologies for not posting this week but I've been working away since Tuesday, and when I wasn't working I was enjoying some great hospitality. I'll tell you where I've been in a day or so, but in the meanwhile I'd be interested to hear if anyone can guess. I've got some shots that give it away instantly, but I'll post a few less easily recognisable ones first :-)

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 is my penultimate shot from Dubai, and probably my favourite portrait in quite some time. If you're interested, the original is here:

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As you can see, I haven't done much in terms of the content (a bit of minor cloning in the background), but did spend quite some time getting the black and white conversion right. In this instance, I used the Channel Mixer, biased towards the blue channel, to accentuate the details in his face and hair.

I'd be interested to hear how you think this one compares to yesterday's.

This is the first of my remaining two portraits from my trip to Dubai, and while I definitely prefer the one I'm going to put up tomorrow, I really like this one too.

While most of the shots I took in Dubai were architecturally oriented, I did manage to get some people shots that I was pleased with, and of the three that I'm going to put up I think this is probably my second favourite. It was taken down at Al Seef, just before the sun dipped below the buildings in the background.

On a totally unrelated matter: I'm pleased to say that I've just finished my latest HDR tutorial. If you're interested you can read more about it on our main tutorials page.

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 was going to post something other than a shot of the DIFC tonight, but this is one of only two that I have left so I thought I might as well post them now. Both were taken with my 15mm fisheye, but this is a) the more natural looking of the two, and b) my least favourite of the set.

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'm now back in the UK – somewhat fatigued from the travelling – and will be posting another eight shots that I took while in Dubai. In the meanwhile though, here's the very last frame I shot before coming home.

As I mentioned last week, my favourite shot of Rhowan – the snow queen – was used to publicise GPP 2008 in Dubai this year. Her face was everywhere – on pamphlets, other publicity documents, posters, and so on – and I posted an HDR shot of one of the posters on the day I arrived in Dubai.

Anyway, to cut a long story short – as I'm half asleep this evening – this one was taken after the closing event on Sunday evening, and while I'm mildly offended that someone would discard the pamphlet in an ashtray, I do think it makes a good photograph.

I'll tell you more about my trip tomorrow when I'll post another HDR of the DIFC.

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 first of three portraits I'll be putting up that I took in the souk last Sunday. This is probably my least favourite of the three, but it's the only one of the set that contains any context - the other two are headshots.

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.

This was taken at Al Seef in Dubai, and I think I would have liked the shot anyway, but the fact that they're all standing on one leg meant that this was a shot I couldn't resist.

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.

This is a shot of one of the Emirates Towers, which is apparently "one of the top three most luxurious hotels in the world". The building on the left is the DIFC, of which I'll be posting quite a few more easily recognisable shots over the next week or so.

As for the blurring – before somebody starts complaining about Photoshop – it's entirely natural, honest :-)