Daily photo - Huge cloud over Warsaw
Today I would like to share HDR photo of a sunset that I captured last year in Warsaw, Poland. I really like this single cloud and sun rays just behind it.
a29 August 2014
a26 August 2014
Saturation vs Vibrance - what's the difference?
When I started using Adobe Lightroom a few years ago, one of the things that caused my biggest confusion was what had been the difference between Saturation and Vibrance sliders. They both seemed to affect saturation and vividness of colours but the results they gave weren't identical.
And that is true - although both sliders boost saturation of colours, they do this in a slightly different manner. Here's an example.
Below you can see original image I took on Lanzarote islands, Canary Islands. The image showing volcanones has pretty low saturation so I decided to improve it:
And that is true - although both sliders boost saturation of colours, they do this in a slightly different manner. Here's an example.
Below you can see original image I took on Lanzarote islands, Canary Islands. The image showing volcanones has pretty low saturation so I decided to improve it:
a25 August 2014
Autumn in Tatra mountains
Daily photo - Autumn in Tatra mountains
Autumn is just around the corner here, so today I would like to share landscape photo I took last year in Tatra mountains in Poland.
a20 August 2014
Post-processing Wednesday: Christmas market
Time for another post in my Post-processing Wednesday series. For more posts from this series go here.
In this case Before photo is 0 EV photo without any adjustments and After image is finished image that I manually blended using luminosity masks in Photoshop.
About source images
There is still some time before next Christmas but today I decided to show you how I edited image captured during exactly that time of the year almost 2 years ago.You can read more about the image itself in this post. Well, image in that post is slightly different but it shares EXIF data as I was shooting with same parameters for almost whole evening.
As you can see in the Before photo above, some highlights were slightly blown out, especially in the areas near light sources. At the same time some areas were darker than I intended them to be, eg. sky and buildings on the right. So I decided to capture HDR image and for that purpose I took 7 exposures at 1.5 EV spacing. You can see all exposures below sorted from brightest to darkest:
Darkest exposure have all lights correctly exposed and brightest one (+2 EV) exposes shadows correctly.
Editing in Lightroom
As always I started my editing in Lightroom. This time I moved tint of White Balance to +24 to make the image a little bit more magenta. I also applied lens corrections in Lens Corrections tab by checking both Enable Profile Corrections and Remove Chromatic Aberration settings.
After that I exported all my source images to Photoshop for manual blending.
After that I exported all my source images to Photoshop for manual blending.
a18 August 2014
250 subscribers on YouTube
250 subscribers on YouTube
Despite the fact I'm not very active on YouTube (yet, because I intend to increase my activity there in the next few weeks and months) I've just reached my very first milestone there, that is 250 subscribers. Of course it isn't impressive, well it's more funny than that, but even Rome wasn't built in a day. So yeah, such things simply require time. And a lot of effort. Hopefully one day my channel will be much more popular ;)
You can view my YouTube videos here.
Daily photo - Park in London
Today I would like to share an HDR photo I took in one of the many parks I visited during my last visit in London (however, I cannot really remember which one was that... I should probably start logging GPS data when taking photos because I keep forgetting exact location pretty often). It was captured in the middle of the day (not very good!) but I still like it due to tranquility of that scene.
a13 August 2014
Best camera is the one you have
Best camera? The one you have
I often get this kind of questions: "What's the best camera?", "I have Camera X and would like to upgrade. What would you recommend?". It's always tough. Really. What's the best camera? I'd say the one you currently have (if you don't have any it's a different case of course). In this post I will describe pretty common
behaviour (also known as a really expensive trap) when photographers focus to much on getting new gear, when
they don't really need it, instead of on the photos themselves. This post is in fact sharing my own experiences as I also fell into this pitfall.
When I was beginning with photography a few years ago I often thought that if my photo had been of poor quality it had been almost always because of poor gear (at that time I used simple Canon 400D with some 18-55 mm kit lens). So throughout the years I kept upgrading my equipment every now and then pursuing some ideal, looking for Holy Grail of photography equipment. Needless to say I didn't find it. I first switched to Canon 50D because 400D had very low dynamic range and poor high ISO capabilities. Then I switched to 5D MK II because I believed that full-frame is the way to go. But soon after that I switched once again to another beast - 5D MK III because... well, it's a great camera but I'm not really sure why I upgraded as its predecessor had almost everything I needed at that time. I also kept buying new lenses. And new tripods, new filters, not to mention numerous bags and additional small accesories. And a lot of photo editing software. It all costs money.
Now, I don't mean I didn't need any of that equipment, some of it was really helpful and useful for my photography (for instance Canon 24-105 L lens is some amazing piece of equipment I cannot imagine living without). I bought some equipment that allowed me to take better photos. I bought equipment that let me forget about technical limitations or which opened new opportunities in front of me. But with so many changes to my gear I quickly became obsessed with "collecting" it and I started to focus more on the gear itself than my photos. There were some pieces of equipment that weren't really inevitable for me. I didn't need them. They couldn't make my photography better. Yet I got them.
Nowadays I try to limit buying new equipment to only one I really really need. When a thought of getting something new crosses my mind (most commonly it's a tilt-shift lens ;) ) I ask myself a question whether I really do need this? Will my photos become better? Will I have more photo opportunities thanks to that? And the answer is most usually - no (when it is yes, I decide to buy). I'm shooting landscapes mainly, and although tilt-shift lens can sometimes be helpful in this kind of photography, wide-angle lens and ultra wide-angle lens is what I really need 99% of time. And I already have them. I also stopped upgrading my cameras. Yeah I'd love to have camera with sensor similar to Nikon D800 or D810... I'm not making huge prints at the moment so I wouldn't benefit much from 36 megapixels. I usually don't need to crop my photos extensively neither. Sensor in 5D MK III is really sufficient for me - image quality is better than good (in fact even sensor of 50D is sufficient for me in the majority of case) so I can't really complain.
As always I'm interested in hearing your opinion about the subject. Did you behave similarly in the past? Or maybe you still do :) ?
When I was beginning with photography a few years ago I often thought that if my photo had been of poor quality it had been almost always because of poor gear (at that time I used simple Canon 400D with some 18-55 mm kit lens). So throughout the years I kept upgrading my equipment every now and then pursuing some ideal, looking for Holy Grail of photography equipment. Needless to say I didn't find it. I first switched to Canon 50D because 400D had very low dynamic range and poor high ISO capabilities. Then I switched to 5D MK II because I believed that full-frame is the way to go. But soon after that I switched once again to another beast - 5D MK III because... well, it's a great camera but I'm not really sure why I upgraded as its predecessor had almost everything I needed at that time. I also kept buying new lenses. And new tripods, new filters, not to mention numerous bags and additional small accesories. And a lot of photo editing software. It all costs money.
Now, I don't mean I didn't need any of that equipment, some of it was really helpful and useful for my photography (for instance Canon 24-105 L lens is some amazing piece of equipment I cannot imagine living without). I bought some equipment that allowed me to take better photos. I bought equipment that let me forget about technical limitations or which opened new opportunities in front of me. But with so many changes to my gear I quickly became obsessed with "collecting" it and I started to focus more on the gear itself than my photos. There were some pieces of equipment that weren't really inevitable for me. I didn't need them. They couldn't make my photography better. Yet I got them.
Nowadays I try to limit buying new equipment to only one I really really need. When a thought of getting something new crosses my mind (most commonly it's a tilt-shift lens ;) ) I ask myself a question whether I really do need this? Will my photos become better? Will I have more photo opportunities thanks to that? And the answer is most usually - no (when it is yes, I decide to buy). I'm shooting landscapes mainly, and although tilt-shift lens can sometimes be helpful in this kind of photography, wide-angle lens and ultra wide-angle lens is what I really need 99% of time. And I already have them. I also stopped upgrading my cameras. Yeah I'd love to have camera with sensor similar to Nikon D800 or D810... I'm not making huge prints at the moment so I wouldn't benefit much from 36 megapixels. I usually don't need to crop my photos extensively neither. Sensor in 5D MK III is really sufficient for me - image quality is better than good (in fact even sensor of 50D is sufficient for me in the majority of case) so I can't really complain.
As always I'm interested in hearing your opinion about the subject. Did you behave similarly in the past? Or maybe you still do :) ?
Daily photo - View in Tatra Mountains
Below high dynamic range photo was taken in Tatra mountains last year. It was very windy so I didn't risk setting up my tripod (especially as there wasn't enough room for that) and went with shooting hand-held.
a12 August 2014
Follow me for more updates
Follow me for more updates
If you like my photos or tutorials (or both) and would like to stay in touch with me, you can
follow me in various social networks as well as on the blog. I'm most active on Facebook and
Google+ (for the reasons described here). Here are the links:
- YouTube - some time ago I started posting my video tutorials on YouTube. There isn't many of them yet but recently I try to record new ones more often so expect more content there in following weeks.
- Facebook - I'm most active on Facebook. I don't only post new images there but sometimes I also give some tips and answer various questions (also from private messages).
- Google+ - another social network where I'm quite active although on Google+ I mostly post images and comment on friends' images.
- Newsletter - you can also subscribe to this blog's newsletter to be notified about most interesting content I share. However, if you would like to be notified about new posts more frequently you can consider subscribing to RSS feed instead.
Daily photo - Sunset in Mexico
Today I would like to share high dynamic range image I took in Mexico during late sunset. I decided to use longer exposure to blur water to get rid of any waves and ripples and thus to make the whole image calmer. I think the boat is a nice addition (without it the photo would be rather empty and boring).
a11 August 2014
Swan on the Lake
Daily photo - Swan on the lake
I captured below photo in Saint James' Park in London earlier this year. It was quite late already and the light was pretty awful and flat (it was cloudy all day) so I didn't have big hopes of capturing more nice images on that very day. But then I saw below scene and I really liked it. A single swan was swimming unhurriedly on the pond's surface. There was something very gentle and elegant about it and also it looked quite interesting with all those building in the back (I think that placing nature next to architecture/civilization always looks interesting). So I took out my camera and captured a single exposure.
a6 August 2014
Post-processing Wednesday: Blue sunset in Mexico
Time for another post in my Post-processing Wednesday series. For more posts like this one, go here.
Today it will be slightly different as instead of a lot of text and a few images there is a video (a few of you asked me whether it would be possible). In this video I show how to use a few tools (Photomatix Pro 5, Lightroom, Photoshop, Topaz plugins and luminosity masks) to create and edit HDR image. I also share a few small tips here and there. As always I'm looking forward to your feedback.
BTW don't forget to subscribe to HDR Photographer Newsletter to receive information about most interesting updates to this blog. You can subscribe here.
Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel in order to be notified whenever I share new videos there.
Ok, without further ado here is the video showing the workflow:
Today it will be slightly different as instead of a lot of text and a few images there is a video (a few of you asked me whether it would be possible). In this video I show how to use a few tools (Photomatix Pro 5, Lightroom, Photoshop, Topaz plugins and luminosity masks) to create and edit HDR image. I also share a few small tips here and there. As always I'm looking forward to your feedback.
BTW don't forget to subscribe to HDR Photographer Newsletter to receive information about most interesting updates to this blog. You can subscribe here.
Also make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel in order to be notified whenever I share new videos there.
Ok, without further ado here is the video showing the workflow:
a5 August 2014
Big day - 50.000 views of HDR tutorial
Big day - 50.000 views of HDR tutorial
It's a big day for me as my HDR tutorial has been just viewed for more than 50.000 times already! Additionally PDF version of the tutorial was downloaded 6000 times.
It means that quite a lot of HDR photographers followed my advice what is a really great thing! Even if not everyone who read my tutorial really enjoyed it, I know of a lot of people who did. Thank you everyone for your positive comments and feedback.
If you haven't read my HDR tutorial yet, you can do so here.
If you haven't read my HDR tutorial yet, you can do so here.
Daily photo - Hotel in the evening
Today I would like to share high dynamic range image I took in Mexico. The image is pretty simple, however, I really like colour of water in the pool.
a4 August 2014
The Shard
Daily photo - The Shard
The Shard, also known as the Shard of Glass, is a beautiful scyscraper in London. With the height of about 309 metres it is currently the highest building in the European Union. I don't know why but to me it resembles towers shown in the Lord of the Rings movies (maybe because it's higher than everything else in its surroundings?). Just put the huge eye of Sauron above it and it could become part of Mordor.I decided to photograph this building during blue hour as I think it looks pretty nice against the blue sky. Also whole Shard seems to change colour to deep blue because it reflects all the colours around it. I was lucky that the place was pretty much deserted at that time and with a bit longer exposure I managed to got rid of any remaining people. In post-processing I played a little bit with colours to make the blues more vivid.
a1 August 2014
Those eyes
Daily photo - Those eyes
I captured below gorilla portrait in London zoo. He was seating on the ground of his "house", chewing something and giving visitors sad looks. When he looked at me I quickly zoomed in to fill whole frame with his head and pressed shutter release. I'm pretty happy with the outcome although I would prefer to capture such image in his natural environment.