Something abstract

Nikon 7100, 183mm, 1/500s @ f/5.6, iso 125

Once in a while I get the urge to take on something more abstract. This time it is the bokeh of scales of a naga dragon, like the one below:

It's a tail!

I am not sure how the sculpture is made, but - given the design is pretty popular across Thailand - I am guessing that it must be a pretty routine job to "engrave" the scales.

Harvest

Nikon 7100, 300mm, 1/200s @ f/5.3, iso 100

Little too late for halloween, but seeing those two in the morning fog may bring some dark thoughts and horror movies references. 

Chilling Pai

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/500s @ f/4.5, iso 140, in pastel

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/500s @ f/4.5, iso 140

If Pai could be described in one picture, for me this would be it. In short: too many tourists, too little local flavour. Good place to visit, not so good to stay for longer.

Of course, I mean the village part. Full of "farangs" sitting around in typically western restaurants and bars. Going rounds on the walking street, getting Thai food that is never spicy enough. Buying "I love Pai" and "792 curves to Pai" t-shirts. There is nothing wrong about that. Still, it feels like a nice place was conquered and lost its original spirit.

But back to that cute big bear on the picture - I could not resist to use a pastel filter. Which version is better you think?

Running down

Sony RX100M3, 70mm, 1/3s @ f/11, iso 80

Going up the road to visit the highest spot in Thailand it is easy to miss this gem. The actual waterfall is bigger and a bit more downstream, but I liked this not-so-crowded spot better.

Afternoon on River Ping

iPhone, auto

And here is this water magnetism again. No other camera with me, so iPhone was the only way to capture the moment. Cropped too much to be useful anywhere else, but it still holds in the 2048px width resolution.
The B&W post-processed in Nik SilverEfex.

Warm evening

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/1.4, iso 1250

So thanks to meetup.com/ we went to an evening stroll through the centre of Chiang Mai to learn some of the history of this place. Tomorrow I'm trying that pad thai Tony recommended!

Oh, and here's more pictures from this walk.

My God, it's full of stars!

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/2500s @ f/1.4, iso 100

Sometimes you take a photo, open it in Lightroom, and no matter how long you stare at it, you cannot think of any fitting title. I learned the hard way that this means the photo - though it may be technically perfect - is no good.

For this pic the caption came to me as soon as I saw the blue tint on the black-ish background. And it's a damn good pic! :)

Fruitarian paradise

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/5.6, iso 3200

Walking the streets of Thai cities leaves a little wonder why for example Steve Jobs became a fruitarian. Of course, there are countless opportunities to eat something else (and usually uber-delicious), but you can live off fruits without problem. Some of them you've never saw before...

Three colours: Pattaya

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/5.6, iso 125

Who let the water out?

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/6400s @ f/1.8, iso 100

Out of focus

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/100s @ f/1.8, iso 320

There are few things worse than taking street scape photos with f/1.8. But during the last few weeks I felt like out of focus (or limited focus if you will), so I thought this approach would be appropriate. And I like the result!

Guardian spirit

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/400s @ f/4.5, iso 100

Nikon 7100, 135mm, 1/640s @ f/4.5, iso 100

Back to Adirondacks from this weekend. As the morning fog got thicker and thicker, the landscape features and colours faded, it was the best to look for good black&white candidates. This was one of them.

Even though the shutter was pretty fast, I managed to catch a moment of stillness. Then, the waters were touched by the wind and the picture changed...

น้ำตก means waterfall

Fujifilm X100s, 1.2s @ f/16, iso 100

Urquhart Castle

Nikon 5100, 82mm, 1/50s @ f/5.6, iso 140

Re-edit of the picture taken this winter at the Loch Ness. More summer-like version.

Twilight silk

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 25s @ f/16, iso 100 (original picture)

As above with delicate Lightroom postprocessing 

As above but with Nik Color Efex postprocessing

Choices, choices... The off-camera picture was looking so good on the screen that I applied just few correction (vibrance and just a bit of sharpening). Then I tried to enhance the picture with Color Efex and it's still looking great, but tells a whole different story...

Why me?

Sony RX100M3, 40mm, 1/50s @ f/11, iso 1250

Back to black-and-whites...

This picture was taken when a storm was hitting the Cleveland's lakeside. The same summer storm which was chasing me from Detroit and I just manage to arrive 20 minutes before it caught up with me.

Fun! But not as much fun and those guys packing instruments had.

Morning

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/6s @ f/16, iso 100

A shot a the newly released Capture NX-D software by Nikon. Compared to LR5 it is an ergonomic hell and takes a lot of time to get used to. Also, the beloved U-points are missing. But one has to admit that the RAW processing controls it offers may be worth trying it once a while...

Golden Gate

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/640s @ f/5.6, iso 125

Not often do I use effects that alter the original picture THAT much. But this time I think it fits. It was supposed to be a Stargate and it is a Golden Gate. Now I have have to book a flight to SF and do the same to the famous bridge...

Now you see me...

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/13s @ f/16, iso 100

Not bad for the first moon shots? This one took a 300mm tele-lens (actually 450mm due to the 1.5 DX crop factor).

For the next super-moon I plan to be in Adirondacks. 

Supermoonrise

Nikon 7100, 105mm, composite @ f/4.5, iso 100

Yesternight it was a super full moon night and of course the Chalet du Mont-Royal was packed. No matter, that the next 2 full moons are also going to be super.

Of all the pictures taken, this was the first to tackle, mainly because it needed blending (yes, I suck at Photoshop). So - after 10 hours of fighting PS (kidding, it was only 2!) - this is the end effect.

Gold and silver

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/200s @ f/16, iso 100

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/30s @ f/16, iso 100

Finally got my hands on a mirror camera. Despite what people are saying about DSLRs being dead, there is still a gap on what you can achieve with a big full frame sensor and a set of good lenses. I'm not saying that cameras like Fujifilm X-T1 or Sony A7s are not capable. It's just the big DSLR body allows for a lot more buttons/options at your fingertips.

Anyway, I got up at 3:30am just to get this kind of views and was almost too late. And as always I got few takes with different white balance and had a hard time to choose. In the evening after work, I like the silver version more. In the morning - gold is the king.

Stillness

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/200s @ f/11, iso 1600

Still in the black-and-white phase...

Silence after storm

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/30s @ f/11, iso 125

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/30s @ f/11, iso 160

I guess I still have a thing for rain and black-and-white pictures. But the little Sony's rich B&W is just so good.
These two - could not decide which is better - were taken on the Cleveland's riverside just around the Tower City Center. The storm has already passed, but it was pretty rough.

Ultraviolet

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 8s @ f/11, iso 80

It was a night when it rained, stopped, rained again, and so on. During a brief break (or actually during a lighter rain) I managed to set up a tripod and get this shot.

The climb

Sony RX100M3, 70mm, 1/500s @ f/11, iso 200

Funny how perspective translates from 3D to a 2D picture - it looks like the bird is actually climbing.

And by the way - I'm not sure it wasn't a mocking bird, because it followed me everywhere I went around the lake. Straying on the wire of course.

Night currents

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 30s @ f/11, iso 80

This weekend (long weekend in Quebec) I was testing my French and the new Sony RX100M3. French was mediocre at best, but the camera - for a device that small - was actually pretty good.

The picture has been shot at the blue hour from the Pont N. It needed a bit of editing and noise reduction (thanks Dfine!), but the end effect is great.

Vacations' end

Fujifilm X100s, 1/5s @ f/16, iso 100

Got to the beach early to get some nice sunrise pics, but did not planned on this. Very nostalgic, given my winter escape is about to end very soon...

Railroad bridge

iPhone, auto with HDR

New country, new day, new start. On the morning jog the sights were so different from what I got used to in Chiang Mai.
For some reason, Sri Lanka reminds me of Poland 25 years ago. Very agricultural landscape. The picture above could be as well taken in my country. Feels very homy and very exotic at the same time! 

Where's that carrot?

Fujifilm X100s, 550s @ f/5.6, iso 800

I visited the Chiang Mai Zoo this weekend. Pandas were adorable, but too far to get a good pic without a tele-lens. The rest was okay, but not that interesting - but it may be that the zoo lives another life in the wet season, when everything goes back to green.

So the catch of the day was a common goat. 

Superman

Nikon D5100 35mm f/1.8, 1/40s @ f/5.6, iso 200

Do your job, and do it well. This little man on streets of Lima certainly didn't mind his physique, when advertising a restaurant in Superman's costume. And great job he did.

Chopsticks

Fujifilm X100s, 125s @ f/4.0, iso 1000

Something else entirely. Most (if not all) of my pictures are either landscapes, cityscapes or street photography. But sometimes everyday objects arranged carefully for display make a "landscape" you cannot miss with your camera.

And for the record: I love chopsticks. Bamboo chopsticks. Not those reusable plastic counterfeits. Seeing such a variety was a pleasure to the eye and a reminder of well deserved tom yum.

The Lonely Mountain

Nikon D5100 35mm f/1.8, 1/160s @ f/22, iso 100

Still in the "process all the photos!!" phase :)

You have to be very brave (or insane) to leave in a city with a volcano near by. And Arequipa has three! Granted, they are not active (right now) and they look amazing with their snowy peaks hoovering over the warmth of the city.

On the picture: Misty, the second highest (5822 m) of the three sisters. But the one most beautiful!

The picture was shot with no AE bracketing and it needed some heavy editing with Nik Collection to get all the details in the background pop.

Montreal RGB (reprocessed)

Nikon D5100 18-55mm, 18mm, 1/60s @ f/10, iso 320

Nikon D5100 18-55mm, 18mm, 1/60s @ f/10, iso 320

I just reprocessed my first 5-starred (by my-humble-self of course) picture. The original (down) was taken with Nikon 5100 / 18-55mm kit lens to RAW and treated with ViewNX (did not have anything better at that time). The new version (up) is enhanced as DNG in LR5 and then processed with Nik Viveza, Dfine and Output Sharpener.

Bonus: I didn't quite remember there is a moon on this photo!

Twilight Temple

Fujifilm X100s, 27s @ f/16, iso 200

So this is apparently the best picture of the temple according to other people (my favourite was this one). I posted 5 best photos to 500px and this was the one that got a fair amount of traction there and also on G+. Well, I've got so much to learn still....

Green escape

Fujifilm X100s, f/16, iso 200 HDR

Three posts with temples in a row? Time to return to Hong Kong then!

After a week of hard work, after a busy Saturday night (don't ask) there is hardly a better place to rest your tired eyes and body than Hong Kong Park. You can sit on a bench, watch fish and turtles, go to  the aviary and watch birds or go to the tai chi court and watch Chinese people trying to catch imaginary spiders.

"Stick them with the pointy end"

Fujifilm X100s, 1.4s @ f/16, iso 200

Back to Wat Rong Khun - I don't even know why I like this picture. It's black and white, doesn't show any of the temple, just a bridge leading to it. I think it's the composition.

The "White" Temple

Fujifilm X100s, f/8, iso 200, HDR

In the light of the rising sun, the White Temple does not look that white anymore. Still, it is unlike any other "wat" I have seen in Thailand so far. Usually they are either painted gold or full spectrum of colours. But white?
If you want to visit it, the best time is either during fresh morning hours (just a tad before 8am) or in the afternoon (closes at 5pm, but it is worth waiting for the sunset).
And if you like this picture, you may also like the others in the White Temple album.

One thousand and one nights

Fujifilm X100s, f/8, iso 800, HDR

No Hong Kong today, Kuala Lumpur instead.

Modern city, known mostly from Petronas Twin Towers landmark, pretty clean for asian standards. But every city needs a green refuge, a park, garden, or - like in this case - a mosque with surroundings designed to escape the midday heat. Or to spend lovely evening just walking around.

To me, this picture could be of a palace garden of 1001 nights.

Mornings worth waking up to

`Fujifilm X100s, f/16, iso 200, HDR

Fujifilm X100s, f/16, iso 200, HDR

Fujifilm X100s, f/16, iso 200, HDR

My original plan was to post yet another Hong Kong pic today, but I woke up earlier and was hit with this magnificent sunrise.

Good morning Chiang Mai

iPhone, Camera+, auto

Sometimes you don't need a fancy camera, just be at the right place at the right time. This is how Chiang Mai, Thailand greeted me the morning after I arrived there.

The picture was taken with Camera+ 5 and edited on the phone.