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.