Another day's over

I know, another cheesy sunset, just like in the previous post. But there is something in this photo that makes me want to publish it as soon as possible.

It is no sunset, really. Just the blue hour after, with the silhouette of a sculpture that looks like a cactus and another - of a backpacker strolling down the beach. I wish I could see this kind of view from my window more often than once a year...

Nikon D7100, 105mm, 1/80s @ f/4.5, iso 400

Lights of McGill

And again, having the heavier camera in my backpack paid off (too bad I did not pack a tripod too)! I've been just returning home from a meet-up when this sight caught my attention. It was almost dark, only the sky was a bit lighter with one of those cloud formations that make pictures interesting.

Not having a tripod I improvised by resting my tele lens against the fence. With high ISO and VR mode active I managed to get a pretty decent shot at 70mm (105mm in 35mm terms) and f/10. I tried 85mm too (the second photo), but I like the framing in the first one better. On afterthought, I could have tried to step up the aperture a bit.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/6s @ f/10, iso 3200

Nikon 7100, 127mm, 1/6s @ f/10, iso 3200

The perfect moment

This is the last photo of the series. I mean, I still have a few that would be a good material, but it is time to move on to another location. Mind you, all the pictures posted this week are from the same day in Adirondacks Park: a morning spent on the lakes and the afternoon/evening at hiking.

The capture below is actually the first of that day - when the sun was still below the horizon, just preparing to set. It was taken just 50 minutes before that one. 

I do not remember whether I used any ND filters to achieve 10s exposure - probably did not have to. The result is a very smooth, silky surface. However, what I like the most are the colours, similar to this and this, but somehow even more deeper and astounding.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 10s @ f/16, iso 100

Feeling blue

And the picture I was looking for yesterday was this one. It is actually a sibling of that photo, but shot wider, with a different camera (Sony here, Nikon there).

Sony RX100M3, 31mm, 0.6s @ f/11, iso 80

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...

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.

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....