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

Eye in the sky

This picture was taken at the rock pool near Los Gigantes on Tenerife. The pattern of clouds makes it as if there was a big eye in the sky. Lovely view and also great place to visit during travels!

Oh, and the land you see on the horizon is La Gomera, the other of the seven Canary Islands.

iPhone 5s, auto

Turkish tea

Turkey is one of these countries where one is not limited to coffee to get a nice boost of energy. Even though I am fan of Turkish coffee, traditionally served Turkish tea matches the caffeine effect. Or maybe I just like sitting outside in February and enjoying a nice cup while watching people rush by?

I tried my best to get blurry background effect with the iPhone, but, alas, no camera app seems to have direct control over aperture. Oh well, doesn't matter, the tea was great!

iPhone 5s, macro mode

Look the other way!

This one is a lazy camera play during an evening snack (delicious fresh fish BTW). I like the bokeh and the boy's face expression. In reality he went for a ball, but it looks like he's after the flower :)

Nikon D7100, 300mm, 1/40s @ f/5.6, iso 100

Rocking sunset

This picture was taken around Garachico's rock pools, which were pretty unrestful this day. Tenerife has so much to offer, even in this unwelcoming winter season...

iPhone 5s, auto

Bretagne

For sure one of the top 5 pictures taken this year. Maybe even the best of them. Practically off-camera, (almost) without any global corrections and only local dust removal. White balance, contrast, unchanged. Very proud of this one.

We took a car for the weekend to visit few nice places around Nantes. The weather was better than the last time, even though it rained quite a bit during Sunday. Anyway, the sun was there when it mattered - towards the sunset. This shot was taken 1.5 hour before. But we also had a pleasure to watch the actual sunset on the beach of La Baule - no pictures there, eyes were enough. Really, an enchanting evening...

Nikon D7100, 270mm, 1/1000s @ f/5.6, iso 100

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

When the lights go out...

The evening view form one of the restaurants - even though I've already covered the sunset experience, it is something you can go back over and over again. The sky is different every day and you can experiment with angles and lenses.

Now that I'm back to Montreal, I not only remember this beautiful sight, but also lying on a mat, sipping a fresh watermelon smoothie and enjoying the cooling breeze from the water.

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 8s @ f/11, iso 80

Mountain fist bump

Another panorama from atop of the Cascade Mountain - this time during the daylight. Well, sort of, because it was already after 7pm and the sun started preparing to set.

Plus, the rock on the top of the mountain looks like a fist ready to bump! 

I rarely do HDRs, because it is always a struggle to make them look natural. This one is close, but still not quite there. I was using the HDR Efex 2, maybe I'll try again with Lightroom 6?

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, hdr @ f/11, iso 80

Golden hour

This is another one from the last summer in Adirondacks: a breathtaking view from the Cascade Mountain near Lake Placid, one of 44 High Peaks. Almost nobody stays at the top until the sun set. Those who do, get this sight to admire.

Sony RX100M3, 70mm, 1/6s @ f/11, iso 80

The night and the city

Fujifilm X100S, 1/25s @ f/2, iso 3200

This year, save for 2 weeks in Laos, I did not travel that much. But I still have a lot of pictures from the previous winter which were not processed to their full potential. The Hong Kong skyline seen from the mainland is one of them.

Postcard from Krabi

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/40s @ f/11, iso 125

If I wanted to send a postcard from Krabi, it would probably be this picture.

Sidenote: if I could make all the people look in the same direction the boats do, it would be a great photo. Now it's just a nice one.

It's time

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/40s @ f/16, iso 100

I added sunset on a river in Vang Vieng recently, but it seems like people like sunsets. So here's another one - a sea sunset at Ao Nang Beach in Thailand.

I must admit, I had (and still have) mixed feelings about Krabi. It is a nice place, with multitude of good sights and landscape spots. It is not as crazy as Phuket (Patong especially). But it is still a tourist trap. Not many ways to meet and befriend locals. Also - and I am writing this from -20℃ Montreal - a bit too hot for my taste. Granted, I did not go to Koh Lanta, which everybody recommends. Well, there is always the next year.

But back to the picture. Unlike many others, I took this one using a telephoto lens (70-300mm, effectively 105-450mm on my DX Nikon). This gave a bigger than usual sun circle with a nice cloud pattern. You can also see some of the sunspots. I must try it again soon...

Just lie down and watch... "Friends"

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/80s @ f/16, iso 640

iPhone 5s, auto, VSCOCam

Vang Vieng was the place where we stopped to "refuel" after the cold of Luang Prabang. Not so long ago this spot was a serious drug scene, now cleaned up (within reason), is for partying in the night and doing cool stuff during the day. The activities include: hiking, mountain biking, swimming in ponds, kayaking, tubing, rock climbing.

The activity, which seems quite popular there is watching Friends (as in TV series). You go to a restaurant, order food and drinks, lie down on a mat and enjoy the show.

For obvious reasons I was more interested in the view "outside". So I chose to go to restaurants on the river, hunting the sunset. And - oh my gosh - it was a beautiful sight!

We spent total four days in Vang Vieng and - when every restaurant felt the same and the next day wasn't particularly different from the previous one - we left for Vientiane.

Three colours: Pattaya

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

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....