Fishing

Recently I experiment a bit with Affinity Photo software, which - at least for me and for now - is an "easier-to-grasp" version of Photoshop CC. Though not as powerful as PS, Affinity Photo has many interesting features and - being a new player on the market - it is easier to find tutorials that are actually relevant from beginner's and photographer's point of view.

Anyways, the picture was taken in the wonderful spot in Montreal - Parc des Rapides. Situated on the bank of St-Laurent River, it has multitude subject to photograph: from birds to far-away river landscapes to water cascades.

Usually, I don't take many bird pictures. This one, a heron I believe (?), was still pretty far, so this is the result of a small crop. And - as the contrast with the green grass wasn't particularly great, I decided to develop this picture in monochrome, using Lightroom for RAW development and then Affinity Photo for black-and-white conversion and this silver effect.

Nikon 7100, 450mm, 1/125s @ f/6.3, iso 200

Through the Looking-Glass

This picture reminds of Fringe, the science-fiction TV show (mostly) about parallel worlds. Granted, there are no zeppelins anywhere in sight. Another easy to find parallel (sic!) would be that with Alice in Wonderland (Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There).

Mirrors are very special. Everything looks almost the same, but is not. And - even if it's only a moment of distraction - one can sometimes see something that can be only seen in the parallel world. Or at least I'd like to think so... :D

iPhone 5s, VSCOCam

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

Morning sun salutation

It looks like I wanted to go back to fetch just one picture and it quickly became an Adirondacks series :) Well, as a non-professional photographer I cannot afford to do my photography all the time (or even as much time as I'd like), so sometimes, after a great shooting day, the photos lie unedited for a very long time... On the other hand, when the weather outside is not good for shooting, I tend to spend more time processing the old files. Life...

This week I found so many good shots from just one summer weekend in Adirondacks Park, I kind of want to go back there and see how it looks in the winter. Maybe next Saturday...

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 0.8s @ f/11, iso 80

Ethereal sailboat

I wanted to go back to Laos (in virtual sense), but then this picture came up. At first it didn't seem much, but the more I looked at it, the more I saw a sailing ship formed by the fog, reflection and the trees acting as masts. Maybe the photo would have been even better if the sky was more dramatic?

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/100s @ f/4.5, iso 1400

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

Mouth of the cave

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

And back to Laos, to a marvellous place called the Kong Lor Cave with a wide long-exposed shot of the entrance.

Exit

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/50s @ f/1.4, iso 640

It took two days detour from the main Laos north-south route, unpleasant 10 hours on a bus from Vientiane, then, going back, almost 24 hours ride to Pakse, including night hours in a non-sleeper. Was it worth it? For this picture, I'd say yes.

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.

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

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...

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...

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....

"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.

War of the Worlds

Fujifilm X100s, 1/13s @ f/2.0, iso 3200

Apparently this picture got some appreciation on G+. Laserz!!!

Follow that boat!

Nikon D5100, 35mm, 1/200s @ f/6.3, iso 100

This time it's the nature, not people, that is the main subject of the picture. 

Even though the vignetting draws an eye to the small motorboat in the centre, if you follow its path you'll reach hills of Taquile Island on the horizon. And you may be surprised that the bright white cloud on the horizon is indeed Cordillera Real, part of Bolivian Andes with peaks above 6,000 m.

Where Canadian lakes meet Atlantic

Fujifilm X100s, 3.1s @ f/16, iso 100

I love playing with filters (real screw-in filters, not the effects in X100s' menu). The shot above was taken with UV + polarizer + ND4 + built-in ND. That made otherwise rough surface calm enough to get this beautiful reflection.