Not so blue mosque

I finally did the trip to the old town. Surprisingly, it was not as crowded as Pera. Or maybe there were as many people, but the streets were less narrow?

Anyway, it was a white sky day - hence the black-and-white processing.

Nikon D7100, 105mm, 1/50s @ f/5.6, iso 100

Fluffy monster

Normally, not an animal photographer, but cats (and dogs) here in Istanbul are so cute!

Nikon D7100, 292mm, 1/320s @ f/5.3, iso 1100

Routine check

This picture showed on my Facebook today, as a reminder of what I posted a year or two years ago. In fact I was in Peru in 2013, but the picture had to wait over a year to actually be edited.

At the time of editing I was experimenting heavily with Nik Collection and the result was making a version with Analog Efex (see the second picture). However, seeing this picture today I thought it is a lot better than I initially thought and remade it using just Lightroom. I also (finally!) straighten it up :)

Nikon D5100, 52mm, 1/2500s @ f/2.5, iso 100

Same photo, old edit

Sur le Pont d'Avignon...

I am still travelling and taking photos, there is never enough time to develop them though. Too much happening outside the photo-bubble right now...

Just before the end of the year 2015, I have got a chance to visit Provence and one of the first places there was, naturally, Avignon. Too bad it was winter and the day was very cloudy in addition. Nevertheless, I am pretty happy with the end result.

The picture shows, of course, the famous Pont d'Avignon from the song. At the place I joked - as probably so many other tourists - that it was not worth visiting as it is not even whole. But it was. I just wish I could see Provence in spring, summer and autumn...

Nikon D7100, 105mm, 1/160s @ f/5.6, iso 200

Stairway to sky(train)

To complete the series of monochrome images I'd like to include this one, from Bangkok, that I always wanted to publish, but never was in a mood too. Thailand is a land of many colours and to make a black&white frame felt almost like a sacrilege...

I am not 100% sure, but I believe this is the view from the entrance to Terminal 21 on one of the exits from the sky train (BTS) at the Asok station. What I liked about this frame was how the stairs compose with the rest of surrounding architectural elements.

Of course, it being Thailand, I could not resist to add some warmth to the monochrome image. Though - give the recent Mad Max hype - maybe it would have looked better in chrome?

Sony RX100M3, 34mm, 1/13s @ f/11, iso 80

Picture-in-picture

One of the charming qualities of Charleston, SC - beautifully preserved old mansions along the main roads. Sometimes you can get a full view but just going around, but most of the time you are limited to just peeking through a gate. However, even those gates can be a marvel. Look at these crafted patterns, the gas lamp at the top. I am still not sure if the bird just happened to be there or was part of the metal artwork.
From the pictures I took, I chose to publish this one, where I caught my friend's hand taking a picture too! Hence the title...

Sony RX100M3, 24mm, 1/200s @ f/5.6, iso 1600

Ice cream and fudge

When I saw this store I knew it will end up on the Flickr's Adirondack Chairs Group. But there is also the general cuteness of the scene - remember, it is still the day before the opening of the season. No people, shop closed.

Sony RX100M3, 39mm, 1/30s @ f/5.6, iso 80

Sony RX100M3, 39mm, 1/30s @ f/5.6, iso 80

Crémerie Holy Donut

A sunny spring day. Noon. A car. An ice cream shop. A small town on a lake. A funny name. All you need for a perfect "opening season" picture.

I could have gone with a retro post-processing, but decided to keep the original colours, just warmed up a little. A very cheerful result!

And for the record - Saint-Donat is the name of a saint. But who knows, maybe he liked donuts?

Sony RX100M3, 31mm, 1/160s @ f/5.6, iso 80

March 27th :|

The same morning, different place. Unlike the picture from the previous post, this one really captures the feelings of every person in Montreal right now. Which are: will it ever stop?? And - believe it or not - this photo looks even sadder in colour...

No matter. This weekend showed signs of spring. And yes, I've already went to buy coffee wearing only a t-shirt. Because I can! :D

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/200s @ f/10, iso 3200

Let it snow?

This is probably the most frustrating thing about Montreal in March: after a few days of sunshine and (relative) warmth there comes a morning like this... BAM!

The world is suddenly dark, the sky is cloudy, and the dreaded frozen flakes are falling from up there... It is nice in November, exciting in December, normal in January, already depressing in February, but March??

However, a beauty can be found in this, too. What I like about the picture below is how great the bokeh looks in ISO 3200. Usually I would shoot this kind of picture with ISO 100-200, but I may experiment with that high ISO grain a bit more.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/1600s @ f/5.6, iso 3200

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

Dark Hedges of Mont-Royal

North Ireland has got its Dark Hedges, in Montreal - at least for me - that would be the park alley, an extension of Rue Rachel, that leads to the Monument of Sir George-Étienne Cartier. I pass this place almost every morning on my way to work. Today was a very sunny day, so I took my tele lens to make the most of it.

I tried two different versions - the original picture was the darker one. Then I tried the overexposed settings of the Silver Efex software. And I have to admit, the lighter variant looks better, more along the spirit of the season, which in Montreal - unfortunately - is still winter.

Nikon 7100, 255mm, 1/200s @ f/9, iso 100 (overexposed)

Nikon 7100, 255mm, 1/200s @ f/9, iso 100 (dark variant)

Stop winter!

A snowy Montreal Sunday morning - from a week ago. Not that this weekend was any different.

This time I tried a tele-zoom. Has a nice way of bringing the object on the picture closer.

Nikon 7100, 105mm, 1/100s @ f/9, iso 1000

In passing...

Almost leaving the Rosemont subway station, rushing to see a prospective apartment to rent, I was faced with this scene. Lucky for me it was a day when I took my camera to take some nice winter pictures. Unlucky that the settings were still in the "landscape mode".

But, considering it all, it is a pretty nice "still life" kind of picture.

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/8s @ f/16, iso 3200

Lost in winter

Nikon 7100, 75mm, 1/60s @ f/14, iso 125

Choices, choices... 

The moment I imported the photo into Lightroom I knew it has to be black-and-white with a colour accent. Few adjustments later I ended up with the picture #1 (below). The problem was, even though the red is strong, it wasn't enough to make the subject stand out from the background.

I thought blurring with a radial filter was the answer (picture #2). But the blur was looking very artificial, like I tried to fake a DOF very clumsily, as some of the critics noticed. Oh, I posted those two photos to the Street Photography group on 500px looking for tips.

After a bit more pondering, I finally toned down the background a bit, but without blurring it too much. A bit of shadows brightening, a tad of contrast and voila! The end result is exactly, what I was trying to show.

I had two good titles actually three) for this photo:

1. Lost in winter
2. Looking for summer
3. Which way to summer?

Ended up using the first one. What do you think?

Sharp (#1)

Blurred (#2)

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?

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.

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...

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!