White and Purple Flowers and Greenery

I seem to have been on a floral kick lately... This is another 11 exposure image that has been fused together in Photomatix for an HDR effect. 

What I like best about these cut flower images is that I am able to make these exposures inside. Aside from the subzero weather that we have been experiencing here in Minnesota (which makes indoor photography a welcome idea), I like these photos better for HDR processing -- for the reason that I encounter less movement from the wind, gentle breezes, etc. 

My HDR images seem to work best when they have the exact same scene in the frame for each exposure. Any movement (or differences between the images that are being merged) will result in a phenomenon called 'ghosting' -- where the merged differences produce mysterious looking transparencies called 'ghosts'. This is great, if that's what you were going for. If not, they are a nuisance.)

As of late, I've noticed a couple of issues with my Sony NEX-7. First, let me say that there are two basic ways to create the exposures that are needed for HDR processing. (There is also a third method with several variations for producing pseudo-HDR images.) The NEX-7 has a built in feature that can automatically fire off three shots, set to a preset exposure setting. Most often, I use the -3, 0, +3 setting. 

Issue number one: Often, when I use the automatic exposure setting, the darkest image is not produced. Instead of a -3, the camera will return an extra 0, or sometimes a -.3. (Maybe I need to check sony.com for a firmware update?) Perhaps this has something to do with shooting in the sunlight? It has happened often enough, that I have noticed it as a recurring problem. 

This 'automatic triple exposure firing mode' does have its limitations. You only get three exposures, and if you want more, you need to make them 'manually'. You can manually turn a dial on the camera and change the exposure settings from -5 to +5. (This has been my usual method for making such exposures.)

For shooting images where I change the exposure manually, I use both a tripod and a remote control. (I try to reduce anything that might move my camera as much as possible. Turning the exposure dial is the only thing that cannot be avoided.) 

This now leads me to issue number two: I started noticing that some of my tripod pictures were a little off-kilter. At first, I assumed that it had something to do with my hand touching the exposure dial on the camera as I  manually set the exposures -- that perhaps there was some sort of imperceptible movement taking place as I touched the camera. Then, while I was actually taking the pictures, I looked at the display screen on the back of the camera and noticed that there were actually some slight movements on the display -- that seemed to be a result of the firing of the shutter! (I was using my remote control and not touching the shutter button on the camera.) My best guess at this point is that there is possibly something faulty about my tripod, which might lack the proper weight to stabilize the camera. Aside from this, I'm not sure what is going on! 

   

More White (and Purple) Flowers

This is actually another angle on the same vase of flowers (in front of the window) from the day before yesterday's post (goo.gl/pxhPoh). I took 11 exposures from -5 to +5 and then merged them together in Photomatix 5 (from hdrsoft.com). My f-stop here was set to f/1.8.

I was talking with someone the other day about taking such pictures of cut flowers, where I mentioned the advantage as compared with taking pictures of flowers outside -- cut flowers don't move! :) Granted, they don't last as long, either, although yesterday's post with the potted mini-roses might challenge that assertion.

Thoughts Upon What I See in Fading Flowers

Today's picture is what is left of the mini-rose bush that I brought home for Valentine's Day. 

When you look at it, it's kind of a sad looking picture. Given that these Valentine's flowers were not 'cut flowers' but were actually part of a potted plant, I had hoped that they would maybe actually have... oh, say, 'survived'... a little longer? 

As I work on such a picture as this, it makes me think about my 'vision' in photography. (A while back, I came across a photography manifesto +David duChemin of +Craft & Vision; one of David's lines really resonated with me, the one about how photographers "do what they do to show the world what they see and feel".

Given my particular Christian background, I have certain thoughts when I take pictures such as the one in today's post. Sometimes, I am simply struck by a pretty scene and marvel at the wonders of God's creation. Other times, the thought goes a little bit deeper, perhaps something like the framed image below. 

A little religious book that has influenced my way of thinking about photography is Carolyn Brinkley's Bearing the Cross: Devotions on Albrecht Durer's Small Passion. The book is not actually about 'photography' or artistic vision; it's a Christian devotional book. It follows the various woodcuts from Albrecht Durer's Small Passion and often highlights details that a casual observer may have overlooked. (For example, a small tree in the Nativity woodcut foreshadows the tree of the cross on which Jesus would die.) 

What I have taken away from Brinkley's book about Durer is the notion that there can be a deeper meaning even for the smallest details that are intentionally included in an image. A pretty flower might not just be a pretty flower. That flower can serve as a reminder of God's providential care for His creation, a care that extends even to the smallest details of that creation. A flower might also serve as a reminder of the brevity of human life, which, for a Christian, is not a matter of despair but of hope. A Christian can look at a fading flower and be reminded of the unfading hope of the promises of Christ in the word of God.    

Flowers Looking Out the Window into the Snow

This picture was composed from 11 exposures at an interval of one, from -5 to +5. The picture was a morning picture, composed in front of a window while facing east. While the camera was set fairly close to the flowers, my f-stop was set at f/4, which seems to have given the image enough focus while allowing the background to have a feeling of being blended together. 

Colorful Nursing Home Birds

I'm not quite sure what the politically correct term is for these places - nursing homes, retirement homes, care centers are the terms that I've heard and with which I am familiar. Anyway, I was musing a while back on how these places often have some sort of aviary (usually anything from a small cage to a much larger enclosure). The place that I visited this past Sunday had a much larger enclosure, using some form of Plexiglas for the windows. And, here is one of my pictures (cropped and otherwise edited):

Ocqueoc Falls (2007)

This is Ocqueoc Falls in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. The original (below) was created using a Canon XTi back in 2007. For this one, I like the edit a lot better than the original image.

Little Brown River, Falls, Rapids Action

The original image (the second image below) looks a little tame in comparison to the edit (the first image below). Tame isn't always bad; as I look at my edit, there may be something that's just a little bit 'too wild' about it. I had wanted to bring out the reddish brown color in the river, but perhaps I brought it out a little bit too much, almost to the point where the river looks dirty?

Colorful Canadian Sunrise

Today's picture (above) is a Photomatix/Aftershot Pro edit of a sunrise on Lake of the Woods, as seen on Spruce Island (Fall 2013). The picture below is A JPEG conversion of the ARW original. As an additional thought on this image, I may have wanted to merge the two in such a way that the line of trees had come out more along the green lines that you see in the image below, as opposed to the silhouette that you see in the edit above. 

Black and White Night at the Lake

This was one of my early experiments taking night shots back when my Sony NEX-7 was new (to me) and I was still trying to figure out all of the interesting things that it can do. Above is my black and white version of a night image shot at Lake of the Woods in Canada. (This was a single raw image that I tonemapped in Photomatix and then touched up in Aftershot Pro.) Below is the JPEG version that was processed straight from the ARW original.

Chocolate Waffles for Dinner

My wife made chocolate waffles for dinner, using the recipe here without the glaze and with vanilla added into the waffle recipe. Her comment was that, if you wanted to be healthier, you could probably cut down on the sugar and the butter.

For me, I learned all sorts of lessons in taking these pictures. Number one, I should probably set my f-stop a little higher (I was shooting at f/1.8), especially in the ice cream topped picture, as the focus is really directed to the slightly weird (creaturely-looking) fudgy piece in the center. Two, another alternative to raising the f-stop would have been to try to catch the plate from a different angle, at which more of the waffle might have been in the depth of field (and thus, better focused). Three, real ice cream (as opposed to fake ice cream -- the typical standbys of mashed potatoes or lard) will actually melt, and -- even when it doesn't seem to be moving, it really is moving. Hence the need to apply Photomatix's "de-ghosting" tool to that weird fudgy piece in the center of the picture, which then gets weird colored spots on it.

The color of the chocolate waffles in the second picture is a little more 'true to life' than the color of the waffles in the first picture. They really were 'chocolate waffles' and had a darker color to them than what waffles usually have. And... we did enjoy eating them. :)

Orange Flowers in Black and White

As I worked on this picture of orange flowers, I could never get them to turn out in a shade of orange that I liked. So, I went with black and white and liked the result much better.

Round Island Light (Round 2)

I like to go back through my earlier images and give them a 'do over' in the post-processing, to see if I might come up with something that I like a little bit better than the first go around. The picture above is my second (most recent) attempt, with the color toned down to almost black and white (but not quite). For those of you who are keeping track, below was my first attempt on this image:

A Miniature Rose Bud for My 100th Post

I've finally hit my hundredth post! This means I've got about twenty to go until I hit the one-third of the year mark, but... Hooray! To celebrate my hundredth post, today's picture is of a bud from the miniature rose bush that I bought from the grocery store for Valentine's Day. (The leaves are falling fast, but there are still a few nice buds on the plant. My kids are hoping that a few of them will still open.)

The Mackinac Bridge and the Water Tower in Mackinaw City

Tourists (and not a few locals) to Michigan are frequently lured into the spelling/pronunciation trap of the tourist attraction located between the near-intersection of the state's upper and lower peninsulas. The city on the mainland of the lower peninsula is 'Mackinaw' City, from which you can take the 'Mackinac' Bridge north into St. Ignace and Michigan's upper peninsula. If you get on a ferry (from either Mackinaw City or St. Ignace,) you can catch a ride to 'Mackinac' Island. And -- if you've been reading all of this out loud, every time you come to the words 'Mackinaw' and 'Mackinac', they are actually pronounced the same: "mack-i-naw" (and never "mack-i-nack"). 

Red Berries and Purple Branches -- "Baby, It's Cold Outside!"

Throughout much of the year here in Minnesota, I get a song in my head (at least -- the refrain,) that describes our climate: "Baby, it's cold outside!" 

This thought was likewise running through my head as I processed this particular 'single image' file in Photomatix. Scrolling through the presets, I noticed several options that gave the branches in this image a light purple shade. Seeing this effect, I started singing (in my head) -- and thought "Wow! Purple tree branches are just about the perfect tribute for just how cold it gets here in Minnesota; even the branches can turn purple!" 

(Ok, ok -- I know that the tree really wasn't cold, and that maybe this particular kind of tree has branches that are naturally purple, or maybe there is some purple hue in the color spectrum that was just hiding there in these branches, waiting for someone with a fancy computer program to bring it out. Even still.. . it was pretty cold outside.) 

Another of Vitoslavitsy (Novgorod, 1994)

Here is another view from Vitoslavisy, the open air museum of wooden architecture from 1994 Novgorod, Russia. (I used the same process as yesterday, generating multiple brightness levels through my scanner from a film negative. The camera was a Nikon N5005. For post-processing software programs, I used Photomatix for the HDR file-combination and I also used Corel Aftershot Pro.)

HDR from Film (Vitoslavitsy, Novgorod) - White Squiggles and all

In a couple of months, it will have been 20 years since the trip that I took in high school over to Russia. I had taken along with me my parents' camera, a Nikon N5005. This camera is memorable to me as my first camera with autofocus. (I think it was the first camera in our household that had autofocus. There was a manual focus camera, but I didn't really use that one. I do remember using a few of those cheap, fixed focus film cameras, both of the 35mm and of the 110mm variety.) What I remember about the N5005 on the trip to Russia was being absolutely thrilled to be able to use a camera where the pictures actually turned out in focus! (As opposed to the trip that I had taken a few years earlier to Washington D.C., where my fixed focus camera needed something more than what I was able give it, in order to bring home pictures that were actually worth the money that we spent on film development... but, I digress.)

I've been going back through some of my film negatives and have been scanning them with my Epson V600 Photo Scanner. I have scanned these photos at several brightness levels, and am now sending them through Photomatix to see what I can produce. The first thing I notice on these negatives is a common theme of little squiggly white imperfections. I'm guessing that these have either 'developed' over time, or they are something that the photo labs were gracious enough to 'Photoshop' out when they made my prints. Not yet having figured out how to do that, I present today's picture below - white squiggles and all - from an outdoor wooden architecture museum (called Vitoslavitsy) from somewhere near Novgorod, Russia.

Fusion vs. Tone mapping: Green and Yellow Flowers in a Vase

 

Photomatix has two methods for processing photos, at least, from what I can see in the way it saves the files. One is tone mapping, and the other is fusion. 

Wikipedia's tone mapping entry explains the tone mapping process as mapping "one set of colors to another in order to approximate the appearance of high dynamic range images in a medium that has a more limited dynamic range." The fusion process has a similar explanation on Wikipedia as "a technique for blending multiple exposures of the same scene into a single image". The fusion entry goes on to say: "As in high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR), the goal is to capture a scene with a higher dynamic range than the camera is capable of capturing with a single exposure. However, because no HDR image is ever created during exposure fusion, it cannot be considered an HDR technique."

I can't say that I really understand the technical differences between 'mapping colors onto one another' vs. 'blending the exposures'. Perhaps looking at a tone mapped example and a fusion example of the same image might help. 

Below are two images that are the results of being processed in Photomatix. I used seven image files (ranging in exposure at one step from -3 to +3). The first is the 'tone mapped' version and the second is 'fused'. 

The tone mapped version does seem to be more 'colorful' than the fused. The fusion version seems to have better pronunciation in the details. I like both images, which - is why I posted them here today. Thanks for looking!

Meerkat from the Potter Park Zoo

To say that it was 'overcast' on the day that I took this zoo photo would be a little bit of an understatement; we were carrying umbrellas and actually got ourselves caught in an all-out downpour! 

My suspicion is that the conditions of the day had something to do with the color (or lack thereof) that I found in most of my meerkat photos. Meerkats are great little posers (a lot like prairie dogs), but most of my meerkat photos turned out featuring gray-ish animals that blended into a gray-ish background. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for. 

I did find one exception. (Ok, if I were to put a little more effort into it, I might be able to find a few more....) I had 3 exposures of this meerkat image that I sent through through Photomatix (-1, 0, +1) and then doctored the image up quite a bit, managing to pull out some color. As compared to the other images that turned out really gray, I was really pleased to be able to make this meerkat come out with a reddish-brownish tint.  

Infrared Greenery Processed as HDR

What I like about infrared photography (at least, in black and white) is that it gives pictures a wintery feel... without the cold. ;)

This particular image goes back to 2002 when I had an annual pass to the Fort Wayne Zoo. I was shooting with an infrared filter on my Sony DSC-F707 in nightmode (which was the only way that the infrared would work on that camera), which made everything come out with more of a green and white tone. To process the image in this post, I generated two additional images in Elements 2.0 (one darker, one lighter), and then sent all three through Photomatix. I best liked the way that the image looked in black and white, so... that's what I you see in this post.

Colorful Rooster from the Fort Wayne Zoo (2002)

A few times, I happened to catch this colorful rooster walking around the zoo (Fort Wayne, 2002). While he was already a really colorful bird in the original, I really like how my pseudo-HDR processing process made this rooster (and the green behind him) really 'pop'. (Original first; HDR second.)

As with the other images that I have recently posted, I took the original and generated darker and lighter versions in Elements 2.0. I then merged the results together in Photomatix.

 

Laughing Kookaburra

During the time that I had my season pass to the Fort Wayne Zoo (back in 2002), I only managed to take three pictures of the Laughing Kookaburra. (As I remember it, there may have been some reason that the bird was taken off display.) Whenever I look at my pictures of this bird, I get the Kookaburra song in my head. ("Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry, merry king of the bush is he...")

The first picture is the HDR-edited version (a JPEG from which I produced a variety of edited files at varying levels of darkness/brightness). The second picture is the original, unedited JPEG.

Little Finch with Fake Leaves on the Rocks

My picture here of this little finch was really something special to me. This picture was taken at a zoo, and I was shooting through glass (no, not Google Glass... I wish...). All of my other images in this set came through with some kind of glare or reflection on them, but this one managed to come through unscathed.  

Thinking about it, finches (is this really a finch?) are the kind of bird that I see all the time when I visit nursing homes. It's fairly common (at least in my experience) to find some kind of aviary box at such a place, filled with all sorts of colorful little birds for the residents to enjoy. (I have yet to take my camera to a nursing home, but, maybe that's not such a bad idea?)

This particular picture was shot more than a decade ago, back in the days before I was shooting RAW in multiple exposures. In order to make this pseudo-HDR image, I had to take the original JPEG, generate a couple of exposures darker and lighter. I merged those files together in Photomatix. The first image is the below is the resulting (pseudo) HDR; the second is the original.  

Baby Chickens

These chicks were part of the zoo's farm animal exhibit. The chick in the center looks like it has something on its mind. The rest are too tired to care that my camera was invading their personal space. (The first image is the HDR edit; the second is the original. To make the HDR, I generated several lighter and darker versions of the image in Elements 2.0.)

Zoo Kangaroos from 2002 (aka, You win some, you lose some)

As I go through my old Sony DSC-F707 photos, I found this kangaroo in the shade (Fort Wayne Zoo, 2002). (Original image below)

The original image seemed a little bit dark to me. (These kangaroos were, after all, sitting in the shade.) So, this time, I generated two sets of images that were both brighter than the original and sent all three files through Photomatix, hoping it would add visibility to the shaded kangaroos. (HDR image below)

I'm not sure how much I gained in the process. The kangaroos in the original image seemed to have something of a bluish tint, and, in this second image, they seem to be more of a natural grayish color for kangaroos. (This may not actually have so much to do with the HDR merger; it may simply be more of a matter that I played with Photomatix's color sliders at the end. I would guess that this is where I also lost the reddish tint of the dirt around the kangaroo.)

So, what's the moral of the story? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Maybe, if I were to keep tweaking my results, I might come up with something that suited me more.

Pretty Little Colorful Zoo Bird

This is a zoo bird, although I don't know exactly what kind of zoo bird this is. (I'm sure it's a common, easily identifiable bird to those of you who know a little bit more about birds than I do.) I took this picture back in 2002 at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. If memory serves me correctly, this bird was part of an enclosed aviary exhibit, where the birds flew freely and visitors could walk right through. This section of the zoo was especially nice for photography, as you didn't have to shoot through mesh or nets or glass -- you had a direct line of sight to the birds. I especially liked this bird, because it was so colorful -- yellow, blue, and red. 

Below, you first see my HDR-edited version of this picture. (I took the original and generated darker and lighter exposures in Elements 2.0, and then I ran all of the files through Photomatix.) For comparison, I also provided the original image (which is the second picture below). 

Riddle about a Fallen Log in Canada

Do you remember the old joke (is it really a joke? maybe more of a riddle?) about the fallen log? "If a tree falls in the middle of the forest, and there's no one there to hear it, will it still make a sound?"

The tree in this picture reminds me of that riddle. It's not quite 'in the middle of the forest', but it is on an island way out in the middle of Lake of the Woods, Canada.

As I walked around the island, this tree really caught my interest. So, what do you do when you have your camera and you see something interesting? You...

Hexagonal Sun (Not Like We Used to Draw in Grade School)

Back in grade school, here's how I would draw pictures of the sun: I would always start with a yellow circle, fill it in, and then draw all sorts of rays emanating from the sun. I'm pretty sure that I never drew a gray hexagon, surrounded it with white, gave it a reddish tinted outer layer, and then made six white streaks shooting off into the blue sky. (Blue sky, maybe.) Well, I guess there's a first time for everything!