Wandering in the LightWandering in the LightThings They Forgot to Tell You About DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY 
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Photo Impressions
2008-03-16 07:00:00 I have stopped using the term Photo mosaic, which with this spelling has been registered as a trademarked by Robert Silver. I use the professional version of Andrej Olenik's Mosaic Creator, which is based on different patented techniques to those covered by the patents filed by Robert Silver through Runaway Technology Inc. There is a good article on the photographic mosaic process in general on wikipedia, including discussion of the trademark issue. Also worth following up are Joseph Francis's History of Photo Mosaics and WL Hunt's History of Photo Tiled Pictures. From now on I will be referring to my photographically tiled works as photo impressions, and the multi-image panoramics and other similarly multi-image constructions as just multi-image and/or collages More About: Impressions
Tapestry Wave Wallpaper
2008-03-02 05:03:00 Tapestry Wave Wallpaper Originally uploaded by imageo Normally I steer clear of artistic filters in the photomanipulation and paint programs, not for any especially noble reason, I just don't really apreciate any of the results, you see i do a bit of painting and sketching myslef. Ok I do harbour a nervous twitch whenever I hear "You can photoshop that!" I know the resulting photo has a high probability of being over contrasty and garishly coloured, and probably still an ordinary image. Ok I'll stop mysef now before I offend to many. Still I do have a confession, I do occasionally stray over to the dark side with my screen wallpapers. You see I like having wallpapers of my own images, it is the ultimate way to personalise your workspace and often they are my more artistic photos of texture and abstracty things. These lend themself to experiment so I do, Just occasionally they are good enough for my collection of wallpaperson Flickr More About: Tapestry
How good are the Auto-Fix Tools?
2008-02-27 13:03:00 I guess everyone with a camera knows the disappointment of a great moment that slipped away into a very average photo. The weather was changing to rain and this cormorant turned into the breeze to dry his wings before the rain squall arrived by the time I had fumbled in my camera bag and change my lens the little light left was disappearing fast and I was way to far away anyway, but I hit the shutter button anyway. The result was low key grayness and not quiet what I hoped, but very understandable given the conditions. So maybe it is a worthy candidate to use to compare all those auto-fix tools popping up in most software these days First I tried out Live Gallery (which is free to download), it doesn't have so many "correction" features but top of the menu of fix tools is the auto adjust. The nice thing is, it does its job quickly but then gives you a set of sliders (which I didn't use) that can enhance the shadows or highlights separately to general brightness and con... More About: Tools , Auto , Good
Static Vibrancy
2008-02-23 05:34:00 Ripple in Time Wallpaper Originally uploaded by imageo This screen wallpaper started out as an exercise in trying to capture things that repeat over time and then post process them using the HDRi technique into a single image (ie I was taking three photos at different exposures, then using dynamic photo to merge the images with an extended dynamic range. I expected to see the ripples moving across the image (at subtlety different exposures). The subject was the incoming tide flooding over a current cut small pool in the sand. Normally when using HDRi you must have a subject that is static across the three exposures so the images cab be matched exactly, but I like to find out what happens when you break the rules. The individual images, showed the ripples patterns nicely, especially the +1.0 EV. (Validating my view that it is often wise to use EV bracketing when photographing low and direct light, because in those conditions the built in light meter in your camera may... More About: Static
Tranquility
2008-02-19 23:49:00 Moon rise over Jell's Park Lake. Yet another experiment with the HDRi technique, trying to match the dynamic range as seen with a human eye. More About: Tranquility
Painting with Photomosaics
2008-02-19 13:43:00 I have been making large multi-panel photomosaic of the bird of South Gippsland, using South Gippsland scenes as the tiles for a while now. Whilst Mosaic Creator seems to do a reasonable job whatever you throw at it, I have the overwhelming view that Andrea Mosaic gives me more creative control (but alas with that comes the ability to really ruin images as well) and I got top thinking I should treated making mosaics more like painting an image. Then the penny dropped I needed to get a better palette of colours, from which to mix my new Mosaic, just like an artist selects his tubes of paint and makes up his colour scheme. fd's Flickr Toys has a neat palette generator, I think it is really meant for web designers or home decoration projects. It is so easy to use I don't need to explain that here. All you need to do is upload a photo and a palette of colours based on the colours in the photo will be generated automatically. So next I looked through my picasa library o... More About: Painting
Join the one legged club
2008-02-18 07:18:00 At first I was worried about the sudden increase in one legged seagulls. Then I noticed they like to balance on one leg when they are facing a slight breeze More About: Join , Club
Correcting a few details
2008-02-18 03:56:00 If you found your way to this blog from the article in the Leongatha Star, there are a couple of details that need to be cleared upAnsel Adams was most defintely not a digital photographer, he died, aged 82, back in 1984. One of his great contributions to photography was the zone system (his wikipedia entry says he was a co-inventor of it) but I am not so sure about that. He ceratinly developed it and other techniques to capture the fullest detail across all ranges of tone in his black and white photos and his landscapes in particular are just outstanding.The panoramic photo published in the star was a very recent one, not the panorama from my participation in the One Horizon project on flickr. This is the panorama exhibitted in the New York Exhibition in 2006And to keep you up to date, this was taken yesterday, at the same wonderful beach. More About: Details
Another great day for the beach
2008-02-17 00:42:00 Up till now I had been trying out the HDRi techniques in low light, a theme that seems to be the favourite place to start, at least in the Flickr My first HDR (beginners)group. It has been a magnificnt weekend so it was off to do my usual breachcoming photography ramble and I though I should start with a HDR test in the full glorious light of an australia summer day (a subject most digital photographer soon find out returns a very contrasty washed out image. OK I have been using a polarizing filter for such situations and that helps resort a more natural image, particulary helping to keep the sky blue , not a washed out white) and the three EV bracketed photo used in the HDR image above where taken with that polarizing filter. In dynamic photo I have been movind down hwn tone mapping, avoiding the eye catching and Ultra Contrat setting and i tend to like the smmoth compression, or human eye setting, but in the HDR photo above I used the Auto Adaptive seting because it most closelt c... More About: Beach , Great
Crystal illusion
2008-02-16 12:13:00 The beach at venus bay faces west, so on a late summer evening if there is an off shore breeze the waves get a beautiful aqua transparency. More About: Crystal , Illusion
Understanding HDR (High Dynamic Range)
2008-02-15 10:09:00 You may have notice I have been playing a lot with the HDRi (High Dynamic Range ) technique later. I offer no excuse, I am playing, I just need to figure out how it works and how I might be able to use it. So here is my simple explanation of the general process. Note I am using FDRTools in this example because it is easier to show what is going on (I already prefer dynamic photo, see my previous post why) Step 1, Take a set of bracketed photos, (three is a good number but you can take more) at different EV exposures. Step 2, Load those photos into software that can analyse the exposure range of each photo, it is normally necessary to align the individual photos, if you use a tripod this will not be necessary. I actually rested the camera on a wall to keep it steady so i have jumped over this step. Step 3 now create a virtual photo space with a wider range of exposure range, using a composite of all intensity recorded (ie the darks from the darkest photos, ton... More About: High Dynamic Range , Understanding
HDRi Brissy skyline
2008-02-14 21:44:00 14-feb hdr brissy skyline Originally uploaded by imageo Using Dynamic photo again. I was without a tripod and this sceene needed a very long exposure for the EV bracketed set, but luckily there were trust round topped bollards along the waterfront. More About: Skyline
What a difference a day makes?
2008-02-12 12:04:00 The same tree in two different HDRi photos taken just one day apart at roughly the same time. More About: Difference
Bird's in Flight
2008-02-11 00:56:00 it was only a day or so ago that I complained that these guys [Onychoprion fuscatus] where hard to capture in flight. Well this guy, at least, must have heard me and staged his own close range fly bay. Thanks mate!The "Picture Grid" collage was created with picasa More About: Flight
Extreme-sports version of fishing
2008-02-08 11:05:00 These are not great photos, but just capturing these was a feat! These little sooty terns (Onychoprion fuscatus) dive fast and from on high, they seldom miss a their catch. However they are a real challenge just to keep the little guy in the frame while panning my telephoto lens, not to mention the low light of dusk and focusing on the fast action More About: Sports , Fishing , Extreme , Extreme sports , Version
Reflecting on reflections off glass
2008-02-05 06:40:00 HDRi processing, does wonders for strong reflections off glass.What it doesn't do so well is handle people that are walking as you take the bracketted set of photos, used to construct the HDRi image (see the ghosted multi-exposed figures on the bottom left hand side of the image on the right More About: Reflections , Glass
No need for special gadgets
2008-02-02 14:01:00 Whenever I mention geotagging to others, the topic automatically seems to become about GPS in gadgets. Well I start to explain you don't need them you can geotag your photos already without fancy stuff. You can use Picasa and Google Earth. If you haven't done it yet click on the link in the previous sentence, to my original post of 18 months ago. The method is still the same and it is still my preferred approach. My one disappointment is you can not make use of the coordinates in the management of searching for files within picasa (as yet). You can uses the map feature in Flickr. I must admit I am not happy with the yahoo map engine flickr use, its hopeless in terms of detail and frequently gives and incorrect location description, for the places i visit. For example when I geotagged my last photo in flickr it gave the location as mirbo south (which does not exist to the best of my knowledge) and mirbo north which does exist is about 50Kms away! You can use software suc... More About: Gadgets , Special
Tiled to the extreme
2008-02-02 10:50:00 I have created many versions of photo mosaics and tilings of this little superb (blue) wren. Now is the time to put those images to good use. The image above look really great on mugs and the set below where all printed at 10"" by 8" framed and mounted together as a set on the wall (very striking even if I do say myself) More About: Extreme
Surfs Up, but where is everyone
2008-02-01 09:37:00 The strong onshore swells and offshore breeze, has lifted the waves, but everyone (nearly everyone) seems to have gone back to work or school. More About: Surfs Up
Enjoying the warmth of the sunset
2008-01-29 14:20:00 It is really clear to me that the HDRi techniques (performed here with Dynamic Photo) are ideal for taking "better" (in that they will look more closely like the lighting at the time) in low light, especially at sunrise and sunset, and the half light of artificially lights. In this example I took just three photos using the bracketing feature on my camera at 0.5 EV intervals (shown above). I also used tone adjustment (via Windows Live Photo Gallery) to "stretch" inner section of the exposure captured in the center image above(the no EV adjusted image) as a comparison. The image is still a striking sunset, but harsh, it has as very strong contrast and the colours slightly shifted, not as warm or natural. More About: Sunset , Warmth , Tone Mapping
The holidays are over
2008-01-29 10:44:00 This flock of gulls, appears unsure what to do now all the tourists are gone, More About: Holidays , The Holidays
PhotoFriday :: The Machine
2008-01-26 14:16:00 In modern life we are surrounded by hundreds of machines, yet there is just one that most people would find it hard to do without. A photomosaic using some of the many devices of modern life as tiles.For PhotoFriday's topic the machine. More About: Machine
Staying cool
2008-01-26 11:48:00 I was out late expect a good sunset over the lake, to cut a long story short there wasn't one. Just a big dark cloud threatening a cool change which didn't happen either. At least this little guy knows how to stay cool More About: Cool
Late summer delights
2008-01-24 22:52:00 The last of the day light saving light, a cool breeze, the smell of onions and sausages cooking, high summer is to be savoured. Also the opportunity for nice backlighting More About: Summer , Late
Cracks appearing in flickr's geotagging community?
2008-01-24 00:11:00 It seems that I'm not the only one who has lost interest in the once vibrant and innovative geotagging group on flickr. Threads about (lack of) accuracy, inability to position a map (and get photos), in fact to summarize the new map format is a disaster, now are starting to out number the nifty new things to do. The problems probably relate mainly to a new "feature" in flickr called places. It boldly promises - The Places project is our way of saying thank you to all our members who’ve taken the time to put their gorgeous photos on a map. The trouble being they will no longer be your photos, and finding your photos is, well so hard, I gave up. My biggest whinge about geotagging via flickr, is however to do with the Yahoo Maps engine behind it, it just is not good enough for most of the parts of Australia (ie outside the main cities) that I like to photograph. The "We're sorry the data you requested..." mosaic means I can not accurately geotagged v... More About: Community , Cracks
More on "extending" exposure range
2008-01-23 02:46:00 The discussions on the net about extending exposure range often get involved in tone mapping (al la HDRi), and suspect that many people see more contrast are doing the same on a single image (ie expanding the contrast, using exposure adjustment) and it is unfortunately commonly also called tone mapping, but perhaps it is better called adjusting tonal scale. An histogram adjustment slider is such a tool and window live photo just happens to have one, if you know where to look. Firstly select the photo (yes single image) and click on the Fix tool on the tool bar. A list of common fix techniques pops up on the right hand side. Select the first item Auto Adjust, the image will be adjusted and a small panel of sliders will drop down. A histogram graph of the individual pixels tone (from dark to light) is displayed at the bottom of these tools. Under it are two sliders (one with a black dot, representing the darkest shade on the adjusted image, the other a open square which is the lig... More About: Exposure , Range
Slideshows revisted
More articles from this author:2008-01-23 01:12:00 The old fashion slide shows can be really "sparkled up" these days with a number of photosharing sites offering fancier slideshows, like this one from photobucket, to decorate social networking sites like My Space and Facebook. Ok maybe its a bit over the top for this blog but you get the general idea. More About: Slideshows 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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