On the down-low

On the down-low, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

It feels like ages since I've been out to do a sunrise shoot and since there was a forecast break in the poor weather we've been having I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out there.

I can't attach my camera to the tripod without the centre column inserted so there is a limit to how low to the ground I can get using it. I wanted to get REALLY low here so whipped out the trusty gorillapod so I could get a few cms off the ground. Had to kneel with my elbows in the sand and everything :)

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm, Lee 0.9 hard grad.

Processed in DPHDR from a single RAW file.

Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I used a ND filter and an aperture of f/22 so I could leave the shutter open longer and capture more explosions :)

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm lens, Lee 0.9ND filter.

Burleigh heads

Burleigh heads, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Damn, those boulders make settling the tripod a challenge.

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm, Lee 0.9 hard grad

I've just opened this photo in IE using my work laptop and it looks terrible. Oversaturated and bands of colour in the sky. Let me know if you experience similar.

Arthur the Squirrel

Arthur the Squirrel, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

A classic shot :)

Disneyland 17/09/2010

Disneyland 17/09/2010, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

After seeing how pointless it was to arrive late on Friday night I endeavored to get to this spot in plenty of time yesterday night. As soon as the parade was over I pounced on my spot and defended it for three hours. I was quite surprised (annoyed) that although the area in front of the castle is out of bounds for safety reasons, people can still walk past between that area and where everyone was waiting patiently for the fireworks to begin. Consequently I have a LOT of shots with ghostly looking people wandering across the image.

My final image here is a manual blend of two shots. One taken during the display and the other for the foreground that I took AFTER the show when I was able to get a bit closer and avoid all the passersby.

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm.

The engagement of Lauren and Jeff

First strobist upload, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I did some engagement photos for a friend at work.

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Strobist: Canon 430EX II camera left, half power. Triggered with Cactus remote.

J.C. Slaughter Falls

J.C. Slaughter Falls, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

After all the rain last night and this morning I headed up to Mt Coot Tha (as I have the day off) for some waterfall shooting :)

Canon EOS 40D, sigma 10-20mm lens, el-cheapo polarizer.

Whoooosh!

I had a client shoot on King's Beach today on Queensland's Sunshine Coast so I decided to drive up early for a chance to shoot a sunrise at Dicky Beach.

It was a high-ish tide, though still not coming in over the whole wreck, only the lower half and It's a shame the sunrise didn't put on a better display for me but still, I'm quite happy with the streaky wave action. These streaks are actually from a receding wave and you can see the next wave starting to come in at the tip of the old iron hull. I recently made the leap to Lee filters and am really glad I did. The holder has a great build quality and the filters themselves offer beautiful clarity to your image.

After a good hour here I still had two hours until the client shoot so I trekked off to Buderim Forest Park to grab some shots of Serenity Falls. The overcast sky would be perfect for some waterfall photography. I don't have a neutral density filter to fit my Lee holder yet (or a polarizer ) but I could slide my grad all the way over the lens to give the same effect. When I moved under this rock overhang I slid the grad back out partway and turned it on its side to darken the right side of the frame. A soft grad would have been better but the hard grad has worked well enough :)




I would have liked to spend more time at the falls but it started to rain and I had to get back to the beach for the shoot.

Taken with a Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm lens and Lee 0.9 hard grad.

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Firey skies

Firey skies, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Very low tide this morning. Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm. HDR [-2,0,+2]

To answer any post processing questions, here's what I do. I've gathered this workflow after reading what other do and trying some things of my own.

1 - Open one of the three bracketed exposures in Canon DPP and adjust for white balance. I usually bring the contrast right down as well, sharpen and apply the landscape preset.

2 - Copy that 'recipe' then apply it to the other two bracketed images then run a batch process to output three TIFF files.

3 - Open these TIFF files in Dynamic Photo HDR and play around with the settings to get something I like. On this one I used the 'eyecatching' preset and fiddled around with the options a bit there. Be careful to avoid the 'haloing' effect common to HDR (unless you are aiming for that) by being easy on the radius/light strength options. Save to a TIFF file.

4 - Open the new TIFF file in Photohsop. I'm using CS2 at the moment. I apply an s-curve layer set to 'multiply', 'soft' or 'hard' and then I adjust the opacity till I get something I like. Flatten image.

5 - If parts of the image are still not dark or light or saturated enough I open another layer and adjust the levels accordingly then apply a layer mask to reveal the adjusted sections. Flatten image.

6 - Noise Ninja if necessary. Sharpen. Save to JPEG.

I'm no Photoshop expert. There may be redundant steps. This is what works for me at my stage of learning.

Cheers

-Dave-

Nudgee Pan

Nudgee Pan, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Six shot, HDR panorama [-2,0,+2] taken at Nudgee this morning.

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm.

Grill'd

Grill'd, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

This morning out at Shorncliffe. The clouds looked a lot more promising when I arrived but grew thicker and thicker till the sun rose. I thought that if I waited till the sun had risen high enough then some light would peek through and illuminate these clouds here. The wait paid off :)

Taken with a Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm and a 0.9 hard grad.

Point Arkwright

Point Arkwright, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Taken at a mini-meetup with Camocarzi and Adam Randell. There was a chill wind blowing but it was a fun shoot, with a bit of dashing done on my behalf to get the 'good' sky. On either side of this colourful patch were thick grey clouds and a drab emptyness. T'was fun to find a nice comp as colour drained from the sky :P

Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm and a 0.9 hard grad that really needs replacing :)

"The skyline was beautiful on fire..."

"The skyline was beautiful on fire...", originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Some nice layered clouds formed in the sky this afternoon. As I left work I just knew I had to get out and shoot something. This was taken at a little pond in the 'Albany Creek Memorial Gardens and Cemetery'.

Shot with a Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm and 0.9 hard grad.

The title is a quote from "The Dead Flag Bues" by Godspeed You Black Emperor!

Lake Windemere B&W

Lake Windemere B&W, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Taken during our trip to the UK last year.

Shot with a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens. Straightened and cropped slightly. B&W conversion done with Silvereffex.

Clam up!

Clam up!, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I borrowed this huge shell that belonged to my wife's great grandfather and lugged it out to Nudgee Beach to use as foreground interest. Let me tell you, that thing is HEAVY. Must be about 10Kg easily.

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm lens and a 0.9 hard grad. 30", f/11.

After the sun rose

After the sun rose, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

There's something about that tree at Nudgee Beach that works so well :)

Three shot panorama taken on an Olympus C-7070 with a 0.9 hard grad.

Shorncliffe at high tide

Shorncliffe at high tide, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

It was a very high tide this morning so I took advantage of this and explored the rocky shore beyond the pier at Shorncliffe.

Olympus C-7070, 0.9 hard grad.

Tangalooma

Tangalooma, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Sometimes I love my job :)

6 shot pano of the beach and wrecks at Tangalooma on Moreton Island. On our final day on the island we drove back down the coast from Comboyuro Beach at almost high tide. The soft sand higher up the beach was tricky to navigate and sometimes we had no choice but to drive through the surf for a moment.

Shot on an Olympus C-7070 with a 0.9 hard grad.

Moreton Island

Moreton Island, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I got to spend 4 days on Moreton Island last week. It was my first time there and also my first experience driving on sand.

This shot was taken on an Olympus C-7070 with a 0.9 hard grad. There were lots of Blue Bottle jellyfish in the surf which I thought would have been a real problem but they weren't any trouble at all thankfully. The high wind was also a problem throwing sand and sea spray onto the camera.

High tide at Nudgee Beach

High tide at Nudgee Beach, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Three shot panorama taken on an Olympus C-7070 with a 0.9 hard grad. Each exposure was 40 seconds long at f/8. Stitched in PTGui.

To take this I had to wade out pretty far into the water, almost waist high. I wanted to get the base of the trees as close to the horizon as possible so I needed to get the camera as low as it would go. Using the tripod I had the camera JUST above the water line. This was only possible due to the extremely gentle waves lapping at the tripod.

Dicky Beach

Dicky Beach, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

We spent four days up on the Sunshine Coast for Easter. Heaps of photo-ops :)

6 shot pano taken on Friday morning. Taken using an Olympus C-7070 and 0.9 hard grad. Stitched using PTGui.

Point Cartwright

Point Cartwright, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Another image from Saturday's sunrise shoot at Point Cartwright. I really love this location and can't wait to go back again. I wish I lived closer :)

Taken on an Olympus C-7070 using a 0.9 hard grad. Tone mapped in DPHDR from a single RAW file.

Point Arkwright

Point Arkwright, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

During the night some thieves pinched our esky from the campsite :( We found it near the beach with its contents strewn about the bush and all the Caramello Koalas gone :( Two good sunrises in a row made up for it though. This was taken on Sunday morning near the southern carpark at Point Arkwright. Another great location and one I'll be keen to return to again.

Taken on an Olympus C-7070 using a 0.9 hard grad. 4 shot panorama stitched in PTGui.

Point Cartwright

Point Cartwright, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I really enjoyed my first visit to Point Cartwright, there's so much potential with all the rocks, waves and reflections.

Three shot panorama taken on an Olympus C-7070 using a .9 hard grad. Stitched in PTGui.

Nudgee Beach

Nudgee Beach, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

A bit too cloudy for some really nice colour in the skies this morning but I got some nice streaky cloud action :)

4 shot panorama taken on an Olympus C7070. I had to use a polariser, two ND filters and a 0.9 grad to get enough cloud movement. Stitched in PTGui. Tone mapped in DPHDR.

And not a mozzie in sight :P

Just before the heavens opened

Just before the heaven's opened, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Lake Samsonvale this evening just a few minutes before the sun went down. The weather had been changing dramatically all day and I was hoping for a nice sunset but it was not to be. Seconds after I took this shot a torrential downpour rolled in. I was only 20m from the car but I still got soaked :P

Three shot pano taken on an Olympus C7070. I used a Hoya ND filter, 0.9 and 0.6 grad to get a long enough shutter speed to smooth out the water. I tone mapped the images in DPHDR before stitching them in PTGui.

Lake Samsonvale

Lake Samsonvale, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

I took a drive to Lake Samsonvale yesterday afternoon to catch the sunset.

This is a three shot pano shot in RAW format. I tone mapped each in DPHDR before stitching in PTGui.

Stormy Shorncliffe

Stormy Shorncliffe, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Not long after this shot the clouds got really serious but there was just enough of a gap left to squeeze a little bit of sunlight through. I wanted to get really close to the old metal bars here so I resorted to my mini tripod and rested it as close as possible to the edge of the stone shelf. Seconds after this shot all the colour was gone and the rain appeared. Walking back to the shore I met a man walking his dog though to be more accurate he was 'swimming' his dog really. He walked along the pier and the dog SWAM along side, deeper and deeper into the water. I commented on his dogs determination. I doff my hat to you doggy swimmer :)

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D, Sigma 10-20mm and a 0.9 hard grad.

Pseudo HDR from one RAW file tone mapped in DPHDR.

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Cloudy Shorncliffe

Cloudy Shorncliffe, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

The clouds this morning switched intermittently between thickly overcast and more like this before a storm rolled in right after the sun came up.

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens. 0.9 hard grad used. 41 second exposure.

Chalahn Falls

Chalahn Falls, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Another from last weekend's trek through the rainforest. I was getting pretty sick of walking by this point and turned back to the campsite after taking this shot. Further down the trail though is Toolona falls which
I've visited before thoguh isn't as photogenic as Chalahn :)

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Elabana Falls

Elabana Falls, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Camped up at O'Reilly's at the weelend. Outvoted on a trip to Mudkimba Beach which was going to be 'too wet' pah! We got rained on both days :(

Anyway after braving the 3k walk and leeches we made it to the falls. There was more water around the lower rocks than I'd seen here before (not pictured here) It made climbing up to the falls a little trickier than usual but I managed it and got a few shots while trying to keep the camera dry from the persistent drizzle.

Anyway...

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens.

HDR from three shots [-2,0,+2]

Mosquitos-1, Me-1

Mosquitos-1, Me-1, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Taken down at the old pier, Shorncliffe. I clambered down the rocks to water level to grab this shot. Taken with a Canon EOS 40D, 0.9 hard grad and a Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Wellington Point

Wellington Point, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

After I arrived here this morning it started to rain lightly so I sheltered in my car for a while to see if it'd go off. It only started to get heavier. Sunrise was 5:22 and the rain didn't quit till 5:17. I JUST made it out in time to grab some colour in the clouds :)

Taken with a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens. 0.9 hard grad. Pseudo HDR from a single RAW image.

Nudgee Beach

Nudgee Beach, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

There must have been some sort of meet-up arranged here this morning. When I turned up there were about ten other photogs there.

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens. 0.9 Hard grad.

Ran it through DPHDR too for some pseudo HDR toning.

I really must try to get a different composition from Nudgee Beach :)

York Minster Chapter House

York Minster Chapter House, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

The excellent Chapter House at York Minster. Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens using a Panosaurus tripod head. I used Hugin to stitch this and Dynamic Photo HDR for the dynamic range processing.

This one is definitely worth viewing in the interactive panorama.

Shorncliffe sunrise

Shorncliffe sunrise, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Welcome back to Australia. My first sunrise since arriving back in the land down under :) I tried to get something a little different this time.

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens (Love this lens BTW) 0.9 Hard drad. Pseudo HDR toning applied in DPHDR.

Saltwick Bay, Yorkshire.

Saltwick Bay, Yorkshire., originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

A very cold and windy morning at Saltwick Bay in Yorkshire.

I got up at 7am to try and find this spot yesterday and after driving up and down Hawsker road three times I decided to head toward the holiday park and lo' there was the cliff overlooking the bay. I opened the car door and nearly had it wrenched from my hand by the wind. Leaving my camera bag in the car, I walked over to the cliff edge and looked down into the bay. This was the correct spot alright but how do I get down? I noticed off to my right a VERY narrow dirt track winding down the hill. Ah ha! So I grabbed my bag from the car and made for the start of the track to be greeted by a very comforting sign:

"This path is not maintained by the holiday park. Use at own risk. Path in a dangerous condition"

I love those signs. They remind me of the equally welcomingl:

"Road maintained by public donation"

...signs that I see in Australia.

Anyway, I took the path but decided to turn back after a few metres because the wind was INSANE!!! and I didn't fancy being BLOWN down to the bay.

With no photos taken that morning I was a little disappointed but resolved to go back the next day which is when I took the shot you see here. The conditions were a little better though the path was still a bit tricky and muddy. Tomorrow there will be some sunshine. Hear me, weather?

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens.

HDR [-2,0+2]

Rushing in

Rushing in, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

The problem with these shots is having to clean water off the filter(s) every few shots as the camera was only just above the water as it rushed in. This was taken just down on the shore at Largs, Scotland and using an itty bitty mini tripod to get REALLY low :)

Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm.

Largs beach

Largs beach, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Sunrise yesterday down at the beach in Largs, Scotland. The front of the lens was mere inches from the foreground rocks here so to maintain sharp focus to the background I shot each of my bracketed images at three different focal planes and put them together in CombineZM before running through DPHDR.

Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens.

Hogmanay fireworks, Edinburgh 2009

Hogmanay fireworks, Edinburgh 2009, originally uploaded by greenplasticdave.

Happy New Year everyone! :D :D

We had a great night yesterday starting with drinks at the hotel followed by a sumptuous dinner at The Witchery.

We left the Witchery at 11:45pm to find that the Royal Mile had been closed due to a gas leak. Now I had discovered earlier that I would not be allowed to stand and take photos at the top of the Mile directly infront of the Castle as that area was reserved for a private function inside. A friendly policeman told us that we would infact be able to stand there due to the inconvenience of the gas leak closing off most parts of the street. I was really excited at this news but when I rushed up to the spot some guards there informed our helpful policeman that we STILL were not allowed there. This left me with about 10 minutes to find a spot. My wife shouted at me "David, GO!" so I raced off down a flight of icy steps to the next street and raced along that to find this spot here in the photo. The Castle lighting was TURNED OFF when the fireworks started throwing the near side into darkness so to get this shot I've layered two different exposures, one where the Castle was illuminated by numerous bursts from above.


Taken on a Canon EOS 40D and Sigma 10-20mm lens.