New Peak Design bags

If you been following photographers around the web, you probably already noticed this. Peak Design, makers of many photography accessories (you can find reviews of most of them on this blog), have started a new kickstarter, for their new line of bags. These include two backpacks, in different sizes, a sling and a tote.

Peak Design has quite a reputation of quality products and it’s always worth to check out what they have new. And I’m already also a backer. My search for a new backpack that would replace my Think Tank Sling-O-Matic 30 is ongoing (it’s already few years old and no longer meets my size needs), so I decided to back the 30L backpack this time. So you can expect a review once it is available :)

You can check out all the info on the new back on Kickstarter here.

Clear Blue

I spend the last week in Budapest, and while I did not manage to get that many photos I got some. One I wanted to try was a vertorama of the Matthias Church, as I never could get it nicely whole into one shot before. And to have even more in the shot, I included also the Holy Trinity Statue here. As you can see, the was not a single could that day, which was quite similar to most of the week.

This is a two exposure vertorama, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

I so regret missing the last years St. Stephens fireworks in Budapest. I got home from another trip around 3 days before them, and I felt so sick and tired, that I had no energy to go onto another trip right away. But this year, I definitively will go again, and try my best to get some stunning new fireworks shots :)

This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Technique: Photoshop edit, Number of exposures: 1, Camera Model: Canon 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 70mm, Aperture: 6.3, Middle exposure time: 2.5s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.19907, 16.37126

While looking through my recent uploaded photos, I noticed I haven’t put up an interior one for a really long time. So I went through my photo library, looking for an interesting shot, and in the end, I ended on this photo from 2012. Still remember this day in the Hungarian Parliament like it was yesterday :)

Regrettably, I’m not really sure about the white balance in this photo. This main staircase had a crazy mix of indoor artificial light, with a middle of the day natural light mixed in. And on top of that, most areas were shiny. At that time, I was only starting with the Canon 5D mark II, and I was still using auto white balance. Only few weeks after that, I started using the Magic lantern to meter the white balance, which worked so much better. Still, I hope you find the image interesting :)

This is a HDR from 5 exposures, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 5, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 16mm, Aperture: 5.6, Middle exposure time: 0.5s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.507379, 19.045771

I don’t really understand using negative space in photos that much. Maybe if I used it more I would get the hang of it more. But it’s probably not for me, even that I used it here. The evening I took this photo, the sky was a bit boring, with no clouds, so I tried a composition like this. And all the blue sky, with the contrast of the bright yellow parliament, looks quite interesting, doesn’t it? What do you think?

This is a blend of two exposures. I only used a darker exposure to darker few bright spots on the parliament.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 2, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones MkIII Adapter, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 70mm, Aperture: 11, Middle exposure time: 6.0s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.498538, 19.041486

A little less common view of the Buda castle today. One just tends to take photos of it more from the river, so more from the front. It not a surprise, with the amount of light right in front of the castle :)

This is a 3 shot HDR, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 3, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones MkIII Adapter, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 62mm, Aperture: 9, Middle exposure time: 10s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 47.490053, 19.045322