Relaxx and enjoy the sunset

No that’s not a typo. The fitness center in this building is called Relaxx. Or maybe the whole building is called that, I don’t know. But it still is a very interesting looking building which also reflects the surroundings so nicely.

I went with 7 shots here, to get all the light, and also it’s starting to be the standard for me. I also went very light on post-processing here. After Photomatix, I only corrected few spots from the original shots, sharpened the image using Unsharp mask, removed noise and added a little contrast. Thats all. You can see a screenshots from Photoshop, where you can see how I used layers on my Facebook page.

The Strkovec lake reflection

When I have a little time to take photos, but not enough for a longer trip I go here, to the Strkovec lake. It’s not far from my flat, and It’s the closes place where I can get nice reflections of the sky. These time the sky was clear, but the reflection came out great anyway.

I’m adding more shots from Bratislava now, but that will change shortly, as a trip to Budapest and a trip to Prague is close by :)

New style for the category view

So I finally updated all posts to include a featured image. I needed this, so the categories could be viewed as a nice thumbnail view. I think it’s much better to navigate between posts. You can choose any country or city in the sidebar to see photos taken at that location. Also the before/after category now give this nice overview of all posts that include the comparison.

Soft blue colors on the Apollo bridge

I think I’m starting to be too critical of myself. I finished this photo and already had it uploaded, when I notices a whiter area around the bridge. Probably because I added a little glow. First I tried to edit it out, but could not get the result I wanted, so I started once more. And with the second try, I’m satisfied :)

Also I’m very happy that I started to use a bubble level on my camera. I have the horizon nice and leveled, even if there are distortion in my photo. It really make it easier.

I went completely down to the river for this show. I will probably end in the river one day while doing this, as standing on the rock is not so easy. But the shot came out nicely.

I took 9 shots for this one, because I wanted to have at least some detail on the front of the ship, and you can see in the comparison that it was really dark. There was no light source there.

Girls & Bikes

I love taking HDR photos, but from time to time I have to do a different kind of photography, so it doesn’t become repetitive. And same with this blog. It is a HDR photography blog, but from time to time I like to add something else. And as currently there is a motorbike show in Bratislava, I went there to take few photos. I was there only for about an hour, because once there were masses of people, I left.

Everyone will probably notice, that the bike photos are details. There is a simple reason for it. It’s quite crowded at such an exhibition and so it’s harder to make a nice composition with the full bikes. But I have a few, but they are reserved for HDR.

If you like Girls & Bikes photos, see also Girls & Cars.

I hope you like the small change from the standard photos (but I think men will like it a little more :))