HDRshooter

Czech republic, Prague

Prague center during a calm morning

June 16, 2018 No Comments

Photo puzzle

Funny thing about selling photos also in photo banks, is that you sometime just stumble over a photo you took, somewhere you would not expect it. And that happened to me two days ago. Actually a follower on Instagram messaged me that he saw my photo in an online shop on a product. And it was a puzzle from Ravensburger.

It is quite a great feeling, when I remember that I used to buy quite a few puzzles from them, and now they sell one created from my photo :) And I’m not even surprised in the photo they chosen, as it’s regularly one of my more popular shots.

For those who would like one, just search for Ravensurger 197385. And for those curious to see the original photo, it can be found here.

Prague center during a calm morning

And since already on the Prague topic. This photo was taken the same week I did the Charles bridge one. It was taken in 2012. Hard to think that I have been updating this blog for so long now. Not even 2012 was the beginning :)

This is a single exposure taken in the Prague center, edited in Lightroom and Photoshp.

Budapest, Hungary

Green fireworks over Budapest

June 15, 2018 No Comments

Reading list

I really thought it was only Thursday today. The week just passed by crazy quickly. But as it is Friday already, let’s have a look together what book I read this week.

I got only through two books this week, and both were a bit of a disappointment. Both had some great ideas, but fell short in execution. First I read Redshits by John Scalzi. If you are a Star Trek fan, you already know who the redshits are. The idea to focus a book on these crew members is just great, too bad the author did not know when to stop. The good part is the first half of the book, then it just goes down hill.

The second book I read was the Adventures in Time and Space with Max Merriwell by Pat Murphy. With such a name you would expect some grandiose adventure, but no. It was dragged out and boring. One one should skip. I just finished it out of habit. I like to finish the books I already started.

So not the best reading week, will have to find something better for the next one :)

Green fireworks over Budapest

Yes I love fireworks photos. I would not mind sharing one every day, but the blog would be boring after a while :) This one is another one from the St. Stephen day’s (that I recommend as the best day to visit Budapest) fireworks. Regrettably, I will not be able to go to Budapest this year, so no new ones from that. But I still have many from last years, you have not seen yet, and here is one.

I like when fireworks are of a strong dominant color in a photos, as that pushes the whole photo into that color. And here, the green fireworks just worked so well like that.

This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. I blended parts of it, by creating two copies of the same photo, one overexposed, one underexposed.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Business bay in Dubai

June 14, 2018 No Comments

Color banding

I had so much problems with color banding in today’s photo. The lights of the city create a very strong light glow, that is just not easy to deal with. But I got rid of it, hopefully, and you can too in your photos.

Head here to see how to remove color banding in your photos and how to avoid it.

Business bay in Dubai

This is taken from one of my recommended spots in Dubai. I have been here few years before, and wow, it’s crazy how it changed. When I was here fist time, it was mostly a construction site, few skyscrapers around, nothing much. And in just few years, there are skyscrapers all around, the whole area is build up and it just looks great. And since it’s a lake, it also gives for a great view with many reflection.

So of course I had to do a panorama here, to catch all of it. I used three photos here, taken actually without a panoramic head. I found out over time, that if you don’t go very wide (wider than 24mm) and your subject is not that close, you can create panoramas easily without needing any special gear. Just rotate the camera and shoot.

This panorama was combined in Lightroom, finished in Photoshop.

And here are few details:

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Canal reflection in Amsterdam

June 13, 2018 No Comments

Ad blockers

My blog, as most others on the Internet, uses advertisements to supplement the cost of keeping it up. And I know that some of you use ad-blockers. And, I don’t really mind. If you think that there are too many promotions on the site that you need it, you should use it. I try to keep advertisements to a reasonable amount, so they don’t interfere with the content. But I know, that it’s not the same for everyone.

Canal reflection in Amsterdam

Ok, it’s another tower today. But this time it’s one from Amsterdam. Amsterdam has so many great spot along the canals, and almost everywhere you can get a reflection. But to get the best one, one has to go there around sunrise, before the boats start going up and down the canals.

This was not in the morning, but after sunset. The reflection is there, but quite blurred. Still, it looks quite nice :). This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

France, Paris

Looking up

June 12, 2018 No Comments

Top photography spots – Lyon

Recently I had more time to work on the blog. And as the Top photography spots are the most popular part of it, I’m working on expanding that part of it. So today, I have for you another list. This time it’s the Top photography spots in Lyon. Lyon is just a wonderfull city in France, that you all should visit if you can, and of course get some great spotos.

So head over to the Top photography spots – Lyon page to check them out. As always, all spots show an example image and GPS location.

Looking up

I quite like taking photos of towers. And the Eiffel tower is just so beautiful every time. Especially this golden yellow color again the blue sky. It create such a natural color contrast.

Have not been to Paris in almost a year now, so I’m not sure how this are looks now. Last time I was there, they were building a glass wall around the bottom of the tower, so who knows. Will have to check it out next time I’m there. But as always looking up is worth it :)

This is a two shot vertorama, combined in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop. I used another two separate exposures for the bottom part, where I removed few people that were too close to the camera.