Tag: NIK Software

Granny’s Bonnet – Aquilegia

This year has been very good for the aquilegia plants growing in my garden. This must have something to do with the mild wet winter we’ve just had here in Cambridge. Below is a photograph of a single aquilegia flower. These hardy, and highly toxic perennials also go by the names Columbine ( which comes from the Latin for “dove”, due to their resemblance to five doves clustered together – Wikipedia).

Aquilegia sp.
Aquilegia. Please click on the photo for more viewing options in Flickr.

Technical

  • Nikon D7000 with 105mm f/2.8 Sigma macro lens
  • f/22, 1/60 with remote slave flash fired from underneath
  • Processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and NIK Color Efex Pro.

Fuchsia – vibrant and lovely!

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Please click on the photo for a larger version in Flickr.

Technical

  • Nikon D7000 with 105mm f/2.8 Sigma macro lens
  • ISO200, 1/250, f/14 with slave remote flash
  • Processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and NIK Color Efex Pro.

Tranquility #4

Sometimes a picture looks better than the real thing. When I shot this, I didn’t think it looked all that impressive. Processing the bracketed shots as HDR makes this scene of a path lined with trees look serene and tranquil. The noisy tourists were all behind me at this stage :).

Tranquility
Dallas Arboretum. Texas. Click on the photo for a larger version on Flickr.

Shot using a 28-70mm Sigma f/2.8 lens on a Nikon D7000. Processed in Adobe Lightroom, Photomatix Pro and NIK Color Efex Pro.

A lily recovered..

While shooting couple of weeks ago I took a single photo of a lovely lily (a mistake, but excusable as I had my 6-year old tugging me along!). The photo was under-exposed and grey. I have tried to recover from this photographic disaster using post-processing. The results and the original are below.

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Attempted recovery
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The original!

I used Adobe Lightroom for general photo handling and Color Efex Pro to enhance detail and contrast. I realise I have lost detail on the petals due to the original problems with the photo (which was in RAW format).

The Royal Verandah

The term verandah has made its way to English via India and refers to an open roofed courtyard around a bungalow or terrace. According to Wikipedia, a verandah  “commonly refers to balconies on cruise ships and some hotel properties. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure.”. The following verandah is from the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, India. Photographed as a single bracketed frame, this image was converted to black-and-white in Silver Efex Pro to add texture and tonal contrast.

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Pillared and beautifully decorated verandah at the Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

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Doors to perception

Barcelona – By Night

Cities often look very different in the night. The effects of artificial lighting and spot lights often bring out features not usually appreciated during daytime. The following two pictures are of the Plaza de la Constitucion (Constitution Square) and Palau de la Generalitat.

Palau de la Generalitat is the seat of the government of Catalunya, and is one of very few medieval buildings of its kind still serving the purpose for which it was built.

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Palau de la Generalitat de Catalunya
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Plaza de la Constitucion

Both pictures were taken using a high ISO as a long exposure was not practical given the number of people in the scene. The images were later processed using NIK software plugins Dfine and Viveza to cut ISO noise and enhance colour.

 

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Barcelona – Black and White

I have been away on vacation in the US for two weeks during which period I have over 600 pictures to process and sift through. It will be some time before those pictures make it to this blog. Therefore, here are some pictures from my trip to Barcelona 3 weeks ago.

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Detail on a wall opposite Barcelona cathedral
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A window in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona.

 Photographs using an iPhone 4S, post-processed in Lightroom and NIK Color Efex Pro.

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Gothic quarter, Barcelona – Part 4

I have processed the following picture in both colour and black-and-white. I believe both iterations of the same picture are equally good and offer a different view of the same scene. The picture is of the building that houses the remains of the Roman columns of the Temple of Augustus. The building that surrounds the columns is a regular block of flats, which in itself is very surprising!

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Block of flats with balconies. Temple of Augustus, Barcelona
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Black-and-white treatment of the picture above. Processed with Silver Efex Pro.

These pictures are from my iPhone, processed in NIK Software (Color Efex Pro, and Silver Efex Pro).

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Gothic Quarter, Barcelona – Part 2

The gothic quarter of Barcelona (or Barri Gotic in Catalan) is the oldest part of Barcelona. It is a labyrinth of small alleys and winding streets offering excellent opportunities for photography. The gothic quarter dates back to the roman times and beyond and retains a charming character. I didn’t have anything else but my iPhone for this trip and these pictures are a result of post-processing in a custom workflow in NIK software.

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Rarity in the gothic quarter… A straight alleyway!

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Old and new! Video surveillance on a medieval street in the gothic quarter
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A path leading into the gothic quarter from the City Hall.

Please click on any of the above pictures to see a larger version on my flickr photostream.

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