Good Bye Summer!

With the advent of autumn the "lazy hazy crazy days of summer" are finally gone until next year. I will miss the long warm Scandinavian evenings of cycling along the coast and sipping beer on the patio while sunset lingers on seemingly forever.

Now roll on the magical snow filled "winter wonderland" instead!

Life is good!

Portraits are about People! (2)

Nikon sb700 Speedlight on a pole shooting through a smallish Elinchrom shoot through umbrella to camera left and triggered via Nikon's super CLS wireless trigger system. Nikon D90 on manual mode at 1/60s, f7.1, ISO 200, handheld, with the wonderful Nikkor AFS 35mm DX f1.8 lens attached.

Taken on a bridge over the moat at the Landskrona Citadel shortly after sunset.

A (slightly) Different View of the Landskrona Citadel

I adjusted the angle a little to have a view of the bridge over the moat.

Citadellkliniken in Landskrona

The Citadellkliniken in Landskrona is probably the most beautifully located clinic I have ever seen, nestled as it is on a piece of land jutting out into the Öresund, with a lovely beach on one side and gorgeous seafront parkland on the other. Taken at 22.37 with the sky still fairly bright from a sun that set at 21.27 it is resplendent in a golden glow that couldn't be more spectacular!

Tripod, Aperture Priority, f11.0, 10.0s exposure time chosen by the camera, ISO 200, quick run through DXO and then time spent in PSP X5 working on colour, contrast and sharpening.

Water Tower - Landskrona

This huge water tower dominates the landscape at the harbour area in Landskrona and just begs to be photographed! ;-)

Why I think shooting after sunset is a good idea!

Yesterday I posted a comparison between a CPL filtered and un-CPL'd photograph and how using a Circular Polarising Filter can improve the look of your photographs during the day when the sun is shining.

But now I'm going to show you a photograph taken from the same spot (almost exactly) but that has a whole lot more "wow" factor simply because of the time of day it was taken. I took this photograh about 55 minutes or so after sunset but while the sun was still giving plenty of golden glow to the sky. The foreground is also lit by the street lights which kind of matches the colour of the sky, and also prevents the foreground from just being plain black.

Of course this required me going back to the beach much later and dressed a little warmer, but I think the results were well worth the effort!

At this time of the day colours are super saturated and beautiful. However, because the light is nowhere near as bright as during the day shutter speeds are way slower than while the sun is shining so a tripod becomes essential. I used f11.0 and let the camera choose it's own shutter speed which was a full 30 seconds in this particular case. A bit of playing with sliders in PSP X5 lowered the highlights, raised the shadow areas and increased the saturation some more until I got what I was after.

Nikon D90 and my trusty el cheapo 18-105mm kit "plastic fantastic" lens.

Landskrona Citadel - a High Dynamic Range Photograph.

From Wikipedia: Landskrona Citadel (Swedish: Citadellet or Landskrona slott) is situated in Landskrona, Scania, southern Sweden. Initially built 1549–1559 as a purely defensive fortification with two complete moats, the inner with a width of 70 metres (230 ft). The outer (complete) moat is between 40 and 70 metres (130 and 230 ft) wide, and has cross fire bastions for artillery and guns. Outside the outer moat, a third narrower moat covers the northwest and northeast. There also exist remains of a fourth moat (between the two outer moats). The fortifications and moats system surrounding the castle is known to be one of Europe's largest and best preserved.

Three bracketed photos taken 2 stops apart, a quick run through DXO 8 for the special pixie dust magic that the elves at DXO lavish upon RAW photos to make them look better, and then "Exposure Merged" in Corel Paintshop Pro X5. Tweaked the levels, contrast and did some sharpening, also in PSP X5. For this type of photography a sturdy tripod is essential because of the very long exposure times. I used my D90 and the 18-105mm kit lens, Aperture Priority and f11.0, always RAW. :-)

Church in Mellösa Sweden (another take)

I posted a black and white pic of this church last year on this page here: Church in Mellösa Sweden The pic above was taken on the same day, but I prefered this one in colour. Why? I think it has to do with the red building on the left that brings a splash of life to an otherwise drab colour scheme.

Krönetorps Mölla photographed with Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX AFS

You may remember that I posted a photograph of Krönetorps Mölla in Sweden in June last year here: A "Normal" focal length Prime Lens as a Landscape Lens. Well, this one was shot on the same day but I zoomed in by walking several hundred meters closer than I was in the other shot and caught the sun a little lower down in the sky and hence a little warmer. I like the almost painterly feeling of the photo which is achieved by the wonderfully soft lighting.

Photography is all about the light, and to get your pictures a step up in mood and quality it is worth developing a patient attitude towards what you are doing and not rush it. If that means waiting all alone for hours on end in all kinds of weather, then so be it. But I can guarantee that you will be getting more keepers that way. When I am in a hurry I hardly ever get anything I would like to print and hang on the wall, but when I slow down, apply some thought to the process and savour the moment for it's beauty then my keeper count soars!

Grillning förbjuden

Early Morning at Lake Esrum

Taken in the tiny harbour on Lake Esrum in Fredensborg, Denmark.

Sunflower Centre

Nikon D90, AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G, ISO200, Manual mode, f8, 1/125s, Nikon sb700 triggered wirelessly via CLS and bounced into an umbrella to camera left.

Inside the Crypt of the Domkyrka in Lund, Sweden.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8G DX, ISO800, Aperture Priority mode, f2.8, 1/6s, hand held, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Premier Hotel, Cullinan South Africa

Elvis Impersonator in the Mall.

...and he was really good at it too!

If anybody in South Africa knows where I can get in contact with him, please send me an email (lanthus.clark*at*gmail.com) with his email address so I can forward some pics to him.

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, hand held, f/2.5, 1/200s, ISO400, Nikon sb600 pointing upish and bounced off the ceiling.

Venetian Painted Mask - a one light portrait.

Another version of a previous pic (in colour) from the same session that I posted here: Venetian Painted Mask

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 105mm with VR on, hand held, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO200, Nikon sb600 fired into a bounce umbrella to camera left.

Tracks in the Wheat.

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL, hand held, f/11.0, 1/30s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Field of Wheat. (Simplicity Itself!)

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL, hand held, f/8.0, 1/100s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Grassy Simplicity.

Grass blowing in the wind, shot with a slowish shutter speed and hand held.

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX, CPL, hand held, f/18, 1/13s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Toni (with an "i"), photographed in my "Strobist" style studio.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 105mm with VR on, hand held, f/11, 1/200s, ISO200.
A Nikon sb600 bounced in an umbrella to camera left set just slightly higher than the subject, and a Nikon sb700 bounced in an umbrella to camera right and somewhat higher than the subject (about 45 degrees), with both sb's on light stands and triggered via Nikon's excellent CLS.
Edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.