Sailing Lake Como

 Europe, Italy, Travel  2 Responses »
Sep 192012
 

Today’s Photo: Lake Como

A visit to Lake Como was recommended to me by my uncle. I really knew nothing about the place but had faith that the two hour drive would be worth it. The plan was to hop on the ferry for a low cost “cruise” up the lake followed by lunch and a trip back. I thought it could provide a good opportunity to ratchet up a few photos.

As it turns out, Lake Como is beautiful. Mountains plunged from the blue sky into the deep water. Boats of all shapes and size plied the waters around us as the ferry chugged its way up the lake, from village port to village port. I definitely took a lot of pictures. I’m not sure how usable a lot of them are as a moving ferry doesn’t make for an ideal base. It was really a sort of spray and pray situation. I just kept taking photos in the hope I’d get a few I could keep. I think I’m happy with today’s photo. But, I do have to question whether it would make the cut if I’d gotten to go down to Portofino and the Cinque Terre where I had two days of shooting pretty well planned out!

The Technical Bits

Elia Locardi, over at Blame the Monkey, does this for each of his photos so I’ve decided to give it a try.

Camera: Canon 5d Mk II
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1/320, 1/1250, and 1/80 at f/7.1

Taking the Photo: This is one of the few photos I took on Lake Como that I remember putting a bit of thought into. I wanted to use as big a zoom as possible to compress the image and make the mountains loom over the village and the boats in the foreground. I made a quick switch from the 24-70mm lens I was using to the 70-300mm. I couldn’t zoom my focal length up as much as I wanted to, but the effect is still pretty satisfying. If you’ve read my HDR tutorial you’ll know that I usually keep my ISO down at 100 to minimize noise as the HDR processing emphasizes noise dramatically. But, as I was shooting handheld (no point in using a tripod on a moving ferry) and had a moving subject I wanted to freeze so I bumped the ISO up a touch.

Processing: It was a hazy day, and the camera emphasized this fact, so I wound up with a very dull, flat set of images. I processed them in Photomatix as usual and then did a lot of work adjusting the contrast in Photoshop to try to breathe a bit of life back into it. I used layers to selectively adjust the contrast, and saturation of different parts of the image. Then I realised that the mountains had come out very blue. I probably should have used a polarizer on such a hazy day. So, I made myself a digital, graduated warming filter with Photoshop to warm up the mountains a bit. Then, I used Topaz Adjust to boost the detail a bit. The higher than usual ISO and processing work resulted in quite a lot of noise in the sky, ocean and side of the sailboat. I created a duplicate layer of the image and selectively de-noised the problem areas before sharpening the foreground.

Software: Photomatix, Photoshop, Topaz Adjust, Noiseware Pro

Sailboats on Lake Como in Italy with mountains rising from the deep water to the blue sky.

Sensory Garden Cherub, Botanical Gardens, Bermuda

 Bermuda, Travel  22 Responses »
Sep 142012
 

I’m enjoying having my camera gear back, even though yesterday I went out to Spittal Pond to take some pictures of the waves breaking on the rocks there and was driven away by pouring rain! Today, after work I stayed close to home and slipped into the sensory garden of the Botanical Gardens where I set up for this shot.

Cupid statue in lily pond in the Sensory Gardens in Bermuda's Botanical Gardens.

 

Waterfall at the Rift, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel, Waterfall  33 Responses »
Sep 132012
 

On my way to snorkel the rift I spotted this waterfall over a ridge. Following our swim I decided to go up and take a closer look. I’m glad I did. It was a really peaceful scene as the sun set. I decided to shoot a panorama and fired off 7 shots, each bracketed at -2, 0, +2 so this  photo is the result of combining 21 pictures together.

Panorama of waterfall falling from cliff side flowing over moss covered rocks in stream with bluish purple sky above at the Rift, Iceland

 

Incredible Gullfoss

 Europe, Iceland, Travel, Waterfall  7 Responses »
Sep 122012
 

This was the very last place I visited in Iceland. We were tired, hungry and somehow it was 3 in the morning. We considered turning back. I’m glad we didn’t. While I want to go back there and capture this incredible waterfall under better conditions it was well worth pushing on to see it. It’s massive, and seems to fall forever into a tear in the earth’s surface. We were able to walk right the way around it and, once again, were the only people there.

Massive Gullfoss waterfall seems to fall forever into a tear in the earth's surface with green moss cover on top under cloudy sky in Iceland

Acqui Terme Up Close

 Europe, Italy, Travel  2 Responses »
Sep 112012
 

I’ve got all my new camera gear in! So tonight’s not a long post as I’m in the middle of playing with it all. It seems fitting that tonight’s photo be another of the few photos I took in Italy before having all of my stuff knicked!

Piazza Bollente with it's sulfuric scented 75° Centigrade fountain with light and dark cobblestone designs surrounded by attractive stone buildings with shops and restaurants in Acqui Terme, Piedmont, Italy

Svartifoss, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel, Waterfall  9 Responses »
Sep 102012
 

This may be my favorite waterfall in Iceland. It’s isolated in the Skaftafel National Park, about an hours hike from the parking lot. We went there at about midnight, in the rain, and seemed to be the only people about. It’s a trickle compared to the more dramatic torrents at Godafoss and Gullfoss, but there’s something special about the way the thin stream of water spreads out as it plunges into a deep pool. It’s very soft and delicate, but surrounded by harsh decaying hexagonal columns of granite.

Taking this photo was interesting. The stream was about a foot deep but had a few loose rocks strewn about. I found three rocks in positions to accommodate each of my tripods feet and another one I could stand on. Then, I realised that I needed to keep the rain off my lens so had to call my travel buddy into the river with me, with her umbrella. We were stood, teetering on a rock, holding onto each-other for balance, when the only two people we saw the whole time we were there decided to turn up. Fortunately, they were photographers and didn’t seem phased by our odd positioning.

Waterfall in Skaftafel National Park, Iceland with a thin delicate stream of water that spreads out as it plunges into a deep pool surrounded by harsh decaying hexagonal columns of granite.

Duomo and Vines, Fontanile, Asti

 Europe, Italy, Travel  3 Responses »
Sep 092012
 

Gear Update

I’ve ordered all of my replacement gear and it should be arriving shortly. Buying most pieces used from BH PhotoVideo saved enough cash that I was able to add a macro lens into my kit. I’ve wanted one for years, so I’m looking forward to playing with it. Once it all gets here I’ll update my gear page with the new pieces and explain any changes I’ve made.

Today’s Photo: Duomo and Vines

On my first day in the Asti region of Piedmont, we took a drive to Acqui Terme. On the way there I spotted a vineyard and winery that I wanted to photograph but the sun was dropping and it was in the shade of the hills. So, after getting up at sunrise and taking in the views from Alice Bel Colle I decided to go back to this winery. I took a lot of photos there, and fell down a hill. This is the first of those photos I’ve processed. I saw the village in the distance, with the dome, from all over the place, but never actually made it there. Looking at Google Maps, I’ve realised that it’s called Fontanile.

Hillside with rows of grape vines with the village of Fontanile and its Duomo in the distance and mountains and hazy sky in the Asti region of Piedmont.

Sylvia and Bjossi Sor, Husavik, Iceland

 Iceland, Travel  31 Responses »
Sep 072012
 

After a long night taking photos my travel buddy decided she was hungry. So, rather than heading back to our hostel for some much needed rest we made our way to Husavik to sleep in a car park for a couple of hours while we waited for somewhere serving breakfast to open. I didn’t get much sleep, but after trying to nod off I decided to go for a walk. We’d left from this marina to go whale watching and I liked the old fashioned boats inhabiting it. So, I made my way back there and took a few more photos for the night.

Marina in Husavik, Iceland with old fashioned wooden boats which reflect in the water where they are docked.

 

The Sheep Shack, Iceland

 Europe, Iceland, Travel  250 Responses »
Sep 052012
 

In a gas station near Godafoss I saw a tacky souvenir t-shirt, and for the first time I wanted one. It had two kids hugging a sheep on the front with Iceland written above it. I’m not sure why, maybe I was fatigued, but I found it hilarious. Unfortunately, it only came in children’s sizes. So, I’ve got this photo instead.

Sheep and shack with a a red roof set in a green field with rugged snow covered mountains in the background in Iceland.

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