PhotoFriday :: Vibrant

Rainbow Lorikeets [Trichoglossus haematodus]

For PhotoFriday‘s topic Vibrant

On the road less travelled (again)

Find the Lizards?

Buderim Birds

PhotoFriday :: Skytracks

Can you figure out what the unidentified track might be in the night sky?  (I do know by the way). Taken at ISO 6400 at 30 second exposure on a dark but very starry night,

For PhotoFriday‘s topic In Motion

Patterns

The Tulip that opened out

Patterns

Do you know what this pattern is?

Forest Floor

Three Ways to extend Dynamic Range from RAW files

I have been seriously looking at how much I really need to “stretch” the dynamic range in my “big landscapes”.In wide panoramic views there are actually a few different issues at play. In simple terms the dynamic range describes the ratio between the maximum and minimum measurable light intensities (white and black, respectively). This is actually different for the overall illumination of the scene being photographed, and then the capabilities of how well the camera and screen or printer can reproduce that range. Some scenes like the one used here, that have quiet a range of incident and reflected light from a bright sky to a deep shadow, such a range is intrinsically difficult for the cameras light meter to correctly expose. However the human eye tends to allow for such a high dynamic range better and we often see photos taken in such light as flat or dull.

In traditionally in film photography there were some well established dodge & burn techniques during enlarging and development but are there equivalents for the digital photographer? Here are three example approaches to widen the dynamic range. In the end I used the tonal histogram guided adjustments in lightroom to firstly enhance the two images before stitching them in autostitch for my panorama above.

HDRi (Picturenaut – 5 photos)	hdRaw (single RAW file)	Lightroom (tonal development)

Late Afternoon Rainbow

The rain clouds cleared a little and for a few moments a rainbow appeared against the dark clouds as the last rays of the sunset lit a few low clouds. Just enough time to grab my polarizing filter to enrich the colours of the rainbow. Then it was gone.

Market Fresh - Still Life

Just in time?

I visited Cardina Dam yesterday, and have never seen it so full. So I was a little surprise to hear on the radio this morning that the Wonthaggi Desalination Plant will begin pumping “high quality” water (their term) into the dam from  today. However I would estimate there is less that 2m of freeboard available until the dam start naturally emptying itself via its spillway, which seems to contradict the claim that its website claim that it is only at 79.9% of its capacity. Just in time or not needed?

The panorama above was constructed from 22 images, using autostitch. I was trying out a new gadget, the little green cube on my camera, which is a multi-level slide into the flash hot shoe and it worked a treat. No matter how you position the camera on the tripod (portrait or landscape orientation), there are two bubble levels that help you ensure good horizontal and vertical alignment.

Out of the Shadows

Kangaroos grazing in the late afternoon sun at the Cardinia Reserve Park picnic area.

PhotoFriday :: Texture

Pitting in weathered sandstone, near inverloch
For PhotoFriday‘s topic Texture