You are here: Home / Archives for Night Photography
26
Feb 2013

Follow Your Heart | Positano

By 8 Comments

Lately, I’ve had some pretty bad luck with the weather. In the past 2 weeks for example, I’ve only seen the sun come out twice. It’s unfortunate but it’s all part of the game of full time travel and destination photography. Sometimes you win with epic skies, and sometimes you lose with solid grey overcast and rain. There’s really nothing to be done about it but accept it – or in my case, use it as an excuse to take shelter in my little hotel room and catch up on some much needed photo editing.

Since the constant grey sky has been so persistent, I wanted to edit a photo that would help lift my rain drenched spirits. So of course, the first Lightroom Catalogue I browsed was from Italy, specifically my summer visit to the beautiful Amalfi Coast. It instantly made me feel better when I remembered an entire trip of warm and perfect weather.

In my opinion, Positano is one of the most photogenic Italian cities and certainly one of the most beautiful along The Amalfi Coast. With it’s southern positioning, it can be equally beautiful at sunrise and at sunset, with each time of day providing unique and interesting lighting scenarios. On a clear night after the sunset, the blue hour can also be extraordinary. In that case, my recommendation would be to find a restaurant with a nice view and enjoy the scenery with a good bottle of local Italian wine… On second thought, make that two. :)

After the sun sets in Positano, one of the most beautiful towns along the Amalfi Coast.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo || Before and After

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 28 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-24 / BH-40 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
7 Exposure Brackets

Location: Shot in Positano, Italy - August 2012, and post-processed in Yangshuo, China - February 2013.

Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Color Efex Pro 4

Technique and Details: Manual Exposure Blending using Luminance Masking

To blend 5 of the 7 exposures together, I used a new Luminacne Masking Technique that I’m developing. Once I finish fine tuning the process, I’ll create the video tutorials.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro! Zoooooom!

Filed Under: Amalfi Coast, Architecture, Before & After, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Landscape, Night Photography, Travel
28
Jan 2013

Sydney Lights || Post-processing Workshop

By 2 Comments

I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be back in Sydney Sunday, February 10th to teach a Post-processing Workshop at the Maiden Theatre. I’ll be sharing my complete digital workflow from start to finish, focusing on manual blending techniques and how to maintain complete control over your images. From color correction to complex masking, if you’re curious how I craft my photography, this is your chance to find out.

Sydney will always have a special meaning to me as it’s the first place my wife and I visited after becoming Location Independent. Now, just shy of one year later, it’s interesting to think back and reflect on just how many things have changed since then and how this new lifestyle has taught me so much about the world. It’s also nice to know that even after traveling to dozens of international cities, Sydney still tops my list of favorite world destinations.

On this trip—having come from a few weeks off in New Zealand—I was swamped with work but I didn’t let it stop me from enjoying a few shooting sessions, and this vantage point near Luna Park has always been one of my favorite views. This time I also had a D800 to play with. :)

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 24 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100 at f/8
5 Exposure Brackets (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2)

Location: Shot in Sydney, Australia – January 2013, and post-processed in Bagan, Myanmar – January 2013 (with frequent power outages).

Hardware: 15” 2011 Macbook Pro, Wacom Intuos5 Small Tablet

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK HDR Efex Pro 2.0, NIK Color Efex Pro 4

Technique and Details: Tone Mapping and Digital Blending

First, I processed all 5 exposure brackets in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2.0 and created a tone mapped image. Then, in Photoshop, I blended portions of the original exposures back in using luminance masking techniques to isolate the bridge and the sky. From there, I applied some color and contrast corrections using a combination of NIK Color Efex Pro 4 and Curves on adjustment layers.

Espresso: Lavazza Oro (my precious)

Filed Under: Architecture, Australia, Blue Hour Photography, Night Photography, Photography Workshops, Sydney, Travel
17
Oct 2012

Castel Sant Angelo | Rome

By 4 Comments

Out of all of my travels, Rome continues to not only be one of my favorite cities but also one of my favorite photographic destinations. With each visit, I try to concentrate a few days on certain key areas, in an attempt to catch the best lighting as well as cool cloud formations.

On this trip in August, I spent quite a bit of time concentrating on the bridges surrounding Ponte Sant’Angelo. Rome was experiencing very high temperatures and very little rain so the skies were crystal clear blue for most of my visit. Sometimes blue skies can be brilliant in photography but other times they can add too much negative space to the scene. Thankfully on my last night in Rome, the weather gods smiled down on me and provided some much needed sky drama. Well, either that or they liked my naked rain dance. I guess we’ll never know.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 (Shot at 28 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 100
3 Exposures at f/8: 2, 4, and 8 seconds.

Technique and Details: Digital Blending and Luminance Masking using 3 bracketed exposures -1, 0, and +1. I was able to get nearly everything I needed from the single 0 exposure and only used -1 and +1 to correct minor exposure issues. -1 was used to soften the lighting on Castel Sant’Angelo and +1 was used to increase the light ion the trees and plants.

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Software

Espresso: Illy Medium that I had left over from Italy. I’m in Cambodia so I made sure to pack a bunch of espresso.

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Night Photography, Rome, Travel
25
Sep 2012

Heaven And Earth || The Icelandic Aurora

By 13 Comments

Once upon a time, under a cold and moonless sky, showers of green and red light danced all around us, illuminating our souls and bringing joy to our rapidly beating hearts. All sense of time and place seemed to disappear, as we watched the Auroras in awe, all alone in the clear and silent stillness of the Icelandic Countryside…

Spending the day on The Snaefellsnes Peninsula, I had a feeling that the weather conditions might be perfect for The Northern Lights, and by 9:30pm, we could see a strong green glow all around the horizon. After a quick drive in Truck Norris, we were in the perfect place.

The Auroras danced in the distance and began to peaked around 11pm when we found ourselves right in the center of the activity. No longer were we watching them on the horizon. Now the lights were falling right over our heads—swirling, spinning, and cascading all around us.

For nearly 3 hours we watched in awe as I photographed this magnificent and life changing event. When I was all finished it only felt like 15 minutes had passed. I will be forever humbled by the beauty of our amazing planet.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 14 mm)
Tripod: RRS TVC-33 / BH-55 Ballhead / RRS L-Plate
ISO: 640
Exposure: 15 seconds at f/2.8

Technique and Details: Photographing the Aurora Borealis is nowhere near an exact science. Depending on their brightness, intensity, and the speed of their movement, a range of shutter speeds can be used to capture them. This range is usually somewhere between 10-30 seconds, and even though the Aurora puts off plenty of ambient light, be prepared to change your camera settings in total darkness.

Very little post-processing was done to this image and NO color was added. Everything you see was captured in the single RAW file. The Auroras cast a lot of natural light on the scene so I only needed to make some minor adjustments to the brightness and contrast. Using Photoshop, I also removed some of the green cast in the yellow grass. Some additional brightness, contrast, and saturation adjustments were used to balance the exposure in the sky. Lastly, I used the built in Noise Reduction in Lightroom 4.1 to mitigate the nasty effects of ISO 640.

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK Software

Espresso: Illy Medium Roast (I’m in Italy. I figured I’d spoil myself a bit. :)

We watched in awe as the Aurora Borealis danced around us, all alone in the Icelandic Countryside.

Filed Under: Iceland, Landscape, Night Photography
13
Sep 2012

The Colosseum || Whispers From The Past

By 9 Comments

Il Colosseo Sotto La Pioggia

In the Eternal City of Rome, there’s nothing more iconic, more recognized, or more mesmerizing than The Colosseum. It has stood for centuries and in that time, it has also become one of the most famous (and most visited) historical structures in the world. I try to visit each time I’m in Rome and for me, spending time near Il Colosseo is always food for my soul.

So when I woke up at 4:45am to the sound of the pouring rain, I accepted the fact that shooting would likely be impossible. Instead, I resolved to simply visit and enjoy the view of The Colosseum, regardless if the rain held up. With a sleepy expression, my wife agreed and after a few shots of cold (pre prepared) espresso, we stumbled downstairs to the car.

Shortly after we arrived, the rain slowed to a manageable drizzle. And by the time I setup my tripod, the rain had completely stopped, leaving beautiful shiny reflections on every surface that perfectly complemented the fast moving dramatic sky.

(Behind The Scenes Post Here)

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 14-24 f/2.8 (Shot at 20 mm)
ISO: 100
Exposure: 2.5 seconds at f/5.6

Technique and Details: Digital Blending & Luminance Masking using 4 exposures (-1, 0, +1, +2).

It was very important to me that the natural beauty of this place showed through so I made sure to keep the processing as minimalistic as possible. Blending the exposures manually allowed me to retain all of the original image integrity without any sacrifices to clarity or sharpness.

A few blown out highlights were adjusted using a single Luminance Mask and exposure -1. I also recovered some shadows and details using exposures +1 and +2. After that, I used NIK Software’s “Detail Extractor” to add a little more drama to the sky and cobble stones.

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK

Espresso: Lavazza Oro brewed with cold Icelandic Tap Water

 

In the Eternal City of Rome, there’s nothing more iconic, more recognized, or more mesmerizing than The Colosseum.

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Italy, Night Photography, Rome, Travel
04
Sep 2012

Twilight Fairy Tales || The Towers Of Prague

By 9 Comments

In Prague there are many towers that provide beautiful and unique views of the city below. Powder Tower — from where this shot is composed — sits a little outside the crowded city center and is visited less frequently than the other main attractions. Though not all directions provide stellar views, if you catch a night at the right time, with a sky that produces good colors and ample ambient light, you get a wonderful late blue hour spectacle. You also get a clear view of Tyn Church and the beautiful Prague Castle.

It’s also worth mentioning that in Prague, they are very lenient towards the use of tripods. Even inside these crowded towers, the staff won’t give you any trouble for setting up your rig. The only complications are the narrow passageways and the steady flow of people moving around. Try to be courteous and accommodating with a traditional tripod setup or bring something smaller like a Joby Gorillapod.

Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Camera: Nikon D800
Lens: 28-300 f/3.5-5.6
ISO: 100
Exposure: 8 seconds at f/8

Technique and Details: Digital Blending using 3 exposures. 90% of this image is made up of the single neutral exposure with small parts of exposures -1 and +1 added to correct areas of extreme shadow and highlight. After the initial blending, I recovered a bit more of the shadow details using The Detail Extractor plugin from NIK Color Effects 4 and sharpened the foreground elements with NIK Sharpener Pro. While some additional color correction was applied, the sky had already had this pink and blue tone.

Software: Lightroom, Photoshop, NIK

Espresso: Lavazza Crema e Gusto

A soft twilight descends over the old Bohemian City of Prague, Czech Republic

Filed Under: Architecture, Blue Hour Photography, Czech Republic, Night Photography, Prague, Travel