A cool glacial scene like this helps on such a hot day. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. Incredible depth, incredible detail...in the large version, seeing the boulders on the mountainside shade near the center where the glacier bends would not be possible w/o HDR.
I have not done a Chiller in a while, but it seems fate brought me this photo so I had to post it. My reasoning?...it was 104F here today, and the only hotter day that I have ever experienced was when I visited the summer palace pictured here. That day in June 2005 in Beijing was 108F with incredible throat-peeling, bird-strangling smog. However, I can assure you even with the thickest of Beijing smogs, the sky did not quite look like this (well, maybe it was closer than I initally thought).
I have a personal distate for this heavy a hand on the HDR...need to increase the light-smoothing to neutral and back off the strength setting. Hey, but maybe that's just me.
Often these perspective shots come out a bit disappointing, but this one is pretty darn good. The HDR processing lends excitement and realism by bringing out the stonework detail, the contrast in the sky, the color saturation, and even the blurred flag. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.
A very striking photo that is obviously processed beyond just HDR (and very effectively!). I wasn't sure what it was all about, until I saw it IN LARGE ON BLACK. Evidently the red gates line the entire 4Km of this trail near Kyoto, Japan. That's pretty neat.
A relaxed fitting picture for the search word, "subtle"...partly selected though because I have been to this lake and it is a cool place. HERE IT IS IN LARGE ON BLACK.
So much to say, so little space. A very eerie shot that will now be in my dreams. First...YOU GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. Kudos to Mr. Jam, the photographer.
I was compelled to look up some history on this castle and found it to be almost as interesting as the shot. King Edward II of England was assasinated on his horse (stabbed in the back) near this spot in 978 (from Wikipedia: "the body of the murdered king slipped from the saddle of his horse and was dragged with one foot in the stirrup until it fell into a stream at the base of the hill upon which Corfe Castle stands." The Castle was evidently constructed in the 11th Century after the King was made a saint. If you want to know more you can check it out here.
So many pieces come together in this shot...the lighting on the foreground hill, the wispy sky, and the cross-embossed left edge of the castle falling away...so mesmerizing.
Wow...nice cityscape and definitely a unique perspective on Hong Kong. I had no idea that the city was up against such abrupt wooded hillsides like this. The way the hillsides flow down into the city it does have that jungle-humid look. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.
Great HDR shot here, but maybe even better composition. This barn can be shot many ways, but in the shot above the mountain's peak really mirrors the barn's. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK for the full effect.
Well, I was thinking that yesterday's shot was gonna be hard to top, so why not just at least go for some color today. Selected this rather cool shot of a buddhist monastery in Thailand. GOTTA SEE IT LARGE ON BLACK. The search word was pretty broad today as 8,660 photos showed up. I hate it when that happens, 'cauz I can't look through them all, but I think I found a pretty good one.
Here's a fun one. I found this HDR shot on a search of Pbase instead of Flickr. It looks nice, but nothing special because it's a bit small. But now...CLICK HERE TO SEE IT IN LARGE PANORAMA MODE....
Yeah, it's okay...I nearly fell out of my chair too. Scroll around a bit. Look at the detail in the foreground...and the background. Yikes!
"To every thing, turn, turn, turn
There is a season, turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under Heaven..."
Hello blogosphere. I am making a humble return from a cathartic memorial service for my sister, Karen. We played Turn!, Turn!, Turn! as the recessional song. It'll be sticking in my head a while and I don't mind. I somehow feel freer to speak of her now that she has stepped out of this world into the next. She passed from liver cancer. She was a wonderful person and a dedicated physician, and many of her patients paid their respects at the service. After great difficulties in this life, I do feel she is at peace.
This shot is lovely, and it just happened to be from coastal Connecticut near where Karen spent her childhood and learned to love the water. What a sky!! But that's not all there is to this shot, because it also has a real sense of neighborhood to it.
Unfortunatey, I cannot post the above shot in large on black, so today you get a bonus second shot that I can post IN LARGE ON BLACK...
Transitions with doors, paths, bridges...yes, I know I'm on that sort of kick. But I find in this shot a real expression of peace. EXCELLENT IN LARGE ON BLACK. And kudos to Lutz-R. Frank for converting this image into HDR from a single Raw photo...it adds a depth a level of detail in the background that makes this shot really hum. Going to golden sepia was a great move too...here's the original color shot for comparison....just doesn't have the same dreamy feel to me.
I got to thinking from the last post that if the end of the world is a location, there must be other good HDR shots taken from there. Well, 149 came up in the search, but I stopped at this one. I think it's safe to say that I could go to the end of the world and would be unlikely to top it. NO JOKING>>>YOU GOTTA GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE. Truly a fantastic shot, expertly processed.
In my July 1, 2007 post , I used the search word "Door". I found so many terrific shots of doors that I thought I would post a slideshow of the best doors I reviewed that day to give you a taste of what I had to select from. It wasn't easy. In the end the unique perspective of that July 1 shot won out because it fit the moment and meaning of the day, but as you'll see in this slideshow there were many great shots. The last one being my favorite. Anyway, here's the link to the show...
Can't see beyond the bend, but i'm sure its beautiful to the person who leaves down this road. HERE IT IS IN LARGE.
I almost forgot to post a review of the best of June. I have decided to do it two categories...vista photos and art photos and present the best of each below.
Best Vista...from June 20, 2007: Peyto Lake, originally uploaded by NY_Doll. Click on pic, see it in Flickr. SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK HERE.
Best Art Photo... from June 6, 2007: Play Room, originally uploaded by Dan Bollwerk. Click on pic, see it in Flickr. SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK HERE.
Have a Great Independence Day!
So much to this one and so surreal in many ways. Some of the vividest memories are of childhood events that are centered on beliefs and faith. And there really is a discussion going on between these girls and the gnomes. HERE IT IS IN LARGE ON BLACK.
And I do see things, people, animals in the rocks and foreground.
Perhaps nothing illustrates the photographic meaning of the word "capture" more intensely than a sunrise/sunset. They are so dynamic, and then they are gone. My friend the connoisseur of sunrises over at SPOD will really appreciate these fiery crespuscular rays. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. While HDR processing rarely adds much to the fire portion of a good sunrise or sunset, it can bring out detail in the dark foreground, as it does here. Bravo on this shot.
My sister has been in a downward medical spiral since May 9, and I can't do anything about it. That's not true because I can pray about it, but I want to do more. She needs pain medication to take the edge off, but she needs so much that it's causing other serious complications. God, please help her.
This blog (and yours) have been a bright bit of mental recharge during a very difficult time. But it's getting to the point where it's physicaly all I can do to post these...they may become intermittant...and please know that I appreciate your visits here regardless of my hiatus from yours.
As for this pic, it is essentially a large well with staircase access (here it is in large). It's located at an interesting castle in Portugal (Quinta da Regaleira)...it may have been used in masonic initiations. Click on the pic and there's more info about it on the Flickr page.
I am stunned by this one...such movement in the shot. More on it later. Gotta go! But here it is IN LARGE ON BLACK.
It's that "low evening light"...it does wonderful things sometimes. The layers and the complimentary colors are really just so soothing here...something I need today. STUNNING IN LARGE ON BLACK.
Staring deep into this one. Amazing how far back it goes in such dark conditions. Another LynchburgVirginia special...really special. ENJOY IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.
It took me a while, but I eventually figured this one out. Very neatly done. MUCH BETTER IN LARGE ON BLACK. There are some real lessons in this shot.
A real study in lines, color, and reflection. HERE IT IS IN LARGE ON BLACK. Looks for all the world like you are in a surreal hallway with a highly polished floor, but the picture is actually taken straight up inside the atrium of THIS BUILDING (Singapore National Library). Great stuff.
Taking a break fom the landscapes, and found this remarkable shot. Dragons symbolize luck in the east but take on a menacing connotation in the west. Says a lot about the cultural differences I guess...exactly what it says, I don't know. Here is this shot IN LARGE ON BLACK. For what its worth, this is a working fountain as the stream is running out of its mouth rippling the surface.
I did recall that /\ltus has had at least one other great shot that turned up as a Thriller. It was one was one of my favorites...May 14, 2007...But you really have to SEE IT IN IN LARGE ON BLACK.
Stumble It!
