My sister has passed away. I am in hiatus to focus on her memorial. She was a great person, doctor, and friend to so many.

July 16, 2007 HDR Thriller (jewel)

Where the land ends and the sea begins.... Originally uploaded by luispraiameco.

Where the land ends and the sea begins.... Originally uploaded by luispraiameco.

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These two shots of the same subject are also both HDR shots. The main difference is how they were processed. It's the differences in the HDR processing settings that are the major difference the outcomes (maybe not the only difference because I suspect that the lower image also has a filter tone applied to the sky). Here's the TOP IMAGE IN LARGE and here's the BOTTOM IMAGE IN LARGE.

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While both have that look of a painting common in many HDR shots, their moods are really different. The lower one is superior technically....it has far less noise (especially noticeable in the sky comparison in the large size) and fewer tell-tale HDRtifacts, like the slight halo around the large sea rocks in the top image. What's the better shot? I think if it's just used in small size on a web site, the top image has greater impact; but when its to be used in large size, then the bottom image is better. What's your preference?

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Also...I would not have guessed this was from Portugal. In fact, the bottom one has such an "artist's rendering" look to it that I might have guessed "science fiction book cover" instead of actually being from somewhere on earth.

July 15, 2007 HDR Thriller (path)

Golden Path Sepia, originally uploaded by Lutz-R. Frank. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

July 14, HDR Thriller (end of the world)

castle at the end of the world, originally uploaded by •milky joe•. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

July 12, 2007 HDR Thriller (sunset)

Sunset On the Lighthouse of the End of The World II HDR. Originally Uploaded by David Giral. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

A MUST SEE IT IN LARGE.

Not just another pretty sunset...this one was apparently taken from the end of the world. Always wondered where that was.

And while this one above is the best of the search, here is a runnerup sunset that is a more traditional fiery-sunset-as-the-subject shot with quite the reflection (and here's the Flickr referrral to it).

July 11, 2007 HDR Thriller Slideshow - Revisiting the July 1 Search

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...

July 10, 2007 HDR Thriller (window)

Multi window. Uploaded by valpopando. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

There were lot's of pics on this search, but I liked this one the most. You really HAVE TO SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK to appreciate it fully.

July 7, 2007 HDR Thriller (birthday)

Pavillion (mono) ... Originally Uploaded by asmundur. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

It's 7/7/07...and we celebrated my sister's birthday in the hospital today. We tried our best to make it as special as possible for her. She will be leaving us soon...we know this, and so does she. Try as we might to bring cheer to the party there was a piece of me, and I know others too, that felt like it was held at a pavillion like this one above...and nobody could say anything about that. Hospice care is a good thing. It's also a difficult thing. It's like she's got a train to catch, but nobody knows when...the decision has been made and we're all in the waiting room together, her included...she's sort of meandering in a cognitive sense, but she's right there in front of you...almost a ghost. We are not at a loss for words for her though, loving words, but words seem so inadequate.

July 4, 2007 HDR Thriller (leaving)

Mile Marker 13, originally uploaded by James Neeley.

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.

Best of June Thrillers

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!

July 2, 2007 HDR Thriller (wish)

Cave of the Three Gnomes, originally uploaded by Alan Jordan. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

July 1, 2007 HDR Thriller (door)

Little Red Door. Originally uploaded by Кafka. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

This door popped up in the search, and it seems to loom in the distance, yet it is also strangely welcoming. It helps to remind me that a door is an entrance as much as an exit. A MUST SEE IN LARGE which really hits you with the unique perspective of this shot. Try as I might, I find I cannot take my eye off the door.

The Lockless Door

It went many years,

But at last came a knock,

And I thought of the door

With no lock to lock.

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I blew out the light,

I tip-toed the floor,

And raised both hands

In prayer to the door.

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But the knock came again

My window was wide;

I climbed on the sill

And descended outside.

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Back over the sill

I bade a "Come in"

To whoever the knock

At the door may have been.

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So at a knock

I emptied my cage

To hide in the world

And alter with age.

-Robert Frost

June 30, 2007 HDR Thriller (now in the back)

Reach for the skies, originally uploaded by H!ghTower. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 29, 2007 HDR Thriller (spiral)

Initiation Well, originally uploaded by antonioVi. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 29, 2007 HDR Thriller (broken)

ROMPIENDO LAS OLAS, originally uploaded by Antonio Bellón. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 28, 2007 HDR Thriller (illuminate)

Seeking Distant Plateaus, originally uploaded by James Neeley. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 26, 2007 HDR Thriller (element)

Seen or sensed, originally uploaded by LynchburgVirginia. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 25, 2007 HDR Thriller (laundry!)

Skinny dipping. Originally uploaded by _uncommon. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Great shot and composition here. Any photographer has to appreciate the way HDR brings out the detail of the side of the house, even though its in shadow. That's neat alright, but then look at the detail inside on the ceiling...that's amazing. To really see this you GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE. I can hear the water lapping now, but this was not what I expected for this search word...was expecting something more like THIS (which I like too).

June 24, 2007 HDR Thriller (looking up)

looking out, in HDR, originally uploaded by fervus. Click on pic see it in Flickr.

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.

June 23, 2007 HDR Thriller (structure)

Glass Vortex, originally uploaded by DanielKHC. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 22, 2007 HDR Thriller (dragon)

Dragon Pool, originally uploaded by /\ltus. CLick on pic, see it in Flickr.

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.

June 20, 2007 HDR Thriller (lake)

Peyto Lake, originally uploaded by NY_Doll. Click on pics, see them in Flickr.

Now this is a Lake!! I've not seen water this color in a lake before...maybe in tropical marine waters, but not a lake. It looks like an opaque piece of the sky toppled over onto the ground. Just add the Canadian Rockies to my list of places to go (uhh, this list is getting kinda long). GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.

Need a twofer? Here's another by the same photgrapher, Peyto Lake, that gives a closeup of a stony bottom....and HERE IT IS IN LARGE. It actually kinda makes me thirsty.

June 19, 2007 HDR Thriller (magpie)

Storm Front, originally uploaded by rovingmagpie. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Kim's recent PoeARTica post and comment inspired the search word for today. Magpie? Turns out it's the photographer(!), but it has certainly led to a great shot. Here it is IN LARGE.

I love weather when you can see it in action. For me, it puts things in perspective in terms of scale. Looking at weather like this gives me the sense of earth as a planet (and our living space). As large as it is, it is finite within a certain scale. The earth is 8,000 miles in diameter and the atmospere is just 60 miles thick. All of the clouds that we see occur within the first 15 miles. That's equivalent to a thin coat of paint on a cue ball. We need to take care that coat of air, because their is less of it that we think.

June 18, 2007 HDR Thriller (dream)

Gonzales Dreamscape, originally uploaded by lightgazer. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Wow. This is in Victoria, British Columbia, I think. HDR processing really brings a painting-like quality to this shot...the kind you can stare at for a while. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.

June 19, 2007 HDR Thriller (Helsinki)

Hernesaari, originally uploaded by mylhainen. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Hope everyone had a happy Fathers Day. My father passed away two years ago. Thought about him today. His parents came through Ellis Island from Helsinki, Finland (location of the photo above). My grandfather was just 18 when he came over...a shipyard worker and carpenter. He came to New York and then Pennsylvania to work for the railroad. Lost his leg in a horrible railcar accident. His friends and expert machinists at the railroad presented him with a custom prosthetic leg that he used the rest of his life as it was much better than the one he had gotten from the doctors. He went back back to New York and became a violin maker.

My father learned those skills and made sailboats instead of violins. Built his first small sailboat in a east side Manhattan tenement building when he was a teenager. Transported it piece by piece on the the subway to City Island with his friends and younger brother and reassembled it there. Three of them carried the mast the same way, late at night when there would be nobody around, holding onto it outside the subway car through the window. They sailed that boat up and down Long Island Sound as teenagers and beyond, and built several more.

I try to remember all of this when I have some difficult task ahead. Thanks, Dad.

The photo above IS LOVELY IN LARGE ON BLACK.

June 16,2007 HDR Thriller (mountain)

Drei-Zinnen-Hütte, originally uploaded by leicaview.

GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE. And no, this is not Middle Earth. It's an Alpine rest lodge in the Dolomites. The sense of massiveness is almost overwhelming. I need to go there...after Iceland...well, maybe before Iceland. Note the trail that cuts across the foreground mountain. Not a trail to be taken lightly. Had to post ANOTHER FROM THE SAME AREA, oh and what the heck, its the weekend...HERE'S YET ANOTHER. If you look in this last one, you get a sense of scale from the pair of tiny hikers on the lower left.

June 15, 2007 HDR Thriller (ocean)

hdr ocean sunrise, originally uploaded by ts_scoobysnax.

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Love this shot. The right combination of factors really came together in this capture. MUST SEE IN LARGE. And below I have posted the sepia version. Gives it a bit of a different feel...

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June 14, 2007 HDR Thriller (sleep)

The Lion Sleeps HDR. Uploaded by D e e v a . Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Sleep. I need some, and nothing inspires sleep better than a cat. This search word brought out so many many shots of sleeping pets (go figure), but the above non-pet was meaningful to me as I have always been fascinated by lions...must be my Leo coming through. A picture of relaxation IN LARGE ON BLACK. I am going to turn in right now. Of course, first I could bring one out of the archives for all you dog people out there too...April 9, 2007 HDR Thriller (dog).

June 13, 2007 HDR Thriller (friend)

antro (the cemetery of fontanelle). Uploaded by valpopando. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

This one is both creepy and sad...
These photo are pretty good, but the place they are taken is the real reason for this post. The pictured cemetary is in Naples, Italy.
LOOK AT THE TOP PIC IN LARGE
and you just might make out what I am talking about in the trough along both walls.

and now THE BOTTOM PIC IN LARGE.

Here is the KICKER....a detailed view of WHAT IS ALONG THE WALLS and in many other places in this "cemetary".

Learn more about this place HERE and HERE.
But essentially here's the key part...

"used like an illicit cemetary, then used as a cemetary for the poor and under privileged, thereafter used as a cemetary for those suffering from a plague and finally used as a human remains site: these bones were either recovered in the numerous diggings around town and from thecleaning of the holygrounds within the churches.The canonical De Iorio tells that "...at the end of 1700s, all those that could economically afford it,wanted toe buried in a church, but there was no more space available in churches. So, the salmatari(undertakers), after the morning burial, hey would dig up the body late at night and place it in a bodybag. They would then carry it to the area of the Fontanelles (pictured abve), no longer in use at that time. As a resultof an unexpected flooding of one of these galleries, the corpses were exposed and dragged out in the open.The bones were then put back and secured behind wall, an altar was built soon after and the area remained destined as a final resting place for these remains."

I suppose that its just historical confirmation that it has always sucked to be poor, even in death.

June 12, 2007 HDR Thriller (wave)

Noche Mágica en la playa, originally uploaded by Antonio Bellón. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Mar de Sueños. Originally uploaded by Antonio Bellón. Click on pic, see it in Flickr.

Though both are dark, both are still detailed with great depth. You need to SEE THE TOP ONE IN LARGE to get the full detail. Now the BOTTOM ONE IN LARGE as the sister pic by the same photographer. The blue and earth colors counter each other and would hang great together.

June 11, 2007 HDR Thriller (faces)

Calf Creek Falls - Escalante, Utah, originally uploaded by Farol's Fotos. Click on pic, seee it in Flickr.

Very nice shot but also interesting because of the rock face, literally, on the extreme left just below the green algae/moss. The face, complete with gritted teeth, is seen more clearly IN LARGE ON BLACK.

June 10, 2007 HDR Thriller (memory)

HDR Memories from Past. Originally uploaded by roger taylor 85. Click on pic see it in Flickr.

Love these colors, detail, and depth of this shot. SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.