February 16, 2008 HDR Thriller (hallelujah)

It's raining light, Hallelujah!, originally uploaded by Paco CT. Click on pic to see its Flickr page.

Sometimes you see a photo, and you are just glad that someone was there to capture it before it was gone...VERY POWERFUL IN LARGE ON BLACK.

The search word tonight came from listening to the late great Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" (the now defiinitive version of this Leonard Cohen classic ). Embedded below if you care to listen. It'll have to hold you a couple of days too, because I am heading out of town...likely w/o access to the web for a bit.

Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah.flv
Uploaded by Rock-90s

February 15, 2008 HDR Thriller (busy)

Guildford..24 Nov 2007, uploaded into Flickr by strussler.

Missed a day, but back today with a quick post...one with an unusual perspective. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. Usually there is extraordinary depth in HDR photos. For some reason, this one seems foreshortened...appearing to bring the background right up into the foreground. I think it's because the level of detail does not recede with distance in this one. I like it.

February 13, 2008 HDR Thriller (country)

Foggy winter morning, Broughton, Cambridgeshire, England. Uploaded into Flickr by mmayson.

Very well done image here. I really love the light and the sky. HAVE A LOOK IN LARGE ON BLACK, and see the rather odd placement of the cemetary stones all over. The combination of HDR treatment plus the fog gives the church the look of an illustration rather than a photo.

February 11, 2008 HDR Thriller (sea)

Haystack Rock. Uploaded into Flickr by johopo (John). Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

With all of the closed-in shots I've been selecting lately, I was really needing a majestic landscape. Got a nice one here, I think. But you really HAVE TO SEE IT IN LARGE TO GET THE HDR EFFECT. I have been to Portland (a nice place), but never got to Cannon Beach to see this, so this will have to do for now.

February 10, 2008 HDR Thriller (alley)

Day Or Night... Uploaded into Flickr by Orcinus O.. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

A "twofer" of great HDR Photos today...from the same photographer. Both were taken in the old city of Hvar, Croatia. The textures look almost too real...like they are part of a movie set. And as usual both are much better large:
PHOTO 1 (Above) IN LARGE ON BLACK
PHOTO 2 (Below) IN LARGE ON BLACK

Walking In The Wind... Uploaded into Flickr by Orcinus O.. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

AND...about Hvar, I found out that they are so proud of their weather that they guarantee it:

When it snows, accommodation in Hvar's hotels is free.
Also, from November to March, hotels offer special discounts:
-when it rains for more than three hours
-when it's foggy; or
-when the temperature is below 10°C (50 deg F)

I think that's a slap at London.

So just for fun I checked tomorrow's forecast for Hvar, Croatia:

Monday Feb 11: Scattered Clouds. High: 42° F. / 6° C. Wind NE 8 mph. / 14 km/h.

Looks like lunch could be on the house tomorrow.

Februrary 10, HDR Thriller (sweep)

Old Man Willow, uploaded into Flickr by Mark Grealish. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

This photo conjures things from dark corners. It may be one of those rare HDR shots that I prefer in a regular size, but it definitely needs a black background. Here it is IN REGULAR SIZE ON BLACK, and here it is IN LARGE ON BLACK.

February 8, 2008 HDR Thriller (square)

Another model of our local square, uploaded into flickr by stevacek. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Here's a pretty cool treat that comes up from time to time in these searches. FIRST, HAVE A LOOK IN LARGE ON BLACK. This is not a model with play figures. It's a real town square that is post-processed in both HDR and "Tilt-Shift" fake model processing. The Tilt-Shift processing artificially shortens the focal length, tricking the eye into thinking it's a short-focus toy model. Thanks, stevecek.

Makes me remember this previous post, my favorite Tilt-Shift HDR Shot.

February 7, 2008 HDR Thriller (landscape)

Grand Teton, uploaded into Flickr by James Neeley. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

There is a world of difference looking at the above shot and the LARGE ON BLACK VERSION. Definitely an entrancing gawker in large. And here's another related shot, also by James Neeley, that really shows HDR at work...just look at the incredible detail in the shadow area on the left side...I find it totally amazing that there is such detailed information stored in a dark (virtually unexposed) portion of a photo that only comes out when the HDR software teases it out.

The search word today was inspired by a pretty cool photo blog I saw...French Landscapes.

February 6, 2008 HDR Thriller (dramatic)

The Church... Uploaded into FLickr by gastronauten. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Pretty cool shot here of a church in Norway. MUST SEE IN LARGE ON BLACK. Getting a sky backdrop like this can make a huge difference between a good and a great shot. I like this one a lot, but I actually have a slight preference its sister shot because of the surreal foreground.

February 5, 2008 HDR Thriller (ray)

A ray of light, uploaded into Flickr by Giorgos ~. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

"Inside-the-church" shots are a frequent HDR subject. I am not always partial to them unless they are very well done. This one is obviously one. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. Just terrific detail enhancement going on here.

Tick mark for that trip to Rome...but still I think Iceland is first on that "go to" list.

I am Somebody! I am Somebody!

Just a note to let you know that this blog is now being picked up via RSS feed by W3streams.com as their HDR Pic of the Day Blog. It's a pretty cool site of various categorized pics of the day. Check it out. Kinda makes me feel a bit like Navin R. Johnson...



"I am not a bum...I'm a jerk"

Februrary 4, 2008 HDR Thriller (spirit)

cote d'azur bormes-les-mimosas, uploaded into Flickr by delmez92. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Wow. One of those shots you just have to stare at....AMAZING IN LARGE ON BLACK! So many cool things about this photo, and the HDR processing hardens the detail to an amazing degree.

February 3, 2008 HDR Thriller (18-1)

Mystical station, originally uploaded by Jsome1. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Sorry, Pats. I was rooting for ya to finish 19-0, but it just didn't happen. Liked the results of the search though...just 37 pics came up, and this was clearly the best, especially the arching girders above the train. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK FOR FULL EFFECT.

Of course, maybe 18-1 was better for me because there was just one pic that comes up with a "19-0" search.

February 2, 2008 HDR Thriller (blue)

Falling up through reflections, uploaded into Flickr by WarzauWynn. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

With multiple reflections involved, I'm not sure I fully know everything that is going on in this photo. Pretty neat. Please have a look: ON BLACK, and LARGE ON BLACK

The confusion it creates is a little reminiscent of this one from the archives.

February 1, 2008 HDR Thriller (green)

Green lake. Uploaded into Flickr by wili_hybrid. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

A mountain Lake near Uyuni, Bolivia. Pretty neat. A REAL SIGHT IN LARGE ON BLACK. Don't know much about Bolivia, except it's the place where Butch and Sundance went to start over. One of many memorable scenes in that movie has them getting off a train in Middle of Nowhere, Bolivia...well whad'ya know....a train, in the middle of nowhere in the same Flickr photoset.

Looked into this a bit more and found out that this train is from a strange Bolivian train cemetary...and it's located on the largest salt flats in the world (100km x 120 km).

Butch: Sheesh, all Bolivia can't look like this.
Sundance: How do you know? This might be the garden spot of the whole country! People may travel hundreds of miles just to get to this spot where we're standing now. This might be the Atlantic City, New Jersey of all Bolivia for all you know...
Butch: You'll feel a lot better after you've robbed a couple of banks.

The real story?

January 30, 2008 HDR Thriller (Save Me)

The Outpost, uploaded into Flickr by Kevin Macleod. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

It's one of those evenings to search for what I am listening to....Aimee Mann's "Save Me". This pic came up, and I was pretty mesmerized. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. I think its best to quote from the Flickr caption to explain the shot:

"This photograph was taken from within an old military outpost in the Marin headlands. The outpost is part of a bunker installation set up during the second world war, designed to watch for Japanese ships coming from the east towards San Francisco. Ever since the end of the war, these bunkers have been all but abandoned, save for the taggers whose marks adorn every inch of this photograph."

And lastly...I could not resist embedding Aimee's live performance below. She is such a songwriting talent. Hope you enjoy it!!

January 29, 2008 HDR Thriller (glare)

The Secret Ukrainian Underground Restaurant, uploaded into Flickr by Stuck in Customs. CLick on pic to see it in Flickr.

Pretty cool shot here. Shows that characteristisc HDR dream-like vision so often achieved by stuckincustoms. REALLY COOL IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 29, 2008, HDR Thriller (unite)

Chapel, uploaded into Flickr by iceman9294. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

This is the United States Air Force Academy Chapel. What a cool building!! GOTTA SEE THIS IN LARGE ON BLACK. While this HDR shot is pretty oversaturated, the walls of the Chapel evidently do take on this violet color inside because of blue and red stained glass windows (see other pics of it from iceman9294 HERE and HERE).

Quite the architectural statement for the AIr Force I'd say. Designed by Walter Netsch and built in 1958 (I am mildly surprised by that date), it is now a National Historic Landmark. I would guess it's Mr. Netsch's most enduring masterpiece, but it is very unlike his usual designs...I found out that he was a prominent brutalist architect, and I realize now that I pretty much despise brutalist architecture, as it's the reason there are so many screwed-up, cold, concrete monoliths on various University and Government campuses....like this Netsch design for the library at Northwestern University...ugggh!!

January 27, 2008 HDR Thriller (beach)

Pebble Beach, uploaded into Flickr by michaelstano. Click it to see it in Flickr.

I suppose the Lone Cedar is quintessential California. I have not seen it in person because darkness fell before I could get there one day...the only day I could have done it. Oh well...this will have to do 'til I get close again. WELL WORTH IT IN IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 26, 2008 HDR Thriller (moonlight)

Bergamo... Cappella Colleoni... Evening..., originally uploaded into Flickr by egold. CLick on pic to see it in Flickr.

"Moonlight" yielded huge numbers of great HDR photos. Had to narrow it down though, and chose the one above. It's nearly flawless (And it's EVEN BETTER IN LARGE ON BLACK).

But I was so struck by the one below (though it has some noise and other imperfections), I just couldn't eliminate it, and I am posting it as an honorable mention. I believe it's also better at this size. So I will leave it be.Reading by Moonlight. Uploaded into Flickr by 3rd foundation. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

January 25, 2008 HDR Thriller (Brugge)

Brugge @ Night, originally uploaded into Flickr by avdstelt. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Still reading Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There, Travels in Europe. Brugge, Belgium sounds like an amazing place that's like stepping backwards in time. And this is a high quality HDR shot that really shows what HDR can do in challenging exposure conditions. Puts you right there. SEE IT LARGER ON BLACK.

January 24, 2008 HDR Thriller (heavy)

Another World, uploaded into Flickr by Further to Fly. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Through many searches I've seen several HDR shots of this same slot canyon located in the Navajo Nation in Arizona, and they are usually unimpressive. You'd think it was a perfect venue for HDR, but it must be a tricky place to get a good one for some reason. However, this one is an exception and appears to be very well done. Like most of these posts, YOU REALLY NEED TO SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 23, 2008 HDR Thriller (need)

Memory Lane in Sepia, originally uploaded into Flickr by LynchburgVirginia.

Yes, HDR processing works well in black & white and sepia. I have ended up selecting a number of LynchburgVirginia's shots in past posts. This is a nice one, and is, as typical of his shots, a mixture of calm with a tinge of uncertainty. GOTTA SEE THIS IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 22, 2008 HDR Thriller (Central Park)

Stormy City. Originally uploaded into FLickr by griffsflickr. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

I'm a J.J. Abrams fan so I had to see Cloverfield over the weekend. It wasn't bad...better than most in its genre, which I suppose is almost limited to the The Blair Witch and Godzilla. You'll definitely fare better if you go in with the mindset that you're there to roll with the "adrenalin of confusion" rather than having to understand what is happening.

Anyway...the final scenes are played out here in Central Park. Here's the Cloverfield Monster taking out a building. Yeah, well maybe not, but his hair is pretty scary.

But I digress...back to the above photo...I was pretty impressed by it. It's definitely one of those HDR shots that comes out looking more like a remarkable oil painting than a photo. A MUST SEE IN LARGE ON BLACK!!

January 21, 2008 HDR Thriller (surprise)

The two towers, originally uploaded in Flickr by grantthai. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Very cool perspective on the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which were at one time the tallest buildings in the world. Really comes to life when you LOOK AT IT IN LARGE ON BLACK. For more on the Petronas Towers and other large buildings try this link.

January 20, 2008 HDR Thriller (Hammerfest)

Melkøya by night. Uploaded by Ingus. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Been reading Bill Bryson's Neither Here Nor There, Travels in Europe. A really fun read, and I was particularly taken by his hilarious account of his 34-hour ride from Oslo to Hammerfest, Norway on the "Express 2000" bus. Once onboard, it all made sense to him as he read the bus' brochure that the trip to Hammerfest was 2000km...nonstop.

'

Hammerfest, by some accounts, in the northernmost city in the world. Bryson's description is best read, rather than described...

'

"We were now as far north in the world as you could get by public transport. Hammerfest is almost unimaginably remote. 1,000 miles north of the Shetlands, 800 miles beyond the Faroes, 200 miles north of the northernmost tip of Iceland...I was closer now to the North Pole than to London. The thought of it roused me, and I pressed my nose to the cold glass....We approached Hammerfest from above, on a winding coast road and when at last it pivoted into view it looked simply wonderful--a fairyland of golden lights stretching up into the hills and around an expansive bay. I had pictured it in my mind as a village-- a few houses around a small harbour, a church perhaps, a general store, a bar if I was lucky--but this was a little city. A golden little city. Things were looking up."

So "Hammerfest" was the search word today because I really wanted to see this town. I figured I'd see HDR photos of the town center, the harbor, some snow, but what came up was exactly ONE pic....the above pic (A MUST SEE IN LARGE ON BLACK)...and it appears to me to be exactly what Bill Bryson described. So to say I am satisfied with this search is an understatement. One pic...and I see exactly what I had been reading. I think I'll take it.

January 19, 2008, HDR Thriller (icon)

Glowing Icons of Gesu Nuovo. Uploaded into Flickr by Stuck in Customs. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

From a church in Naples Italy. Stuck in Customs does it again...with an eerie one (note the skulls). To get the effect, you GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 18, 2008 HDR Thriller (style)

Lago di Braies - 1. Uploaded into Flickr by diedm. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Very cool composition here, and the exposure range necessary to simultaneously bring out everything in the light and in shadow is huge. Without HDR techniques, I think this would be an impossible photo. GOTTA SEE IT IN LARGE.

January 16, 2008 HDR Thriller (empty)

A Night At The Opera. Uploaded into Flickr by lightgazer. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Amazing detail pops right out of the walls, trim, and stage production in this old theater in Victoria, British Columbia. Please have a look at it IN LARGE ON BLACK. Vay nice!

January 15, 2008 HDR Thriller (sky)

Megeve calvaire. Uploaded into Flickr by delmez92. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

No intro or discussion needed here...it's tme to just gawk. AWESOME IN LARGE ON BLACK.

January 14, 2008 HDR Thriller (kingdom)

Darkness invades the kingdom. Uploaded into FLickr by joiseyshowaa. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Lot's of great pics came up with this search, but I chose this one because I have been to this castle, Hohenschwangau, in the Bavarian Alps in southern Germany. Gotta see it IN LARGE ON BLACK It's one of many that the Kings of Bavaria built in this area in the 19th century. This one is unique though because it was rebuilt the ruins of a castle that dates to the 12th century. Certainly an ideal spot for one. The HDR really enhances foreground detail, and, of course, the cloud treatment it renders creates mood.

January 13, 2008 HDR Thriller (unwind)

Wine, Dine & Unwind. Uploaded into Flickr by _uncommon. Click on pic to see it in Flickr.

Yeah, I think could unwind here (I believe it's the western coast of Sweden). But when I saw it IN LARGE ON BLACK, I knew I could.