Urú!

Well, I think I will delay my supposed vacation from blogging just a bit and will be posting this blog post, hopefully.
Meanwhile, we were supposed to get back to work partially with things going gradually in the fight with COVID-19. Suddenly, though, things started getting out of hands here and the number of hits is increasing by day as I'm typing these words in what seems to be a second wave. So, Phase I, which was supposed to be ending by June 21^st, is extended further to some unknown time till this moment. Who knows, maybe till the time of posting this, Phase II would in effect (and probably I'll be heading back to work).
Anyway, I was planning to post about a series of shots, which I'm going to call The King Series, but I think I will delay that for now in favor of the shots I've shot on June 21^st for the solar eclipse; My FIRST ever solar eclipse shooting!
However, I have to notify you in advance that this would be a rather short post (or maybe I should say a boring post) because shooting the eclipse was kind of "monotonous". Or in other words, no big deal about it; Nothing special!

Urú!

Sigma DG 70-300mm.

Just before I start, Urú actually means "eclipse" in Irish; Just so you know. Now, I really wished that I would have taken these shots within the framework of a landscape, but this was not possible (of course). Thus, I had to satisfy myself with what I can do at the moment. I Just picked my Sigma 70-300mm lens fitted with B+W 403 UV filter and Kenko's IR Cut filter, and my modified EOS 7D and headed out. I had an idea of using my Rokinon 800mm f/8 Mirror Lens, but abandoned the idea when I remembered the hurdles and hardships involving its focusing (manual) and also no filter would fit that (except for the solar filter maybe), but I really wanted to shoot in ultraviolet here to experience what the outcome would be. Not a big deal though, for sure, but still, it was an experiment to be done!

Rokinon 800mm Mirror Lens,
a.k.a. Barrel lens.

The solar eclipse started around 7:20 a.m. local time, so I was there with my tripod. The other unpleasant part about this eclipse is that it was partial only and not annular. Anyway, I guess I don't have the right to complain here since it's my first time to shoot a solar eclipse.

Triple Eclipse

Kenko's infrared cut filter,
to stop the infrared leakage in
the ultraviolet pass filter.

Now, the ultraviolet and IR cut filter did a good job in blocking the sun, in addition to the high f-number (but this one I was fluctuating between f/11-f/22) and the high shutter speed (settled down later to 8000^-1s). However, the first few shots were bright (too bright) as can be seen from Triple Eclipse. Also, this brightness showed the inner reflection problems (common when you stack filters on a lens), and for this we see here a triple image for the eclipse; One real image and inner reflections in between the filters and the lens. Can serve an artistic purpose but definitely not always.

Stages

As I've stated already, the shoot was a bit boring really: Shoot a series in burst mode, adjust the camera tilt, shoot again. The thing kept on and on. I was hoping though that I would get some details from the sun or its halo when I process the ultraviolet images but I think I did need an extra zoom here (I was shooting at 300mm of course). I wanted to use a teleconverter to shoot at 600mm but then I thought, well, it's my first time; I better shoot with what I'm sure that would work. Adding a teleconverter would reduce the amount of light significantly and adding an ultraviolet filter is not quite a friendly thing, since UV wavelengths are quite sensitive to the glass and are drastically reduced. All in all, it was a good idea to reduce the amount of glass through which the UV must pass. Anyway, the good thing after all is shooting different stages of the eclipse where the moon gradually covered more and more of the sun disk. So, I decided to merge some of these images all together in some artistic way and so it was Stages. Of course, this is not the real path of the sun in the sky; Things were harder in reality as I was following the sun at 300mm. The event started to get closer and closer to the zenith point and things started to get harder for me to look (I was covering my head and the camera's back with a towel). However, at the end, I've decided a video, just so I might do something with it. And I did!

Note: The music comes from Free Music Archive website, and titled Magic Hour by Three Chain Links - Hope I got it all right!

The original video was almost 8 minutes long. Around the end, I got a signal on LiveView warning me about sensor heating, and that's when the video ended as I had to switch the camera off, of course. Anyway, shooting was getting harder at that point as I said as the camera got almost pointing to the zenith.
The problem with the video is that it was not easy to deal with and correct the color shift. I had to process the video several times to make it smaller in size to be dealt with and correct the color using "traditional" approaches (I've edited the video in Photoshop to correct the color in fact), and used OpenShot Video Editor to speed up the video. For some reason this one kept on crashing when I wanted to add the audio track so I had to close it down and head to the traditional Windows Movie Maker to add the audio. Such a mess. This said, I'm not really planning to venture into the world of video yet. Maybe never. Still, this is not the first time I do shoot a video with such filters and correct the colors, I just wish that correcting the White Balance for videos was easier than it is, just like the case with RAW files.

Finale

Well, after this little post about the past solar eclipse, I'm thinking seriously about giving myself a bit of a vacation from blogging for the time being, even though there is indeed some "good" material to post and discuss as I've mentioned before; The King Series, which sadly seems to have been abruptly stopped at the moment. Meanwhile, and for this short vacation from blogging (which I think would be around 2-3 weeks), there is much thinking to be done, and try. Just a side note, I've downloaded GIMP lately and I'm tinkering with it to see how I would adapt to this editor.

In case you don't know what GIMP is, it is a free opensource editor. And like how RawTherapee is somewhat a mimic for Adobe's Lightroom, GIMP is the mimic for Photoshop.

My initial trial with it leaves so much to be desired though it has some sparkle about it and things that got me interested to try out, but first things first and there are some essentials that I need to get around with, like how to edit a RAW file and changing the workspace color (it's dark gray which is not suitable for judging colors). I'm digging still through this and for sure I would need to be going through a lot of Help files and topics.
Beside all this technical mess, there are also some issues I'm working on but maybe it's not a good idea to talk about them right now as I'm actually unaware of the "end" of these issues and whether they are going to lead where I want it to be or not, but it is something that I better work on slow for now, and when the time comes, I'll talk about it in this blog, maybe.
And as with the ongoing crisis and home quarantine, which is more or less active despite the gradual opening and going back to normalcy, I've realized the fact that the hardest thing about isolation is not being isolate or alone at all, but hardships lie in being forced to be with others. I believe this is exactly the real problem with jails and imprisonment; Not confinement itself, but being with others and bearing with them, specially if a person does not get along with much of them.
Despite the lengthy period of time spent at home and not going to work, despite all of that, I still feel the need to get a vacation as if I'm not ready yet to get back to work. As I'm typing these words it has been confirmed that I should go back for one week at least starting from July 5^th to supervise some cleaning and disinfection work, and probably check on some devices. For such a little task under such circumstances, I still do feel not ready for the whole thing as if I didn't take a vacation for months. Which is true in some sense because the months in which I've stopped going to work were mostly spent at home coping and fighting against mood swings… severe mood swings. Maybe this whole thing is a signal that I need to find something, change jobs or resign, or anything. An idea that I had since long time but never been able to step it up further because, simply, there is not much to do out there for people like me. On the other hand, there are even more pressing matters that I deem more important than work and its situation which do require more attention from my side, and yet, they are just afloat without any real vision nor a solution in the near future. These matters are more or less related to the fact of how am I supposed to enjoy life for real, away from the network of mood swings and depression, and re-discovering what love is, in a time when I'm approaching 40 already… if love still exists, that is.

Fertig!

A very busy and quick week to pass (but filled with bad luck ad bad events as well). However, much relief for now. I've finally managed to finish the report that I was helping my friend with. Now, I can get some space free in my mind to do other things, specially those regarding my photography projects.
Also, I'm taking this time and the free space in my mind as an opportunity to go on and complete the last part of my Alexander project: Chapter 6 vocalization. Chapter 6, however, is a long one and for sure this is going to be a long process, and if I was lucky to work on it daily, I might be over with it in about 40 days (but this won't happen for sure!).
However, I've recorded the first 5 verses of the chapter, and I've corrected some spelling mistakes as well. You can check the Ayvarith version with vocalization here. The English translation is here.

My activity with my camera had been minor, but I took the chance to further work with my new Macro lens (Canon 100mm f/2.8). This time I've connected the camera to the TV and I had to sit near by because the wire was short, and then tried to click some shots for my eye.

Auge (Eye)

Auge BW

Eclipse

Farbenfrohe Furcht (Colorful Fear)

The trend with me had been to name some of the images in German. I believe it gives some strength to the feelings. Of course, there was no chance to do HDR processing to the images, but the exposure for the images after all was fine with more or less editing for the RAW file. I think the Black and White theme fitted me well in this small series. In Eclipse, specifically, there was no need to do any manipulation to extract the lines of the eye; editing the Black and White levels was enough. Farbenfrohe Furcht on the other hand required some of the typical work I do with the eyes when I work with other people's pictures.
And yes, the eyeball veins and lines are true. Not edited.

On the other hand, I've printed the Failaka Folio, which for the time being I plan to make it a simple folio to show my work in a series form, and hopefully will start working soon with the other folio: Good Morning Kuwait. After printing the folio, I've laminated the prints for more of a glossy look, and for protection as well.

Failaka Folio

Now, I have to keep this folio for showing in some container or album. I have further plans with this folio but they are on hold for now. I better do some other things until I figure out the means to do this particular project with this folio.

I've started to fast now with the first day of Rajab (7th month of the lunar year) and in hope that I would continue this fast for the next month and attach it to Ramadhan later, making a 3 months of fasting. Sounds like torture in the beginning, but I think my body will benefit from this reduction in food and drinks consumption. It is a matter of adapting to the new condition and weather for the time being and I'm pretty sure that it will all sound normal later on.

Geltani is a name I shouldn't forget as well. I have to work with this along with Ayvarith projects. My powers are getting scattered I believe but this is mainly, as I believe, for my lack of time-management skills and the ability to stick to programs. Work, on the other hand, is another burden which sounds, sometimes, like a waste of my time...

Cropping Away...

Week of delays and troubles, yet I'm still alive. Trying to forget some aspects of my own world and life by trying to work more behind the camera. Some ideas come and go, but seems like I'm running out of time...

Friday, on a sleepless morning, I've decided to break out the vacation from my camera and do something. It was morning time, and not in mood to drive, so I just decided to take pictures from my home. My first goal was to catch something from inside the house with some scene made by sun rays striking the stairs. Unfortunately, the maid was working in the hall and I didn't want to give her a hard time (or should I say the opposite?). Anyway, seeing this I've headed outside just roaming the vicinity.

My home's yard

The picture above is for my house's yard before some adjustment that appeared later on. I have to say that I'm not happy about the changes that were made later on by my brother, when he added some small bathroom outside for guests (although we have one inside). Anyway, just for fun, I've decided to do some experiment with this structure (even though I hate looking at it).
First of all, it was some trial for some abstract art I would say. Nothing special about this little bathroom from the outside except when it's cropped, or so I'd say.

Cabin Cut

A friend once told me that one of the tricks of illusions is to remove the edges and let your vision swim freely into the object not knowing where it starts and where it ends. I was trying to do this here when I removed the top and the bottom of this cabin or bathroom. I think it would appear more flat if only these screws on the right side were removed, and the vent fan would be removed as well. I didn't want to crop more than this or to clone out. The shot was taken from the side, centering the corner of the bathroom. Cropping here beats the depth I guess.

The original cabin before cropping.

After "snapping" this shot, I went around and fixed my Tamron with my Vivitar teleconverter and went on trying to catch something, aiming at the little cat (veeeery annoying one) that lives in the yard. With a manual focusing and handheld camera, it wasn't easy for sure, but I got something after all, which made me think of a particular theme!

Beast

Instinct

Wild

The images got a colored version but I don't like them as much as I like the black and white version (with the last one being selectively colored). I have to say that I didn't get much out of the collection, but I might work out something other than the ones above. I've found myself, having an image of animal in my mind, that I'm naming them with some basic elements of behaviors (animal or human). I didn't plan for such a theme for the 3 images, but it just came out, and that makes me think of doing more around this, either now or in the future. Maybe...

Cropping, cropping, cropping. This is all what I'm doing recently with some of the old images that I've forgot about; mainly those taken from Ireland in 2010. One of the pictures that I've totally forgot about (intentionally) because I didn't find any much interest in it, is re-visited. Well, it was there in one of my albums for Co. Tipperary, but this time, with cropping, lot of people (specially on MostPhotos) appreciated it...

Raining

As a background, the image was taken in one rainy day in the lounge of the Thornbrook House. I think it was taken on October 2nd, 2010. In the beginning, I was going to work with a single RAW, but decided to go with HDR to pronounce the greens more and brighten the white frames, and also pronounce the rain drops on the glass, as a single RAW would show some and hide some for a single EV value.
I started cropping from the top right keeping the frames visible, but some friends online suggested to crop more. I think they're right. It would be nicer to hide the frame. My main thought thread when I did this was to make the frame as a frame of the image itself in that corner. I also noticed that the lower left corner needed some cropping, but I didn't notice this till I uploaded the image.

Usually I crop keeping the aspect ratio of the image. Unless I'm doing a panorama (more specifically, small planet projection), I like to keep the aspect ratio of the image because in case of prints are to be made out later, or some email of pictures I'd like to send over to someone, the images would fit within each other like bricks; same height and same width, with almost equal visibility.
After reading further in George Barr's book, Take Your Photography to the Next Level: From Inspiration to Image, it kind of pushed me to break the "taboo" as he calls it. Well, I don't think this kind of break is or must be done every time I crop, but there is one image that got me into that situation. I have to admit though, I've just discovered that the image was taken wit a wrong tilt, but on the bright side (at least in my own brain that is) it makes some kind of optical illusion...

Over Suir
single RAW.

I really can't remember how I was sitting to take this image but apparently I didn't frame it correctly in the camera's viewfinder. Some edges were swollen already. Anyway, I had to crop the sides and keep the top and bottom untouched (to remove a trash bin!). I can say that going down with a low angle wasn't comfortable at that location!
However, I've been preparing some stuff from Ireland that I, myself, didn't like as well. There are times when cropping or whatever you do won't work out on such an image, but oh well, the image can still be dear to you for some reason (specially when it is from a vacation!)...

Moment of Silence

The only thing I really liked about this image above, is the sun rays coming from the upper right corner. I didn't like the colors much too (prepared from a single RAW) so I changed it to Black and White. Try my best to add such a drama with the contrast, but yet, I don't think I did it quite well. Still, some people liked it in fact, and like George Barr says, you wouldn't know if the picture you hate the most from your work, can be the one that the public admires the most. The image above was taken from behind the gate of St. Dominic abbey in Cashel town. I was going around the ruins trying to find a way to get in and stood there taking these pictures of the graveyard, just before a lady comes out from next door to ask if I want the key! Days... I really need a vacation.

As I've mentioned before, I was going to try to print something noisy and see how would it look, on A4 size. The target image was Companions, and I got the basic shape without filtering the noise, and in fact, I've made sharpening in NIK plugin , under Glossy paper profile.

Companions
filtered here.

The print was acceptable with my HP Photosmart (I think C4783?). I made the print with HP Premium PhotoPaper (not Premium plus), and the result was fine. makes me think really about the realistic attitude for eliminating the noise from the images I take. Noise is my nemesis and seems I'm always losing the fight. Removing the noise would remove the details and so on. But, is it really necessary to be that way? I think I've adapted such approach because of the stock sites that rejected many pictures because of the noise level. The image above was taken with ISO2000 and printed it without filtering the noise, and with sharpening. I don't see it was a really bad print even though I have to say it is a small version, and when used in other publications it might be even smaller in size and the noise level would almost disappear then. I think so, at least.

Left to say, we had a lunar eclipse on Wednesday (yesterday), and it was a chance I didn't want to miss, but as usual, it was not easy to catch. There was dust and wind, and things like that get on your nerves when working with a tele-lens. the slightest movement will shake the image and so on. Although I'm the one who was working on it, but I have to say it was like a nightmare and I'm glad it's over!

Lunar Eclipse
Wednesday, June 15th 2011. Around 10:00 p.m.

This shot was taken at the end of the process in fact. The real thing was a time-lapse photography with my Tamron. However, I had to zoom out a little to automate the process of the shooting the moon phases (every 2 minutes). I was planning to take images all along the span of 3 hours but the movement of the moon, while you zoom in, is so fast to catch up with. One hour is enough to see the moon going from the lower left corner of the frame, to the upper right corner. Well, I could zoom out a bit, but I doubt any further zooming out will give any indication of the eclipse. Add to my troubles, some frames were shaken as well because of the air blow to the set. However, I've managed to do a little time-lapse clip, though I'm not quite satisfied with it.




Well, it's weekend now, almost. The time has come to wash away some of my hard time with some good sleep, if any. Been a slow week... full of discomfort...