YouPic: A Review…

Well, I can call this week to be a failure somewhat because I was not able to work with my camera, but I really have my excuses here; Eye appointment, fixes around the house, sleeping problems and lack of power and ideas (well, ideas are there but I'm procrastinating). And despite having 2 days of sick leave after my appointment, I didn't really invest much time into my camera. Hopefully I will do so soon and post whatever I can do here.
For this occasion and just not to keep this week without a blog post, I've decided to write a review, or more like a chain of thoughts about the website that I've recently "re-joined": YouPic. If you are reading this, bear in mind that this is just my thoughts and my observations and I'm not really aiming on pushing people into or away from the website, but it is simply my experience around it for the past 3 weeks or so since I've re-joined.

YouPic: A Review

I remember some years back when I joined YouPic, I've deleted my account after some weeks and I think the reason was, back then, that I didn't want myself to get involved so much into social media and waste time there instead of putting time and effort into my camera and real photography and away from "socializing." Now, however, I've re-joined because I've simply left Flickr and Instagram for good and this website did sound like a good substitution, for the time being. Anyway, now after some weeks of uploading photos there, I think I have to say that not everything I've encountered was positive. From my own perspective at least. To be fair, let me put that in a form of points to organize my thoughts, and classify them into Positives and Negatives.

Positives:

• Going around the website and reading the About section, the website is apparently established by a group of youth with great ambition (I think most of them are Swedes). Frankly, to deal with a website of that kind which is NOT based in the US like the bulk of the other "infamous" websites - that, for me, is a nice experiment that I'm willing to take away from the major stream.
• With paid membership (which I don't have still) one can establish a business through the website. I'm not sure yet how it works but seems there is a way to sell photos just like in stock websites, or maybe selling prints as well. Again, I didn't go through this experience because I don't have a paid membership, but the options are available and visible.
• The website has a system of "gaming" as I like to call it; Some sort of interactive awards (e.g. Award for traveling to 5 countries). I think it is dedicated who do like to achieve through challenges, and it is sort of fun to see the daily progress and the upgrade of levels and such.
• The website provides statistics for various aspects about your profile to track your progress and that is WITHOUT even having a paid membership (like the case with Flickr for example).
• Providing contemporary trending hashtags (as well as the typical aspects of social media, like messaging, commenting and sharing).
• The chance to "see" real photography with high resolution images as much as possible (unlike Instagram) and also providing categorization method for these photos (assigned by the uploader).
• It has an "Explore" section to find all about newly uploaded images or trending images and so on.
• Surfing through the website, I don't see much (if any) ads - Even though they advertise that with a paid membership, you will not see ads (with other benefits).

I think those are most of the points that occur to my mind right now about the positive side of YouPic. However, the negative, to me, is a bit of a killer on some sides, specially after encountering some incidents, which I will try to explain after listing the negatives.

Negatives:

• One major killer here is the pricing of memberships. The lowest membership type does actually cost, annually, more than Flickr's annual membership after their recent change in policies. Flickr's new policy caused some photographers (including me) to leave the platform for good as the annual membership is almost the double of what it was before. YouPic's annual membership does cost even more than that amount at about $60 for the Enthusiast membership; The lowest of the two options available.
• I'm not a fan of nudity but the website provides the users with the capability of tagging their images as "Adult Content" which does not view the image wherever you encounter it until you click few buttons. However, some people for some reason do not tag their nudity images and it shows clearly and directly making the website not suitable for some specific range of ages. Moreover, the admins of the website does not seem to track down these incidents efficiently as I can see it is such a common occurrence.
• Blocking a user is an available option (which I need to use actually). However, when blocking someone, you just block them from interacting with you only; You can still see their profile. I'm not sure if this is what most people want but for me, when I block someone, it means a block for good, in two directions.
• Starting first with the website, when I first started to upload, my images would get instant Likes and exposure. In time, the exposure did look quite limited and hard to get any and I'm not sure if this is related to the timing of upload.
• I started uploading my photos on some sort of a regular basis, twice or thrice a day, but then and out of sudden, I was shocked for the limitation of 12 hours time period between uploads because my account was Free type; Nothing was mentioned about the time limitation before in the process of registering.

I've mentioned above that there was some incidents which I might as well add to the negative side of things on YouPic, and maybe I'm starting to get a feeling that the website is trying to push me hard to get a membership in some hidden ways. Imaginations? Maybe, but this is how it feels right now.
When I started surfing the Explore section on YouPic (a nice leisure time activity actually that somewhat helps on inspiring me), I've noticed that some users that did upload ads as if it was Instagram. I did take it seriously and did report these posts and I got message from the admins thanking me for the help on keeping the community of YouPic clean. However, and strangely, after some time, I was not able to upload my photos. I've discovered later that I was able to upload through my laptop at work but not at home using my PC, and that meant that my IP address was on some kind of block list. I've contacted the admins over the course of some days to resolve the matter but nothing happened and the problem was not resolved. Finally, I'm now using a VPN service (free) just to upload my photos from home using my PC. In the course of this problem, I've received some messages from the admins offering me the membership and even with some discount using a special code as a promotion (estimating that, it was still higher than the annual fee for Flickr). This incident, now, pushed and pushes me to think that probably the problem with the sudden drop in exposure, and probably the uploading problem and maybe other downside matters might all be a "drive" to let new comers get involved with the website with paid memberships.

Please, don't get me wrong here with my suspicions. After all, they are just suspicions, but they felt and feel like true. The fact that I'm still unable to upload in a regular manner like before from home despite chatting with the admins and providing all the information they required is something that annoys me greatly despite the easiness of using a VPN, and for free.
The quite common posts of nudity (which I don't like to name as an art in the first place), which sometimes even gets down to the limit of being simply pornographic in nature and not quite related to the art of photography, and the incapability of tracking these photos effectively, makes the website not suitable for all ages (and for some people, not suitable for workplaces as well).
I think the website needs some rigid and effective push forward by changing some policies and methods used to manage the website BEFORE asking the users to purchase a membership with such prices. Thinking about it, Instagram would sound quite a suitable solution for photographers to spread and expose their images for free (despite its negatives) and with some good skills, any user on Instagram can turn his or her account into a base to start a business. For this reason, I don't think the prices of YouPic are justified still.

If you are reading this, I would advise you NOT to take my words for granted but to go out there and try the website yourself and make your own judgement about the website.

Back to Normal…

Seriously, I really don't know how I'm coping with this weather, and these people I see daily in front of me wherever I go. I think I have the right to call myself a superman. Between headaches, migraines and renovations in the kitchen and other parts of the house (which leaves me coffee-less), I'm still trying to survive the summer through. My birthday (August 17^th) will be coming on a Friday, which is a weekend, so I won't be having a real day off work as usual to, simply, enjoy my bed in a regular day. Ah well.
I believe I am in a transition era right now. I'm trying to release the load from over my back so that I might be able to do more photography (and with hope, more conlanging). For this reason, I've ended my membership in the photography group (club) after 6 years (since 2012) of working with them (or maybe for them?) - and that was back in the end of May - and now, lately, I've decided that I must stop using Instagram, as the app is getting ridiculous with its ads, its updates, and useless functions for me (in competition with Snapchat which I don't care about or use). However, I still have one active Instagram account dedicated to Ayvarith (which was the core reason for establishing this blog in the first place! Alas!). I really invested quite a time into this Instagram thing over the years; Preparing posts, thinking of what to post, even thinking of what to shoot for my next post (and this is a positive thing, I admit). However, with the latest updates (and the no-sense involving the chronological order), the place became despicable. Adding to that, the drop in the Likes and comments had been drastic with the latest changes (the friends I relied on do not give Likes already as it is). Apparently, this app is trying to make a business deal out of every user using algorithms to change the way of interactions (or even forcing interactions). That's all too much for me, and I better save my time doing something else for now. So, I'm back to Flickr (despite my disagreement about the new design and layout). At least, not many ads can be seen.

Shellology

As time goes by, and as I've abandoned my activities with the group and Instagram, I've reserved much time to rest and to work on my own pace with my camera. Many ideas come and go but well, not everything is applicable. But I'm having the time right now to document a small collection of shells that I've collected long time ago (some time between 2003-2005) and kept it for no use; Till now. On my pace, I'm trying to shoot one shell per day, and if I was lucky somehow, I'd shoot two a day. The results are quite astonishing and some serious thought is given to re-shoot some of them at different angles and/or at different magnification power.

The series can be long and I don't think I will post it all here but the magnification ranged from 3.2X and down to 1X (point something). It all depends on the shape and size of the shell itself. The general theme of the work is abstract, as in The Shining Shell, but with some sense of documentation as well, as with Shill.

Going extreme with the shell sometimes is triggered by the presence of some fine grooves which can be felt with a fingernail but not by the eye! So, this is another factor (regardless of the size of the shell) which calls for extreme macro (that is, zooming more than 1x in general). One case is MacroSteps with those tiny dirt pieces which I left as some sort of a guideline. Even though I wanted the diagonal trace to be greater, but with the capabilities available and the cumbersome gear I have, I have to satisfy myself with this!

The main struggle though, is to consider or not to consider the addition of oil to the shells prior to the shoot in order to give them some luster. In some cases, the situation was kind of disastrous (and can be fixed at times), as in the case with Bean Farraige. This luster problem is actually an extension of another problem which I used to work with anyway, and that is the lighting with a speedlite. Luckily for this one though, I did find the other half (I guess?) and I shot it without applying baby oil to it, to see the difference in Bean Farraige 2. The difference was huge, though the location of the speedlite did not change drastically.

It took me a while though to think of a way to drop the light on the sample from above, but that doesn't work all the time and I end up, as usual, lighting the shell from one side only. The rest is a process of adding Fill or dodging when processing the final image. The Size of the shell also plays a major role for whether lighting with the speedlite can be a success or not.

In Striptoshella for example, which was a relatively large shell but shot with high magnfiication (3.2x) to focus on the abstract made by the stripes - In this shot, despite dropping the light from above (using Rogue light bender on the speedlite), yet the lower portion was dark and I had to light it a bit digitally during the process. The baby oil here made some nice luster but probably I should have diffused the light even further (as the luster appeared harsher when the final image was sharpened). It was not till later that I decided to use my Bolt LED ringflash or light, which I've left untouched for a long time, when shooting Áilleacht Bhriste just out of mere curiosity.

Bolt VM-110
Macro Ring Light

Now, technically speaking, using this cheap substitute for a ring flash was a failure to some extent, but I still like the good distribution of light it did provide in Áilleacht Bhriste. Here are a number of things that this LED ring flash did not work well for me:

• It does not work well with high f-numbers. In fact, in Áilleacht Bhriste, I used the modeling "light" property in this device and not as a flash. Meaning, it acted as an ambient light rather than a flash, and that required some exposure in the order of half a second (if not for the ISO200 here). Properly if it was an insect, it would be a problem for me to use it that way? Not sure. With a proper speedlite or ringflash, the exposure time would surely be in the order of milliseconds. This fact is related to how the power and duration of the speedlite work in relation to the shutter speed (and the sync speed as well), while Bolt's LED ringflash is merely but an external light source (almost).
• By design, I couldn't attach the ring to the Vello Macrofier which I use to put lenses on reverse to achieve a good magnification AND focusing points easily. In Áilleacht Bhriste, I used extension tubes with 50mm lens just to attach the ring to the front of the 50mm lens. This combination is cumbersome when I work and in fact Áilleacht Bhriste is not made by stacking several shots; The original has its sides out of focus even at f/22, and I couldn't do focus stacking by moving the rail forward to shoot other shots and get one complete sharp image. The final image here was cropped (also to remove the black background). 

Vello Macrofier

Nonetheless, I'm impressed. I'm really thinking of a way to fit this LED ringflash (or light) onto the Macrofier somehow to work together. Even though the exposure time might not be a "quickie" but it is still manageable. I have to say, also, that working with LED would save me loads of energy problems with those speedlites (I had to change the batteries frequently as I worked with these shells!). There must be a way to work with Bolt's ringflash and Vello's macrofier; I just need some time to think about it and I might come up with some DIY solution of some sort! Once this is done, I can work happily with focus stacking again... unless another cumbersome problem occurs again.

Finale

I was going to expand this post further and talk about other experiments I'm working on (specifically the pinhole) but I'll keep that for later maybe as I didn't have much at hand right now. I'm still thinking of a way to fix that problem with Bolt's LED ring light on my Vello's Macrofier, and till I find a solution I might be able to do some ideas I kept at the back of my head for using my pinhole, AND creating some as well! Also by then, a new poem might be ready, if the words and the focusing serve me right. I've tried several times to pin it down but I got seriously distracted and couldn't compose a single line (heck! I didn't even pick a proper rhyming scheme, but I might make up my own here). This poem is supposedly triggered by a shot I made for a shell, and hopefully I will post it next time as well.

Some questions remain unanswered though, or partially unanswered, for the time being after leaving the group and Instagram. What I'm supposed to do next? Well, obviously the first step or answer would be: enjoy photography; Just like in the old days. Enjoy experimenting and invest more time with the camera rather than working on group's stuff or preparing posts for Instagram. Beyond that, I really don't know where I am heading. There might be some local activities (which I've encountered some already but did not participate) but just the thought of "socializing" with people in this circle give me the chills sometimes. Not because I'm an introvert, but because I can't act and put on a fake smile wherever I go, and it is often when my nerves got stepped on in such occasions.

With a weather like this, and a home like this, it is not only people that get on my nerves lately. To some degree, I would say everything; However tiny, however grand. Luckily, I've finally got my new passport after a struggle for months, but the question remains: Will I be able to travel? Traveling to me right now is a need rather than an activity of pleasure to be done after some hard work or relaxing. It is something to keep my sanity in check after spending my entire year (and more than a year for now) in one big asylum like this one. The irony though is, traveling makes me feel home, more than home does.

Ag Dul (Going)...

It is a torn out vacation! Many things to do and so much little time, and sleep. I think I do need to organize my daily activity for now, as I have so much leisure stuff I "need" to do. Mom's sudden sickness and asthma got the bulk of my time for now, but I see things are kind of getting better (specially after buying an inhaling device to help her). Beside all of that, I do need to get back to the Arabic blog as well and talk a bit about my trip to Ireland. Where is time when you need it…

Ag Dul

Still working with the load of photos taken from Ireland this year. Well, not a surprise that I'm not able to work with lot of these photos. Not disappointing, for after all I had my vacation! But maybe I will find some ideas for some of these shots later on. Probably the most frustrating incidents are those related to infrared shots (specifically done with 8mm), as some of them are not sharp enough and I'm not sure if it was because of the focusing of the (manual) lens or is it because that infrared slide got scratched. This brings into my mind another topic, of how to fix a gel filter easily at the back of Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens. I can use, of course, a little duct tape. However, this is not practical on location so to say. Still thinking!

Ag Dul (Going)
Rokinon 8mm fisheye,
f/8, 28m, ISO100.

Probably one of the most beloved infrared shots to me is Ag Dul, which was shot on the bank of the lake not far from the Waterfront. I did already a black and white version of this image and sent in a mass email few days ago. However, the new edit was done with the help of the IR profile I've already made for my ACR. This processes usually tends to shift the general tint from Red towards Blue. The only annoying part about it is the slightly out of focus aspect. Not a big deal in a small size but it is so when viewed at 100% (and of course would be so in a large print). As for the grain and the noise, it is a typical story in infrared shots. Unfortunately, stock websites do not comprehend the struggle here! Anyway, such shots, I believe aren't much of use for their line of commerce.
This bluish streak actually makes the infrared gel filter (Kodak's) more desirable than my B+W infrared circular filter (58mm) because of this effect when adjusting colors. Infrared filters have many varieties depending on the threshold value; i.e. the value of the wavelength after which photons may pass (high pass filter of some sort). However, there is so much to learn about them. I wonder now if I can adapt this gel filter even to those lenses which are supposed to be using the circular B+W IR filter.

Áilleacht Dhorcha (Dark Beauty)
Canon EF 50mm + ET,
f/8, 160^-1sec, ISO200.

In one of the weird incidents lately, one of the images which was easily discarded in my first group meeting here, was quite popular in other places. The main reason for the discard is the regularity of the shot I believe as it has nothing to add or no new attraction. This shot, Áilleacht Dhorcha, however, did gain some reputation in communities like Flickr, 500px, and Instagram. Áilleacht Dhorcha was mainly processed (and it is the lowest exposure in a bracket) in a way to mimic the effect of a painting. The main tint of colors was simply achieved by changing the white balance (the original color was pinkish). The rest is the usual job of layers in Photoshop. I do like it personally even though it was discarded from the main stream of reviews in the meeting; The shot gained some popularity in 500px too.

Panorama-wise now, I'm still working on flat versions of the panoramas and didn't start yet with QTVRs or any other projections. This is just a step to manage and control the pace of my work as to not scatter my efforts in various directions. I do believe that I made my mind now of the small "gift" that I should print and send to The Waterfront…

The Waterfront

Probably the blues should have been richer? Maybe. Anyway, I'm still working on the rest of the panoramas one by one and might add another target. The work with panoramas wasn't out of (bad) surprises and disappointments, somewhat. One of the panoramas that I was hoping for more vivacity in its appearance turned out to be hard to be managed and had to put (kill) it down. That is the inside of Inchagoill church panorama…

An Eaglais na hInis an Ghiall
Inchagoill's Island

I'm not sure where did things go wrong, and specially with the halo effect around the edges, but I've tried my best to make it better through tone-mapping but to no avail. Probably it would have been better to tone-map such a panorama using Photoshop, but the problem here the seamless edges; if I want to make a QTVR out of this panorama, the left and right edges must be equal in luminance and other aspects so that the QTVR would be seamless and smooth as one unique view (without any cut in the middle when wrapped). This feature is available in Photomatix when tone-mapping, but not in Photoshop CS5 (so far). I might come back to this panorama to make it better somehow, but not for now!

Back-In

Now that I'm back, I'm trying to regain some foothold on some aspects of my life, specifically those related to "social" activities to some extent. The group I'm a member of is working on preparations for Al-Thani photo contest and the sorting process is still going on. I'm thinking of joining in some workshops within the group as well in fields that are, usually, not in my immediate interests; e.g. sports photography.
Meanwhile, after stopping for several months, I'm back to uploading 500px website. I'm not sure really how special or what is the deal with it, but within the circle of the group they do talk much about it (as if being a circle of professionals). The irony here is that some images that were rejected in the group, do have their own fans on 500px! This said, I got into the trap again of renewing my Flickr account again (to Pro) despite removing my Paypal info long ago from the website. Just discovered that the Paypal info were there (again) somehow. I do realize now that having such Pro accounts in any website of this type isn't a big deal after all. Statistics? Sure, they might be important for some to some extent, yet I do not think it is worth the money. If, however, it is a group of photographers sharing a gallery online, it might be worthy to pay for such services. This is what I think.

I've been also trying to get back to poetry somewhat. I still need something to leak my feelings into. The poetic engine is not as greasy as before when things come easily, but I'm planning to try from time to time, or at least put on a specific time on my schedule to think of some words to pen down. This is not how it used to work though. However, the initial result was The Red Leaf. The biggest problem, in my case at least, is that feelings are there, words aren't.

Finale

I'm here now, trying to fill my life with things I'd love to do before I go back to work in mid November. It is not an easy task though, I tell ya.
For starters, Mom got ill out of a sudden; probably allergy-related condition. At least this is what I hope for her, so that by time things get adjusted. I have to do inhaling procedures for her (and she feels better by now at the time of typing this).

Then, there are some of the chores that I have to do, specifically checking out what happened to the parcels sent from Austria, containing the catalogs of the members (of Trierenberg Circuit's contest) and my Luxury Edition 2014 (where one of my images is displayed). I don't know why they still send to my home address even though I've changed my address to my UK inbox; the post services in this country are down the drain. Beside these chores, I do have a plan to go back on educating myself with Gaelic (Irish) a bit. It is a hard language, even harder than German I'd say, but it would be fun to try maybe! This tempts me to talk about all my projects that are on standby! So, I better stop at this for now...

I've said earlier that I'm trying to get a foothold in my life; but until that is done, this heart is going to be swinging in between the matters of life. It does feel like walking a tunnel, with no light burst at the end. Sometimes, it is but a dream, to let someone know how you feel…
Anyway, better start cleaning my camera now.

Uaigneach 's Ag Fanacht
Lonely, and Waiting...

The InfraWeek...

This week been somehow a busy week with my infrared filter. After some trials that were done last week with the infrared filter, and after learning some new methods to process infrared RAW files, I've been planning for new shots and even visiting old shots for re-processing.
Before I delve deeper into this matter of the infrared venue, I do like to thank all visitors for peaking up my Flickr profile to more than 2000 hits in a single day! This is a first time to be that way. I think my own personal record was something a bit more than 1000 hits in a single day before!

Click to Enlarge

Infra

One of the main problems in processing infrared images (beside working with unconverted camera) is the fact that the white balance is limited when working in ACR, or even in Canon's DPP. Canon's DPP though was somehow a good tool before but currently and with my new acquired shots from last week, it didn't make much difference. Anyway, I've gone through some articles online and I've discovered a free software provided by Adobe, namely the DNG Profile Editor.
I won't get into the details of this tool and how to use it, but in a brief sentence, all I can say is, it makes a profile to be used in ACR, and it would maximize the range of the white balance in some way. This step alone, made me re-think about previous shots and the possibility of shedding them under a new light.

Frozen Coal
Cropped from original.

One of these old shots was a shot taken in the beginning of this year, in winter specifically, when we were still using coal trays or something like that to enjoy some traditional tea! Anyway, the shot that was taken and processed in the traditional way and even back then, swapping the channels (of Red and Blue to give an alien feeling to the image) did not yield or give much sense. Right now, though, the story is completely different and swapping the channels after fixing the white balance in the RAW file can yield a promising result. I say "can" here, so don't take it for granted!

InfraCoal

However, the coal shot was an "indoor" shot and not outside, thus I had to dig in my archive and see if there is anything like that taken with infrared. I've found one shot, for which I needed DxO to deal with its distortion and other criteria and this one, too, did a good job in swapping the channels.

Infraarbeitplatz

Despite this promising result from a previous shot, but it didn't really work out for much of the shots taken back when I just had the filter. Some of them didn't work out as before and some of them were better rather in red shade like the Ciudad en Rojo.

Ciudad en Rojo
Canon EF 18-55mm @35mm, f/8, 3.2sec, ISO100.

Anyway, after looking back at my stock of infrared shots, I've decided to increase the stock a bit more just to work with processing more images of this kind. This is my preferred method of learning (specially in Photoshop), and reading alone won't do me any good!
For this reason I've decided to take my camera to work with me and try to find something just to shoot with my infrared filter.

One of the first trials at work is a little plant which looked like a palm tree (but it's not). I leave the classification of this plant for the professionals! Anyway, it was a shot in a hurry as the background and the distance were not suitable really.

Paulo Palma
Canon EF 50mm, f/2, 1.3sec, ISO100.

Naturally, some infrared shots would turn completely or partially to black and white. I think this is the magic of infrared photography. Somehow, the result can be unpredictable. Anyway, there is a major difficulty with unconverted camera (i.e. camera with modified sensor for IR photography). As I will show later, this was a problem in some shots which required a fast shutter speed in a breezy weather. However, in Paulo Palma, the weather was relatively stable and not much of a breeze in the air, but surely had a problem framing the image while the sun striking on my neck and on the LCD! I've used a wide aperture relatively (and hence the shallow depth) just to ensure a faster shutter. Otherwise, it could have taken up to 3 or 6, or even 10 seconds for this shot.

One of the major hassles while working with IR images is the noise level even when ISO is set to the lowest. Next, comes the soft focus. These two matters makes it uneasy for me to upload such images on the web, and specifically into stock agencies. Thus, imagine when you are forced to increase the ISO under such conditions. The noise are simply "ridiculous". However, the noise can be less pronounced and just get more attention when channel swapping is formed, that is, replacing the places of the Red and the Blue channels in the RGB mode. At this point, the typical noise reduction plugins in Photoshop won't do much good, but the major trick is to play around with Hue/Saturation to twist the colors and make the noise virtually negligible. Then comes the next trick of adjusting the contrast to suppress some grain, and then we have the change in the color space by using the Assign command in Photoshop (not Convert). The Assign command, for some reason, does reduce (or maybe re-distribute?) the noise level, sometimes to a great extent. This is some of what I've learned doing long exposures last summer on the beach!

Infra Columnae
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 6^-1sec, ISO200.

InfraDoor
Canon EF 18-55mm @22mm,
f/16, 8sec, ISO200.

Despite the general look of the infrared shots, which tends to be in black and white, but the fact is lot of shots I've done were low saturated and just close to the black and white level. This is done by virtue within the processing of such shots, specially via Hue/Saturation when I try to reduce the noise by such an adjustment layer. The fact is, IR photography got a potential for various aesthetic settings or processes just like, or almost like, the HDR technique. The hard part, might be, to predict the final look of the shot. With HDR and its processes, you can imagine what's the final image is on location (specially if it is some metallic surface). However, this is still not so evident for me when I work with IR. Shots like Infra Columnae and InfraDoor were so various and I didn't know whether they would be colored slightly, or I'll be needing channel swap, or simply turn everything into black and white. The main puzzle is how to settle down the white balance. Usually, I do like to set the white balance from any green surface in the image if there is any but that doesn't mean I would like it. I suppose the green surface is the first choice because the green color is in the middle of the spectrum, not sure about this theory though! InfraDoor specifically is a subject for an HDR shot and it got me back to my old habit of still life and abstracts by geometrical means, like I used to do before around my work place - anyway this might be a subject for another post some other day!

Then one day came a challenge that took me 2 days to perform. It's a small bloom that was barely 1cm (~0.394in) in height. Not only I had to get so low with the tripod, but approaching the bloom and getting closer to it was critical. The first day, I tried to get to it by the end of the day before leaving my work place but the sun was so harsh that, beside my personal troubles, the LCD was barely visible and I had nothing to cover it (things to put on my purchase list as it seems). Thus, I had to come the next day and try to get to it in the early morning time just before the sun strikes that spot specifically.

Truncartis Parvis
Canon EF 100 macro + ET, f/8, 30^-1sec, ISO200.

I'm putting Truncartis Parvis here for comparison with shots that were taken with infrared filter later. In Truncartis Parvis there were two main problems: first, the low light level as the sun wasn't shining on the spot (ironic), and secondly, the breeze which required faster shutter speed to stop the motion of the tiny bloom. I didn't bring my speedlite with me that day thus I had to depend on the simple flash on-camera. Because I couldn't get so close to the bloom, I had to use the macro 100mm lens with extension tubes added gradually to it. By using 12, 20, and 36 tubes gradually I was able to make some estimate about the relative size of the bloom within the frame. Truncartis Parvis (which means the small jungle by the way) was taken with all tubes (i.e. 68mm) added to the macro lens. Thus, I was trying to hit some balance between the 3 variables: ISO, speed, and aperture. I didn't like the idea of raising the ISO too high for such a "normal" shot thus I had to put down the aperture to f/8 (after trying f/16). They say in macro photography, it's better not to go below f/8. However, such balance was even harder to achieve and I had to give up with the ISO when I started taking infrared shots with that setting (remember the sun was not striking the place, yet).

Glowing Bloom (Gold)
Canon EF 100mm macro + ET, f/4, 15^-1sec, ISO1600.

As you can see above, in Glowing Boom (Gold), the shutter speed was barely acceptable amid the breezes in the weather, and this is only achieved with ISO1600 and  shallow depth of f/4 with maximum flash output. Probably it would have been an easier task if my speedlite was with me but I had to deal with the situation as it is and yet the shot was of a surrealistic approach somehow. The noise level, however, was a novel on its own right.
The shot above was done without channel swapping (and of course with some processing on the side to suppress the background noise). Hence the "(Gold)" part in the name. After Red and Blue channels swapping, it appeared as beautiful as the first as it seems...

Glowing Bloom (Blue)
Canon EF 100mm macro + ET, f/4, 15^-1sec, ISO1600.

It is amazing how the infrared filter clears off the differences in tones and colors and makes the petals as if they are made with one color (compare with the one taken without filter above). At the end and just before I take off, I've decided to do one last trial but this time with one less extension tube just to include more background into the frame. Ironically though, I've decided to crop the final image into a square to reduce the background!

Gecenin Çiçek
Canon EF 100mm macro, f/5.6, 10^-1sec, ISO1600.

That was "some" of the trials done with the infrared filter for this week, but not the end of it. I need to study the artistic chances and venues behind this filter. It is cumbersome to use it of course with an unconverted camera, yet it does help in long exposures anyway!

Conclusion

Potentially, there is so much to be done in the IR field. Something behind the typical vivid and surreal landscape shots that we usually see under this category of photography.
However, I do find myself debating myself about the aesthetic prospect of such shots. Usually, what I read in articles online about IR photography is that the grains (or noise) and the fuzzy focus is something natural and even characteristic of this type of photography. There are even some Photoshop tutorials that deal with photo manipulation; that is to edit a normal photo and make it look like it is taken under IR, and one critical step in the overall process is to add grain or noise to the whole image (beside reducing the saturation). However, do people accept that, or do agencies? I'm reluctant about uploading such images to stock agencies. I did already upload to some of them but it's just a test and I'm very doubtful about their acceptance for such shots with such high grain level. This, somehow, makes IR photography a highly fine-art branch I believe, and agencies wouldn't love this type of photography much, unless some of them do know what does it mean to take IR shots with all that noise and defocus.
The almost-random aspect of processing IR shots makes it as vivid and wild as HDRs but let's say with different tones. You can do crazy things with the HDR techniques and lot of people hate the halos produced in over-tone-mapping HDR images, and IRs also got the same potential. If you check Infra Columnae back up above again, you'd notice that the image is almost black and white except of a spot that shows clearly as green. I'm pretty sure some people won't like it that way; just a matter of how the human brain works I believe.
In the near future, however, I do need to work more with such filters specially to see how does it change the skin tones. I've done some simple trials on myself but these are not enough and I need more. First though, I have to know what kind of relation there is between studio (or let's say the speedlites) light and this kind of filters.
After all, it is just something to get my mind busy and away from my collapsible life for the time being. I do miss doing lot of things; panoramas specifically. Anyway, got to wait for winter to arrive. This summer I'm literally melting down my body, and mood...

BumbleBee...

It is one weird week from the very beginning. With relative ease and being busy in the same time. Our week starts on Sunday (it was Saturday before 2007 I think), and some surprises started off with this day. Well, only on this day so far!
That day started off with a catastrophe when I figured out that my backpack (with some books that I didn't read yet) went missing. After searching in the car in a REALLY crazy manner, my office keys that were missing for two weeks showed up! Then, I've tried to organize my thoughts and finally reached a conclusion: my backpack could be in the seminar room since I've attended a critique session there last Thursday! And it was as I thought; I've got my backpack back (say it 10 times fast) and most importantly, my keys as well!
Another surprise was waiting for me on Flickr, when a new record (for me) was set, for number of visitors, number of likes on one image, and number of comments as well. All of that was mainly because of one image taken the night before!

Statistics from Flickr on Monday

Critique:
Last Thursday we had a meeting for sorting out our images with my teacher, Mr Bahaa, and another honorary member of the group that I always hear of his name but never saw him till that meeting came up: Ahmad Dashti, PhD. He teaches in the college of Arts under Kuwait University, in the department of Mass Communication. So I've heard.
The event was useful for me, not only in figuring out the strength in my images, but I was already trying to analyze and figure out the characters of the the leader and our guest as they were criticizing my, and others, images.

Dimensionality
Canon EF 50mm, f/16,
60^-1sec, ISO 100.

The image that made it all clear to me was an old image taken from Shuwaikh area beach (and the same day a TV crew came on filming); Dimensionality.
Personally, I do have my own interpretation for this image and why I thought of it and why I made it in the first place, but I preferred not to open the discussion further with the critics but I kept recording notes on the side. Funny thing though, a friend who probably doesn't know this image was mine defended the image and said "The image has an appealing contrast!" This response proved to me a point that I had in my mind for some time (and will mention below).
The image is mainly to be categorized as part of minimalism, but apparently my critics were not into the venue because they were criticizing for a completely another purpose, and probably didn't even notice the red buoys floating to the vanishing point. However, I'm not saying they are wrong of course, but I had my mind and points made up:

Himmelsweg
Rokinon 8mm, f/22,
2 minutes, ISO 100.

• Apparently, the critics were criticizing from the contests point of view and not the regular criticism.
• Accordingly, minimalism is not probably a right theme for contests. Presumably, most judges in such contests would prefer complicated (technically speaking) images, or images that were taken in some kind of hard work.
• Panoramas are a point of weakness for critics; they can't judge it and halt on its steps. However, my teacher pointed out some details that are better to be removed.
• From my friend's comment about Dimensionality (even though he didn't take it), I realized that you can still have fans for an image whatsoever the critics might say! It's up to you: do you want to satisfy some critics to be, probably, authenticated as a good photographer? Or to be a popular photographer? The choice is yours after all!
• It was obvious that my critics were judging from their own experience and their own style in approaching photography, specifically PhD. Dashti. In his comments about Himmelsweg, he mentioned that all what is special about this image is the sky and not much significance about the rest - and he continued to say that he is more of a humanitarian, meaning that he likes to add a human-related topic into a scene to give it a life (either a person or something related). My teacher, however, knows that I don't deal with and hate portraits and picturing people and my sole interest is in architecture and nature. His comment, however, made me realize that he is under the impression and influence of his own style and experience - similarly, I do realize that I work according to my own experience and influence (and style).

These ideas and points would serve me better in the future when I present images for critique and for sorting out for any expo that the group would think of enrolling in - but I'll keep on working with photography for the self-satisfaction and emotions' sake. One of the reasons that I don't like to enroll in contests is the fact that I'd prefer to work on my own pace and photography for me is a tool to de-stress myself, and contests are a bit like pressure gauges blowing off steams. Not my atmosphere. However, I'm into contests for the group's sake alone.

Glanz an Mitternacht:
The weather was nice that night. Not so cold, and not hot of course like those unbearable summer nights. I know that people in the northern hemisphere usually look forward for summer, but here, winter is like our spring season. Despite my tired body and the inadequate sleeping pattern for night time photography, I've decided to just head out as soon as I can after midnight to be safe away from people. My aim was a spot that I've visited in summer and in which people were active all night long (till the morning).

A scene I don't like
Tamron 70-300mm @154mm,
f/13, 7 min, ISO 100.

The spot I was aiming for was in fact an elevated floor overlooking the beach. It would do an awesome job specially if the darkness was absolute somehow. However, my geographical brain had some malfunctioning and I just couldn't remember where that spot is! Anyway, I settled the tripod near by a kiosk and aimed to some lights on the other side of the shore with no discrete goal in fact, and this is why I called it A scene I don't Like, because this is the truth. I don't know why did I take this photo! It was merely a test for my calculations probably. I got some nice color shades at the back after adjusting the white balance but the composition is not something I'd show to other photographers really!

Glowing Beach
Canon EF 15mm fisheye, f/22, 10 min, ISO 100.

As I was taking A scene I don't Like, I was wandering around waiting for the shutter time to finish and then I've noticed some nice view and reflection on the water on the other side facing the location that I was aiming at. What attracted me here is the colors of the last three lights to the left which resembled Kuwait's flag. However, after settling my tripod and working out with different lenses, my attention changed from simply catching the lights, to catching the shore with reflections. The lights alone are not interesting enough and I would repeat A scene I don't Like again! To my surprise, Glowing Beach was responsible for my new record on Flickr with 102 people adding it to their favorites so far.
I have to admit though that the image is processed, just like any long exposures. The main look was achieved simply by twitching the white balance because Tungsten WB on camera was not enough, thus I had to decrease the color temperature more and add a bit of magenta with the Tint slider.
My choice of lens was scrambled in the beginning but then I've realized that my best choice was the 15mm Canon fisheye lens even though with my cropped sensor it does not give a strong curvy horizon like Rokinon 8mm does. If I was to use Rokinon's, then lot of elements would be added to the scene that I don't like, and the reflections and objects would seem really far away - beside the hardships with metering the scene with this manual lens. My best compromise (I guess) between the EF-S 18-55mm and the Rokinon 8mm, is to be the Canon 15mm I believe. Wider than 18mm, but not so wide to include everything like the 8mm!

Light Maestro
Canon EF 50mm, f/22, ISO 100.
HDR

After finishing Glowing Beach I've done some simple shots aiming at HDR with long exposures, but the composition didn't work well for me. There was so much space. However, as I was walking then after, I've noticed the towers - a common target for my camera. There, I've settled with my camera and tried my best with the frame but after all, I didn't like my composition for real. Later, some people on Flickr said the composition was fine (you see here the cropped image) but yet I'm not so satisfied with the composition even after this image made its way to Flickr's Explore feature.
The method here was HDR made out of long exposures. Can't remember the times exactly but the range is from few seconds, to around a minute or a bit more. The process for building the image was as follows:

• High f-number to encompass large depth of field (and the focus is set on the third pillar of light from the front).
• Few seconds exposure to get some details for the core of the light pillars.
• When merged into HDR, the tone-mapping was done in Photoshop and mainly by using Exposure adjustment layers to lower and raise the exposure in certain areas - mainly, lowering the exposure in the light pillars core and raising it a bit in the towers' shades. Also, in this phase, the "White Balance" was fixed by means of Photo Filter adjustment layer.

I have some plans though to go out to the area in some other night soon hopefully. I just hope I will get some scenes worthy of shooting in such tranquil nights. Night brings surprises indeed...

Rokinon's Triumph!

With winter, comes the clouds season. With clouds come many ideas, namely grand views encompassing large skies against the relatively small Earth, and ideas related to long expsoures (like Himmelsweg mentioned above). I had some plans to combine them both, and the best lens to do this was the Rokinon 8mm fisheye lens. One problem raises though: How would you do long exposures with such a lens with no filter holders?

Through My Window
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/22, 7 min, ISO 100.

At certain times, like those minutes before sunrise or just after sunsets, using Rokinon fisheye lens for long exposures seems a plausible idea indeed; it is dark enough to have a long exposure (of course with some clouds scattered), just as was the case in Through My Window which was shot right after the sunset. Some white balance fix followed later though to enhance the color of the sky.

source: B&H

However, does that mean our long exposures with this lens is limited to night time? This can't be! Unfortunately, my search for solutions was to no avail. I was hoping to find at least some kind of filter carrier or holder to be fixed at the back of such lens; but my search was also in vane.

At close inspection, however, I've noticed that the rear side of the lens had many grooves, and because of the fact that the lens is completely manual, I thought there might be no danger in sticking gel filters at its back with some kind of adhesive. Anyway, I've forgot the idea of using an adhesive because it is not fast enough to handle and probably impractical after all when it comes to using several gels upon each other. 

A groove that got my attention

One groove, however, that really got my attention. It was deep unlike the others and it has some space underneath; naturally it was a target for my thoughts. It was time to work.

After cutting many pieces and trying some models from the ND gel filters that I've already got since two years ago maybe, I've settled down with a square shaped cut. I've tried circular cuts but there were impractical to fit, and I've tried as well some square pieces with side length of 3cm but they were large to be fit into the groove (probably good for sticking them with some adhesive though, that's another idea!). Finally, I've cut some pieces with side length of 2~2.1cm and they seem to work perfectly even when stacked over each other. The only requirement here is, I'd need something sharp to push the edges into the groove, plus some extra utensils that I will explain later.

The rear side with ND filter slide fitted.

As I had different ND filters of different stops, I had to make some special marks to note the number of stops for each slice I've cut. Thus, I've decided to simply add some punctures for the number of stops on one of the corners for each slide. These are added simply with a needle or compass (not the one used for directions!).
In the beginning I had some problem fitting these slides into the groove by the corners, but then I've simply developed a method of simply pressing the center and then pushing the corners with a blunt object into the groove (maybe I should make a video of that?).

The lens and the ND slides.

I've kept the ND slides into one envelope (unlike those I kept for the 15mm fisheye lens, where each stop is kept in separate envelope). In a primary test, the filters worked well as I've set the metering to spot and pointed the lens onto some light fixture indoors - the ND filters worked as intended and they slowed the shutter speed according to the specified number of stops. Good sign!

Rokinon's Triumph!
Rokinon 8mm fisheye, f/22, 1 min, ISO 100.

The first somehow real test was to take place in the early morning next day when I headed to work as early as possible to catch some glimpse of the low light level before the sun becomes stronger in the horizon. After some trials with different point of views and angles I think I've reached a conclusion that the method works fine with tiny inconsistency in exposure measurements and I think this comes because of the nature of the wide angle lens which gathers light from a wide view; wider than usual, thus even a spot-metering method can be tricky. But, all in all, the exposures done for the test images like Rokinon's Triumph! and before were pinned down correctly a bit more or a bit less.
Some test images were fuzzy or foggy-like and this made me concerned about the cleanness of the slides. I think this fuzziness was a product of my fingerprints on the slides as I was handling them. Also, as I was trying to work fast to fit the slides into the rear end of the lens, I've realized the fact that in all of my gear, I don't really have a sharp object to push the corners into the groove! Thus, I've decided to take a small manicure set that I've had in 2011 when I went to Hajj - It was distributed by the caravan's organizers to help us in our journey in various ways!

 Finale:

Source: Amazon

It was a busy and a tiresome week, and now I've almost finished reading my new book (which had been ordered since 2011!), but I have to say it is somehow an easy read; not much of new stuff to digest. Maybe I'm a little bit disappointed but it's nice to look at the photos in the book. They help on getting inspired.
As for the group, I'm responsible for contests (and how ironic is that!) and frankly I don't know much about it and what to do. There is a famous photography contest of Austria, and I really don't know how to proceed with it; all what I did is scan the leaflet that was given to me and publish it via Flickr. Am I going to be responsible for the entries? I don't know, yet.
We are busy now preparing for many events - the national day, and Mawahb 3 expo next March. I'm not sure where would I fall in this, but I've been asked already to supervise the printing process, hence I've been collecting information about color management issues lately.
The sea is wide and it feels like swinging among its tides. There had been some heart issues lately, but not the hygienic type. Feels alive, but sick in the same time. When does all of this just end?

Affectus

After a staggering stormy week, seems this week is pacing down a bit as I'm trying to hold on to my horses and getting my life to normal, specially with photos. On the marital front, not much news and my waiting seems to bore the hell out of me, but there is nothing I can do for now. On the other hand, I'm trying to finish the load of books I've purchased some 2 weeks ago. These books are all in Arabic and I got them from the 37^th books fair here, and I have to say, somehow and probably because of how the language is processed in my head, I do find myself faster and easy when I read these books. I would even forget my world while reading! Too bad not much technical books are there in Arabic though and still I do have to go back to English (and any different language if I have to).
Funny thing was, when I finished this book, in Arabic, about The Great War (WWI), I wanted to make some comments about it to the author, Omar Al-Dirawy [عمر الديراوي], but then I've discovered while surfing the net, that he died 45 years ago! R.I.P.

Cover of The First World War (Arabic)
By: Omar Al-Dirawy
This is an older press release.

Maybe if you are reading this, you might be wondering what do I have to do with WWI or WWII. The fact is simply, I like history, specially these two events. I believe our current political entities and all the mess in this region specifically, is a direct result of something that happened almost a century ago, the WWI. However, despite the gruesome facts about this war, I do believe that there are lessons to be learned from the past. Anyway, let's get back to the photography vent right now...

Flora and Flickr!
Two weeks ago, I've been into some greenhouse selling plants and other planting accessories. There is one complete block that is full of such stores and my photography group organizers worked on gaining a permission from one specific greenhouse to have a photography session.
I've said it before and I'm going to say it again and again, floral photography is not really my thing. However, I just went with the rest of the group because I didn't indulge in much activities with them lately and even though I brought almost all my tools (specially the speedlites and the modifiers), yet when I got inside the greenhouse, I've just brought a tripod and my camera backpack with one modifiers that can serve as a reflector - yet, I never used it and gave it to a member as a help.
So, where does Flickr come in? Simply, 4 images were added to Flickr's Explore pages (and one of them is not from the greenhouses anyway). Those and other images made me think about lot of things lately...

The Gentle Crown
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/2.8, 640^-1sec, ISO 400.

Peaceful Solitude
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 400^-1sec, ISO 200.

Zu Meinem Herz
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/5.6, 30^-1sec, ISO 200.

Raining Tenderness
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/2.8,
500^-1sec, ISO 100.

Thoughts: The fact that floral photography is not my type of thing and still getting stuff into Flickr's Explore, makes me think of how much I can do if I would really concentrate on a topic that I do really like (mainly architecture and panorama). However, on the other hand, seems it is just people nature that floral arts attracts them for its gentle approach. It is a happy thing as well because, in a world that we live in right now, who has the time to meditate at the beauty of a flower or a rose? To see people commenting and liking these images even though I prepared them without a prior thinking about the settings that I want to use, made me feel that people, even those solid types, do have emotions but probably they are just suppress them in some way and don't show it off, or probably don't know how to show it off - and all of that is exploited in a simple photo of a flower. I won't talk about my emotions right now in these lines, since they are already a mess. But yes, I do tend to suppress my own emotions and never show them off easily.

More Flora:
Other snap shots from inside the greenhouse are abundant and I'm still processing some of them. There is not much space to put them all in here, but there are some significant ones that provoked my thoughts a bit.

The Lonesome
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4, 800^-1sec, ISO 100.

The significance of The Lonesome does not come from the composition or the beauty of the image (that is if it has beauty in your eyes) but from a simple event that took place during shooting this simple isolated branch.
In fact, when I went into the greenhouse, I used my tripod a bit but then I started to take most of the shots handheld, simply because it made me feel free to compose, and (even though I was using low f-numbers, i.e. wider apertures) I was using higher ISO (200-400) most of the time. Also, despite the fact that I've brought my speedlites, I've never used them in the whole session there.
As for the shot above, my teacher criticized me (or let's say advised me) for not using a tripod and for the high ISO, and for my composition with this branch. In fact, I didn't reply directly, but what I was aiming for here is simplicity of design and a form of minimalism with an expressive mode in mind. It is true that I was using low f-numbers and the shutter speed was enough to eliminate the handshake (most of the time not always) - yet I always like to play the assurance deal. I pay less attention to the shutter speed when I work in Av mode, thus raising the ISO from the beginning makes me safe as my work and thought line go hand in hand. Another thing about the high ISO is the fact that I might need to change the f-number (increase it little bit to have more depth) thus a high ISO (but not so high) would ensure that I'm still in the handshake compensation region without having to look and do some measurements. I've became now more confident with my plugins and the way to eliminate most of the noise in my images which made me comfortable somehow to raise the ISO.

Thoughts: What my teacher told me about is true. He even mention stuff about a proper background (because other photographers in the group brought their own black board). However, I do see that I didn't use my speedlites like others did, and while I was working on giving an isolation by means of bokeh effect and shallow depth, my teacher on the other hand was thinking mostly of a solid background. While I was thinking more about abstract and simplicity (minimalism), my teacher was more aimed at the conventional composition aspects and having more elements in the scene. All of these opposites make me think if I am right in my approach. In art, there is no right or wrong, this is something I do believe in, but is it possible that my teacher is not aware of these aspects? Or maybe he doesn't want other members to "leap" into a next level without having their feet firm in a specific ground? From comments, and likes, seems photos like The Lonesome is gaining the expressions that I was working for when I took the shot in the first place - but how am I supposed to respond now to the criticism (or advices)? 
It is clear for me now that I can't use the speedlites randomly without thinking prior to their use. In other words, if I didn't plan before leaving home on using them in a certain and specific way, then taking them out with me is fruitless (as well as with the light modifiers). This, I've discovered by now in practice when I went to the greenhouse for shooting on flowers. Even though other members did use speedlites (ring and regular ones), yet my brain could not comprehend how to shape the light with a speedlite and my sole concentration was on using the light that is already there and available to make dramatic and emotionally effective images. This proves to be a challenge now: how to brainstorm an idea on location using speedlites?

Blanco y Negro:

Source: Amazon

Black and White is not something new to me of course, but after reading Bruce Barnbaum's book, The Art of Photography, I've became more influenced and more in hunt for capabilities of black and white scenes. Bruce's book is a treasure trove and so heavy with technical information concerning films and how to develop films, which made me really eager to do film photography like in the old times. Unfortunately though, this is almost next to impossible for the time being - it needs lot of chemicals and a special room to be prepared besides lot of expertise (which takes time to develop). One great advantage for film (black and white films that is) is their wide dynamic range which exceeds that of a sensor. This is one of the reasons that established HDR photography with digital cameras generally, but it is not always feasible and possible.

Intimacy
Canon EF 100mm Macro, f/4, 40^-1sec, ISO 200.

Gentle Flame
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4,
1000^-1sec, ISO 200

Despite these (digital) limitations, I've been concentrating my effort on creating effective and dramatic black and white - but I have to make an announcement here that "dramatic" is not always an ultimate goal, but merely an expression to some images that I feel they need to be so.
Even though I worked before with Black and White, but after reading Bruce's book, I'm now more aware of the capabilities and the expressions that I would be able to implement using black and white photography. Right now, it is job to be done beyond the simple Curves adjustment layers to add some contrast; it is something to be thought in a whole domain of processing just like colored images, and as it was before, using burn and dodge to bring out the details from highlights or shadows, it is now thought of dodge and burn as a dramatic and a selective contrast tool.

Living from The Dead
الحي من الميت
Canon EF 50mm, f/1.4,
800^-1sec, ISO 200

And of course beside the Black and White comes the tinted Black and White (not necessarily sepia) which is a weird amalgamation of colored images but in a black and white suit. I've found it that it is really hard to choose and decide for your mood when working with some images. Even though I could have done Living from The Dead in two ways, but I was determined to decide on one and only one version. Thus, I've found myself more inclined to accept the sepia version for it gives me a depth of mood and sense to the image. it might not necessarily be so for other viewers of course, but the initiating point, i.e. my feelings, should be set aright from the early beginning.

Off To Work!
As the past week was bitter in the home and personal front, I've decided to take my camera with me to work more often. Even though I did take it with me several times (along with the speedlites and the tripod) but I didn't necessarily work with them single day - simply because there were not many ideas in my mind. I've tried deliberately to work with it after my work time is over if possible, just to have some time with myself without the need to get back home so early.

Passing By
Canon EF-S 18-55mm @21mm, f/22, 60sec, ISO 100

However, it wasn't until December 5^th, when I've noticed the abundance of the cloud in the sky which sparked an idea for a long exposure. I had a plan to do such clouds long exposure long time ago but never got the chance to and I didn't find any other place better than my own work place.
In the beginning I was aiming with my Canon EF 50mm lens but then I've changed my mind and changed the lenses. I wished to use the 50mm lens first for a reason: a) the stable focus ring which can make me attach filters with no external shake, and b) it is a prime lens that would provide a sharp image; sharper than zoom lenses. However, because of my location I had to change to 18-55mm to control the framing accordingly. From the early beginning I wanted to make this shot in Black and White.
Anyway, because of the bright sun, and after doing some calculation, I figured I would need 10 stops for 2 minutes only. I do have a 11.7 stops welding glass, but I didn't want to use it here and increase the time significantly (that would be more than 4 minutes). To be on the safe side, I've done 3 exposures as well: 2 minutes, 1.30 minutes, and 1 minute. Ironically, the one that worked best was the 1 minute exposure; not because of the level of brightness or overexposure, but because it recorded a nice movement blur in the sky (while the others were too washed away).
However, because of my level and the tilt of the camera, I had to correct the perspective and stretch the image. I've used DxO first but for some reason it didn't match my view, thus I had to do the perspective fix with my own hands, manually, in Photoshop. The rest is a well-known story I guess - adjustment layers, turn black and white, crop into square...etc.

Entflammbar
Canon EF 50mm, f/8, 25^-1sec, ISO 100

Stinging Memories
Canon EF 50mm, f/7.1,
50^-1sec, ISO 100

After finishing my long exposures and just before I pack my stuff into the car, I've noticed the shape of the little trees around the building. They were cut recently and the branches inclining upward made a good target for some abstract work. In the beginning, I didn't really know how to shoot at these trees and didn't know with what lens - beside being attached more to using 50mm. However, I've figured that the best strategy here is to shoot from various angles and sort the ideas out at home. Thus, Entflammbar and Stinging Memories came into being. Entflammbar specifically been processed heavily and I tried as much as possible to make it look like a sketch made of linear strokes from a pen. I used some burning and dodging too, and I had in my mind a vision of a banded tree top, but that didn't work well and I had to get back to the original with little burning and dodging for some areas that need some details back.

Finale:
Now, with a heavy head, I'm trying to progress through my projects slowly one by one. I've even been trying to put a daily program for myself with processing 2 images daily. I'm not sure I can keep up with this program strictly, because I know that there will be moments when I have to break this routine. I hate routine in the first place!
Ayvarith, Geltani, and even more now with the monthly competition of the group for December; pictures of coffee-related topics. Too much to blend into my brain, needless to say, into my heart too...