HDR

For those who don't know, HDR is short for High Dynamic Range. It is a photographic technique used to combine two or more differently exposed photos into a single one. It is usually used to compensate for the lack of dynamic range of the sencor cell of a digital camera. The results can be quite stunning or horrible depending on how one sees the photo. Some people like the surreal results achieved by excessive use of software and some like more discreet results.

I have been wanting to explore HDR photography for a long time but it was only today that I gave it a first go. When I bought my digital camera I already felt like testing HDR but by the time my computer was too crappy to have a conversion software in it. When I updated my computer there was another setback. My tripod broke down. You may want to try and shoot HDR hand held. Give it a go. Seriously.

As you might know I got myself a nice and solid Manfrotto tripod for christmas present but until now I haven't been using it. Today I finally took my gear out to grab a shot of the full moon. As I was heading out I realized I might as well try some HDR photos as well. The above photo is the one that worked out the best in my opinion. It is shot in Eiran ranta in southern Helsinki.

Verona

Last weekend I went to Verona with Salme to celebrate my birthday. As a surprise Jani and Anne came along which was fantastic. Verona is a nice and quite beatiful city. Some tourist brochure titled it the Bonsai-Rome. I don't quite understand what that is supposed to mean.

We had a fun weekend, lots of food and very good Valpolicella. On our way back we stopped at a couple of villages by Lake Garda which is supposed to be beautiful. The weather was awfully foggy so I don't what it really looks like. You can view a gallery of photos here.

New Year, New Gear

As soon as the tax refunds are paid to my account I hit the camera store for some new gear. This year I have added a tripod, a monopod and a couple of neutral density filters to my gear. I haven't had the time yet to give them a try but hopefully during the weekend I will get something done.

To sum up last year I uploaded a gallery of the best shots from last year. You can see the gallery here.

Gone Fishing 2.0

You realize funny things when you start publishing your images on the web. For example I didn't know that I have a habit of shooting fishermen but here is already a second published image of one.

Recently I have also come to a conclusion that the crappier the weather the better it is for shooting. Today the wind was blowing around 21 m/s and rain was coming down every now and then. Luckily the sun came out for a while to provide me and other photo enthusiast with dramatic light and seascapes. I will publish a gallery of the seascapes shortly.

This will be the last post of this year. I will be looking forward to publishing a lot more the coming year. With this photo of this insane fisherman I wish you all a happy new year.

At the Mall

Today there was the official opening of the christmas season in Kamppi. I grabbed this not very original shot from the top level of the mall. I didn't want to see the fireworks because lst year they were so crappy.

This is not a black and white image

In my last post I wrote about publishing a black and white image shortly. As you can see it didn't happen this week. Maybe next time. We'll see...

By the way the image is shot at one second hand held. Not bad don't you think.

Psychedelia

On friday I went the see a Sally Mann exhibition. I was inspired by her black and white images. The tonal range in real monochomatic prints is simply amazing. Today I went for a photowalk with an idea to shoot in black and white. I was able to stick with my plan until I noticed these nice reflections on water.

Anyway I think I will be shooting a lot more b&w in the near future. This time of year the light is really good for it. With sun low on the sky the light brings out shapes and textures nicely. I'll be looking forward to post my first black and white image on this blog shortly.