San Carlos Sunset
Out for a late afternoon boat ride on recent breezy, even blustery, day. A few large clouds were skittering by so low it would seem you could almost touch them. This quick shot was taken with my iPhone. Then it was over, the rain started and we ran for home.
A 1951 Dodge pick up truck rests, its chores finished, on a small farm in the rural South.
The Pheonix at Sunrise
In an earlier post I wrote about the Phoenix:
“Come sail away with me. I have watched this ketch, the Phoenix, tug restlessly at her anchor for years. Though her sails are long gone and she is falling into disrepair, I can’t help but think the desire to be free before the wind is still there. She is moored just off from Saint James City where I made this photograph after sunrise, recently.”
While I really like the image I originally posted, I didn’t think it was as good as it could be. A week or so ago I finally took the time to rework “The Phoenix.” I imported the original RAW file into Photomatix Pro and created an HDR file from the single image. The tone mapped result was re-imported back into Lightroom for a very little fine tuning.
You can see the “new Phoenix” above and, for comparison,the image from the original post is below. As always, thanks for visiting and please let me know what you think.
I am pleased to introduce a new photo gallery: “Laung Prabang in Black and White.” Consisting of thirty-five of my best images created in a warm toned black and white, they were taken in and around this delightful Laotian town .
Luang Prabang, located in north central Laos, is one of the most charming and atmospheric small cities anywhere. Sitting at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, LP is a medley of traditional Lao wooden houses and European architecture harkening back to the days when Laos was part of Indochine, the sprawling French colony.
It has been said that during his travels the Buddha smiled as he rested for a day at what is now Luang Prabang and prophesied that the site would one day be a powerful and rich city. LP was the capital of the first Lao kingdom (Lan Xang – land of the million elephants) in the mid 14th century.
Luang Prabang’s long and varied history and traditions makes it a photographer’s delight. The numerous Buddhist Temples, monks’ alms walks at dawn, varied architecture, or night markets… the opportunities are endless.
Please click here for the new image gallery, Laung Prabang in Black and White. As always, thank you for visiting and please let me know what you think.
Buddhist Temple Gong
Please visit On the Go with Lynne for travel writing on Laos.
I am normally not much of a morning person. But recently, peering out the bedroom a few minutes before sunrise, I notice a few clouds hanging out on the eastern horizon. “This may be something special.” I say to myself. “Do you want to make the effort?” I did and it was well worth it. Saint James City Sunrise is the result of five bracketed shots processed in Photomatix Pro and re-imported into Lightroom for a little final tweaking. By compositing five bracketed exposures the resulting image has a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas than would otherwise be possible. And because of the dynamic range increase, the final image is often more dramatic.
Please let me know what you think.
Did anyone else see this unique cloud formation drifting over the Friday afternoon sky? In honor of the UN’s International Day of Peace, I would think.
You didn’t see it?…
Well, you should have been here…
No I wasn’t smoking anything!
OK, maybe it was a figment of my imagination.
Yes, that’s it, a figment of my imagination, channeled through Photoshop…
And then with the magic of WordPress sent on to you.
May peace be with you.
With the Durga Puja festivities about to begin around the Hindu world I am offering a free wallpaper image that I took at the 2011 Durga Puja in Kolkata, India. I hope you enjoy it.
Just click on the one that best represents the size of your monitor. If in doubt, click on the largest size.
Widescreen Monitors (1920×1080)
Need help changing your wallpaper? Here’s instructions for iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Windows, and Ubuntu.
