A different light

How often do we see works of art, buildings, even fashion where its merely an appropriation of a previous successful model. When you look closely, there is often only one major change, along with several subtle alterations that give the impression of something fresh and unique.

The first example will show how correct cropping, levels adjustment and presentation will give the impression of a photo that's better than it actually is.

Shot taken with my ancient EOS 400D (Rebel XTi), Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. It is also a 3 shot HDR, merged together with Photomatix Pro, then cropped and bordered in Photoshop CS3.

The second example shows how careful colours adjustment, levels, and masking can produce a very eye catching thumbnail. I said thumbnail because in sites such as flickr, the thumbnail in albums and group pools are tiny, so it needs to make people curious enough to click on it.

This photo was taken with the same gear as above. It's a 4 photo panorama, stitched together in Photoshop CS3, then minor colour, contrast, sharpening combined with a bit of masking. It almost gives the effect of an IR photo, which not many people do. I'd love to experiment with IR, but I'm just not game enough to mess with my 400D sensor (even though it's my 2nd body).

If anyone knows how to convert their sensors to IR, let me know and I might consider having a go at it haha.

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Close to the end

less than 24hrs until freedom. Free from uni, lab reports, assignments, exams, pracs for a month. Doesn't sound like much, but I've been looking forward to this for a LONG time. Hopefully I'll find the time to do more shooting, work some extra shifts, scan some of my old photos as digital media etc. There's plenty to do, and very little time, but I'll make the most of it.

While I was thinking about the things I'll be doing in these upcoming holidays, I rummaged through the external HD where I keep all my photos and found an old favourite.

This is a photo taken from UTS Tower level 27 (most people will know UTS tower as one of the ugliest yet iconic buildings in Sydney) facing towards Central station. It was also back when I was still using my EOS 400D. I had to reprocess the colours/tones/crop/HDR as I've developed a new style of editing since. Overall, it's not the greatest photo, its not the sharpest, and doesn't show a whole lot of detail either ... but I just really like this photo, and I don't know why.

As I write this I should really be studying for my CSI exam tomorrow morning, so I'll keep it short.

Handy photo hint: Right when you think you can't get a new perspective of the city (or anything landscape), get up high (really high), and you'll get some unexpected results.

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