Long Exposure Photography (inside a car)
Following a recent trip to the mountains with a friend of mine, I decided to write about long exposure photography again. This time, however, realised in a different and rather tight shooting location.
HDR Panorama
Ever since I started developing a strong interest in panoramic photography, I also became interested in exploring HDR photography. One day these two finally came together and I decided to capture my first genuine HDR equirectangular panorama. It was not easy but I got there eventually and I’d like to share my thoughts with other panoramic and HDR photography enthusiasts. This post will guide you through the process of capturing a genuine HDR equirectangular panorama and will discuss the issues related to both the equipment as well as workflow. If you are not familiar with panoramic or HDR photography, please read my previous posts: Equirectangular Panorama and HDR from a single RAW
Peirce Quincuncial Projection.
This week I’ve decided to experiment with the Peirce Quincuncial projection. In simple terms, this is a projection which is capable of projecting an equirectangular panorama onto a square. It’s similar to a stereographic projection as both of them represent a 360° field of view. The only difference between them is that a stereographic projection will produce a spherical image whereas Peirce Quincuncial will project the final image onto a square. If you are new to panoramic photography, please familiarise yourself with my previous posts on Equirectangular Panorama as you will need one to follow this step-by-step tutorial.
Photoshop CS5 Merge to HDR plug-in
Ever since my taste for HDR photography started to develop, I’ve always used Photomatix Pro and thought that it’s all I will ever need to process my HDR images. Recently, however, I have started experimenting with Photoshop CS5 Merge to HDR plug-in and the results can be seen below.
Stacking Long Exposures in Photoshop
I had an idea recently and was wondering what would happen if I stacked several long exposures in Photoshop. The result can be seen below. This picture was stacked from 20 exposures and I have to say it looks really good. So, what are you waiting for? Take several long exposures, capturing car lights or other moving light sources, open all of them in Photoshop and then stack all the layers together. Unfortunately, you will have to blend the layers individually, working on two images at a time. Select one image and then place another on top of it. Then, select the layer you want to blend in the ‘Layers Tab’ on the left, right-click on it, go to ‘Blending Options’, select ‘Lighten’ from the ‘Blending Mode’ menu and voila! Just continue stacking the layers until you get the desired effect. If you are completely new to long exposure photography please read my post on Long Exposure Photography - Capturing Car Lights.
Thanks for reading and good luck with your photography.
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Nikon D7000 Features Overview
The release of Nikon’s new D7000 DLSR camera was probably one of the most anticipated event at the end of 2010. Currently, D7000 tops Nikon’s range of DX format cameras with an exceptionally well-built and portable magnesium alloy body, a newly developed and powerful 16.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, a new image processing EXPEED 2 engine for superior image quality, high ISO capabilities (100-6400) as well as a razor-sharp 39-point AF system and it’s the best amateur photographers can get from the Nikon camp.
This post will not discuss the performance aspects, as compared to the FX format, however, it will describe some of the features amateur photographers can enjoy after upgrading from other models in the DX format range.
