Long Exposure Experiment

Hi All


Welcome to My Photographic Observations...


Today I have 3 examples of long exposure pictures that I am trying to get right.
Not being very knowledgeable I knew I needed a few things to enable me to get the effects that I wanted to achieve.
I needed to get a Neutral Density Filter and for my first I got a Lee Big Stopper which is a 10 stop Filter.
It is a very dark filter that enables you to set very long exposures.

The first example here I set up my tripod and camera took the meter readings and put on the Lee Big Stopper. It was an exposure of 2 minutes as was still plenty of sunlight around.
I framed it so you are looking from bottom left to right.
I wanted to smooth out the water and I think I achieved that.

The Second Photo I wanted to have more of the texture of the rocks and still wanted to smooth out the water. Which I got the effect I wanted and was pleased with.
At this stage I am still learning as it took a few attempts to get the exposures right.
It gets very tricky as you need to get the framing you want and then focus.
You must then put the autofocus to manual focus because ounce you put on the filter the camera starts looking for focus if left in autofocus.

The third photo I zoomed in to get more of the water but keep the rocks as the static subject.
I am having fun experimenting and is a great learning experience for me.
One thing I learnt is you must cover the viewfinder otherwise you get streaks of light coming in to ruin the photo.

I processed all in Lightroom and then converted to black and white in Nik Silver effex pro 2.

These are My Photographic Observations for now.
I hope you all enjoyed the read.

Vedran...

Lines And Shapes

Hi All

Welcome to my photographic observations.

My observations today dwell on black and white images and dealing with line and shape.

The first example is a gate which to me is interesting because if the lines, rectangles and shapes and did i mention the shadow as well.

Line And Shape

It is interesting to me because of the interaction between the image behind (shadow) and how it stands out.

The second image is interesting also because of the  patterns and the shapes and the lines and the bold strong lines of the main subject.

Bold Lines

Lastly I like this image because it has the pattern lines and curves but also the strength of the man that is in the middle.

Strength

All my images of course and they are in black and white because there are no distractions and you see the main form I want you to see.

These are my photographic observations and if you agree or disagree just leave any comments below.

Vedran

Pazar In Split

Hi All

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.

It has been a little while since my last post so start a new batch from today.
I am in Split Croatia and one of the things they have here is a Market Place commonly called Pazar.

You can buy any type of fruit and vegetables and nuts and all sorts of assortments...

Grandma Looking After Her Stall

The stalls are generally kept by the older generation mainly Mothers and Grandmothers
and work from early morning through to about mid afternoon.

Assortment Of Nuts And Beans

The assortment of goods is mind boggling as you can also get spices beans nuts and all sorts.

Plenty Of Colour Abounds 

The colour around the Pazar is plentiful as there are lots of red, green and a wide gamut.

It is a fairly big area covering approximately one hectare of space and now even covered from the sun and rain with big cafe umbrellas..

Oils And Liqueurs Can Be Bought

Even various of liqueurs and food colourings  and noodles can also be bought.
Very interesting is the place and always bubbling with activity.

These are my photographic observations for this week.
Thank you for having a look and any comments you might want to share, there is space below.

Vedran

Colour Or Black and White !!

Hi All,

Welcome to my photographic observations,


Today's observation how will I  choose between colour and black and white images.

This is something I always struggle with and I have a couple examples below.

This is a door and frame that I took a photo of in Split Croatia but could be anywhere.

As Taken In Camera

It is in colour and it looks quite good with all the texture and  oldness and it looks great. It is a basic yellowish, beige colour but none the less it is fine.

The second image has been converted to black and white and it also looks great to my eye.

Processed Black and White

I think both images look great but how would you decide on which you would choose.
Simple solution is to have a copy of each and let a person choose which he prefers.

These are my photographic observations, if you have any comments just put them down below.

Vedran

Amazing Wall Sculpture

Hi All,



Welcome to My Photographic Observations.

In Fremantle there is a little bit of graffiti in certain sections or there is other forms of art s or sculptures.
One particular place is the Norfolk Hotel which commissioned the Portuguese artist Vhils.
Vhils is known for digging into the surface of a building to create his sculptures.

He sculpted on the side of the building the face of the first Australian female Senator Dame Dorothy Tangney MBA

Dame Dorothy Tangney MBA

It is a wonderful piece of work and I wanted to show anyone who reads my blog. I am amazed how someone can get the impression of a face by chipping and hammering away at a brick wall.

The second image here is a look from the other side of the road to give you an idea of scale.

Side Of Norfolk Large Scale

It is quite big as you see and you have to marvel at the skill and complexity of this lovely wall sculpture.

I hope you enjoyed and make sure to come back to My Photographic Observations.
Feel free to leave a comment below if you so desire.

Vedran

Fisherwoman In Yellow

Hi All.

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.

Sometimes you come across a scene that you don't see everyday. I was in Supetar which is the main village on the Island Brac in Croatia.
I had my camera and was just sitting down while a cool breeze was blowing in the middle of summer.
I noticed what looked to be a family walking towards me and then they stopped and sat down.
It was a man and woman and a young girl who I assumed must have been a daughter.
The lady was dressed in yellow clothes which looked to have her swimwear.
I thought the lady was pretty so I took a photo.

Lady In Yellow

What happened next totally surprised me. I know I am old fashioned but the lady started talking to her husband and next thing that happens he gives her a collapsible fishing rod.
Within a couple of seconds she had put it together and was looking around for some bait. I had no idea what she used but she put it on to the hook and then cast out and was patiently reeling the line in.

Gone Fishing

While she was fishing her husband went to the shop and came back with a couple of beers and he sat back in the shaded area and was drinking.
Next thing you know I hear the young girl yelling out in some language I did not understand and I saw the lady in yellow reeling in quickly.
To my surprise she had caught a fish, I am not sure what type as am not familiar but it was a nice sized fish.

Caught Fish

She was proudly displaying the catch to her husband and daughter and then took it of the hook.
She was only fishing for fun and what happened after that was she told her daughter to give the the fish to an old lady who was sitting nearby. The old lady did not complain and put it in her plastic bag that she had her towel in.
This went on for about an hour and she must have caught about half a dozen fish. Meanwhile her husband was sitting back chugging back his beer. The old lady got the benefit of all the fish and she left with the biggest grin I had ever seen in my life.

These are My Photographic Observations for now. If you have any comments then please leave them down in the comments section. Good, Bad or Otherwise...

Vedran

Capturing Shadows

Hi All,


Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today my theme is about capturing shadows. While in Medjugorje I would look around for different ideas to photograph. This set of three photos is mainly street photography. I like taking street photos as you always look for gestures or something that you don't see everyday.
I think with this set it is mainly about the colour, like the wall which was painted a bright yellow.
With the late afternoon sun there was also long shadows and some had a really cool effect.

I tried to isolate the people and would always look for someone that would be a colour that would stand out against the wall.
The shadows of course would be black but finding people with that certain gesture that would stand out.
The first photo that I am sharing was a guy who was walking along the street and what stood out to me was his rose coloured shirt so I had the colours of the shirt, wall and the shadow which stood out.

Rose Coloured Shirt?

It took me a couple of shots as I had the exposure set wrong. I had exposed for the highlights but over compensated so finally got this image which was the best.

The next photo was a couple with a young child that the was carrying in her arms. She had looked stressed as the child was crying but it stopped about fifteen seconds before I took the photo.

Two Shadows

Her partner was in front but you can make out the pram and the partner on the wall with the shadow.

The last photo is my favourite of the three. After waiting for about fifteen minutes with no one passing by I figured it was time to leave. Something distracted me behind and was looking at a car parking. When I turned around to face the wall I see this tall young man walking and his shadow was huge.

Long Shadow

What makes it interesting for me was he turned to his left and was looking to see if I was taking a photo which was logical seeing I had a camera in my hands.

That is my spin on shadows and photography. In all three photos I feel the shadows added a little bit of a different element to the photo.


These are My Photographic Observations and if you have any comments whether it be criticism or compliments then I would love to read them so leave any thoughts down below in the comments section.

Vedran

More Observations From Medjugorje

Hi All,

Today on My Photographic Observations I will be continuing with the theme of the last couple of posts, being Medjugorje.

Around St James Church there are plenty of places for people to pray that are relatively silent and peaceful.
My first photo as you can see which has a sculpture of our Lord Jesus hanging on the cross. It is a very silent place I guess like a shrine where people put up candles and pray. In the background you see what appears and is a huge hill with a huge cross on the top.

Prayer And Reflection Place

It is possible to get to the top of the hill and they have stations so people can pray the Stations Of The Cross and also rest at each station. The hill is called Krizevac and is one of those hills you want to leave early in the morning for. This is not Apparition Hill where the visions take place every month.    

 The second photo is the Blessed Sacrament  that has been exposed to all the pilgrims although this was a close up shot and was outside the front of the Church.

Blessed Sacrament Exposed Praise The Lord

The Blessed Sacrament was exposed especially for these Pilgrims from Poland and others who completed a 20Km Prayer and Fasting walk.

My next photo is self explanatory, and that is walking sticks that can be bought from any number of shops around Medjugorje. Although the roads are good all the hills are not sealed just rocky paths.

Some Walking Sticks

They come in very handy let me tell you as it can be full on and tiring.

My last photo is of a Cross outside where I was staying but on the road to Krizevac. I liked the sunset that was happening so I thought it would make a nice photo.

Cross Sunset

These are My Photographic Observations. I hope you enjoyed the look and the read and thank you for taking the time to have a look.

Vedran

Signs Everywhere In Medjugorje

G'Day People

My Photographic Observations theme today deals with some signs around Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
As I have mentioned in my last post thousands upon thousands of people are there week in and week out. So as with anything there have to be signs.

The first sign that is fairly common is a sign asking for people to be respectful and quiet.

Silence Please

We being the Human Race tend to forget where we are at times, and we should be reflecting and meditating regardless what religion or faith we might have.
My second photo is one thing that you find anywhere you might travel and that being information signs.

Pointing To The Information Bay

Always pointing the arrow where you should find information to help you find your way around.
These info signs are all over the place as there are people of many Nationality's that come to Medjugorje.

Finaly there are the signs to tell people where the Parish Office is so people can come and ask the Priests to pray for loved ones during Holy Mass.

To Parish Office

Of course it is not a place where people can stampede in but the sign does let people know that this is a Priests Residence as well as an Office.

I hope you enjoyed My Photographic Observations and remember to leave any comments down below.

Vedran

St James Church In Medjugorje

G'Day All,

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today I have a few photos of a place that I went to called Medjugorje. A very humbling place to be and an eye opener.
For this post will show a couple of outside photos of St James Church with alternate view points.

My first photo is from the courtyard at the front of the Church and is a basic scene of the faithful praying around a statue of The Virgin Mother Mary. It is humbling and at times very emotional when you see the faith and belief the people have.

Praying Faithful

Medjugorje itself is situated in Bosna-Herzegovina and is a very busy place with thousands of people from all over the world being there on a daily basis. I have crowd photos and scenic photos but they will come at later posts.

The second photo I decided to have a close up of the statue of The Virgin Mary with St James softly out of focus.

Close Up Of Mother Mary

I think it turned out quite nicely and was a more traditional type photo so I decided for something different. I looked around and there are plenty of little garden beds with flowers so had an idea but I was not sure if it would work. There were plenty of clouds about this day so everything was diffused but also a bit gloomy.
I saw these flowers in the flowerbed and after waiting a while for people to leave I managed to get this shot.

Flower Point Of View

Normally people take a front on or side on view of the church but I did not want to settle for the shot everyone else had altho I am sure not too many people would have this. The shot being a low angle shot. I moved out of the courtyard and went across the road and saw the opportunity for another view and this time I saw a nice purple flower.

Outside Flower Point Of View

I must say I quite like this shot as well because it has the Church at a 45degree angle. My only complaint with this shot is the green tree on the left but where I was I could not get the framing I wanted. I do know that one thing that you look for is clouds and this is what I saw as I was moving around. I walked towards the rear of the Church and all of a sudden this shaft of light hit the bell towers of the St James Church.

Storm Threatening With Ray Of Sunshine

I like this photo as it has nice contrast and it just looks interesting.

I will post more photos of Medjugorje in the coming weeks for anyone who is interested but for now These are My Photographic Observations, please leave any comments if any down below.

Vedran

The Sky

G'Day Trendsetters,

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today I have a couple of photos of clouds. I tend to find them interesting and also dramatic.
The first photo I was driving on Cockburn Road heading down to Rockingham when about a third of the way down I saw what looked to be an interesting streaky cloud formation. They were very high so stopped and took a photo with my wide angle lens.

Elongated Streaky Clouds

I took the photo in a portrait orientation and what amazed me was how elongated the clouds looked and how the wide angle lens seemed to accentuate that. In reality the clouds looked more like scuz.

The second photo I was in Fremantle situated on Monument Hill and I quite liked that the clouds looked really puffy and menacing. I waited around for about an hour and a half hoping to get some good light in combination with the clouds to really get the photo I had in my minds eye.
Alas I had no such luck but I managed to get the photo below after numerous attempts for something I might like.

A More Dramatic Sky

I think the hint of the sun behind the clouds really give it a little bit of colour. It is not the exact of what I had in my my minds eye as I would have liked a bit of light where the Sea Containers are.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and hope to be posting again soon.
My Photographic Observations

Vedran

Old Boat Nice Home

Hi Folks,
I am going to write another post about my observations in Split. As you can imagine Split has a lot of water or ocean around it. One of the things that you see are the different types of boats. I wrote a long time ago about the rich people,s boats and today will look at the battler type boats that the people have for every other days activity's.

This first boat is one that I always see but it is great because to me it defines a battler.

Somebody Loves Me

I don't think it gets used to often and I guess it is somebodys pride and joy. I like it because it is wooden and old and has character.
The second photo is where the little boat lives which as you can see is in the heart of Split.

Lovely Location

It really lets you know how much people love they re boats. Where the palm trees are is where I like to sit and observe tourists and the local happenings. It is very scenic and colourful.
The third photo is a yachting regatta that was held that year 2012 and it was a wonderful spectacle.

Yacht Regatta

The blue of the water and all the yachts made for an interesting morning.
I really like Croatia and enjoy the relaxed lifestyle it affords me.

These are my photographic observations for now, just remember if you have any comments just reply below as I would love to hear your thoughts.

Vedran

Working The Sunset

Hi Folks,
As you may have gathered by now I like to walk around Split in Croatia. I live in Fremantle Australia and have done for about 95% of my life. I was born in Split so have a natural yearning for the place of my birth. I also love Australia as it is one of the best places in the world to live.
Now for my theme for this post it is called working the sunset.
One late afternoon just before sunset  I could see a nice orange colour coming from the west so what else I thought I would take a photo.

Doh Crane

I liked it but the problem was there was a crane that really stood out and it did not quite fit into what I had in mind. I thought the crane was a distraction even though it was silhouetted like the palm trees.
The second photo below I still had it as a portrait (vertical) orientation.

Rubbish Bin

I liked this one better because it seemed the crane wasn't as obvious and the building was placed in the centre between the two palm trees. The only problem was the rubbish bins were in view and it kinda spoiled it for me. I don't have photoshop so therefore it was too hard to remove in Lightroom without having tell tale signs.
I tried for one more look and this time I changed the orientation to landscape (horizontal) and really made a wider shot.

I like the Orange and Blue

The crane is still in view but there is no rubbish bin and I like the blue and the orange from the sky.
Is it a great photo, it has its good and bad points but overall I tend to think it is the best of the Three.
My main point was I did not just take just one photo and left it at that . I worked about fifteen different shots until I got the best contenders. I did not have a tripod as I did not fully understand properly of the benefits of having one, so quite a few that were better compositions were no good because of focus or blurriness.

These are my photographic observations and look forward to adding more posts soon.

Vedran

Split From Marjan

Hi Folks,

In the year 2012 I happened to be in Split Croatia. I was taking a lot of photos that year and quite a few were around Split. I walked up Marjan Hill and there happened to be an old little church half way up. It was fairly impressive so I took a look around.

It is a bit of a hike about half an hour or so but fairly steep. I moved around and saw a lovely little statue at the front entrance on the roof.

Nice Statue

I Liked the church and decided to take a full photo from the side but at the front.
The name of the Church is Sv Nikole and found out it was built in the year 1219.
I guess it makes it 795 years old according to my maths.

Sv Nikole Built 1219

My last photo was just a little bit down the hill and it gave a sweeping view of the City.

I had my tripod and set the camera on it and took the photo. The sun had just gone down and we were getting into the twilight time. A tripod is a must in these situations as there was no way that I could hold the camera steady enough.

Split From Marjan Hill

It was very peaceful and relaxing and I must say I totally enjoyed the mood and the scene.

What you see in the picture where the lights are on is the Split Riva and that is the place where most tourists come to enjoy a coffee and any assortment of drinks.

These are My Photographic Observations.

If you have any comments then leave them below as I would love to get some feedback.

Vedran

Interesting Pont Of View.

Hi Folks,

Today I have 3 photos that I kind of like. I remember having a quiet afternoon around Split in Croatia. I had my camera in tow and had a wide angle lens attached.
I always look for something different which I think will make an interesting subject.
My first photo is of a cat. Now normally I don't find cats interesting but what made this interesting for me was the distortion that one gets with a wide angle lens.

Distorted Cat

Looking at the photo you would not think that i was about 3 inches away from the cat but that is how far I was from this cat.
If you notice you will see that the body is slightly longer than what it should be. That is the bias of the wide angle lens. When you use a wide angle lens you really need something in the foreground to give a sense of depth.

The second photo was from the fish markets in Split. I  took this one morning with my normal walk around lens zoomed out to get a diagonal line running from the bottom left to the right leading you through. They are sardines of course.

Sardines

We all know cats like fish right. That is why these sardines are here as the cat above always hangs around close to the fish market.

My third photo has nothing to do with the cat and the sardines although the round nature of that subject could in effect symbolise the world.
This photo was taken in a place called Dugopolje which is about 20km's out of Split. There were plenty of clouds that day with a threat of rain and I just thought it looked very dramatic. I came across this fence with this chrome ball on one of the posts and I just liked the mirror effect I was getting.

Mirror Mirror On The Ball

I liked the clouds that were showing and the house. I managed to blur out the left hand side and the effect was getting some specular highlights.

These are My Photographic Observations...

Vedran

Comparing Apples And Oranges

Hi Folks

I was wondering if anyone liked sunflowers as my first photo is a sunflower that I took a picture of in Croatia.
I know the title is comparing apples with oranges but I thought I would just trick you all.

Mr Sunflower

Seriously It is about apples and oranges. The second photo is a variety called red delicious which they have also in Croatia. I am not sure of the Croatian name of any of these as they are generally called a Jabuka.

Red Deliscious

I was practising my food or close up photography and they make good subjects as they are colourful. Mind you getting a shot of this stuff is hard because of the amount of people at the pazar(market place) that tend to bump you and a tripod would not have enough room.

The third photo is some oranges and they are very big over there. I am not sure if they are as sweet as the ones in Australia well at least the ones I tried.

Orange Oranges

I tried to frame the oranges so that you are looking from the bottom left to the top right through the image.
The last photo is a photo of some Granny Smith or at least some green apples.
The green tend to be my favourite and no doubt others like them as well.

Granny Smith

I liked the idea of posting some fruit and it is great to see some of the variety's. I also enjoy taking photos of different things because most people have taken all the landscape type photos and you have to be somewhere where there is a beautiful landscape.

I would have to say that my favourite fruit would have to be the green apples.

Thank you for visiting My Photographic Observations

Vedran