April 13, 2008
Spring scene
The other morning as I was dealing with the dogs and feeding the angry, vindictive cockatoo, I noticed the cove was blazing in a spring sunrise. So I grabbed my camera and blasted off a few HDR shots to see what I'd come up with. This is a view of the stairs leading down to the dock. In a few more weeks, you'll barely be able to see the water.
I've been doing a little fishing off the dock, catching mostly small bluegills, one tiny bass (smallmouth, I think) and a catfish. Xena was particularly interested in the catfish.
I can't wait for it to get warm enough to swim in the cove. We've bought a boat to put in the dock. Just need a lift now. The water is up, but apparently winter is going to slap us upside the head one more time this week ...
Posted by Bob Benz at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)
May 12, 2007
Cloud Forest Flower
I'm not certain what the name of this flower is. Might be some sort of orchid. There were a lot of them in the cloud forest that surrounds the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Aguas Calientes.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:23 PM | Comments (0)
The Crop Circles of Moray
This is an HDR shot of Moray, a series of circular terraces that archeologists believe the Incans used as some sort of agricultural test center, growing various crops in the microclimates that each terrace provides. This is an unrestored site. There is another site here that has been restored and gives a clearer idea of what it must have looked like in Incan times. Those are the Urubamba and Vilcabamba mountain ranges in the distance. We arrived early and had the place to ourselves, providing some of the most spectacular vistas of the trip.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)
Sunset over Miraflores
This is an HDR shot of the Pacific Ocean shot from the Miraflores section of Lima around sunset. This was taken from LarcoMar, a mall built into the cliffs above the ocean. It's not only a great mall, but they also have a great cigar store packed with Cubans.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
Corn Fields and a Lake
This is an HDR photo of a lake where we ate lunch one afternoon in Peru. Corn fields ran down to the water's edge, and the mountains loomed in the distance. Toss in brooding skies and you have a pretty phenomenal HDR image.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
The Salt Mines
This HDR photo was taken at the Salineras, vast salt mines near Tarabamba. There are about 3,000 squares terraced into the valley, and families can own up to 9 squares. People have been mining salt here since Incan times.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)
Las Montanas
Drama, pure and simple. The clouds and mountains combine for a great HDR shot at Moray, an ancient Incan agricultural test ground. These are the Urubamba and Vilcabamba mountain ranges.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:12 PM | Comments (1)
A Peruvian Cemetery
This is a cemetery in the hills above the Urubamba River Valley. Hernan and I went hiking after lunch one afternoon and stumbled across this. I had to shoot it through the gate, which was locked.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)
The Urubamba River Valley
The Urubamba River snakes through the valley with the town clearly visible on the opposite bank. I think that's a bullfighting rink down there near the water, and somewhere down there is Hernan's aunt's house. This is another HDR shot that I took during my trip to Peru.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)
Ollantaytambo views
This is somewhere near Ollantaytambo, I think. HDR provides a neat contrast between the mountains in the distance and the wildflowers in the forground.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:11 PM | Comments (0)
Cloud Forest Waterfall
This is an HDR shot of a waterfall in the cloud forest that surrounds the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Aguas Calientes, a short bus ride from Machu Picchu.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:10 PM | Comments (0)
Cloud Forest River
An HDR photo of the river in the cloud forest that surrounds the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel in Aguas Calientes, a short bus ride from Machu Picchu.
Posted by Bob Benz at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)
May 9, 2007
Machu Picchu in HDR
Here's an HDR shot of Machu Picchu. Hernan and I hiked up into the hills, which left me panting and sweating. But it was worth it to get this view of the Incan ruins. Once I caught my breath, I took this shot and a few others from the same vantage. With more distance, it's easier to see how well the stone work melds into the surrounding landscape. This was taken at around sunset, right after a light rain had abated.
Posted by Bob Benz at 5:45 PM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2007
Spring in Tennessee
This shot is from the second round of my tests of HDR photography. This is my favorite of the magnolia set (that's a magnolia to the right.) I'm pretty much just using the defaults in Photomatix at this point and haven't started tweaking the settings much. I also uploaded a few shots of Emma and Anita's visit.
Posted by Bob Benz at 7:54 PM | Comments (2)
March 3, 2007
Surreal Sunset
The first time I saw an HDR photo, I was amazed. These vivid, almost surreal images just vibrate with color and light. But the quick research I did suggested you needed Photoshop to do High Dynamic Range photography, and I wasn't willing to shell out $700 for software that I was going to use only as an HDR toy. Then, via BoingBoing, I found a link to O'Reilly's Short Cuts on HDR photography. For less than $8, you can download a 57-page guide to producing HDR images, including suggestions on HDR software that are much cheaper than Photoshop. This is my first attempt, shot off our back deck at sunset. It's a compilation of three images shot under-, correctly and over-exposed. If you want to see examples of HDR that are truly mind-blowing, check out the Flickr HDR group. I'm hoping to take something at some point that's worth submitting there. But for a first attempt, I'm pretty pleased with this one.
Posted by Bob Benz at 7:44 PM | Comments (3)