gx200 « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Twisted Bridge

amaczero — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:48:00 +0000

I hadn’t even spotted this bridge between the Royal Opera House and its neighbouring building across the street until I saw some one standing back and shooting up. I tried that, but I thought a better sense of the unusual architecture was gained by shooting pretty much straight up. This twisted bridge connects the Royal Opera House (on the right) and the Royal School of Ballet (on the left).

However, in common with a lot of architectural shots, the geometry makes this an excellent candidate for a black and white treatment.

A GX200 shot converted from raw in RPP and imported into Aperture. A little tweaking bringing out the shadows and pulling back the highlights was about the sum of the adjustment. The conversion to B&W was carried out in Silver Efex Pro using the architecture preset, but this required a lot of pulling back of highlights and shadows. I like the end result though.

A Scotsman in London

amaczero — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 22:17:34 +0000

He doesn’t look too happy to be there either, possibly because he was originally advertising the fact the tobacconist shop stocked Scottish snuff while successfully avoiding the laws prohibiting shopkeepers from having overhead signs. This chap is gracing a traditional tobacconist’s shop in Covent Garden and is distinctly not amused by all the high jinks going on around him.

This GX200 shot was converted from raw in RPP and then imported into Aperture. The standard import preset was applied and only some recovery and a very slight s-curve were applied in addition. The major editing decision was to crop fairly tightly using a 16:9 format. I had already taken the decision when capturing the image that the grey skies outside would have to be blown in order to get the balance of the remainder of the right.

Hanging Future

tigerclaws — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:36:59 +0000

Raindrops are falling ...

amaczero — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:11:43 +0000

… on my head, or at least they were when I took this photograph. I have been trying to capture images of rain this year, which is a lot more difficult than it sounds. Low light on some occasions led to blur and it has been a cold but dry spring; so, the opportunities have been limited. When the downpour started yesterday I took a chance and nipped out with the GX200. This image is starting to get there, but it is yet another work in progress.

This square format GX200 shot was converted from raw in RPP and imported into Aperture. I thought that black and white would work better than a rather monotone colour image so converted into B&W using Silver Efex with a low key effect to increase the contrast with of the ripples against the shadowy reflection of the house in the puddle.

Woebegone Poppy

amaczero — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:53:59 +0000

The weather has performed its customary volte face now that summer has arrived. Leaden skies preceded persistent rain, which, to be fair, we could do with. However, the rain has put its customary damper on joie de vivre. Even the flowers seem affected.

A GX200 shot, given a very straight development in RPP before being imported into Aperture with a standard preset (the most important of which was to carry out an auto curves combined adjustment. With the standard tweaks to definition, saturation and vibrancy, plus a little sharpening, that was it.

Cloud # 9

tigerclaws — Sat, 29 May 2010 09:03:38 +0000

RICOH GX200

Shot in Afternoon….

Raddish Me Good !!

tigerclaws — Fri, 21 May 2010 20:32:24 +0000

Ricoh GX200

Unfurling Ferns

amaczero — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:27:35 +0000

All along the floor of the the Binn Woods in Glenfarg ferns are starting to uncurl. These beautiful fiddle shapes seem to be bursting with coiled energy. The shady evening sunlight provided perfect lighting conditions with the shade white balance selected.

This was a GX200 shot, exploiting the excellent macro capabilities of that camera. The image was developed from raw in RPP and then imported with a standard preset into Aperture. A slight s-curve to boost contrast and some sharpening were the only editing adjustments.

SINGLENESS

tigerclaws — Mon, 17 May 2010 06:38:17 +0000


RICOH GX200
MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA - USA

valley

Bluelotus — Sun, 16 May 2010 14:07:42 +0000

Yellow and Blue

amaczero — Sat, 15 May 2010 17:14:40 +0000

The wind has finally swung round to the west and the weather is finally becoming spring like. Contrast yesterday’s shot with today’s. Only three days apart and the rape field in a field near our neighbouring village of Strathmiglo is much further on. The yellow flowers of the oilseed rape provide a striking contrast with the deep blue of the sky.

This is a GX200 shot – nice to have a camera that you can take with you while cycling. Developed from Raw in RPP, imported into Aperture with my import preset, and then contrast added simply through a very mild s-curve. With a little sharpening and a slight crop to improve the composition, it was done.

small town

Bluelotus — Sat, 15 May 2010 14:23:11 +0000

Morning Mist

amaczero — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:25:50 +0000

In contrast to yesterday’s shot, here is the other end of the day. The field of view is also 180 degrees around from yesterday’s picture as well. It is the view of West Lomond Hill from the front of our house on a beautiful (but cold) spring morning. Cloud is hanging over the top of the hill – it will burn off in a couple of hours – which gives it a nice sense of mystery. One of the great pleasures of where we live is to see the hill change its appearance as the day turns or as the weather changes. It is so difficult to photograph – this picture can’t quite capture the moment.

A square format GX200 shot – it was the camera to hand as I went out to the car – it was converted from raw in RPP and imported into Aperture. Targeted increase to the saturation of the oranges helped bring out the early morning colours. Global changes were made to boost vibrance and definition.

Last rays of the sun

amaczero — Sun, 09 May 2010 19:52:23 +0000

We have been fortunate with the weather over the last few days, with sunny evenings and the days lengthening. We are now seeing the setting sun swing further round the horizon. It is now setting next to the disused church in the village and with the skies clear of clouds there has been no picture postcard sunset. The last rays of the sun against the darkening sky still have a certain majesty though.

A square format GX200 shot, it was developed from raw in RPP to allow the best chance of recovery around the sun. Imported into Aperture, it got the auto preset treatment, which restores the punch to the image lost in the import process. The sky was darkened slightly through using a targeted curves adjustment.

LG Electronics and Al Khanjar Infosystem sign MoU for mobile distribution services in the Sultanate

KRsparks — Wed, 05 May 2010 07:05:19 +0000

The President of LG Electronics Gulf Mr. H. S. Paik and Mr. Anil Khimji, Director, Khimji Ramdas, Signing the MoU for providing LG mobiles and accessories to customers across the Sultanate of Oman. The collaboration will combine innovative product design and technology from LG with extensive local distribution capabilities from Al Khanjar Infosystems.

Al Khanjar Infosystems will distribute LG’s full range of mobile handsets and accessories through its committed distribution networks, which will include flagship models such as the BL40 Gold, KP500, GD880, GW620, KM555, GD510 and GX200.

LG plans to reach more Omani consumers through this distribution agreement with Al Khanjar Infosystems, one of the leading distributors in the Sultanate, a part of Khimji Ramdas (KR) group ventures.

Khimji’s Information and Communications Technology: Tel: 2469 6255 | Fax: 24693616

Rus in Urbe

amaczero — Sat, 01 May 2010 11:00:51 +0000

This is a belated post as I have been travelling without much chance to get on line.

Rus in urbe – the country in the city, as the Romans used to say – definitely applies to the centre of Paderborn. The paths round the river and lakes can sometimes seem quite wild.

This arcing shape of the trunkss of the fallen tree caught my eye:

Here I think a colour interpretation works slightly better, as it helps the trunks stand out.

Beside the river Pader you can see the thick woods that made Germany such a terrifying place for the Romans:

Here I think the B&W image stands out just as well as the colour one. I also think that the greater contrast makes this a better shot than the other image, which has potential not yet fully realised.

All images were GX200 shots, converted from Raw in RPP and imported into Aperture. The B&W ones were converted in SilverEfex Pro with a green filter effect.

The Mill

amaczero — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:16:49 +0000

Continuing the theme of the countryside in the town, I found this old mill in the town centre of Paderborn. This is probably appropriate, since the town is named from the 200 springs or so that rise around the old cathedral and which join to form the Pader.

Shot in square format with the GX200, I converted this to B&W because detail in the sky, which was pretty grey and uninteresting anyway, had to be partially sacrificed to preserve the shadow detail. A limited dynamic range of the sensor is one of the compromises that is made with a compact camera. I considered that B&W would be more tolerant of this. The image was converted from raw in RPP, imported into Aperture with the normal adjustments and then converted to B&W with SilverEfex. The landscape preset was used, which applies a green filter. This helps separate the foliage.

Tangle

amaczero — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 09:41:21 +0000

In the centre of the German town of Paderborn there are a series of large ponds and rivers which form a very pleasant green area, which is always full of people jogging, cycling or simply enjoying the warm spring afternoons. It is a glimpse of the country in the town and is full of bird and insect life taking advantage of the semi-managed landscape. This seed head from a stand of tall grasses is an exquisite tangle of strands and cotton like fibres in an abstract design.

This was a GX200 shot converted from raw and into black and white in Raw Photo Processor. It was given my normal import adjustments in Aperture 3 and an additional tweak to contrast via curves.

The slight posterisation in the sky seems to be artifact of downsizing the original.

Different Views

amaczero — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:14:26 +0000

I took a number of pictures of the same tree at Balvaird Castle, and this got me thinking about how easy it is to show a subject in a completely different way, with completely different mood and feel depending on exactly how the light falls. For example, there is a basic decision about whether to depict the subject in black and white or colour, whether it is silhouetted:

Or perhaps on its own:

Or with other trees:

Or perhaps something completely different:

These are all GX200 pictures developed in a variety of different ways – sometimes from jpeg and sometimes from Raw. Tools used were Aperture 3, Raw Photo Processor and SilverEfex Pro.

Flowering Gorse

amaczero — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 06:30:14 +0000

Now that spring is here the gorse is coming into flower on the hills. These flowers were on the hills by Balvaird Castle and were just emerging from the bud.

GX200, developed from Raw to bring back blown yellow highlights, punch preset and Definition applied in Aperture 3

On the road to ... ?

amaczero — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:45:53 +0000

Walking up to Balvaird Castle on a very sunny but very cold evening this week I was struck by my long shadow falling into the leading lines of the track. In the spirit of experimentation I thought that it might be worth taking a picture. This one has been through various iterations with different programmes (Aperture, SilverEfe Pro and LightZone), both colour and black and white, before settling on the black and white version here.

Shot with GX200, this was ultimately developed from the B&W jpeg rather than the colour Raw file. Experiments with LightZone show I need a lot more practice at recovering highlights without causing artifacts. SilverEfex Pro produced a rather dramatic IR-like result, but it didn’t look quite right. So, this is a relatively modest adjustment to the OOC jpeg In Aperture with highlight recovery, added Definition and midtone sharpening, and a slight S-curve.

I don’t think it is quite there yet. More experimentation needed.

New Leaves

amaczero — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:14:55 +0000

The miniature Japanese acer in our garden has survived the winter and is putting out delicately coloured red leaves. Later in the year they will turn a deeper bronze, but now they are an intriguing mix of reds and yellows.

GX200 macro again. Once again a jpeg file edited in Aperture 3. This had the punch preset as a starting point, with extra vignetting and definition. The result has been to focus much more on the new leaves and draw the eye away from the background.

Lungwort

amaczero — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:17:51 +0000

Lungwort is coming into flower now. It has surprisingly delicate pink flowers given the unattractive sounding name. They look particularly pretty with small raindrops caught in their petals.

This was a GX200 shot – it is an excellent macro camera – with a practically out of camera jpeg – just Aperture’s punch preset applied.

Light Rain

amaczero — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:14:48 +0000

Typically, the weekend has seen the balmy, sunny weather of the working week replaced by cold winds and rain or drizzle. However, I thought – and was proved right – that the light rain would lead to opportunities for photographing individual rain drops. I like the way that the sky is reflected in this droplet.

Another GX200 shot. This was a JPEG only image, treated very simply in Aperture by recovering highlights from the reflection of the sky in the rain drop, giving a little extra oomph with the punch preset and that was it.

Imperial Past

amaczero — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 20:45:08 +0000

The largest terracotta fountain in the world is the Doulton Fountain at Glasgow Green. Originally unveiled at Kelvingrove in Glasgow in 1898 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee in 1897 to celebrate Britain’s long past imperial achievements. It was moved to its current site at Glasgow Green in 1890. There are figures representing Canada, Australia, South Africa and, here, India:

Ironically, some post-imperial, post-war housing can be seen behind all this imperial splendour.

Colour and black and white images from the same GX200 shot – the colour from the Raw file and the B&W from the jpeg. They were treated identically: there has been a little highlight and shadow recovery, added definition (aka Clarity in LightRoom) and added contrast through an s-curve.