City by Danube

I was taking photos of the New Bridge yesterday and somehow I decided to go up to the observation tower (called UFO :)). There were not many clouds, but still a nice sunset. I went with a little wider view here, as I wanted to have the moon in the shot. Also I really like that you can see Bratislava and also the Hainburg castle (middle left) which is in Austria.

I went with 7 shots here. I was not sure about the results, as I could feel the bridge shaking beneath my feet and I had to use a very long exposure. So I could keep a low ISO (100) I had to go with an exposure time of 121 for the longest shot. But it worked out very nicely. Again I vent very light on the post-processing. I want to keep my photos as realistic as possible.

Calling Batman

Always when I see these night lights, I have to think that somebody is probably calling Batman. Why else would they shine lights into the sky? :)

I used a lot of the original shots in this one. As it was taken later, I had to use very long exposures. This made the whole sky and water blurred, removing most of the details. I used masking in Photoshop to return the detail in the water and in the clouds.

Relaxx and enjoy the sunset

No that’s not a typo. The fitness center in this building is called Relaxx. Or maybe the whole building is called that, I don’t know. But it still is a very interesting looking building which also reflects the surroundings so nicely.

I went with 7 shots here, to get all the light, and also it’s starting to be the standard for me. I also went very light on post-processing here. After Photomatix, I only corrected few spots from the original shots, sharpened the image using Unsharp mask, removed noise and added a little contrast. Thats all. You can see a screenshots from Photoshop, where you can see how I used layers on my Facebook page.

The Strkovec lake reflection

When I have a little time to take photos, but not enough for a longer trip I go here, to the Strkovec lake. It’s not far from my flat, and It’s the closes place where I can get nice reflections of the sky. These time the sky was clear, but the reflection came out great anyway.

I’m adding more shots from Bratislava now, but that will change shortly, as a trip to Budapest and a trip to Prague is close by :)

New style for the category view

So I finally updated all posts to include a featured image. I needed this, so the categories could be viewed as a nice thumbnail view. I think it’s much better to navigate between posts. You can choose any country or city in the sidebar to see photos taken at that location. Also the before/after category now give this nice overview of all posts that include the comparison.

Soft blue colors on the Apollo bridge

I think I’m starting to be too critical of myself. I finished this photo and already had it uploaded, when I notices a whiter area around the bridge. Probably because I added a little glow. First I tried to edit it out, but could not get the result I wanted, so I started once more. And with the second try, I’m satisfied :)

Also I’m very happy that I started to use a bubble level on my camera. I have the horizon nice and leveled, even if there are distortion in my photo. It really make it easier.