This is one strange winter. There is so much moisture in the air in Bratislava, that it’s covered in fog almost all the time. And it was again the same today, so I thought I get a look from higher up. I went to the top of the SNP bridge and this is what I got. Not that I was there that long, it was crazy cold and windy, and the moisture started condensing on my camera ant tripod right away.

Interestingly, I don’t remember the light in the middle being there before, and with it, they actually made taking photos from there much worse as it shines directly towards the viewing platform. Good that I already have so many photos from there, bad that everyone who tries to take photos from there from now on, will have to deal with it.

This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Technique: Photoshop Edit, Number of exposures: 1, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones MkIII Adapter, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 34mm, Aperture: 11, Middle exposure time: 8s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.136692, 17.105281

I’m not sure if its due to the horrible weather, but I just feel sleepy the whole day today. So instead of the next instance of the Photography basics series, which I planed for today (but didn’t finish), here is one more shot from yesterday, taken a bit earlier, while there was still a bit of blue in the sky.

It’s crazy how these foggy shots look noisy. And I can’t even remove the noise, due to horrible color banding appearing immediately. But I don’t even think it’s really noise. I think it’s a result of the huge amount of moisture in the air, as I did use a low ISO.

Technique: Photoshop Blend, Number of exposures: 1, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones MkIII Adapter, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 16mm, Aperture: 16, Middle exposure time: 25s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.139544, 17.103889

The fog has returned to Bratislava after very few fog less days. Today I thought I go up to the top of the SNP bridge, but in the end, the fog was just too thick to be worth it. I would just not see anything. Actually I like to check out web-cams before I go to the city, to get an idea how the conditions are. For Bratislava I like the ones one can find here. They really can help :)

This is a single exposure edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Technique: Photoshop Blend, Number of exposures: 1, Camera Model: Sony a7R + Metabones MkIII Adapter, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 16mm, Aperture: 16, Middle exposure time: 30s, ISO: 160, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.139544, 17.103889

This was the closest I could get under the new Old bridge while taking photos of it on Sunday. I got right at the fence, and thankfully, my tripod was high enough to have the camera over it :)

This is a three shot HDR, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop. I actually used two different ISO settings here. As I set the middle exposure to 30s, as I wanted a smaller aperture for the DOF, I had to bump the ISO to 400 for the +1EV.

There are few topics I want to mention today, so here goes :)

Free copy of Macphun Focus CK

If you are running a MacOS system, you may find this offer interesting. Until the end of the month, you can get Focus CK from Macphun, for nothing. Focus is used to create blur effects as tilt shift and similar. And did I mention you can get it for free? :) Download it here from the Macphun website.

8000 fans

So yesterday, finally my Facebook page passed 8000 fans. Thank you very much to everyone who liked my page, and I hope there be more and more of you :)

Stolen photo

I hate this topic, but from time to time one has to return to it, as there is no other way. I try to be very lenient with the use of my photos. As long the use is not commercial, there are no edits on the photo performed and one links back to this site, everyone can share my photos as much as they want.

But if a person takes a photo, implies that he/she took it by not including the author, and even modifying it, that something I can’t tolerate. And this is one example of this. This person on Instagram is really a thief, and not only of my photo, but many many more. By pretending to be the author of them, he amassed quite a big following, while stealing other work.

In this cases, I like to leave a comment, give the person a chance to correct the error. Even if he just admitted his mistake and edited the post to show who the true author is, I would be satisfied. But this person is just a thief and instead of doing so, he just deleted the comment and blocked everyone else who also commented on the stolen photos.

I hate this, because now my only option is to file a copyright infringement claim. I love taking photos, I love sharing my work. It motivates me to do more, share more. But people like this add a really sour taste to everything.

If you speak Croatian, here is an article about this thief, and few examples of his other stolen photos. And here is a link to my original photo as posted on this blog. Also you can check out the rules for using my photos here, on the Licensing page.

The new Old Bridge

I went out today, to check out how the reconstruction of the Old bridge continues. So here is for you, my first photo of the new Old bridge (not sure if they will changes the name). It’s this crazy green now, and it looks really good. So may new walkways and viewing areas that will be great for photos, and so many lights that when turned on will make it look great in photos. I can’t wait until they open it to public as I was not able to get closer right now.

This is a HDR from 4 exposures combined in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.