This post comes a little later that I wanted, but unluckily, while I was out shooting yesterday, my system HDD decided to die, and I ended up with an nonfunctional PC. But after buying a new HDD today, I managed to get it all up and running again, and can get back to photos :)

Yesterday I had the possibility to shoot from a new location in Bratislava, and to get a new view of the city center. It’s a very nice view, as you can see the three most dominant building in Bratislava (if you don’t count all the new skyscrapers :)). From left, it’s the Bratislava Castle, the SNP bridge and the St. Martins cathedral.

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

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 4, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 51mm, Aperture: 8, Middle exposure time: 8s, ISO: 200, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.134279,17.106281

I have no idea what to shoot anymore in Bratislava. Sometimes I just walk around with the camera, and don’t take any shots. It’s quite a change from when I started, as then I took many shots, even if I was not sure if they will be ok. Now, If I don’t like the view, or can’t find a composition, I don’t bother anymore. Probably I now know more that I like.

But I also started experimenting more with the ND filter to get a little different view and I just like the soft look of water. So this is one of the few photo I took yesterday. At first I wanted to go to a completely different location, but after seeing a bunch of cranes right where I wanted to shoot, I took this on my way home.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 5, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 25mm, Aperture: 11, Middle exposure time: 12s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.139473, 17.105230

I found myself by the Apollo bridge today, and while wanting to take some sunset shots in the area, the sunset just wasn’t so interesting. So I decided to go under the bridge. I just really like that spot :)

While taking this photos, I thought about the aperture. I tend to use a quite low one when shooting night cityscapes. It’s mostly a custom from before I used magic lantern, as there the longest shot had to be under 30 seconds, and partially lack of patience, as I hate to wait few minutes for a single shot. But here I bumped up the aperture to F11 and decided to wait for how long it takes. And I really like the result, the overall sharpness, and the beautiful softness of the water. Looks like I will use a smaller aperture more often :)

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 5, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 16-35mm F2.8, Focal length: 16mm, Aperture: 11, Middle exposure time: 49s, ISO: 200, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.135918, 17.128131

Another one from my archives today. I so can’t wait for a better weather to start and get some nice new shots again :)

This is a HDR from 7 exposures, created in Oloneo Photoengine, finished in Photoshop.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 7, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 45mm, Aperture: 2.8, Middle exposure time: 2s, ISO: 100, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.136873, 17.104699

Video tutorials

You know that I offer video tutorials for sale on this blog, but I also watch a lot of them from many other photographers. Right now I’m watching the Trey Ratcliff’s Complete HDR Tutorial, The Ultimate Landscape Photography Course by Jay and Varina Patel and the Cityscape tutorial by Beboy. I like to switch from one to another, as sometimes watching one in a row is hard, as they are quite long. Especially the one from Beboy is a little problematic for me, as it’s in French, and I don’t speak any French :). But since I have quite a lot of knowledge of Photoshop already, I can watch it and get almost everything he is showing there. It just take a little longer.

There is always something more to learn. In taking and in editing photos. What are you currently learning? Or what video series are you watching? Feel free to share in the comments.

Moon over Bratislava

Still haven’t done many new photos this year. The weather in Bratislava is nothing spectacular right now, and my travels for this year will start a little later. So for now, another one from my library, taken around 2 years ago :)

Btw. this was really taken at f2.8. It was quite late after sunset, and it was really dark.

Technique: Oloneo Photoengine, Number of exposures: 6, Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D mark II, Lens: Canon 24-70mm F2.8, Focal length: 42mm, Aperture: 2.8, Middle exposure time: 4s, ISO: 400, Tripod used: yes, Location: 48.136873, 17.104699