Vineyards around Spitz

Let’s continue with a photo of vineyards from the Wachau Valley in Austria. This is actually a view from the top of the Hinterhaus Ruins, in the town of Spitz, on the Danube River. It’s actually one of my recommended spots for photography in the area, as are many spots on the hill you can see in this photo. There are almost no fences around, so it’s overall a very nice area.

I took this panorama on a very hot summer day. I was there to get a photo of a passing ship (similar to one I posted a few days ago) so I could not choose a better time. I had to follow the schedule. But one has to make the best of what one got :).

This is a three-shot panorama, each shot blended from two exposures in Photoshop.

Inside the Liverpool Cathedral

While writing yesterday’s post, I remembered my visit to another huge religious building, the Liverpool Cathedral. I have been there actually twice, but both times already years ago. But I thought to myself, if I edited one of the photos I took then, would it still look good? So I did it.

I looked through my photo archive from 2010 when I was there. I still had a Canon 450D at that time, and I used it with a Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 lens. It’s funny to use photos from such a camera, as it’s only 12.2 Mpix, and if you have a 4K screen, you can almost see it 1:1 all at once. 4K is around 8.3 Mpix in size.

I ended up quite liking the result so here it is. If I compare it to newer photos, the ones I took with the Sony a7R or the Canon 5D mark IV, the lover detail is noticeable and the lens is just not as sharp as the Canon 17mm Tilt-shift, that I would use for something like this now. But since I took three exposures here and shot in RAW, I still could recover the highlight and shadows quite easily, even though the dynamic range of the 450D was quite bad.

Strangely, there is a sign “No photos” in this photo, but I don’t remember anymore if photography was forbidden or not. I just know that nobody said anything. Maybe because they were preparing for some event that day. You can see a screen in the back, and there were many tables set up in a different area of the Liverpool Cathedral. It’s been 13 years since I took this photo, so I don’t remember everything.

This is a blend of 3 exposures, done in Photoshop. I did remove a few people using Generative Fill. I do like the result, so I think I go back through the archive to see what I could not edit then, but would look good now.

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Today I chose an interior shot from the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. It really is an impressive structure. Outside and inside. And you can take photos, which is just great.

But it’s also quite difficult for me to edit photos from here. Never sure how they should look. There is a mix of natural, yellow, and white (a bit bluish) lights all over the place. And on top of it, most of it is white or shades of grey. I never know if I should leave it more yellow-colored or push it more white. But in the end, usually, I wouldn’t say I like both. So this is somewhere in the middle.

For those curious, this is a three-shot vertorama, taken with a 17mm Tilt-Shift lens. Each shot from 3 exposures, blended in Photoshop. I also used the Generative Fill to remove a few people. Yes, it’s not really that empty.

Where the ships are docked

Let’s change the country again. So for today, let’s visit Portugal. To be exact, this is the small town of Barca de Alva. It’s right at the border of Portugal and Spain, and it’s also a turning point for many river cruise ships that cruise on the river Douro in Portugal.

I took this photo while staying on one of those ships. It was a very hot summer night and I took a walk across the bridge (Ponte Almirante Sarmento Rodrigues) to get a bit of fresh air and enjoy the calm evening. The bridge also looks very nice, with its reflection, which you can see in this photo.

This is a blend of three exposures, done in Photoshop. It’s not really a panorama, as I cropped it down. I found the sky a bit boring and like this, the composition works just better.

Love locks in Amsterdam

Let’s do a bit simpler photo today. So no panorama, no HDR, just a single exposure (that I of course split into two and blend them back together :)). These are some love locks I found on one of the side streets in Amsterdam. I was taking a photo of the reflection in the background, and I thought it would look nice as a foreground element.

I’m wondering. Is the trend to put these love locks on every bridge, and sometimes even statues and other monuments, still alive, or it’s gone? Have not seen anyone doing it in a very long time.