Reading list

Have not done a reading list in a while, so how about today.

I read only a single book in the last two weeks. It was the 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson. It’s actually funny how this book reminded me of something in a play of the Cimerman theater in Prague. There they split smart people into two groups. Those who can’t leave a subject, and those who can’t stick to a subject. And the author of this book is a perfect example of the second group. You don’t pay attention for a second, and he is already on something else. While he usually go back, it makes for such a hard reading or listening.

Overall, some good points, and some quite stupid ones here, but worth a read.

Looking up in Dubai Marina

If I remember correctly, this part of the Dubai Marina, is the tallest block in the world. I wanted a photo like this when I visited Dubai few years ago, but then I forgot. So I took one this time. And I used the Laowa 12mm lens, to get as much in the shot as I could. I did had to crop it a bit in the end, as the lamps around me just made for a lot of flares. It’s funny how this gives you a feel of vertigo, even though you are looking up :)

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

Panoramas

Did you know that there are zoomable versions of huge panoramas I took available on the blog? Just head over to the Panoramas section, choose the one you like, and zoom in as much as you want :)

Windmill on the Moulin Rouge

I really like the look on the windmill on the mouling rouge. It give the building such a distinctive look. You can mistake it for nothing else :)

This photo is a two shot blend, one for the base, second one to brighten the shadows a bit. Edited in Lightroom, blended in Photoshop.

Building a 3D printer

If you noticed an update to the “quick updates” section right under the latest blog update, you may have seen that my 3D printer arrived today. And I just spend the last 4 hours putting it together and another 2 to print something. The good news? It works fine. The bad news? Will take a bit of time to master the settings to get the best results. But it always like that when one tries something new :)

Danube in Flames

I think I mentioned I was in Germany last weekend. It was in Vilshofen to be exact and it was because of an event called Danube in Flames. This is sort of a local festival there, which end with a huge fire and firework show from the bridge in the middle. And here you have one of the photos I took there.

This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. You may notice a not exactly standard aspect ratio of this photo. The reason for that is, that I had to shoot up, as I was standing quite close. And with that, I got a very noticeable perspective distortion. And when you remove that, the photo stretches to a lot higher one. But I think it looks really nice like this.

Handheld photos

I hate it when I have to take landscape/cityscape photos handheld. Rather I really like to take my time, setup the camera, do manual focusing and take the exact photo I want. I especially noticed when I stated using a tripod first time, that the composition of my photos got better. Just the forced slowdown made me think more of what I’m doing. I also ended up less photos in the end.

So how would you get a better handheld photo? Here are few tips, for that.

1. Hold your camera close. The closer you hold the camera to your body, the less change you will move your hands while taking the photo.
2. If you can, place the camera on something. Having a support of any kind will help you keep the camera steady.
3. Higher ISO instead of bigger aperture. Think of it this way, you can de-noise a photo, you can’t sharpen a out of focus one. Just don’t overdo it.
4. Under expose your photo. With the current cameras, you can easily overexpose a photo by 1 to 2 stops, sometimes even more. So underexposing a shot by having a shorter exposure, and then overexposing it after in post-processing, can really help you.
5. Repeat the shot multiple times. The more photos you take, the bigger chance one of them will be good.
6. Use a timer. I noticed when I take handheld photos, that when I press the shutter I push on the camera and so move it down a bit. This can be a problem. So instead, I turn on the 2s timer, and I just hold the camera, so it does not move when it’s recording the photo.
7. Forget about bracketing. Rather just do multiples of the same photo. You can get most from one RAW anyway in most situations and I jet to see anyone with such steady hands that can hold the camera for so long (but maybe you are an exception? :)).

Still if you doing a landscape or a cityscape shot, I would go with a tripod every-time, even in the middle of a sunny day :)

Sunny day panorama from Paris

And while on the topic on handheld photos, here is one. When you go to Paris, to the top of the Arc de Triomphe, you will notice that the use of any tripods of any kind is not allowed up there. So the only thing you can really do, is to shoot handheld.

So I was there during a quite sunny day, and this is one of the photos I got. For this sunny day panorama, I did two shots, combined in Lightroom, finished in Photoshop.

If you need tips on where to take photos in Paris, check out this Top Photography spots list.

And here are few details:

Gaming list

I shared with you a reading list so how about a gaming list today :) What games am I currently playing?

I play most games on the Xbox One or the PS4. I very rarely anymore play on the PC (that’s just for work :)), and I never play on mobile. Just don’t like it. Actually I almost always play for about 20-30 minutes, as little breaks between other stuff, mostly work. There used to be times when I could play for hours and hours in a row, but that’s long time ago :) And I never ever play multiplayer. I just don’t like when a game can’t be finished.

So recently, since I never had a PS3, I have been getting through all the remasters on the PS4. Beyond two Souls, Last of US and God of War III recently. I now started Gravity Rush and then still have the Shadow of the Colossus.

On the Xbox, I just finished the second South Park game, and I’m currently playing Catherine, Back to the Future The game and finally want to finish Rise Son of Rome.

I really like to finish all the games I play, and usually when I start one, I play it till it’s done :)

What are you playing this week?

The red lights of the Moulin Rouge

This one is a bit older photo. I took it in 2015 while in Paris. Right after I got back from there, I did tried to edit it, but I just did not like the result. But as time goes, one learns more editing, I tried it again last night. And I got a result I liked withing minutes.

It’s of course the Mouling Rouge, and while I tried to have less people in the shot, it was just too busy that evening. This is a two exposure blend, one for the base another one used to darken the few highlights. Edited in Lightroom finished in Photoshop.