Salisbury, England – Stonehenge (HDR)

I will admit to being a big fan of the show Ancient Aliens. How these ancient cultures built these amazing structures years ago…make me wonder. Stonehenge was on my bucket list and I had to visit it. After seeing it…nothing special. I imagine years ago it was cool to visit when you could walk amongst the rocks. Now they have it roped off and you walk around in a circle to view the structure. Not much excitement. Maybe the Flintstones built it?

This B&W is thanks to my new fav B&W conversion tool…Perfect B&W by onOne Software. NIK has faded away! Download a trail if you want to try it…it is awesome!!!

San Francisco, CA – Coit Tower (Infrared)

From San Francisco, CA…the iconic Coit Tower….also known as the Lillian Coit Memorial Tower located on top of Telegraph Hill. Black & White conversion thank to my new fav “Perfect B&W by onOne Software!! Buh-bye NIK!

Check out Perfect Photo Suite 7 today!!!

Vienna, Austria – Schonbrunn Palace (HDR) – onOne Software Sale!

From the lovely city of Vienna, Austria you can find the Schonbrunn Palace. Some info from the web: Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence in modern Vienna, Austria. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs

This photo was processed using the new onOne Software Perfect B&W. With the recent Google/Nik issues…I decided to try onOne’s Perfect B&W. Wonderful! I must say…better than NIK Silver Efex Pro. More filters and tons of options!! I think Perfect B&W is now my first choice!

Act fast on onOne products today!!! They have a 40% off sale that ends March 29th!!! Clicking the photo below will take you to their site for more info!!

Albuquerque, NM – Rio Grande Botanic Garden (IR)

Just on the outskirts of Albuquerque you can find the Rio Grande Botanic Garden. It is a wonderful place to visit while in Albuquerque. Here you can find and Aquarium, the botanical garden, and a zoo. They now call it a BioPark. It brings back memories of a movie I liked called Bio Dome! Yes, I admit to enjoying that flick! Have fun!

Austin, Texas – Tracking to Austin (HDR)

In keeping my run of Texas shots going…I have posted some pics recently from downtown (Tips Iron & Steel) on P2E and also some portraits (Marilyn Monroe door shot) on the Talke Photography blog. I love this location. If you live in Austin…its on 5th and Baylor right in front of the Amtrak Station. If you stand on the tracks, this is the view of Austin you get. Very cool. Just watch out for the Amtrak train and also the Union Pacific Line! I have lots more HDR’s from here…look for em soon!

Talke Photography Settings:

Lens: Nikon 12-14 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: HDR 7 Exposures (+3 to -3)
Aperture: f/11
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, HDR Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, OnOne Software Photo Tools 2.6

St. Augustine, FL – Long exposure

This was taken on a very cold early AM last year in St. Augustine, FL. It was February and about 32 degrees outside with a nice crisp 20 mph wind. I can’t recall ever being that cold in Florida. Any photog out there knows the fun we endure just to get that shot! This was a peace of cake, but I know we all have that story of hanging off an edge…putting our life in danger…all for photography! Stay safe!

Talke Photography Settings:
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
Setting: Aperture Mode
Focal Length: 22.0 mm
ISO: 200
Exposure: 1.3 seconds
Aperture: f/22.0
Gear: Tripod
Post Process: Adobe CS5, Silver Efex Pro, Photo Tools 2.6

Cocoa Beach, Florida – Pier – Long Exposure

I had some fun taking this long exposure shot at the pier in Cocoa Beach, Florida.  It was a nice late afternoon..I arrived around 5 Pm to get some sunset pics.  It was still a bit sunny and I decided to throw my B&W ND #106 1.8-64X on my lens.  I must admit, I rarely think to put a filter on a lens these days due to the options available in Photoshop and plug-ins.  I fas as I know…there is no plug-in that can create the water motion effect.  Long exposures become easier with the right filter on.   I have only taken a handful of shots using this filter…but always love the effect it creates!   Check out B&W website to find a filter that you may like!

These type of shots always look great in black & white…I processed it using my new Silver Efex Pro 2.  Once I get more time with the software…let ya know how it is!

Talke Photography Settings:

• Camera:  Nikon D300
• Lens: Nikon 18-200 f/3.5-5.6
• Setting: Manual Mode
• Filter: B&W ND #106 1.8-64X
• Focal Length: 60.0mm
• ISO: 200
• Exposure:  10 seconds
• Aperture:  f/22
• Gear:  Tripod
• Post Process: Adobe CS5, Silver Efex Pro 2

Point Lobos, CA – (ND Filter)

I have traveled to San Francisco many many times as I have a few top customers in the area.  I have shot around the city tons and had an idea to stay the might before I was leaving in lovely Monterey.  I sent my buddy Horace Kwan (Horace Kwan Photography) an email about my plans and he joined me for a late afternoon drive down the Northern California coast south of Monterey.  This was my first drive down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) up north.  One word….UNREAL!! It was a perfect day!!!   Clouds, blue sky and amazing blue water!!  We drove about 35 miles down the coast and stopped nearly at every overlook.   Took us a few hours, but all worth it.  We witnessed some stunning coastal scenes.  A cruise I hope to re-visit again one day!!!

I’ll post my first HDR this Saturday and another next week.   This was from Point Lobos (only 10 minutes south of Monterey).  It was taken on our way back and the clouds arrived at sunset and blocked our chance for great shots.  It was a chance to give my Neutral Density Filter another try!   Whew…a learning curve indeed!   I took about 10 shots to get this one.   As it is a 6 stop filter…it is very dark.  Auto focus is possible, but as lighting gets lower it may not work…manual may be the only option.   So I was able to focus on the rocks and standard settings were thrown out the window.  The black spots on the rock are birds relaxing for the night.   Many long exposures look great in B&W..so I converted it in Silver Efex Pro….very cool!   Practice makes perfect with this ND Filter.   Its a nice photographic challenge!

Talke Photography Settings:

• Camera:  Nikon D300
• Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
• Setting: Manual Mode
• Filter: B&W ND #106 1.8-64X
• Focal Length: 24.0mm
• ISO: 200
• Exposure:  10 seconds
• Aperture:  f/22
• Gear:  Tripod
• Post Process: Adobe CS4, Viveza, Silver Efex Pro

Heidelberg, Germany – Neutral Density Filter

I just arrived back this weekend from a week in Germany.  Added a few pounds due to the great beers!  LOL  Summer in Germany is wonderful!  But for landscape photography it is tough!  Sunrise is 5 AM and sunset is 10 PM!  Whew…a bit early and late!  I was in Frankfurt most of the week working and met up with my good friend Chris from JosSchneider Optische Werke GmbH.  He was kind of enough to give me a gift this day.  For anyone that knows filters….Schneider is B&W Filters (the world’s leading manufacturer of filters).  They have tons of filters for any of your camera needs!!

The amazing ND Filter Chris gave me was the 77mm ND #106  1.8-64x.  Thanks so much Chris!!   Info on this filter is here…

This B+W Neutral Density Filter reduces the light by six f-stops. With this filter and without changing the f-stop, a shutter speed of 1/60 s is changed to a full second, thus requiring the use of a tripod. Flowing water is rendered as flowing in the photo, and people moving in streets are dissolved in unsharpness or become invisible. Because of its higher transmission in the red beyond 660 nm, this filter brings a slightly warm tone to color photographs. If this effect is undesirable, a B+W UV-/IR-Blocking Filter 486 in front of the neutral density filter (not behind it) remedies that situation. The filter factor is 64x.

So the challenge lies ahead for learning ND Filters!  As I was working most of the week…I had a little time to shoot.  But one evening we traveled to lovely and amazing Heidelberg!  (Thanks to Jim and Marianne for the heads up!)…such a cute little city!  I will post an HDR from here soon and go into details.  So as for the ND Filter…I knew the river was going to give me a chance to try it.  I set up on the river banks about 9:45 PM.  Just getting a little dark.  I took about 4 shots with varied exposures.  This one was my favorite.  Not bad, but I still have lots to learn!  I love the water motion it creates and how bright the scene is…when it was much darker in real time.

So I ask, anyone that has experience with ND Filters, please post any scoops for me and all of us to learn!  Any web sites or comments are welcome! Thanks for your help!

Talke Photography Settings:

• Camera:  Nikon D300
• Lens: Nikon 12-24 f/4.0
• Setting: Manual  Mode
• Filter: B&W ND #106 1.8-64X
• Focal Length: 24.0mm
• ISO: 100
• Exposure:  30 seconds
• Aperture:  f/4
• Gear:  Tripod
• Post Process: Adobe CS4 & CS5, Viveza

Prague, Czech Republic – Charles Bridge Tower (HDR)

Prague rules!   I visited this past year and my main target was the Charles Bridge.  As it was offseason, it was under construction and not so great for photos.  So what to do?  Take a photo of one of the towers!  Throw in HDR and B&W and here it is!    I cannot wait to go back to Prague again this year!   A beautifully amazing old city with many sights to see!    Even this old tower looks cool!  Praha is a favorite of mine….and hopefully one for all to explore in their life time!

Talke Photography Settings:

• Camera:  Nikon D300
• Lens: Nikon 18-200 VR f/3.5-5.6
• Setting: Aperture Mode
• Focal Length:  22.0mm
• ISO: 200
• Exposure:  5 exposures (+2 to -2)
• Aperture:  f/4.0
• Gear:  Tripod, Cable release
• Post Process: Adobe CS4, Viveza, Photmatix, Silver Efex Pro