La Jolla Cove Sunset
One of favorite images of all time, its also one of my most popular on flickr. Just thought I’d add it to my blog.
Parisian Lamp
Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8L @ 28mm, f/9.0, ISO 200
This is another picture from that Gardens in La Jolla. While I was taking this shot, I noticed the lamp and I thought it was made out of marble or something of that sort so it would be a great HDR opportunity with all that extra texture. After taking my initial set of brackets I got closer to the lamp & composed for it with a slightly low point of view, to give it that standing huge feel, specially with a wide angle lens! To my disappointment it wasn’t made out of marble but some cheap plastic, can you tell?
The name? for some reason those lamps reminded me of Paris and all the Art Nouveau lamps on its streets like this one. Not quite the same in California now is it? 🙂
Coming to an end
Diptych: Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8L II @ (L: 35 mm, f/2.8, 1/ sec, ISO 200) (R: 24mm, f/11, ISO 200)
I believe the winter (if there is such a thing) in San Diego is over. Pretty soon this tree will be full of green & life.
This diptych is also a good example of when to use HDR & when not to use it. The image on the left didn’t really have such a wide dynamic range (the variance from brightest to darkest spot wasn’t drastic) so a single exposure did it for me. Compare that to the image on the right where the camera sensor couldn’t capture the full dynamic range with one exposure, I took 3 brackets [-2, 0, +2 EV] and produced an image that looks much closer to what our eye would’ve seen. Here is the single 0 EV exposure, look at all the details in the shadows that was lost but the HDR process was able to bring back, the trick is obviously not to overdo it to the point that it looks like a painting that has no highlights and shadows.
0 EV Exposure
Special Education
Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8L II @ 16 mm , f/16, ISO 200
Continuing with my series of shots from UCSD, this will probably be the best image I produce out of that photowalk. I still can’t believe that this what UCSD students have to deal with, its true that the scenery is gorgeous but lets be honest, I don’t think I could’ve passed anything if I had the ocean this close to me! Since I’m using a wide angle lens here the far looks a lot further than it really is, the beach was literally a 3 minute walk down. Needless to say its a great campus to just walk around on a beautiful day.
On more a technical side, I went with a really small aperture to emphasize the sunburst effect and keep most of my scene in focus.
Technical:
– 6 RAW Images [-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2 EV] merged into Photomatix 4
– Lightroom adjustments
– Topaz Adjust on the whole image and set opacity to 50%
– More Lightroom adjustments
No way out
Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8L II @ 16 mm, f/16, ISO 200
Believe it or not this is a dormitory for UCSD students in San Diego!! Yes they have a tough life over here, specially if you compare them to the dormitories in Toronto where I went to school. Lets just say there is no comparison!
I thought the tilt would add to the effect of being trapped, as if you are falling into a sinkhole… all lines seem to naturally lead your eye to the locked gate.
Technical:
– 6 RAW Images [-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2 EV] merged into Photomatix 4
– Adjustments in Lightroom
– Topaz Adjust on the whole image, brought down opacity to 50%
– More adjustments in Lightroom
Empty Gazebo
Its rare that this gazebo is empty at La Jolla, specially around sunset. I was lucky enough to have a few minutes to take these brackets because shortly after it got occupied as it always does
Technical:
– 3 Handheld RAW images [-2,0,+2 EV] processed in Photomatix 4
– Topaz Adjust was applied to the entire image
– Noise removal was applied to the whole image
– Minor adjustments in Lightroom
The climb up
Canon EOS 5D MkII, EF 16-35 f/2.8 L @ 16mm, f/11, ISO 200
– 6 RAW Images [-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2 EV] merged in Photomatix
– Adjustments in Lightroom
– Free Transform in PS to fix some of the lens distortion
– Crop back in Lightroom
Catch me if you can
Canon EOS 5D Mk II, EF 16-35 f/2.8L @ 16 mm, f/8, ISO 100
A clear day in San Diego where visibility seemed endless. I just thought it was really neat how the bridge looks as if its leading you into the Pacific.
– 6 RAW Images [-3,-2,-1,0,+1,+2 EV] merged in Photomatix
– Healing and slight adjustments in Lightroom
– Nik Software ColorEfex filter applied
2 Rivers Photos 
