Why applying high contrast on flat photograph?

Most telephoto shooting in cloudy and hazy conditions tends to result in flat expression. The above photograph provides a flat expression due to inappropriate lighting condition that day, hence creating a depth less image. Usually, most photographers will just discard the photograph and move on. But what if you can revitalise the flat photograph into life by giving a high contrast style which can look like an oil painting? This is what I have done to it below.

How to stitch photos to create your own panorama photo using Photoshop

Ever wanted to remember the view of a particular location? Well, most of us always took photograph of what we focus on and forgot the environment that we are in. That is why panorama photograph is applied to capture the environment. I have actually included some panorama photographs for everyone to have a feel of why it is good to know how to stitch photographs together for a panorama photograph.

Omaha Beach

Omaha is currently a striving town. It has an excellent beach that is catering hundreds of aucklanders each weekend. Don’t get confuse with the D-day landing zone in France, this is the southern hemisphere Omaha beach on the north island of New Zealand. It is a rural escape and a beach paradise for northern aucklanders. No wonder, everyone is invading this Omaha Beach now. Currently, it is a R-day or the Rich-day landing zone in New Zealand for the rich.

Viewing the brightest star in the universe

Sorry, I have been busy lately. I will always keep this blog going with photographs and some photography related articles. I just have to juggle my time between everything. Oh, oh. Do you love the sun? I do miss the sun alot during the winter season and this is the photo on my desktop to cheer my day.

Share your favourite scenic pictures of New Zealand and be in to win

Great! There is a photography competition in New Zealand posted on NZHerald, but what is the catch for photographers? You need to either be a New Zealand resident or citizen in order to participate in it. At least that is the first criteria that I noticed before reading the rest of the terms and conditions. If anyone is more interested to read on their terms and conditions, the link is attached here (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/promotions/news/article.cfm?c_id=500848&objectid=10653870).

Hold on!!! I just noticed the second bullet of the terms and conditions. As a photographer, you own the copyrights of your work but the promoter has the rights to freely use your work in its online and print publications? It means that if I submitted my work for this competition, I am giving the promoter the publishing rights to the submitted photograph. Even if I am not selected to be the winner or runners-up to get any of the prizes, I might still see my photograph used in their advertisements for free.

Driving in Fog

Driving in and through the fog is a common task for every motorists in New Zealand, especially during the winter season. Well, this is probably the main reason why I have slowed down my blogging. Getting a good photo in a foggy landscape when you can hardly see a distance away is challenging. At least it is very challenging for me to create any artistic or interesting topic for my readers.

Merging Portrait and Landscape

Let’s just say that you found very beautiful scenery and you decided to take a photograph of it. How many of us have found that our scenery shot is plain and flat? Well, most of us did. Allow me to demonstrate it to you with the photograph above, taken yesterday under the usual New Zealand’s "Rain, rain, go away" scenario of extreme winter weather in Auckland region.

What do you think of the photograph above? That’s the Orewa beach in New Zealand. It is a very magnificent beach view from the hill, but the photograph turns out to flat and boring. How can we improve a landscape photograph? Well, by merging both the portrait and landscape photography technique in having a subject within the frame can creates a much depth full photograph. And this is what happens when you have a subject within a landscape photograph below.

Praying Mantis Model

 

Oh guys, if you have been following my blog, you should discovered that this is my second praying mantis blog post. Some may ask on why I do a second praying mantis blog post again. The reason is simple. This wild praying mantis came back to me for a second photo shooting session and what do all good photographers out there would usually do? We will never say no to a keen model.

Bugger off, bug

I was strolling in the forest until I actually discovered the skin of this insect. Interesting though, I have spent about a month to research about the insect using the photo taken. Of course, the bug has bugger off into something different after abandoning its skin and there isn’t any insect image database out there to provide an easier identification of the insect.

Lama or Llama?

Is it a sheep? No, is it a camel? No, it is a Llama. “Llamas are very social animals and like to live with other llamas as a herd. Overall, the fiber produced by a llama is very soft and is naturally lanolin free. Llamas are intelligent and can learn simple tasks after a few repetitions. When using a pack, llamas can carry about 25% to 30% of their body weight for several miles.” I bet you will be thinking what a pack means, just imagine a porter job that is performed by donkeys.

Hedgehog, A Land Urchin

Today, I am walking down the track in a park when I saw Mr Spiky. Mr Spiky is a hedgehog from New Zealand unlike the Japanese and American counterparts. He might be a distant relative of SEGA, Sonic the hedgehog.  Most likely they were introduced into New Zealand to perform pest control job and they are not known to be native animal. It seems that they have some nasty diet for the job. Basically, they are generally insect eater but they can sometimes go quite extreme with diet such as frog, slug, snail and snake.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Heard of “Baa Baa Black Sheep”? Guess almost everyone heard of this English nursery rhyme when they were young, I would assume. Of course, I don’t really know what our younger generation is being taught in school at the moment. That is because neither I have any children nor a teacher yet.

Cattle Confusion

Who says cow should be having black or brown spots on a white background design? Oh well, you should know what I mean and what I am trying to describe here. It is still the fundamental impression of a cow when we were young. Or should we say that was how we were taught in school? Remember that commercial advertisement about the Fernleaf milk powder which always broadcast in Singapore when we were young? Remember about the commercial showcasing a herd of black or brown spotted cows from New Zealand? While, of course, not to forget about their amazing comparison of the cow’s population against the population of Singapore? In fact, I still think the cow’s population statistic is true fact, even as Singapore is making its mark towards 6 millions in a tiny island.

Ostrich Mayhem

Sir, I am ringing 111 for assistances. I am being attacked and this is the criminal that is attempting to assault my Canon DSLR camera. As I lodge my report, I have already taken the culprit’s front and side photo of his facial appearance for archiving into the criminal record database. The criminal can be extremely violent at times and will attempt to use its strong beak as a weapon. Please be advised to pursue with caution.

Lake Rotorua

My stay near Lake Rotorua is amazing. Strolling along the lake circumference is a breathtaking view. The lake was naturally formed by volcanic activity and the surroundings beauty will just blew any tourist’s mind away. Some would ask surely there is more to do than strolling along the lake. Yes, you are right. After all, Lake Rotorua isn’t that boring as it seems.

Kuirau Park

Did you ever dream of having a thermal pool behind your backyard? Well, I still prefer a Jacuzzi tub instead. After witnessing the aftermath of the earth opening up in this park in 2001, one will be amaze of having an natural explosion at their backyard. You surely need to have a property insurance coverage for natural disaster but most people just did not expect the unexpected to be in their backyard. Who would have thought of that?

Martha Mine

Today I will introduce everyone to an amazing hole in Waihi. It is the Martha mine. The mine has a very long history from the discoverer John McCombie, dated back in 1878 to the current enterprise, Newmont.

Shakespear Regional Park

Showcasing the art of Shakespear Regional Park, named after one of the land lord dated in 1883s. The current profound landscape beauty of Shakespear was once a Maori land that transition into a farm land during 1883. Since then, it eventually became into Shakespear Regional Park which is part of the Auckland Regional Park governed by Auckland Regional Council.

Hunua Ranges Regional Park

Hunua Ranges Regional Park is probably best described with the above photo of Hunua Fall within the Hunua Ranges. It is still a very popular picnic spot for Aucklanders to park their vehicle and enjoy a short walk toward the waterfall. In order to explore the entire Hunua Ranges, visitor requires good physical fitness and enjoys Auckland's largest forested landscape that is made up of more than 14000 hectares of forestry.

Piha Beach

Piha is one of Auckland's most famous west coast black sand beaches which are rich in iron composition due to their volcanic origin. Piha is part of the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park that is a popular spot for swimmers, surfers and sun bathers. Yes, you got to know this west coast black sand beaches beauty to be an Aucklander.

Muriwai Regional Park

This is one of the most beautiful beach in Auckland and  it is call Muriwai. If those gannet birds can build a home on the Muriwai cliffs with a multi-million dollar sea view out of there, who would think otherwise on the beauty of this location? This is definitely a must visit location for bird watchers, surfers and beach lovers. Not drinkers, the crown beach has an alcohol ban on it. Sorry for those who loves to feel be abit high in beautiful places, this is not the place for you. I think the toilet is around the corner for those who puke. ;op

Awhitu Regional Park

Once again, I decided to put on my Panoramio contributor hat for Google Earth and went out to places to take photos. Usually, I will do some research on Google Earth regarding the location of the place and finds that there is hardly any photos describing the place. Yeah, sounds like an adventure for my natural exploration instinct like Christopher Columbus. I began packing and set sail on the road with a car instead.

MacSpeech Dictate for every Mac bloggers

Having trouble with spellings and typing on your blog? I have just found the solution for myself now. Well, it is always everyone's dream to be sitting in front of the computer and telling what the computer should be doing. Of course, the current technology have not arrive to that extend yet. But we do have something similar for those easily tired fingers of yours and it does not cost you a bomb to own it now.

Getting right with the basic on Canon EOS Mode Dial

Let us take a brief look at the Canon EOS Mode Dial which provides us those photography functions. The Canon EOS Mode Dial is divided into 3 sections, Full Auto, Basic Zone modes and Creative Zone modes.

Duder Regional Park

I have actually decided to go out for a walk in this infamous New Zealand natural reserve. Of course, I bought along my Canon EOS 550D with me along and have uploaded a few nice photos to share with everyone. This is probably one of the best place in Auckland to get up close with farm life. Well, I actually went into this farm park to get so close to the animals that my shoes smell like an animal poop. You understand what I mean?

Monopod is the ideal digital compact camera photographer solution for traveller

Ever wonder how did some people manage to take a photo of themselves? Well, usually we  have a couple of choices out there.

1. 
   
   Extend our hand as far as possible to take photo with half of the face occupying the photo.
2. 
   
   Ask a stranger to actually help us to take a good photo of ourselves and trust the stranger's photography skill.
3. 
   
   Mount the camera on a tripod, set the camera shot on a timer and make a quick dash into the picture.

How to submit Blogger RSS to Google Webmaster Tools as Sitemap

I have decided to actually submit my a Sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools today. Although, this got nothing to do with photography on this blog but I have decided to post it up to help others.

How to use the Extended Picture Style with Digital Photo Professional

Demystifying the Picture Style and Extended Picture Style

Alright, some people actually think that the Picture Style and Extended Picture Style are for JPG/JPEG photographer. Sorry, to break the bad news for those people. The Picture Style and Extended Picture Style are meant to assist the photographer in bringing the best truthful colors in your photo.

If you have not downloaded the Extended Picture Style and understand what it can do for your photo. Please read my previous article about Canon Standard Picture Style and Extended Picture Style.

Canon Standard Picture Style and Extended Picture Style

Canon has always provided us in "selecting a Picture Style just as you would choose a film type." The basic Picture Style embedded in most DSLR are; Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful and Monochrome. What do we know about these Picture Style?

Before we begin the exploration on what Picture Style do to our photo, I will have to use a default photo and make a comparison of each Picture Style actually does to the photo. We will use the photo below as the original photo for comparison.

Using AF points on Evaluative metering mode

Canon camera has many AF points for you to take a dashing photo and this article display the simplicity of how to manually use the AF point to do the right job. You just need to select the appropriate AF point on the evaluative metering. Ensure that you have a red highlighted rectangle on the subject that you are focusing before you snap the dashing photo.

Rubber Duck Picture Story - Beginning of Ducky

Ducky: Hi! My name is Ducky. How are you?

Mantodea, Praying Mantis (Family of Mantidae)

"Mantodea or mantises is an order of insects that contains approximately 2,200 species in 9 families[1] worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae." The name praying mantis is commonly known because of the insect "praying-like" stance. Praying mantis is a predator insect which prey on small insects or grasshopper and it is known that they are able to camouflage by changing their color pigment.

Rosa, Rose (Family of Rosaceae)

Rose, the modern symbolization of “Love” and that is what most women think of or at least regard it as an appreciation of her. Well. In general, rose is not just meant for that. Rose can be tea and other edible form. Personally, I do not know who actually came up with the idea to market the rose idea to the women as a symbol of “Love”. Maybe, it is Mr Valentino. At least, I believe that in his era, rose should be bountiful due to its edibility. Rose might just be another cheap flower until now, just like diamond is now.

Piwakawaka, Fantail

"Apart from hiwaiwaka, tirairaka and tiwakawaka, there are sixteen other dialectal Maori names for the fantail, many of which denote the restlessness of this little bird." I am going to share with you on what I just shot. I mean in term of photographs, not a dead bird.