More Bicycles in the Snow

30 01 2009

I find this image much better than the previous two. I read somewhere that if you cannot explain why something is good, you cannot repeat it, and as a “head person” I tend to agree. So let me try and critique this image and see if I can put into words why I like it.

Bicycles in the Snow

Even though this image is somewhat abstract, it’s very clear that it is showing us two bicycles covered with snow.  So without giving it much thought, I called the image “Bicycles in Snow.”   But the main subject are clearly the three red lights.  Like in real life their strong color causes them to immediately stand out  and draw attention to themselves.  Here however they appear as cheerful spots of color and not in their typical warning function.  If you are so inclined, you could even interpret them as signs of life within an otherwise cold and colorless image.

(So we already have a literal and an abstract interpretation and then the juxtaposition of warning and cheerful.  That’s enough for me to call the image a keeper and give it three stars.)

Looking a bit longer I notice the interesting texture of the snow and the nice contrast to the black frame of the bicycles.  Also the strong lines leading upwards and to the right, thus strengthening the notion of cheerfulness and optimism.  But there is also an ellipse that starts with the bicycle frame of the right side, follows the handle bars to the left, and then continues down along the mud guard of the left bike.  And there, while traveling along the ellipse, our eyes meet the three red spots of color again — very nice!

I approached this scene with my wide-angle zoom attached to the camera.  I knew immediately that the angle-of-view is too wide, but my fingers were too frozen to change lenses, so I got in closer and took a few shots.  That caused too much exaggeration in the lower-left corner, so frozen fingers or not, I mounted my 50/1.8 and took one last shot.  While evaluating the images at home I was immediately drawn by the tight framing of last image.  That image has the further advantage of being shot with a prime lens of normal focal length, so it has tons of detail throughout.

(Which accounts for the forth and final star.  But I won’t give a fifth one because the image lacks strong impact and memorability.)

In terms of editing I didn’t do anything special.  Other than a very slight crop from the right, I cloned a piece of trash in the upper left, I strengthened the saturation of the red lights and desaturated the yellows completely (there was a yellow sticker of the left bike’s mud guard that was visible despite the snow).  All of this took about a minute in ACR.  I then opened the image in Photoshop and run two actions: one produced the preview above and the other the large image that appears after clicking on the preview.

Now tell me please, do I file this image under “places / Hamburg” or “transportation / bicycle” or “seasons / winter”?  :roll:





Bicycles in the Snow

28 01 2009

This morning, on my way to work, I suddenly noticed how beautiful everything appeared underneath the very light snow cover, so I pulled over immediately and snapped a few shots.  It was cold and wet out there and I was in a hurry, so it was really just a couple of shots, but I’ll show a few more later.

20090128_94456

20090128_94457

Since I’m still waiting for my compact camera to arrive, I took these with my larger kit.





Third Trip to India

25 01 2009

Woo-hoo — I just bought a ticket for my third trip to India!  I’ve been thinking of traveling to Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam this time, but because of my job the trip has to take place in March, and these countries are already too hot in March.  So I chose to pay tribute to India once again.  Since I was not able to inspire any of my friends to come along, I will be traveling alone, and it’s probably a good thing that I’ll be visiting a country that I know a little bit about.

20070326_83439

It must be my lucky day today because I found an inexpensive flight (412 €) and the dates are perfect (March 2–15).  I leave on a Monday, so I’ll have a weekend to pack and get ready.  I land in Delhi and after a day or so I plan to take the train to Agra.  I’ll probably spend two days in Agra, photographing Taj Mahal.  I will then travel to Jhansi by train and visit a very colorful village nearby called Orchha.  I’ve already been to Orchha, but only for 3 hours, and that was not nearly enough.

Woman with Child in Orchha

After Orchha I plan to travel to Varanasi, where I will probably spend a week.  This oldest and holiest of Hindu cities has so much to offer, that a week shouldn’t be too long, and if all goes well, that week should end with the amazingly colorful celebration of Holi on March 11 and 12.

'Holi' Child in Udaipur

On the next day I’ll fly to Delhi, visit Jamia Masjid and the Red Fort, do some shopping, and very early on March 15 I’ll start the long journey back home.

Jamia Masjid, Delhi

I am quite excited.  Luckily I know a good bit about India already, the Indian embassy is located in Hamburg, and I have all recommended vaccinations.

The only thing that bothers me a bit is that lots of interesting things happen at the ghats in Varanasi before dawn and after dusk, and my Canon 30D does not have the AF or high-ISO capabilities to master these situaltions well.  I don’t imagine that anyone would lend or rent me a Canon 5D mark II and an EF 24-105/4 L for the duration of the trip, would they?  ;)





Going Compact

24 01 2009

OK, I admit it officially — I need a small camera that I can carry with me all the time.  I’ve known this fact for years, but since I want to keep life simple, till now I didn’t want to fumble with multiple cameras, batteries, chargers, different memory cards, etc.  I tried to solve the problem by vowing to carry my SLR and three lenses in a small bag with me as much as possible, but the vow remained a vow, and I’ve missed an large number of photo opportunities since.

Well then, the decision is made — I need a small camera and I need to carry it all the time.  But which model?  It seems there are thousands out there, and since I’ve never payed much attention to that segment, I had to look around for a while.  I read a number of reviews and I’ve now narrowed my list down to two cameras: Canon PowerShot SD880 IS (called Digital IXUS 870 IS in Germany) and Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 (luckily having the same name in Germany).  Why Canon uses a different names and numbers for the same camera in USA and Europe is beyond me, but it’s cofusing as hell!

canon_ixus_870_is

I came up with a list of priorities which helped me reduce the many choices down to these two compacts and which will now help me choose between the two.  Here is the list and the points that each camera scores for each criteria:

panasonic_lumix_dmc-lx3

Size and Weight

  • (max 6 points) both cameras are small, but the Panasonic is 37% larger and 36% heavier.  [Canon 6, Panasonic 3]

Image Quality

  • (max 4 points) zoom range.  The Ixus goes 28–105, and I consider 28mm a must.  Lumix offers 24–60, which is quite unusual and 24mm is very nice.  On the other hand, 60 mm is probably a bit too short.  [Canon 4, Panasonic 3]
  • (max 4 points) lens quality.  Canon seems to be good, Lumix with that Leica lens even better.  (Yes, I know about the hidden barrel distortion of the Lumix, but since it gets corrected automatically I’m not bothered by it).  [Canon 3, Panasonic 4]
  • (max 3 points) low-light capability.  Canon seems to be quite good, Lumix (for the first time) not far behind.  But Canon’s widest aperture is f/2.8–f/5.8 and Panasonic’s is f/2–f/2.8.  I’m going to assume that Canon is something like f/4 at 60 mm, so Panasonic has a one-stop advantage.  [Canon 2, Panasonic 3]
  • RAW capability (max 3 points) which I consider quite important.  Panasonic does it very nicely, Canon ain’t got it.  [Canon 0, Panasonic 3]

Price

  • (max 4 points) The Ixus is available for 250 € and the Lumix for 430 € at Amazon.  If this was to be my primary camera, I’d be willing to spend about 500 € on it.  For a backup camera I’d only be willing to spend about 250 €.  But I’m not looking for a backup camera here, so let’s say that 350 € is reasonable.  [Canon 5, Lumix 2]

Other Factors

  • (max 3 points) The Lumix has a metal case and supports three different aspect ratios with an optimal use of the sensor size.  The Ixus on the other hand has a built-in lens cap.  [Canon 1, Panasonic 3]

OK, let’s tally up and see who the winner is.  Drum roll, please!  The Ixus gathers 21 points and the Lumix gets 21 points too!!!  And what do I do now?!?!

I guess I need to visit a camera store and try out both cameras, take some test shots and decide based on those experiences…  I’ll keep you posted.

PS: Why on earth does anyone need 10 megapixel on a compact camera?!?  I will be much happier to pay the same amount of money for a camera with 5 megapixel only and thus with a much better low-light performance.





“Best of 2008″ Gallery Now Online

19 01 2009

Photographically 2007 was my best year ever.  My first trip to India, first framed prints, the explorations of pavement cracks, construction sites and short trips to several European cities led me to produce quite a few excellent images.  So it was quite natural to create a Best of 2007 photo gallery.

2008, on the other hand, was full of stress and I was rarely in a creative mood.  I did manage a handful of good images, but 11 of the 12 images below are from my second trip to India.  In a way I feel like 2008 does not deserve a best-of gallery, but in 2007 I vowed to keep the best-of-the-year project going for a long time, so here is my second installment.

best_of_2008