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Oooooh I’ve just eaten a huge stir-fry with friends and am quite satisfied if I do say so myself. This is of course the River Liffey, the main (and only) river flowing through the wonderful city of Dublin. I had intended finishing the time-lapse video that it seems I will never finish but it was just too cold for me to bother, so I took this instead. There is a bit of noise in the water – I’ve never played around with noise reduction software but I’ll get onto that soon.
Camera Settings (1 NEF file)
- Aperture: f/9
- ISO: 200
- Lens: 18-200@18mmmm
- Shutter Speed: 30s
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, Tone Mapped, Photography, Dublin, River, Liffey, Water, Lights, Long Exposure
I’ve intentionally overdone it with the tonemapping here to keep in line with the ghostly theme of today’s image. This was taken minutes after that douchebag on top of the Arc de Triomphe informed me of the idiot rule that tripods were not allowed when taking shot from up there!
The two in the background that are strangely not moving are two friends posing for the shot 
Camera Settings (1 NEF file)
- Aperture: f/9
- ISO: 640
- Lens: 18-200 @18mm
- Shutter Speed: 1.3s
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, Tone Mapped, Photography, Ghosts, Subway, Tunnel, Underground
On my last night in Paris I was all dressed up like an inexperienced and totally obvious P.I. – long leather jacket, upturned collar, big camera. I felt good though; it was Paris and in strange lands you get to play anyone you want. Right after I took this the Eiffel Tower illuminated in an array of amazing lights – apperrently it does this every night.(?) No one around seemed interested although my head nearly exploded with the excitement.
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, HDR, Photography, projectvisual, Paris, river, seine, traffic, night time, eiffel tower, foggy, dark, water, cars, vehicles
As I walked slowly down the Champs-Elysees towards one of Paris’s crowning jewels; the Arc de Triomphe, I wondered just how incredible the view would be. I knew luggin my idiot tripod all over Paris would surely pay off now. Myself and some friends climbed the spiralling steps to the top, emerging into a scence of light an colour – the Champs-Elysees stretched out below on one side, the Eiffel Tower on another. I quickly set up my tripod and attached my D300, ready to take some seriously cool shots. However some douchebag security dick had other ideas…
Aparently you are not alowed to use tripods when photographing from the top of the Arc de Triomphe!! The reason? Tripods are deemed professional pieces of equipment and so you pictures will be TOO GOOD!! I’ standing there with a D300 (which I have a fair grasp of its many functions) and a crappy €20 rickedy tripod, and it’s the tripod that is forbidden for fear of good photos!!
Needless to say I was irked. The few shots I took were handheld, including this one. The shutter speed was 1.3 seconds – not bad!
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, HDR, Photography, projectvisual, Paris, night time, night photography, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Elysees, douchebag
Not a HDR photo today but different none the less. Without doubt one of the highlights of Paris was walking along the Champs-Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe. This is one of the few shots I shoot with my D300 attached to my rather flimsy but protable tripod. The entire street is flooded with lights after dusk all year around and the view from the top of the Triomphe is something that must be seen to be believed – I’ll post that one tomorrow along with a frustrating tale of an authority stamping French douche…
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, HDR, Photography, projectvisual, paris, night time, long exposure, Arc de Triomphe, Champs-Élysées, light, flooded
This shot was taken the same day as A Sunset Peeking Through The World – it was taken on a bridge with plenty of traffic rumbling past so timing was crucial . Originally every shot I took was coming out really under-exposed, until I realised the camera was set to manual and shutter speed was at something like zero – so remember kids, check your settings 
Technorati Tags: Nikon, D300, HDR, night, night time, dublin, water, river, docks, lights, reflections,
I spent new years at a wedding in a hotel somewhere in Dublin (I got a group minibus and wasn’t asking directions!). I had brought my D300, just in case, and sure enough, once some drink took hold in the middle of the night I decided to wander around the hotel to see what I could find, even though it was pitch dark. Luck was with me though; the hotel was situated on the coast and across the water was a peninsula called Howth. It was alight with, well light, and balancing my Nikon on a rickety fence, took five exposures and came out with this very, very warm shot.
I’m not going to list of some words of wisdom – a picture is worth a thousand words and I’ve got three here! On the 12th November 2008 the moon was especially close to the Earth – closer than it had been in 15 years, and purely by chance I looked out one of my many windows to see it gleaming in the clear night sky. Immediately I grabbed my Nikon (sans tripod as it was in college at the time) and tried my luck leaning against objects, tightening the strap around my elbows, holding my breath etc. Naturally I had no such luck. The exposure times I needed were just too long, making it impossible to get a sharp image. Also zooming didn’t help! What could have been some really great shots were completely wasted, just look below to convince yourself – I’ve not included larger version since these are merely illustrative. The moral of this lecture is use your tripod whenever possible.
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Shutter Speed: 2s
- ISO: 800
- Lens: 18-200@130mm
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Shutter Speed: 2s
- ISO: 800
- Lens: 18-200@170mm
- Aperture: f/5.6
- Shutter Speed: 0.5s
- ISO: 1600
- Lens: 18-200@200mm
Technorati Tags: Nikon, tripod
