best of the best

http://photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=587684

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4095131

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=4125044

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http://photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=1353935

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ND filters .... Extract form popphoto

Neutral Density 101
Our eyes (and brains) are amazing -- they can look at a landscape and see a color-dense, spectacular sky and detailed, intricately-shadowed land, all at once. Our cameras…not so much.
That's where the split neutral-density filter comes in. It's typically a square piece of glass that fits into a holder that in turn fits in front of the lens. Half of it is dark. The simple genius: It cuts the exposure on top (or, for that matter, the bottom or the side), so you can take one picture that gets the light right for the whole scene.
When you're looking at a distinct horizon, you'll want one that has a relatively sharp line between darkened and clear (a hard-edge filter). When you're looking at a scene where the brightness fades, you'll want a soft (graduated) filter. If the sky is on the bright side, try one where the dark half is 3 stops dimmer than the clear half. If the sun is lower, try your 2-stop. The rest is nuance.

How to Meter
There are two ways to figure out which filter you need: Trial-and-error or measuring the light. Either way, first set your camera to manual mode, then meter for the dark parts of your image -- usually the ground.
If you want to eyeball it, put on your 3-stop filter, take a shot, and check your LCD. If you're losing too much sky, or if it's unnaturally dark, switch to the 2-stop.
For precision, meter for the sky, determine how many f-stops brighter it is than the ground, then pick the corresponding filter.
When to Use Software
Getting your photo right with filters will save you a lot of time, but there are times when you'll need additional help from Photoshop. In the shot on the previous page, a big sea stack intersected the line where the filter transitioned from dark to light. Not even a soft graduation helped.
Adamus solved the problem by shooting the scene twice, with and without the graduated neutral-density filter. Then he combined the shots in Photoshop to create exactly the image he envisioned when he saw the scene. Here's how you can do the same thing: Click here for the steps.
Marc Adamus proves that it can actually be easier to make bright, sharp, dramatic landscapes in the camera with a split neutral-density filter. Who would have thought that -- with occasional aid from Photoshop -- making something so beautiful could be so simple?

One of the greatest photographers.... Marc Adamus.

He is probably the best landscape photographer i have ever seen... He is Marc Adamus.

I have taken extracts of what he says about himself and his work. Do check his webpage...
http://photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=1353935&include=all



I am a professional landscape photographer based in Corvallis Oregon. My photographs have been published extensively worldwide in a large variety of media such as calendars, magazines, books, ect. Recent work has appeared in Outdoor Photographer, Digital Photo, Popular Photography, Unique Image, Digital Photo Pro and Photo Media magazines. My photography comes from a life-long passion for wilderness adventure. Presently I spend much of my year traveling and shooting various projects around the Northwest region. My style is one of big, bold, dramatic and dynamic images utilizing wide angles and amazing light. I will stop at nothing to capture an image that defines a place at it's most magical moment. I totally emmerse myself in the landscape and often camp in the wilderness locations I photograph. Galen Rowell and Art Wolfe are two of my idols. I no longer accept ratings on my new work but am always glad to hear constructive feedback.




I see landscape photography as a treasure hunt. I spend countless hours traveling, researching, scouting and returning again and again to places so I might capture them at the most magical moment. This, "appeal to everyone" style is my chosen one (though you can never really appeal to everyone). This style, regardless of whether it appeals to everyone, IS one that embodies my soul desire, the love of my life, the wilderness. "Everyone knows how to make an asthetic landscape" but few put out the life-long efforts to capture the shot. The defining shot from a particular location. That's what I'm after. It can be found anywhere at any time but to truly be a defining shot for me, it must portray a sense of the place. I try to include as many elements as I can and offer a dynamic photograph that provides that multi-dimensional sense of place. The abstracts, the "risky" shots and the unusual rarely fullfill my desire to capture a grand sense of place found in traditional landscape photography. And of course, as a pro photographer it is somewhat important for me to create images that have a broad appeal. I believe my portfolio here shows off tremendous diversity, even if working primarily within a favored style, as most photographers develop. From deserts to oceans, B&W and color, the surreal and artistic like "Transformation", the direct and immediate like "Towards Heaven", the traditional wide angle like "Crater Lake" and I work in any light - not just the magic hour - like my rainforest and canyon images. It's about beautiful landscapes and sense of place. These images, hopefully, immediately connect with viewers, the public (non-photographer) especially. But I never tire of them. The new images you mention are not disimilar to my collection of dramatic images. As in all my work, I seek only to take advantage of the landscape and show it off the best way I can keeping asthetic appeal and dynamic sense of place in mind. I can never say when that magic moment will come, whether it be the intense and dramatic, the subtle or the intimate I simply try to work with what I've been given the best I can.





see the link.


http://photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=1353935&include=all





Galen isn't around today so there is absolutely no reason to assume what his opinions on post processing would be. I believed the same things as him back in 02', as did many of his closest friends, who have since turned to more artistic interpretations of nature. Times change, people change, we use the tools available, this is all art. I may heavily manipulate an image to get them to look much more natural than a strong grad-line across a horizon.
WHAT I DO IN PHOTOSHOP - Balance exposures and render an accurate dynamic range of exposure throughout, using any techniques available, prefering grad ND's but I won't rule out dodge/burn, curves, layer masks, blends, etc. I correct and/or enhance colors and contrasts, just like any over-saturated slide film. I correct perspective distortion from wide angles, straiten horizons, etc. I dodge/burn for artistic reasons, much like what has been done for an eternity in the B&W darkroom.
WHAT I DO NOT DO IN PS - Add or remove significant elements of subject matter, such as replacing a sky that wasn't there, or cloning or removing major features that would noticeably impact the image. I don't do composites unless it is necessary to control dynamic range of exposure - very rare IMO.
Bierstadt - yes, I've heard of him. I have his book Art and Enterprize. He's definitely an influence on my artistic preferences. The "Painterly" look to some of these images is a direct result of the combination of extreme dynamic range (few true blacks or whites, except in my old Velvia images) and traditional dodge/burn techniques. We have the tools available now to make images much more in the style of painters, who see no limiting factors such as limited range of exposure. The best digital images today are looking less and less like their film counterparts of old, and will undoubtably continue to do so. Manipulations can be used every bit as much to bring the image closer to what we see with our eyes





if you honestly believe landscape photography has or will or should ever be 100% faithful to the subject matter at hand, I'm afraid you are mistaken. Ansel Adams' images were anything but a faithful representation of nature, same with every great landscape artist in at least some respect. Landscape photography is NEVER totally reportage. This isn't journalism - this is far from it, and even journalists distort the scene in ways we could have never seen without a lens. Where do you draw the line, anyway? The green bothers you, but why not the blurred water? Would the enhanced greens bother you if you were looking at an unaltered Velvia slide? This is art, Fred. Art with a unique relationship to nature, perhaps, but it's very interpretive. The landscape has always been interpreted by great photographers, not documented. My images are based in reality, but I make no claims to document reality alone. Ever see a Velvia image? Dodging, burning in the B&W darkroom? A hard grad filter and a bright foreground? I could go on and on and on....this isn't about a perfect replication of nature, and you should NEVER expect to see a particular scene exactly as a photographer has portrayed it. But by the way, it really IS that green.
I produce 'wow' over and over again in my shots? Man, I should hope so! I mean, if I didn't, why would anyone look? Why would I photograph for that matter? What Michael talks about is diversification and refinement of ones style. A different type of 'wow', if you will. My images evoke a range of emotion - as landscapes go, and this is important. Some are lonely, others are dramatic, some are peaceful, etc. Just like anything in life. The key, of course, is to generate emotion. Without that......what?

Football........

In australia, football is not football, people call it soccer. An there are not many soccer fans. Here Football is a different game, it is footy.The rules are different. The ground is circular. In fact its a cricket ground. You can throw the ball, but you have to hold it in left hand and hit with the right.Or you can kick the ball. The ball is like rugby ball.

The game is so big here that there are different clubs just like europe and they have AFL which is Australian footy league. The tournament (league) takes place in september and then the season ends. Then start the cricket season. In fact, for 6 months they have footy season and the remaining 6 months is Cricket season..... on the same grounds.The play the footy on the famous MCG.

The game is meant for the big boys only. The smallest footy player stands 6 feet tall. They can push with shoulders but are not allowed to use hands. There are a lot of injuries as well. There is no goal post like soccer, but there are 4 poles for each side. If the ball is hit between the two poles in the middle then you score 6 points. If the footy goes between the two left most or right most poles then you get 1 point.... and thats how they score it. there are four halfs in the entire match.

Its a very interesting game once you know how they play it.

This just tells the story of how they drive in Australia.

I have not seen a single Mama on the streets here. (Traffic Police).

If you break a signal automatically camera flashes and it sends ur details to the police. When you are at a round-about where there is no signal... always the veicle on the right hand side has the right of the way. ie he gets the priority.... and people on the left hand side THEY REALLY WAIT. The speed limit on most of the streets is 100km, and on smaller roads if it is different, it is mentioned.

Yesterday I saw and participated' in the first accident that took place on australian streets. My cousin was driving and we were going pretty slow and the traffic was bumper to bumper. We were looking outiside at the Porsche's and BMW's and Merc's and Lexus's and..... and suddenly he put his right foot on the break.. but too late.

We had already hit an old BMW. There was a lady inside. She immidiately turned the car on the left and parked it. So did we. She walked out and almost ran towards our car. I thought now Sandeep (my cousin) is going to get a tight slaps with some nice words as a bonus. What happened later is a real surprise.

She came, looked inside our car, and said.... 'Sorry, are you alright'. I was about to faint.

Sandeep told her he was fine. She said 'Lets Exchange'. Then both the drivers took out their liscences and exchanged details about addresses, phone numbers and car numbers. And thats all. She went off and so did we. I came to know that we now just contact the insurance people and then the insurance companies solve the matter between themselves. There is no need to argue about who's fault it is, and no swearing at all.



Thats a real cool experience.....

Reached australia on the 25th.
This is one very huge country.
Takes ages for the plane to reach melbourne after it enters the australian continent through the north western deserts.
The roads here are huge. The city is well connected with ring roads and highways around it.
These roads have upto 4 lanes on each side. The cars follow all the rules set by the government.
Nobody seems to be in any kind of hurry. Nobody honks or shouts on the road. All of them drive through the lanes.
There are a lot of malls around the city. these shopping centers are so big that you can spend entire day just to have a look around. The people here seem friendly.
The houses are mostly made up of bricks from outside and wooden partitions from inside.
This wooden partitions make the rooms.

Melbourne is regarded as the sporting capital of australia.
The famous MCG is here in melbourne. The city also hosts the F1 in australia.
The city also takes pride in organising the Premiership football league. This is the game of footie, which is different than football and rugby and is played only in australia.

rest all later...

Bird photography !!!

There are a lot of things which make bird photography very interesting, apart from studying the birds with all the scientific names an all.

Firstly most of the birds are very shy. They will run away from you if you distract them or pose danger. So it is necessary to be quiet and calm in your shooting.

Also one needs to understand when and where a particular bird can be found. What is the period of migration, what is the period of nesting etc. Patience is the key factor necessary for bird photography.

A lot of times i have spent hours running after or wating for a bird, and still i dint get any shot. Sometimes when you do get a shot, the background is of the same colour, the bird is sitting in the opposite direction, the light is not enough, you dont have a faster lens, or there is just not enough reach in terms of focal length.

Light is a big problem in 2 ways.

1. A lot of small birds like to hide in trees, under shadows, where the light is very low.

2. When you are shooting a flying bird, you need faster shutter speeds. To do so ... you need light.

Lets talk about focal length now.

There are a number of zoom lenses around in the range of 70-300mm from almost all manufacturers like Olympus, canon , nikon , sigma. These give good enough reach to start off with bird photography. But the quality of these zooms is not great. Also at their longer ends they are very slow. Also my experience tells me any lens in this range should be used 1-2 stops slower to get the sharpest quality. If you do this you get even slower shutter speed.

Now if you say you want fast and long primes. Well you will definitely get these. But then you might as well go an buy A car instead of that money. 600 f4 or 400 f2.8 are erally really costly.

What I have done to counter this is as follows. I bought an olympus E500. This camera gives me a 2x factor for every lens. That means a 100mm lens will give me an image as big as a 200mm on 35mm camera. I will explain this concept in my later writings. I also took a 40-150 lens which gives me a focal length of 80-300mm on a 35mm camera. This is a very fine lens, and its a bargain for the price. I also bought a used 300mm f4.5 OM Zuiko lens for about 10k. This is can be used on any olympus camera with an adapter. This is a moderately fast prime lens and it gives me a focal length of about 600mm at f4.5.

But after you spend a lot of money , a lot of time, and a lot of efforts and then when you get one good shot, do let me know how happy you are.

I am a spiderman

This is a small spider which is normally found in India. He is so quick, it was really difficult to shot him. I took around 10 shots. He was almost 1 cm long. In this shot he was trying to scare me. See his hands. He was walking on a wall when I shot this one.

Intro

Hi,

This is Adwait Kulkarni.
I am still new to this concept of blogging.
Lets see how good this works out for me....

The bigma 50-500 http://www.kevin-bates.com/wildaboutphotography/Birds/index.html

Adwait: all my good pics here.http://www.flickr.com/photos/adwaitkulkarni/

Cheap ways of using light !!! http://ifakedit.com/log/guides/small-budget-photograhpy/

Adwait: http://tcc.itc.it/people/rocchi/fun/europe.html

Adwait: http://www.nicobastone.com/BN04.htm

Adwait: http://www.canon.com/unep-photo/en/past_work/index.html

these are some photos taken by my friend Sudeep.
http://orientalbirdimages.org/photographers.php?p=4&action=birderimages&Bird_Image_ID=19048&Birder_ID=327