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Photomatix Pro (trial) HDR of Big White using 3 bracketed images I played with the trial version of Photomatix (you can see the watermarks in the image) again and produced an HDR image using three bracketed photos.  Older versions of the program required using jpegs, but version 7 could import the images directly from raw format.  If you compare the above shot to the other one I did (see this blog ), you will notice that the above image is more realistic in its appearance.   Photomatix allows you to pick the degree of surrealism desired.  I chose a high degree of surrealism for the image below - you can see how different it is below. Same image as above, only I used a different blending method to achieve the result. The surrealistic image certainly has a different feeling to it from the more naturalized one above it.  The sharp contrast and saturation appeal to me on an artistic level.  I redid the image to achieve a different effect by using the vibra...

Notice the watermark - I am using a trial version of Photomatix 7.  See below for the bracketing. Seven photos, ranging from +3 to -3 stops from central exposure.  Used HDR software to merge. HDR stands for high dynamic range.  Dynamic range is the spread between white and black, where highlights and shadows can no longer show detail.  Put another way, it is the number of stops a medium has where details can be captured between light and dark values.  At some point, highlights get blown out, where every value is blank, and shadows are expressed as pitch-black. Although modern sensors typically have dynamic ranges between 10 and 14, our eyes can capture differences up to 20 stops.  And that's just what we can see in real life; nature can produce values much greater than that (the brightness of the sun vs the darkest point in a cave).  The fact that a raw image can manage around 14 stops of detail in between highlights and shadows means that most of the ...

View of a junior run at Big White - I used my live histogram display to determine an exposure. I have been snowshoeing a few times, but never on trails quite this challenging.  Big White has several trails for snowshoers.  I was on four named trails that took me a distance of about 6 km.  Now, six km doesn't sound like a lot, but on snowshoes in deep snow, I was done in by the end. The fact that I am somewhat out of shape didn't help.  This fact was brought home to me when I fell sideways into a snowbank and found myself flailing about like a fish out of water.  It took the help of a kindly passerby to extricate me from the humiliating condition in which he found me.  I thought that safety was better than humiliation; besides, I was very tired at the time.  When I got out, I discovered that my snowshoes had managed to find the bottom of a stream.  Thankfully, I didn't get wet. I had hoped to get access to the top of the ski hill to take some photo...

What sorts of things hit airplane windows while flying? You've heard of bird strikes on planes - specifically on their engines causing engine failure and crashes.  But a question came to me - what sorts of things crash into airplane windows - especially those necessary for pilots?  I decided to look it up on the internet.  Here's what I found. Bird strikes are a major problem, not only for engines but for cockpit windows too.  Complete failure is uncommon due to their strong design, but any damage can cause depressurisation at high altitudes.  Fortunately, most bird strikes occur at low elevations. Although it is unlikely for insects to cause significant visual obstructions on pilot windows, they can foul up air speed indicators through building nests inside instrument intakes.  Mud daubers have been known to impair airspeed indicators this way. Hail is known to cause pitting and damage to aircraft, but modern design prevents it from being catastrophic....

Where's bear? - I did a series of photos where Bear was somewhere in the image. I have taught photography for over 30 years now.  I started with film and darkroom, then switched over to digital imaging sometime in the early 2000s.  One of the things I used to do was to have my students photograph "stuffies of some character" in a series of photographs telling a story.  It was always a highlight of the course, and I have to applaud many of the entries as being very well done.   Another thing I did was to take a small stuffed bear and photograph it in a variety of places.  The idea was to use the photos in an exhibition for children.  I have worked with kids for over 40 years and always like having interesting things to engage them.  I have Bear hidden in stores, outdoors, and in the street. I met a lady who travelled to Europe and brought a favourite stuffed toy with her.  She photographed it in numerous famous places with the idea of putting ...

Guisachan Heritage Park in Kelowna - Milk shed window, woodpecker holes, and nest. I visited and photographed some of the buildings at Guisachan Heritage Park today.  Given that my current blogs have been on window photos, I thought I would take some images of those very structures on my excursion.  I came across one that was particularly interesting in that it was nearby evidence of woodpecker activity. You can see just to the left of the above woodpecker nesting hole; there are two holes, likely created by woodpeckers in their bid to extract insects, that have been covered up with something like chicken wire.  This is a problem that some buildings with wooden exteriors have.  Woodpeckers can detect the presence of insects underneath bark or even further into the wood of the tree.  They detect would-be meals by hearing the insect activity, by sensing their vibrations, and by smelling them (albeit to a lesser extent). What's interesting is that the insects may n...