Time out before the rains

WHAT:
This is the pier at Shorncliffe, north of Brisbane City. Taken at about 3:30pm before a heavy downpouring of rain.

WHY
The Shorncliffe pier is a favourite hang-out of mine for both relaxing and for photography. It's always crawling with fishermen, walkers, joggers, cyclists and people like me.

This shot was one of my last for the day before I went home - I only took it on a whim and I'm glad I listened to my instincts as it was about the only one worth printing from the outing! I loved how the fading light was hitting parts of the white railings.

HOW
I hand-held my camera at eye-level to take 3 images at exposure values of (-2,0,+2). I stood in the centre of the pier. The man on the left was just walking into my frame and I swung the camera slightly to the left to include him in the image.

Captured using aperture priority, f8, shutter speed 1/640, ISO 200.

POST PRODUCTION
I used Photomatix to combine and tonemap the three images taken at the pier. Because the man on the left was walking as I took my three shots, he initially had a pretty awful 'ghosting' effect. I decided to re-create my HDR image and selected the 'attempt to reduce ghosting artifacts' option. This resulted in the man being nicely frozen in time without any noticeable ghosting effect.

After I'd played around with the various levels in Photomatix, I then opened the image in photoshop. I then increased the vibrance, contrast and clarity levels to really bring out the clouds and subtle differences in the grain of the wood in the pier.

Abandoned train tunnel

WHAT

This location is an old abandoned train tunnel at the town of Mooloolah (about 1 hr north of Brisbane City). The tunnel was part of the original railway linking Brisbane and Gympie but fell into disuse in 1931. It's now part of the Dularcha National Park.

The tunnel is constructed of concrete and is quite spooky - it's dark, damp, has a resident bat colony and a massive echo effect.

WHY

I'd been to this tunnel a few weeks prior to taking this shot but failed to take multiple exposure shots on that first visit. This time, I returned with a friend (as I said, it's very spooky!) and took multiple exposure shots at -2,0+2 for HDR processing.

Prior to getting this particular shot, I had been taking photos a little way inside the entrance to the tunnel looking straight ahead to the opposite end. When I reviewed them, I discovered they just weren't all that interesting - yes, there was an old tunnel and yes, there was a light at the end of it...but that was about all.

I looked around for further inspiration and saw the arch-way (seen on the left of the image) further down the tunnel. So I picked up my tripod and marched myself further into the darkness and positioned the camera off to the right hand side and pointed it at the arch-way.

This new position resulted in light from the entrance behind me being cast onto one side of the arch-way, breaking up the monotony of the dark tunnel walls. Overall, a more interesting photo I thought.

HOW

Once in position, I set the camera to take 3 bracketed shots at -2,0,+2 exposures whilst in aperture priorty mode. I used a remote cable shutter and a tripod to ensure the camera was completely still.

POST PRODUCTION

Once home (and no longer in fear of being bitten by a bat on the back of my neck), I imported and tonemapped the three shots using photomatix to produce an HDR image. In photoshop, I then made slight adjustments to the contrast to really bring out the differences in the light/shadow areas.

The tree at Brighton

WHAT
This tree is located at the southern end of the Hornibrook bridge, Brighton. (About 40mins north of Brisbane). I took this photo at low tide and about 45 mins before sunset.

WHY
My husband took a beautiful photograph of this same tree about 4 years ago and I have always loved the image of the lone tree with the rocks in front of it. At the time, I'd just started getting into HDR and I wanted to try it out on this tree.

HOW
I set up my tripod in the soft sand directly in front of the tree at eyelevel. There were a few other mangrove type plants very close to my location, so I was careful to exclude them from my frame. I set the camera to 'bracket' and took three shots - one at each of the following exposures: -2, 0, +2.

If I had my time over with this shot, I probably would have moved the tripod and myself closer to the tree so that it fills the frame more.


POST PRODUCTION
Once home (and after cleaning the legs of my tripod!), I uploaded the images into Photomatix and tonemapped them to this result.

I like the colours of the sunset reflected in the water and the way the tree itself seems to glow.

UQ Cloisters

WHAT
Cloisters of the 'Earth Sciences' building at St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland (UQ).

WHY
UQ was where I studied my science degree and I always liked the sandstone buildings that surrounded the grassy "Great Court" Area.

I selected this particular cloister to photograph because of the nice shadows cast by the arches and columns on the left wall . Looking into the photo, I find my eye is drawn to the end of the pathway and makes me want to see what's around the corner.

HOW
At the time I took this shot, I had just been introduced to the world of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography by my husband. Therefore, this in an HDR image. I used a tripod and remote cable shutter lead to prevent any movement of the camera for the 3 bracketed shots I took. The exposure levels for the three shots were -2,0,+2.

Usually the campus is bustling with students moving around, however I was there on a weekend about an hour before sunset and the place was almost deserted, hence I was able to take my time composing the shot without people walking through it.

POST PRODUCTION
I uploaded the 3 images into Photomatix (software used for producing HDR images by combining shots taken at different exposure levels). I then tone mapped and adjusted the resulting image using the available options in photomatix until I was happy with the results.