Photo taken with Canon 50D + Canon 85mm f/1.8

From a photo-trip by Asociatia Bucurestiul meu drag
http://www.orasul.ro/

Taken with Canon 50D + Canon EF70-200mm F/4L and Canon 18-55mm IS

From a photo-trip by Asociatia Bucurestiul meu drag

http://www.orasul.ro/

Taken with Canon 50D + Canon EF70-200mm F/4L and Sigma 17-70mm

For everything you are, Thank You!

Model: Deea
Location: Sinaia, Romania
Taken with Canon 50D and Canon EF70-200mm f/4L

Location: Mogosoaia Palace
Photo taken with Canon 50D + Canon EF70-200mm f/4L and Sigma 17-70mm

Model: Alina Dumitrescu
Location: Mogosoaia Palace
Photo taken with Canon 50D and Canon EF70-200mm f/4L

Model: Alina Dumitrescu
Taken with Canon 50D and Canon EF70-200mm f/4L

Model: Mihaela Chicireanu
Photo taken with Canon 50D and Canon EF85mm f/1.8

I’m actually very proud of the results. The lighting conditions were odd enough to completely dazzle the WB (and the eyes), a mix of daylight coming from the windows at the first floor and warm/cool spotlights, a mix of dark / various lights / flash at the base. I hope you like the photos.

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Garden insects – testing my patience

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Let’s all welcome my new TAMRON 28-300mm!

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Three days passed since then and … arrgh, well … let’s say I needed something to let me get closer to my subjects (insects, flowers) so…

I also present you my HOYA Macro Set.

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There are many sites with pictures of her. Inside and outside descriptions, different angles shots of her. I saw her, I liked her, I dreamed about her. And the day came. I noted her number and her accessory number, I called to check if it’s available and I went to meet her. The guy at the entrance looked at me with a “he, he” smile on his face and asked me in. And there she was, waiting for me. The accessories were there too. I’ve payed and take her home, ready for some intense action. Well, she wasn’t that ready for action that night and I had to wait ’till the next day to use it. And I did!

Those are the first shots with my new Canon 450D (Rebel XSi) digital camera:

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I think it works, right?

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What’s to do when your skills are not good? Don’t practice. Don’t read about. Don’t learn! No! Just invest in things that may (or may not) help you. That’s exactly what I did today. Now I have a camera, two types of lenses (wide and macro) and one polarizing filter (does that thing make Polaroids?).
Anyway, until I’ll find out about those new toys, I’ll post some pictures taken before and after (hmm the teleshopping effect) the new lenses.

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You’re sitting in front of your computer, and all you can think about is PMR, TBD, PP, WSC and WAS.
You see your camera looking strange at you with her lenses filled with dust and you start thinking about how many days passed from the last time you saw the world through her lenses…

Wait a second, that’s not you, that’s me! What are you doing in front of your computer? It’s spring outside. Go out, shoot some springy things.

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Bad weather in Bucharest lately, clouds and rain and it seems that the next days will be alike… not a very inspiring atmosphere.

I open the cigarette pocket, I notice one more time the message that says <<smokers die young>> and I turn around the pocket. The other message is nicer: <<Smoking may hurt you and the ones around>>; Good, I don’t like my neighbors anyway.

I decided that instead of smoking that cigar, I should try some shots. Since I don’t have any tequila, I used the camera… very inspiring (NOT)… indeed.

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I couldn’t find any good answer so I will answer with a ZEN question: “If a tree falls down in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a noise”? At the base level the answer will be “If I make a photo and there’s nobody there to see that photo, does that photo exists”?

Blogging is not a one man show. I make photos, I like them and I post them. You comment that photo and that photo lives. Otherwise that photo is just a waste of space.

That’s why I blog. That’s my definition of blogging. So … why do you blog?

A cold day, lots of clouds, no inspiration, a perfect day to shoot something (or someone) and a perfect day for a walk.

Anyway, I found a place with a lot of grass and trash and I started to play with the camera. One tree, “click”, one bird, “click”, and so on, until … I saw him. Everything was fine ‘till then. His was bigger! A real DSLR, real lenses … and he was shooting trees. My trees, my flowers! I wasn’t the only lunatic shooting trees and small plants anymore… obviously, I couldn’t resist the temptation to shoot him.

What a sad day …

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day Three – photo gallery…

… and there was the third day.

To cut the story short, those were the actions: a journey to the industrial buildings I’ve shoot yesterday, some flowers, new friends and a long way back home.

Being the first day of traffic restrictions in Bucharest – yeah, we’re hosting the largest NATO Summit (of the week) – the road back home was a nightmare; a long one, almost two hours of “go, break, full stop” in the first gear. Good opportunity to shoot some photos…

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day two – photo gallery…

From the first time I saw the markings for bikers on the sidewalk I thought: “wow! fresh yellow & white paint on the almost black pavement, nice contrast, I have to make some pictures of it”. That first time was long ago. Now the markings are not that bright anymore, the pavement not so black, the contrast not that great. Last night it rained. Dark pavement, clean colors equals good opportunity to shoot some pictures.

That was the main theme of today. A cop that made me wait 20 minutes in traffic, some disused towers I saw from the window. That’s all.

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Training – day One – photo gallery…

Starting today, I’m on training. In other words, there are four days of journeys and learning – the good and the bad. The bad: I have to learn (not to fall asleep). The good: I don’t have to carry anything with me so I can carry my camera.

Q: You have four days in one location, some people and your camera. What will you shoot?
A: Day one, get there 1h and 30min earlier. Find the location. Spot some trees and shoot their flowers. See an old-man solving some crosswords. Shoot him. Take eight hours break (or learn something). Get back home as quick as you can (speeding at 5-6Km/h in the afternoon traffic). Mess-up some pictures from your car. Delete them when you get home.

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HDR Playground – photo gallery…

HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging! A new trend, a new look, some may like it, some may not like it. For most of us is just a new toy.

You take three pictures with different exposures and blend them so you get the most of the dark / highlight area. Basically what you get is one picture that contains all the information in all the three pictures – THE HDR! 16 little bits of color! Well allot of work for a picture that you can’t actually see on your monitor. What to do? Down sample that image by tone mapping. What you get is either a beautiful photo or a completely unreal image with a lot of artifacts (most of them are just like that).

Anyway, HDR exists and well … I like it. I liked it and I tested it (obviously without understanding it).

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Ahhh … It’s spring again. Whole nature is slowly coming back to life. Little bees in the air, beautiful flowers looking up the sun … blah, blah, blah

Here are some flowers that got in my shooting direction.

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