When you’re not happy with a photo…

If at first you don’t like it…

I expect that I am pretty much like most people, when it comes to photography:

  • Not every shot is perfect, and I can always find some flaw with it!
  • What I have in mind for a shot doesn’t always show up in my camera…
  • My best shot is the one that got away!

If this sounds familiar, this post is for you!

The date is July 6, 2007. My wife and I are in Nova Scotia, where she’s competing in an international agility trial with our Cardigan Welsh Corgis. I drop her off in the mornings, after which I go exploring with my FJ Cruiser for things to see, experience and photograph.  In the latter parts of the morning, I arrive in the little town of Digby and decide to stretch my legs and see what I can find.

At the end of Water Street, I see that the tide is out, so I clamber down to the beach and see the fog hanging over the bay.

Underwhelming Vista

Trust me, when I tell you that is was an awe inspiring view! I was happy that I caught the Bay of Fundy at low tide, as the dock shows the high water mark pretty well!  Was I impressed with my work? Not really… This image wound up being one among many taken in Nova Scotia, most of which were more exciting than this one.

This photo remained in the dustbin of my storage until almost 7 years after I took it.  In 2014, I was perusing some of my past photos, as I was reorganizing my storage, and I chanced upon this photo.  By that time, I had done quite a bit of work creating HDR images and really wished that I’d taken a set of exposures instead of a single shot when I looked at this file.

With 5 exposures or even 3, I knew that I could make something out of this scene.  But, what if…  HDRsoft’s Photomatix Pro has the ability to generate a 1-shot HDR image, which I really hadn’t attempted before.  On a lark, I decided to try it on this image.

Bay of Fundy

After the 1-shot processing, I used the tone mapping capabilities of Photomatix Pro to create the slightly more dramatic image that you see here.  Of course, looking at it now, I see many flaws with the processing, which makes me want to redo the process and create something even better.

If I can restrain myself from doing just that, I might get to some of my many travel photos from various years, as I’m at least 7 years behind schedule!

The moral of this story is to give your throwaway images another look and think what possibilities exist…

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Round Up 128

Superduper, awesome big!

Welcome to the 128th round up of the Tuesday Photo Challenge!  For the geeks among you: Round Up 0x80 or 0b10000000.

You really did Go Big in all your posts this week with lots of supersized items, many of which were captured with a sense of humor!  Your creativity showed through with the variety of your interpretations, as some were small, but dreamt big, while others were just insanely large!!

Thank you for producing all this pleasure to read and peruse!  It was a lot of fun!

Here’s something else that is really big…

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Bay of Fundy at Low Tide

The Bay of Fundy is known for its gargantuan tidal variations, as you can see in this image taken at low tide.  The tides vary as much as 15m (50′) and create some truly amazing effects, such as reversing rapids and rivers changing flow direction.

The following were this week’s participants in the challenge with links to their posts:

  1. In Don’t Hold Your Breath, we not only go big, but we also go fish!  Of course, we all know the story of that really big fish…
  2. With a fantastic photo in Land of Images takes us to one of my favorite locations in Scotland: Skye! An amazing big vista!
  3. Shelley goes really big in Quaint Revival, as she reaches for the sky in her post with wonderful images and text!
  4. Nicole found a wonderful example of a supersized world in her photo in Une Photo, Un Poéme, as she caught a crown princess!
  5. We get a super view of the moon in pensivity101‘s blog post, as she captured a super moon and its effect on the tides.
  6. Petra goes super tall in her post in Photoworld vol. 3, which is achieved with an incredibly impressive wind turbine of 170m!
  7. Xenia’s post in whippetwisdom treats us to the big skies and golden hills with winding paths, along which Eivor and Pearl love to walk.  In a second post in Tranature, we see how big those cygnets have grown with a wonderful haiku!
  8. Ramya’s post in her lovely blog And Miles to go before I sleep… takes us to Bhuleshwar Temple and examines its beauty and size!
  9. Stella shares some really big human creations in Giggles & Tales, which range from the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington, D.C., to the Sacre Coeur in Paris.
  10. In a lovely post in mytravelcsp we get treated to some of the biggest, which include the Burj Khalifa and the Grand Canyon!
  11. A truly interesting photo in Chateaux des Fleurs provides us with a rather oversized mask that makes me wonder how big the wearer would be.
  12. In another great post in her blog Heaven’s Sunshine, Irene takes us into the desert for a look at the big background!
  13. In VegasGreatAttractions we get introduced to a Guinness Book of World Records certified biggest: the Bellagio Chocolate Fountain!
  14. Kammie’s post in The Nut House has some interesting big items, each of which may just put a smile on your face!
  15. The Buddha in Na’ama Yehuda‘s post is truly as big as the sky, and her poem lets you know more about this wonder!
  16. In Q’s Place, we end up in London and find a rather big clock, and an even bigger ferris wheel!
  17. Jason is spot on in his post in Proscenium, as that is all bark and no bite! I’m trying to figure out how they got it inside the house!
  18. Marie takes us to a place I want to visit in her post in the New 3Rs: Retire, Recharge, Reconnect: Karnak is truly magnificent!!
  19. The entrance is sure grand and big in theOnlyD800intheHameau‘s post! I’d love to see what the interior looks like!
  20. With hands like that, boccia becomes interesting, as you see in Geriatri’X’ Fotogallery, which is a bit of an odd ball!
  21. Deb’s photo in Twenty Four captures an epic wave, which I’m sure requires an epic surfer!
  22. In a beautifully photographed post in Out of my Write Mind, Sandy brings us a set of natural yardstick to measure big!
  23. Cee finds some interesting big items in her post in Cee’s Photography; which one do you like best?
  24. This week’s post in One letter UP – diary 2.0 focuses on something that you’d prefer not to see big…
  25. Maria finds a spot in her post in KameraPromenader that looks like a great diving off point…too high for me!
  26. Susan takes us to Strassbourg in her post in Musin’ with Susan, and she’s right that it dwarfs the city around it!
  27. In a lovely post in Heart to Heart, we find a fantastic Buddha at Thimpu, which is truly big!
  28. Debbie’s humor comes through loud and clear in Travel with Intent, as she’s capture an enlarging recipe that can save you from kidnap!
  29. Brian’s photos not only capture the big, but also present humor, as we can see in Bushboy’s World; now to get on that motorcycle!!
  30. In Life Amazing there are not not only some fatanstically big landmarks, but also has something that is just too large for one’s wrist!
  31. Hammad’s post in the Blog of Hammad Rais might not feature the biggest item, but it can dream!
  32. The post in Junkboat Travels finds something junky that is unbelievably big! Who drank that soda?
  33. Olga can’t be outdone on Earth in her choice of big in her post in Stuff and what if…; the Pacific Ocean!
  34. Sonia’s post in Sonia’s Musings takes us to Athirapally falls, which are not only stunning, but also bring back memories!
  35. A wonderful post in Photography Journal Blog features one of the the places that I’d like to visit: the Alhambra!
  36. Maria takes us to stunning location in CitySonnet, where birds rule and use up every inch of space and then some!
  37. Stunning architecture is supersized in Hadd Hai Yaar‘s post, which also has this rather interesting robot…
  38. In a fantastic post in A Pause for Nature, we meet up with a big lady who welcomes your tired, your poor, your huddled masses to breathe free!
  39. In Pragun’s Panchtattwa, we find that a bangle that might just be a little large to put on one’s wrist….
  40. In Pictures without Film, we find a post that introduces us to the Drumtroddan Stones, which are definitely too big to lift!
  41. In a great post in This is Another Story, Yinglan takes us to Nature for some rather big features!
  42. Tatiana captures some supersized boats in her post in TravelArtPix, as the are in port in Cozumel!  In a second post in TravelArtPix by Eduardo José Accorinti, we get treated to Patagonian raspberries!
  43. In sgeoil‘s post, we are treated to a beautifully shot photograph that features the big sky that looms!
  44. In a really cool post in A Day in the Life, we are introduced to a cousin, who is a bit taller…
  45. Khürt finds the big M in his photo in Island in the Net, as the teams have left the field and only Khürt (and the janitors) remain!
  46. Ju-Lyn’s post in All Things Bright and Beautiful shows some lily pads that look big enough for me to take a nap on!
  47. Miriam takes us Out an’ About to the Portland Dunes and the coastal area, as we learn about driving in the dunes (tall pole with flag required). A great travel post that makes me want to visit!
  48. In a wonderful post in A Thousand Miles, Ilka comes across a bug of significant size (huge, she says) in the forest…what do you think about it?
  49. In Woolly Muses‘s post, we get to see a rather large pumpkin in Hobbiton…it makes me wonder, if big is smaller there! That soda will quench a lot of thirsts, though!
  50. And, in Trash Panda Steph‘s post, we go to the hills, really big hills that look truly stunning!!

I hope that you enjoy these posts and let the authors know!

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Place

Out of time

Welcome to Week 101 of the Tuesday Photo Challenge.  After a week of posts about Time, I can honestly say that I had a great time reading your posts.

After visiting time for week 100, I figured we’d go for its logical connection of Place for this week’s theme.  Your challenge is to share some of your favorite place(s) in your entries for this week.  It would be fun for you to share what makes this locale among your favorites.

Have fun and I look forward to seeing your creative output!

Here is one of my favorite places…

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Bay of Fundy

This photo was taken at low tide (obviously) in the town of Digby, N.S., on the Bay of Fundy.  This bay is known for its extreme tidal difference, which is evident when looking at the pier.

The full rules of this challenge are in TPC Guidelines, but here’s the tl;dr:

  • Write a post with an image for this week’s topic
  • Please tag your post with fpj-photo-challenge (if you’re not sure about how tags work, please check out this WordPress article about tagging posts)
  • Create a pingback link to this post, so that I can create a post showing all of the submissions over the week (note: pingbacks may not appear immediately, as my site is set up to require approval for linking to it; helps against previous bad experiences with spamming)
  • Have fun creating something new (or sharing something old)!!

I’m looking forward to visiting some new places this week!

Where has the water gone?

Goodnight moon!

Today’s WordPress Daily Post Prompt of Missing was a bit of a head scratcher for me, as nothing came to mind immediately.  But then, as I was perusing additional images to add to my Etsy store, I saw this image that I titled ‘Bay of Fundy at Low Tide‘.

Something is missing in this image…

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Bay of Fundy at Low Tide

The tides of the Bay of Fundy are the stuff of legend, so when I came upon this scene in the little town of Digsby, Nova Scotia, I immediately recognized the opportunity in front of me.

Wednesday Wonderment – pt 9

The tide is out

My apologies for having been a bit sporadic in my posts over the past couple of days, as I was on the road for a new job.  This Wednesday, we’re back to one of the regular features.

Bay-of-Fundy_P2P8943_tonemapped-16x20
Bay of Fundy

 

Natural forces can come together to create some amazing effects, which is what happens with the tidal forces in the Bay of Fundy.  The difference between high and low tide can average as much as 14.5 meters (47.5 feet) in locations.  As you can see from this image taken at low tide, the high water line on the wooden dock is well above these little boats that have settled in the sand.

This shot was taken in 2007 in the town of Digby (if memory serves me), Nova Scotia.  Nova Scotia is a province that is just filled with natural wonder, where I certainly hope to get back at some point for some additional photography.

Technical Details

This shot was taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mk III using an EF 24-105mm f/4L lens.  Exposure settings were 1/125 second at f/11 at 640 ISO.  This is a shot that never really did much for me, until I decided to use Photomatix Pro and give it a bit of single-shot HDR treatment to get the clouds more dramatic and a couple of other minor enhancements.

 

Old Photos Are Fun

I’m sure that many of you suffer from the same photographers’ malady that I have: tons of images that you have forgotten about! Now, that is not all bad, because I have taken some bad photos in the past (and will take more in the future), which are best forgotten.

Bay of Fundy at Low Tide
Bay of Fundy at Low Tide

On the other hand, my photo editing/processing skills have expanded and improved over the years, so some of those not-so-great photos might benefit from a bit of this new skill level.  As I went looking for the source file for a reasonably nice landscape of Peggy’s Cove that I took in 2007, I stumbled across an image at the Bay of Fundy that just never pleased me.  If I would take it nowadays, it would be as an HDR sequence, so that I could really get everything I wanted in the image.

However, thanks to the wonderful folks at HDRsoft and the fact that I have played with Photomatix Pro for years, there was the possibility to come up with something new in this image.  It is no longer a pure photo, as I went rather painterly on this image, but I really enjoy the mood that is captured here.

Let me know how you like it and about the photos you have resurrected from the past!

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