New Dawn

Hi friends,

This morning I took pictures of Downtown Dubai shortly before sunset. And again I hoped you might just be interested in the details of how I have edited the image.

29mm, f11, 6s, ISO 200

Steps of post-processing the RAW format image:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 3600K
• Tint: -6
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 100
• Fill Lights: 0
• Blacks:5
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +35
• Clarity: +30
• Vibrance: +20
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush (removal of lens flares and dust)
• Crop some of the foreground
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Points to increase and reduce local brightness
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Tropical Island

Here is a picture from this year's first photo tour. It's the view of Dubai Marina and the Tallest Block from a tropical island somewhere in the infinite vastness of Interchange No. 5

20mm, f13, 30s, ISO 200

Steps of post-processing the RAW format image:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 2200K
• Tint: -2
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 70
• Fill Lights: 0
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +35
• Clarity: +35
• Vibrance: +15
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush (removal of lens flares and dust)
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to the street lights (Brightness: -30)
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Crying for the Moon (Part 2)

After taking a few pictures from my previous post's vantage point I moved on to the Tallest Block. I arrived just in time for shooting the following picture with the full moon at its center:

14mm, f11, 30s, ISO 200

Steps of post-processing the RAW format image:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 3700K
• Tint: +26
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 10
• Fill Lights: 0
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +30
• Vibrance: +20
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush (removal of lens flares)
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to the upper right corner (Brightness: +10)
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Crying for the Moon (Part 1)

Last week we had perfect weather conditions for shooting cityscape images here in Dubai. The air was calm, crisp and clear and an incredibly bright full moon lit up the scene. I visited Jumeirah Islands again, since I always wanted to shoot a particular version of the view I presented in my post from October 17. I had already tried to take pictures including the rocks in the foreground on several occasions, but it never worked out. This night, however, the full moon finally allowed for taking the picture in a way I had always wanted it.

32mm, f9, 30s, ISO 200

Steps of post-processing the RAW format image:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 3300K
• Tint: +12
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 100
• Fill Lights: 20
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +20
• Vibrance: +20
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Healing Brush
• Smart Sharpen Filter (Amount: 40%, Radius 1.3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to the foreground (Brightness: +10)
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Indigo Sunset

Today's picture was taken from my office at sunset. It was a foggy morning that day so I had taken my camera to work, because I would love to get a shot of skyscrapers sticking out of the fog. Well, the skies cleared just before I reached the office so I turned to taking pictures of the sunset instead.

I recently purchased a set of Graduated Neutral Density (GND) filters from Lee Filters, specifically designed for use with my Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 wideangle lens. I look forward to using these in landscape photography, but also want to test their limits in architectural photography. I used a 0.6 GND filter in this pic and I think it worked out well.

If you have questions or would like to hear more details about GND filters and how they work please feel free to drop me a comment.


Here's the photo:

14mm, f13, 8s, ISO 400, Lee 0.6 GND filter

I only now realise I was using ISO 400. Whooops.... should have been ISO 200, of course.

Post-processing included the following steps:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 4200K
• Tint: +7
• Exposure: 0.00
• Recovery: 0
• Fill Lights: 20
• Blacks: 7
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: +20
• Vibrance: +10
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Lens Correction Filter: Custom --> Vertical Perspective +2
• Apply Spot Healing Brush
• Apply Smart-Sharpen Filter: Amount 40%, Radius 1.3px
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Points: Slightly increase the saturation of bronze glow on medium left tower and of green lights at the base of central tower
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Atlantis

The Atlantis Hotel is located on Palm Jumeirah Island and I never took any decent shots of it. But now a friend from DSLR-Forum told me about this photo location and showed me one of his pics - that convinced me I'd have to go there as soon as the weather would allow it. All these years I had been thinking that this spot was completely fenced in and not accessible, unless you would sneak in... Now I found out that you just have to park your car at the mosque and there it is, a vast open beach at the very tip of Palm Jumeirah just opposite the Atlantis Hotel. Cool!

The Atlantis Hotel is the icon, the landmark of Palm Jumeirah. However, I personally don't really like it. If you walk in you will recognise that it is actually one of the few places in Dubai where you can see and breathe the artificiality of its existence. Most hotels actually do a great job at creating an atmosphere of heritage and consistency. They would make you believe their place had long existed. Madinat Jumeirah and The One & Only Royal Mirage are great examples for this. Not so the Atlantis Hotel. It's so cheesy, Disney World would find it hard to compete! The interior looks just cheap compared to other hotels and yet the staff is the most stuck up throughout Dubai.

Well, let's not get carried away. The exterior looks splendid, I do admit. Still a bit cheesy, but certainly an eye-catcher. For this photo I used my Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens and again aligned it to the horizon in order to eliminate geometric distortion.

The image is a slight crop of the original.

45mm, f8, 30s, ISO 200

Post-processing included the following steps:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 2800K
• Tint: +10
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 30
• Fill Light: 20
• Blacks: 7
• Brightness: +50
• Contrast: +25
• Clarity: 15
• Vibrance: 0
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Spot Healing Brush
• Apply Smart-Sharpen Filter: Amount 60%, Radius 1.3px
• Slightly crop the original
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-Point to upper right corner of the image (it was comparatively dark due to bright moonlight coming from the left): Brightness +10
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

Cheers,
Sebastian

Boat Parking

In order to get this Blog moving I will start with posting a photo I took yesterday at Dubai Marina. It was a wonderfully clear night and also the temperatures here in Dubai are slowly coming down to an acceptable level. It was some amicable 29°C last night. Yay...

The image below was taken with my Nikon D700 and a Nikon 14-24mm f2,8 wideangle lens. What a marvellous piece of glass that is... expensive, but simply perfect quality.

In order to avoid any geometric distortion I pointed the camera straight at the horizon (so that the horizon is in the middle of the picture). I then slightly cropped the upper and the lower parts of the image which gives it this Panorama look.

14mm, f13, 30s, ISO 200

Post-processing included the following steps:

Lightroom

• Temperature: 2900K
• Tint: +10
• Exposure: 0,00
• Recovery: 40
• Fill Light: 15
• Blacks: 6
• Brightness: 50
• Contrast: 25
• Clarity: 25
• Vibrance: 0
• Saturation: 0
• Export to Photoshop

Photoshop

• Apply Spot Healing Brush
• Crop Image
• Apply Smart-Sharpen Filter (Amount 60%, Radius 1,3px)
• Save as TIF

CaptureNX2

• Apply U-point to central part of the image, slightly darken this very light area: Brightness -10
• Convert to sRGB with perception based rendering intent
• Save as JPG

Photoshop

• Insert watermark
• Save as JPG

May be this gives you some new ideas for your own post-processing. If you have any questions always feel free to ask!