Phantasm

Oh wow! It's been a while since I last posted here. My inbox was flooded with emails and notifications and I promise I'll get to them in time. I apologise as I haven't been online lately because of my exams and other work but hopefully I'll be more active now that I actually have holidays

After posting so many pictures of people I think it's time for a break.

Anyway, I just finished working on this image and I think it's one of my favourite images I've worked on yet. This was taken in October but it's been lying on my hard drive just waiting to be processed.

It wasn't until I came recently read Proverbs 3:6 which says "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." that I actually knew how to process this image.

I used a couple of different techniques to add the additional light to this image and make it look like something right out of a dream. My computer could barely keep up and what should have taken less than an hour ended up taking more than three hours to finish.

Anyway, let me know what you think. If you want more details I'd be happy to post a "layer Breakdown" video for this image on Youtube. Just let me know :)

Take care!

Unsure

Titles can sometimes be strange. The reason I opt for weird/strange titles is because it gets people thinking and quite a few ask me for reasons.

So here is the reason behind today's title. This year has been unusually warm. One of the main reasons is because we've had perfectly clear skies.

Today, however, we had overcast weather and I didn't really know what to think. I hoped that it would clear but then I knew that clouds meant an epic sunset so I was unsure.

Sure enough, the sunset was epic but then I didn't know how to shoot it. I wanted to do something I hadn't done before so I went out for a walk into the fields to look for a way to hide all the buildings from view and just concentrate on the sunset.

Unfortunately that isn't really possible since houses are everywhere but it was a success nonetheless.

FYI this is processed from a single RAW file.

Final Peek

I wanted to title this "wisps of darkness" but changed my mind. The reason I wanted to do that was because the branches look like a prefect holder for the red ball of fire.

Honestly, I've taken quite a few pictures of the sun just as it dips below the horizon but the colours that evening were just amazing.

We've had pretty good weather these past few days and that is probably why.

Light Of The World

The minute I stepped onto the terrace (roof) of the house I was staying at and saw this scene John 14:6 was the verse that came to mind.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

The sun does give us light and heat but it is just part of God's amazing creation. Unfortunately many give creation credit instead of the Creator!

It took me a while to get down to processing this panorama. I'd shot it in Gangtok during my last visit there but didn't really get a chance to process it until today.

I took 16 vertical shots in all. 8 for the foreground (the mountains) and 8 for the sky. I'm just getting started so I seem to have made them overlap a little too much (which isn't really bad) but since I wanted much more of the sky I couldn't get it. Anyway the content aware in Photoshop did an excellent job in filling in the edges!

Sunburst

So one evening I just went up to the terrace to get some fresh air and the sun was setting. Now it wasn't really anything that great when I first went up but after a couple of minutes the scene was breathtaking.

Honestly no pictures do it justice. It was so stunning that I was honestly left staring at the sunset until someone suggested I go and get my camera.

Unfortunately the pictures didn't capture all the amazing colours in the sky that evening. The blues are all there but the yellows are all washed out and that is a tad disappointing to be honest. Maybe I should have gone the HDR route.

Into The Sunset

So many movies have a final scene in which the main characters walk/ride away towards the sunset.

This particular scene reminded me of just that.

There were a lot of birds out that day and this particular bird seemed to be flying off into the sunset while all the others were flying away from it.

Drama In The Skies

Another one of those rare shots that I just happened to come across.

It had been raining all morning and the sky was just clearing when the sun dipped behind this cloud creating some really interesting light.

Again, I was out shooting dragonflies when I saw this scene that I just had to capture. It was amazing. Believe me when I say that pictures don't do justice to that amazing scene.

The Tower On The Hill

Another one from my ongoing series "The Tower On The Hill".

A few months back I would have never thought that I would be taking so many pictures of this particular tower. I never had and I never thought I would but this has provided so many new opportunities that I actually think I missed out in the past.

Anyway, what's done is done and there is the future to look to.

Evening Surprise

This sunset was a real surprise.

The colours lasted for a really short time and I was only able to get two shots during that time. So that gives you a vague idea of how long this scene lasted.

It was a pleasant surprise and I wish it had gone on for a really long time but it had been raining all day and just cleared in time for this. It started pouring down about 15 minutes after I took this picture.

The Warmth of The Sun

Couldn't really think of a proper caption/title so I just went with a cheesy one.

Anyway this was taken a few days back during a stunning sunset we had here. We haven't had many great sunsets since but these pictures more than make up for that.

Kinda busy today so I'm not going to go on and on.

A Work In Progress

I titled this "a work in progress" because it is part of my ongoing "The Tower On The Hill" series.

This year has provided some amazing picture opportunities and the clouds have been amazing so I decided to take pictures of the clouds and add the tower as a interesting element in the frame.

It's gone great so far and today was really good too because I was able to get this picture. I didn't expect it but it came out pretty good considering the fact that the sun had already set and the light was really low. The Canon SX50 HS doesn't handle noise very well and that created a lot of problems in post production but I was able to get rid of some of the noise (I didn't want to get rid of everything because that would have caused a loss of all detail in the image).

Anyway I'll have a separate page up just for this series.

Btw the tower is called "Eagles Crag" and is in a hill station called Kurseong.

The Clouds At Twilight

I just thought it would be nice to share a landscape picture today since I've been sharing pictures of wildlife lately.

This was taken after sunset. To be honest I didn't expect the sunset to be really dramatic that evening so I waited till the sun had dipped below the horizon because the colours in the sky began to change.

The colours were really nice and soothing and it was definitely a sight to behold. It get more beautiful as time passed and quite frankly pictures don't do justice to the really beautiful scene.

Basking In The Light

Sometimes you get great pictures when you least expect it. This was one of those moments.

I'd gone fishing with a few friends and I noticed this kingfisher sitting on these overhead cables. I just loved the silhouette of the bird against the setting sun.

The picture turned out even better than I had expected. I just set the aperture to the smallest on the SX50 HS i.e. f/8 and took the shot.

When I later looked at it on the computer screen it just looked really really good. Usually overhead cables are a mess in photographs but this time they actually helped create a really nice shot - well, at least I like it :)

Oh So Beautiful Clouds

Here is another shot of one of the best sunsets we've had this year. I say "one of the best" because I cannot pick my favourite. They are all just so amazing.

They are all the work of God - who is the most amazing artist, after all :)

To get this shot I had to rush up to the terrace because the sunsets here don't last for very long and change very fast so speed is of the essence.

Btw thanks for the new likes on my Facebook page - Just Image-n. I really appreciate that :)

As The Clouds Leave

For some reason this year I've been shooting a lot of landscapes. One of the main reasons could be that God has given us some amazing sunsets and skies this year. Or maybe I didn't really notice them earlier. Either way I'm sharing another landscape photograph.

I'm told that this "tower on the hill" is at a place called Eagles Crag in a town called Kurseong. I knew the name of the town but didn't know that they had a specific name for the tower or the place where the tower is.

This picture was taken after the sun had set. I had to shoot RAW in order to be able to get enough detail out of it. In this case jpegs just wouldn't work. Unfortunately the SX50 doesn't handle noise very well and I had to remove a lot of noise but couldn't get rid of all of it because I wanted some detail and sharpness remaining.

Btw if any of you are on Facebook you might want to check out my page - Just Image-n.

Against The Setting Sun

The sunset wasn't really spectacular that evening and neither were the clouds.

The clouds didn't really have definition and weren't dynamic either but they did server one great purpose. Due to the clouds the light in the sky was kinda like a gradient. Mostly saturated around the sun and then gradually changing colours as you moved away.

We have these palm-like trees in our compound and this particular part of the tree actually looked nice silhouetted against the setting sun.

On Strings

I posted a similar picture a while back and quite a few people said that it looked "musical".
Honestly, I hadn't looked at it like that so I have to thank them for a new perspective.

Here is another picture that I'd taken on the same day but a little while apart. No, it isn't the same picture...it is different. Trust me.

We could actually play a "find the difference" game :D

I haven't done tutorials for a while now and I'm thinking of getting back into the game. Any topics you want me to make a video and/or blog post on? Just let me know.

Standing Tall

The tower on the hill has provided a lot of photo opportunities this year. It could also mean that I never really looked at it in a photographic sense before.

It's always nice to zoom in a get all the tiny details on the hill but sometimes it's nice to stay zoomed out and capture the entire scene because I like to capture what I see. This also seeps into my post-processing.

During the dramatic sunset it is very easy to just get caught up in the sunset itself and forget about all the other little things, like this tower. The sky is dramatic and the clouds sometimes extend towards the tower and create a dramatic scene worthy of a picture.

Growing In The Light

Trees need sunlight to grow and carry out various functions and processes. That is something we all know.

Now that I am done stating the obvious I'll tell you a little about the picture.

These "palm" trees kinda grow wild in our compound. The fruits are plenteous and quite tasty. Ok it's just the sap that is tasty but still, it is sweet.

They can grow quite tall and are always very thing. They sway dangerously in the wind but never actually break.

The Clouds Surround The Tower

Thank you so much for all the positive feedback on the picture I posted yesterday. I really appreciate that.

In case you guys were wondering I took that from Gangtok in Sikkim, India. I really love that place and I honestly didn't want to leave.

Anyway my short vacation is now over and it's time to move on.

Here is another picture of the tower on the hill. I've taken quite a few pictures of this tower this year and I think I'm going to dedicate a special album to it on Google+ as well as on my Facebook page.