i have to admit i was ebbing between fascination and a certain kind of distance to these chinese dancers. quite a lot reminded of old american dance films just teleported to chinese costumes and music.
still the images that formed on the stage were sometimes stunning. And if Karl Moik would perform in Shenshen, probably nobody there would now about the artistic level
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i get the taste for available light again. fortunately i was seated at a table from which i got support for my elbows. i liked specially her self-forlornness in front of a stage with very active performances.
on a sidenote: supporters for the freedom of tibet were waving banners. the chinese consulate-general wanted to get them removed. but of course this was "Hauptmarkt", not Tiannamen...
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how to symbolize a music schools summer concert where children show what they have learnt in the last six months? listening intently to the performance of a girl together with her mother playing four-handed on the piano, i suddenly realized the nice composition of their feet
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i start getting the taste for b&w again - positve feedback helps. and it makes no sense comparing the b&w version with the color original, because each has merits of its own. and they require different treatment, as i have seen with with the picture above.
Whilst the original needed no extra treatment for the lower left corner, in b&w this region was too bright for me. Thanks to lightzone for linux (hey guys, wake up - we are waiting), this was not a big issue. Their region tools work well and are extremely flexible
this photo on flickr.
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the wrought iron crosses on St. Peter's graveyard in Salzburg probably catched my attention. it is a nice and quiet place in spite of the many tourists that come and go.
lightzone's region feature helped in accentuating the foreground cross by just a little darkening of the wall of the chapel.
the slr's viewfinder, especially the bright focusing ground glass was of only little support when deciding if the subject was really sharp. the engineers' optimization for a bright screen unfortunately sacrifices the distinction between sharp and not sharp on the screen itself. i wanted to shoot wide open to have a nice bokeh on the background and make the viewer concentrate on the one foreground cross.
this photo on flickr.
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the raw file gave an severely underexposed impression, but this retained the sky instead of letting it become just white. masking in (lightzone/linux allowed to keep the sky and brighten the clocktowers to realistic values again. this is just a great piece of software.
this photo on flickr.
and here is a b&w version of this picture. i have to admit that i am still undecided which one to prefer
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heavily clouded sky alternating with drizzle provided extremely soft light during yesterday's walk through salzburg, austria. Inside the cathedral it was amazingly bright.
without any tricks or excessive processing, the b&w conversion of this picture already achieved highly graphic and abstract quality. this photo may give an hdr-like impression or a change between a positive and negative form, and that's why I like it.
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had a tremendous bathing day with the kids at thumsee next to bad reichenhall. Just opposite the beach through the leaves a now empty wooden house in the middle of the natural reserve area was visible, a nice target for a swim.
Processed this image with lightzone as most of my other pictures. unfortunately lightcrafts has still not released v3.0 for linux, there are only older versions still available for this platform under http://www-old.lightcrafts.com/linux/
this photo on flickr.
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