The Author – Bart Busschots
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Mar
1
Photo of the Week 159 – A Galway Evening
Filed Under Photography on March 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Something I’ve not really mastered is minimalist shots – this is very much the exception that proves the rule. This wonderful view is out across Lough Atalia in Galway, Ireland taken from in front of the Radisson Hotel where I was staying for a conference. The entire massive sweeping bank on the far side is artificial, built by the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) to allow their main line from Dublin to cross the lake and enter Galway city. In the distance you can see the last train of the evening from Dublin to Galway crossing the embankment. The train is an Irish Rail Class 22000 six-car diesel multiple unit (DMU).
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/125 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
- Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the resulting image in Aperture 3
Jan
23
Photo of the Week 154 – Evening Excursion
Filed Under Photography on January 23, 2011 | 1 Comment
This is the last shot I took before my current illness really got serious, and stopped me shooting. I was very much in two minds about whether or not to venture outside to capture this, but, when I realised that the sun would be setting just as the train was coming thought, and that it would be setting in just the right place to light the near-side of the train, I figured I couldn’t miss this rare opportunity.
This shot was taken just outside Maynooth, as a Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) special was making it’s way back home to Dublin. The train was pulled by Irish Rail Class 071 diesel electric locomotive number 073. This class of locomotive were built by General Motors in the late 1970s, and originally introduced as mainline express locomotives. After the introduction of the 201 class of locomotives in the mid 1990s the 071s were relegated to less prestigious lines, including the one through Maynooth form Dublin to Sligo. In recent years these less prestigious intercity services have all switched to class 22000 rail cars, so all that’s left now for the 071s is freight duties and the occasional special. A decade ago, 071s came though Maynooth many times every day, now, since there is no freight service on the Dublin to Sligo line, seeing an 071 here is a real event. This particular 071 has been recently re-painted in Irish Rail’s new freight livery. Originally the 071s carried Irish Rail’s old tan and black livery. The carriages on this special were the RPSI’s heritage set.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/4
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, and tweaking the result with Aperture’s built-in Dodge & Burn plugin
May
4
Photo of the Week 114 & 115 – Sunsets
Filed Under Photography on May 4, 2010 | 2 Comments
Since I was away in Belgium the previous weekend, this is yet another double post to get caught up. Again, double post means a single theme for both images. Inspired by all the talk of ash clouds leading to nice sunsets, I’ve picked two of my recent favorite sunset/dusk shots for this post.
The first shot was indeed taken while the recent volcanic ash cloud was making a nuisance of itself over Ireland. It was taken from Jackson’s Bridge (located between Maynooth and Kilcock) looking west along the Royal Canal. In the foreground you can see the 14th lock. 13 Locks to the east of here the Royal Canal starts at the old docks in Dublin, and 32 locks to the west it enters the river Shannon.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/500 sec
- Focal Length: 38mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: This shot was generated by tonemapping the original RAW file with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the resulting image with Topaz Adjust 4
The second shot I’ve chosen is a little older, and pre-dates all the ash-cloud excitement. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s of a train, in this case an evening Commuter service from Maynooth to Dublin looming into shot out of a spectacular sunset.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/400 sec
- Focal Length: 120mm
- Focal Ratio: f/5
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: This shot was generated by tonemapping the original RAW file (first converted to 16bit TIFF) with Topaz Adjust 4, and then tweaking the resulting image with Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin
Dec
27
Photo of the Week 96 & 97 – The Beauty of Winter
Filed Under Photography on December 27, 2009 | 1 Comment
With the silly-season in full swing it’s probably no big surprise that I find myself a week behind again, so another double post this week. This time I decided to choose a seasonal topic – winter scenes. As it happens both these shots were taken on the same day, the 3rd of February this year. It started to snow in the late afternoon, stopped in time to get some lovely day-time shots, and then the sky cleared to give a dramatic sunset over the snow-covered landscape. A photographer’s dream, and this afternoon has already supplied two pervious Photos of the Week (50 “Braving the Snow” & 52 “Fire & Ice”).
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/50 sec
- Focal Length: 26mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/100 sec
- Focal Length: 34mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -1.0ev
- Processing: Single RAW image first tonemapped with Photomatix Pro, then tweaked with the Dodge & Burn plugin in Apple’s Aperture
Apr
7
Photo of the Week 59 – Last Train from Galway
Filed Under Photography on April 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Following on from last week I’ve chosen another image generated by tonemapping a single RAW file. This is an example of a shot that’s not possible with traditional HDR techniques because the train is moving. Normally HDRs are built by combining multiple separate exposures, but since the train is moving, it would appear in a different place in each exposure, resulting in a great big mess!
I took this shot while I was in Galway for a few days for a conference. The weather was mostly terrible, and there were very few trains per day, but I managed to find a moment when the weather was good, I was free from conference duties, and there was a train due none-the-less. The sky also really co-operated, putting on a spectacular show.
The train is the last InterCity service of the day from Galway to Dublin-Heuston. In this case it was made up of a single six-car Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) set. Irish Rail only have a few of these Class 22031 DMUs, which are the big brothers of the much more common Class 22001 three-car DMUs that run many InterCity services. I quite like these modern looking trains, though I do miss the old days when InterCity services were made of up regular railway coaches pulled by locomotives. I prefer the sound of the big powerful locomotives, though I think the locals prefer these near-silent DMUs 🙂
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 48mm
- Focal Ratio: F8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Post Processing: Single RAW file tonemapped with Photomatix Pro
Mar
29
Photo of the Week 58 – Connolly’s Folly at Dusk
Filed Under Photography on March 29, 2009 | 2 Comments
A somewhat controversial technique I’m very fond of is tonemapping single RAW files. Tonemapping is more normally applied to a High Dynamic Range (HDR) image generated by combining multiple shots of the same scene at different exposures. A RAW file contains much less information than an HDR image, but it still contains enough to allow tonemapping to bring out hidden detail quite effectively, though only to about plus or minus a stop and a half. I find this is a really effective way of processing sunset and dusk shots like this one.
I took this shot from just outside the derelict graveyard at Donaghmore next to Pike’s Bridge along the Royal Canal between Maynooth and Leixlip. The obelisk you can see against the dramatic dusk sky is the top of Connolly’s Folly.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 75mm
- Focal Ratio: F4.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Post Processing: Single RAW file tonemapped with Photomatix Pro
Feb
24
Photo of the Week 1 – An Evening Stroll
Filed Under Photography on February 24, 2008 | 1 Comment
Inspired by Ann Teliczan’s Michigan Sweet Spot photo blog I’ve decided to start sharing my favourite photos on a regular basis. My library of shots I consider worthy is not that big yet so this will be a weekly photo blog for now. The pictures posted will not necessarily be taken on the week they’re posted, in fact, they most probably won’t be. I’ve set up a separate category for these posts within my main blog so they will show up in the regular RSS feed but it’s also possible to subscribe to just the photo blog category.
Now lets get the show on the road! The first photo I’ve chosen to feature is one I took while on holidays in Belgium last Christmas. I’ve captioned it “an evening stroll”. Some of you may not know that I was actually born in the Village of Duffel in Belgium. Duffel is bisected by the river Nete and there is only one road bridge across the river in the village so it’s vital artery for road and pedestrian traffic. This photo shows that bridge silhouetted against a fabulous winter sunset on the evening of the 28th of December 2007.
Click for Full-Size Version (2.3MB)
For those of you interested in such things here are some of the technical details of the shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AF-S 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/200 Sec
- Focal Length: 35mm
- Focal Ratio: F4.8
- ISO: 800
- Exposure Compensation: -0.67
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
[tags]Belgium, sunset, Duffel[/tags]