[Scintt] Random landscapes of Singapore

[Scintillation]

If you went to Yishun Ave 2/Canberra Link Road you would've seen me this morning.

Haha, didn't expect you to be around the area too. It was my first time shooting at Sembawang State Land; thank goodness you provided the directions to get there on your thread! I really love how you managed to bring out the fog with your technique. Cheers!

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

Thanks. I'm glad you liked them.

 

[Scintillation]

132. Encompassed

Encompassed by Scintt, on Flickr
​

 

[Scintillation]

133. Still Dawn

Still Dawn by Scintt, on Flickr

Taken during the rainy hours of the early morning at Pandan Reservoir with a Lee Big Stopper and a Hi-Tech 0.6 soft grad borrowed from a nice friend.
​

 

[cheesy]

Taken during the rainy hours of the early morning at Pandan Reservoir with a Lee Big Stopper and a Hi-Tech 0.6 soft grad borrowed from a nice friend.

wah your friend very nice hor?

 

[Scintillation]

wah your friend very nice hor?

Yeah, indeed he is. *winks*

 

[Scintillation]

134. Resolute

Resolute by Scintt, on Flickr

Singapore Indoor Stadium on a cloudy evening.
​

 

[Scintillation]

135. Pronged

Pronged by Scintt, on Flickr

Singapore Indoor Stadium on a cloudy evening.
Black card technique; 76s for foreground, 25s for sky.
​

 

[cheesy]

Singapore Indoor Stadium on a cloudy evening.
Black card technique; 76s for foreground, 25s for sky.

how did you managed to do the calculations and how did you go about doing it?

 

[Scintillation]

how did you managed to do the calculations and how did you go about doing it?

Use the spot metering function to meter both lightest and darkest part of the scene (e.g. sky and foreground), and take note of the shutter speed values. If you are using a ND filter, multiply these values in accordance to the strength of your filter. Taking the above photo as an example, I exposed the image for 25s without the black card, then covered the top(sky) part of the frame with the black card for the rest of the exposure. You need to shake the black card in order to prevent a black line from forming in your shot.

You can view the below websites for more information on the technique:
Hanjié's Blog: Black card photography Part I
Daily Grind: Black Card Technique - Landscapes

The person who inspired me to hone this technique:
Flickr: Sunrise@dawn 風傳影像's Photostream

 

[edutilos-]

Use the spot metering function to meter both lightest and darkest part of the scene (e.g. sky and foreground), and take note of the shutter speed values. If you are using a ND filter, multiply these values in accordance to the strength of your filter. Taking the above photo as an example, I exposed the image for 25s without the black card, then covered the top(sky) part of the frame with the black card for the rest of the exposure. You need to shake the black card in order to prevent a black line from forming in your shot.

You can view the below websites for more information on the technique:
Hanjié's Blog: Black card photography Part I
Daily Grind: Black Card Technique - Landscapes

The person who inspired me to hone this technique:
Flickr: Sunrise@dawn 風傳影像's Photostream

Yes, black card is more common in Asia, but some Westerners have also found it later on and called it a "Magic Cloth"..

Tony’s Magic Cloth Technique « Iceland Aurora Photographic

His photographs are nice though (I must say, personally I think some look overfiltered, or overclothed, and have given him that opinion on Naturescapes), thought you'd be interested to take a look. Cheers.

 

[Scintillation]

Yes, black card is more common in Asia, but some Westerners have also found it later on and called it a "Magic Cloth"..

Tony’s Magic Cloth Technique � Iceland Aurora Photographic

His photographs are nice though (I must say, personally I think some look overfiltered, or overclothed, and have given him that opinion on Naturescapes), thought you'd be interested to take a look. Cheers.

Thanks. I think everyone who shoots landscapes will inadvertently face the problem of limited dynamic range. I used to try tackling the problem with HDR or DRI, but I found that the results tend to be surrealistic or artificial. Perhaps it's due to my limited understanding of post-processing techniques, haha. Not too long ago, I stumbled upon Sunrise@Dawn's flickr and was amazed at his photos. Somehow, they seem vibrant but yet not overly dramatic at the same time (at least to me). And thus I learnt about the technique (plus it works great when used in conjunction with an ND filter).

Seems like the 'Magic Cloth' is a variant of the black card. Guess it's worth a try!

Oh and, I would love having a set of GNDs to play around with, but I'm still a student, so I guess the black card would have to do for now!

 

[cheesy]

Use the spot metering function to meter both lightest and darkest part of the scene (e.g. sky and foreground), and take note of the shutter speed values. If you are using a ND filter, multiply these values in accordance to the strength of your filter. Taking the above photo as an example, I exposed the image for 25s without the black card, then covered the top(sky) part of the frame with the black card for the rest of the exposure. You need to shake the black card in order to prevent a black line from forming in your shot.

You can view the below websites for more information on the technique:
Hanjié's Blog: Black card photography Part I
Daily Grind: Black Card Technique - Landscapes

The person who inspired me to hone this technique:
Flickr: Sunrise@dawn 風傳影像's Photostream

Yes, black card is more common in Asia, but some Westerners have also found it later on and called it a "Magic Cloth"..

Tony’s Magic Cloth Technique � Iceland Aurora Photographic

His photographs are nice though (I must say, personally I think some look overfiltered, or overclothed, and have given him that opinion on Naturescapes), thought you'd be interested to take a look. Cheers.

thanks guys!

 

[SomeFormOFhuman]

...I used to try tackling the problem with HDR or DRI, but I found that the results tend to be surrealistic or artificial. Perhaps it's due to my limited understanding of post-processing techniques, haha....

I used to try the black card technique not long ago, but I find the results seem to be the same with my HDR/DRI images. So I've decided to stick with DRI imaging instead. But the thing I like about black card is that it gets the shot done sometimes in almost a single shot thus uses less space on the CF card.

I used to rely on HDR software like Nik Software, Photomatix but they don't give the results I want no matter how subtle the results are. Then I turned to manual tone mapping and DRI blending instead. Masking and Gradient are the only tools I use in CS5 to create my images; I take all the exposures I have, Mask and gradient them, then resize, and add a border and its off to flickr!! I like surreality but it has to look "real" as much as it looks like in real life.

 

[Scintillation]

I used to try the black card technique not long ago, but I find the results seem to be the same with my HDR/DRI images. So I've decided to stick with DRI imaging instead. But the thing I like about black card is that it gets the shot done sometimes in almost a single shot thus uses less space on the CF card.

I used to rely on HDR software like Nik Software, Photomatix but they don't give the results I want no matter how subtle the results are. Then I turned to manual tone mapping and DRI blending instead. Masking and Gradient are the only tools I use in CS5 to create my images; I take all the exposures I have, Mask and gradient them, then resize, and add a border and its off to flickr!! I like surreality but it has to look "real" as much as it looks like in real life.

Thanks for explaining your technique. I've always been using Photomatix for tone mapping and no matter how much I tweak the settings, the results usually tend towards the surrealistic side. I've heard of manual blending before, but I don't have much experience in layer masking in Photoshop; guess I better read up more on the technique! When I first saw your shots, I was frankly quite impressed because you managed to increase the dynamic range while preserving the natural look of the photos. Cheers!

 

[Scintillation]

136. Balance

Balance by Scintt, on Flickr
​

 

[Scintillation]

137. Blue Dawn

Blue Dawn by Scintt, on Flickr

Black card technique; 5s for sky, 29s for foreground elements.
​

 

[Scintillation]

138. Wrought

Wrought by Scintt, on Flickr

Black Card Technique; 3s for sky, 25s for foreground elements.
​

 

[Scintillation]

139. Urban Veins

Urban Veins by Scintt, on Flickr

MRT tracks - good for light trails despite the fare hikes!
Black carded to preserve highlights.
​

 

[Scintillation]

140. Cat Days

Cat Days by Scintt, on Flickr
​