Photograph
24 September 2011

Cruise
Fisheye
HDR
Courts at Sea I’ve mentioned this in the past and simply to reiterate, I have nothing against HDR. In fact, I respect the technique because when executed correctly, the end result of tone-mapping images has potential to communicate a greater sense of a place more than one single photograph can and despite this, I’ve always avoided embracing it. Why? Well, because I was afraid I would enjoy it too much to a point where I would completely envelop myself around trying to master the technique which in return it would’ve translated to abandoning the free spirited approach I’ve always had towards photographing. I’m not accustom to hauling a tripod around and being stagnant in one spot making sure my shots were bracketed correctly. A tunnel vision of the HDR process would have eventually set in and given me a false sense of who I am as a photographer. I realize I’m probably exaggerating a bit. During travels or random outings, I’m not tormented by the idea of dedicating a few minutes to take some bracketed shots but that would always take a backseat to the photojournalist/street photography approach that excites me the most. Writing as oppose to just photographing for this site has given me a reason to pause and think about trivial stuff like this. Initially, photography was all about the experience and developing an eye for the mundane but ultimately it’s also become about being able to stay consistent with making photographs that I’m happy with and can be recognized for. I’m not sure if I would recognized this photographs as baring full blown HDR characteristics but the attempt was made using Nik Software HDR Efex Pro. As for the location, it was 6am in the morning and we were sailing somewhere in the Atlantic onboard a Carnival cruise ship.

Courts at Sea

I’ve mentioned this in the past and simply to reiterate, I have nothing against HDR. In fact, I respect the technique because when executed correctly, the end result of tone-mapping images has potential to communicate a greater sense of a place more than one single photograph can and despite this, I’ve always avoided embracing it.

Why? Well, because I was afraid I would enjoy it too much to a point where I would completely envelop myself around trying to master the technique which in return it would’ve translated to abandoning the free spirited approach I’ve always had towards photographing. I’m not accustom to hauling a tripod around and being stagnant in one spot making sure my shots were bracketed correctly. A tunnel vision of the HDR process would have eventually set in and given me a false sense of who I am as a photographer. I realize I’m probably exaggerating a bit.

During travels or random outings, I’m not tormented by the idea of dedicating a few minutes to take some bracketed shots but that would always take a backseat to the photojournalist/street photography approach that excites me the most.

Writing as oppose to just photographing for this site has given me a reason to pause and think about trivial stuff like this. Initially, photography was all about the experience and developing an eye for the mundane but ultimately it’s also become about being able to stay consistent with making photographs that I’m happy with and can be recognized for.

I’m not sure if I would recognized this photographs as baring full blown HDR characteristics but the attempt was made using Nik Software HDR Efex Pro. As for the location, it was 6am in the morning and we were sailing somewhere in the Atlantic onboard a Carnival cruise ship.

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Photograph
22 September 2011

Fisheye
Mexico
Cozumel
Defeated Path in Cozumel Owning a fisheye lens is almost comparable to purchasing a fully pimped out Mac computer in that you’re paying a pretty penny for the frill of having it but if the type of work you do doesn’t coincide with what you can get from it, is it really worth spending all that money? If all you do is write emails, listen to music and surf the web, perhaps a $2,000 laptop is not warranted. Whether I’m traveling or not, the majority of my photographs are comprised of street work involving either people or locations and for content like that, having a lens like a fisheye that potentially limits you to just one of the two is not helpful. I had rented the Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens from Borrowlenses.com for a vacation a couple years ago and throughout the trip, my wife was very perceptive in noticing how fascinated I had been with photographing with it. To a point where she had offered to purchase the lens for me as a holiday gift and as much as I appreciated her supporting my lust for anything photography, I was unwilling to have her spend $800 on a lens I might use as oppose to one that I would use all the time. From a creative perspective, it’s fun to shoot with the fisheye but to avoid being consumed with the feeling that you need every lens out there, you always have ask yourself “how often will I really use this?” In my case, not very often but if I ever crave for it again, I’m more than willing to pay to rent it rather than pay full price for it.

Defeated Path in Cozumel

Owning a fisheye lens is almost comparable to purchasing a fully pimped out Mac computer in that you’re paying a pretty penny for the frill of having it but if the type of work you do doesn’t coincide with what you can get from it, is it really worth spending all that money? If all you do is write emails, listen to music and surf the web, perhaps a $2,000 laptop is not warranted. Whether I’m traveling or not, the majority of my photographs are comprised of street work involving either people or locations and for content like that, having a lens like a fisheye that potentially limits you to just one of the two is not helpful.

I had rented the Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8 fisheye lens from Borrowlenses.com for a vacation a couple years ago and throughout the trip, my wife was very perceptive in noticing how fascinated I had been with photographing with it. To a point where she had offered to purchase the lens for me as a holiday gift and as much as I appreciated her supporting my lust for anything photography, I was unwilling to have her spend $800 on a lens I might use as oppose to one that I would use all the time. From a creative perspective, it’s fun to shoot with the fisheye but to avoid being consumed with the feeling that you need every lens out there, you always have ask yourself “how often will I really use this?” In my case, not very often but if I ever crave for it again, I’m more than willing to pay to rent it rather than pay full price for it.

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Photograph
10 August 2010

cruise
sunset
fisheye
Prints
Sea Window I’ve embarked on my fair share of cruise vacations in the past 3 years that in any ocassion you’ll notice more than one brochure laying on our coffee table. It’s become the ideal form of traveling for my wife and I because of the sheer amount of locations and cultures you’re destined to experience on one single shot. The ships are becoming bigger, more popular and the destinations more exotic than ever. Having just returned from a full day of exploring Cozumel, I snuck away with my camera using the Nikkor Fisheye 10.5mm f/2.8  before heading to dinner and snapped this photograph as the sun was setting. I can’t recall a time I didn’t rent a lens to take with me on vacation. It’s the best alternative to paying a huge amount for a lens that you want badly but don’t want to invest in yet.

Sea Window

I’ve embarked on my fair share of cruise vacations in the past 3 years that in any ocassion you’ll notice more than one brochure laying on our coffee table. It’s become the ideal form of traveling for my wife and I because of the sheer amount of locations and cultures you’re destined to experience on one single shot.

The ships are becoming bigger, more popular and the destinations more exotic than ever. Having just returned from a full day of exploring Cozumel, I snuck away with my camera using the Nikkor Fisheye 10.5mm f/2.8  before heading to dinner and snapped this photograph as the sun was setting. I can’t recall a time I didn’t rent a lens to take with me on vacation. It’s the best alternative to paying a huge amount for a lens that you want badly but don’t want to invest in yet.

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