Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!


For me, 2013 has been a productive year for photography. Let's see what I have done...

In the beginning of 2013, I have finally bought my very first full frame DSLR - Canon 5D MkIII, and my Canon 7D was officially retired.

I use to share my photos on Facebook and Flickr. I always want a professional-looking website - so I got a Smugmug website and it's now the home to Kah-Wai Lin Photography. I started a photography blog too:)

Since I moved to USA, I don't shot much travel and church photography. Nevertheless, I have visited a few nature wonders of USA - Shenandoah National Park, VA; Grand Canyon National Park, AZ; Zion National Park (Mt. Carmel Highway), UT; Bryce Canyon National Park (edge of the park), UT; Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, UT; Dixie National Forest (Red Canyon), UT; Upper Antelope Canyon, Navajo Nation; Canyon X, Navajo Nation; Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, UT; Delaware & Raritan Canal State Park, NJ.

This year, I was also active in writing photography articles - Photoblog.hk, Extraordinary Vision Magazine, Bokeh Magazine, Light & Landscape Magazine and a review for Machinery HDR.

I am looking forward for 2014 being another exciting year! Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

"Exploring Canyon X" on Extraordinary Vision Magazine





My article "Exploring Canyon X" is just published on Extraordinary Vision Magazine, Issue 12. This is an article about my recent trip to Canyon X, a slot canyon in the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona. The article is mainly focus on my experience of the trip as well as the photography tips and tricks inside the slot canyon.

Extraordinary Vision Magazine is an outdoor digital photography magazine in Apple's Newsstand. The magazine published each month and it is a completely free multimedia magazine designed exclusively for the iPad. I highly recommend to everyone who love photography and outdoor exploration. It's a great magazine!

If you like to see more of my Canyon X photos, please visit Canyon X gallery.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Church #6: Princeton University Chapel


Princeton University Chapel is located in the Princeton University main campus in Princeton, New Jersey. It was designed by Ralph Adams Cram in 1921, in his signature Collegiate Gothic style. The chapel was built between 1924 and 1928 to replaces an older chapel that burned down in 1920. It seats almost 2,000 people and it is the third largest university chapel in the world.

Most of the interior is limestone, but the aisles and the central area of the choir are Aquia Creek sandstone. The chapel's iconography consist of over 900 square meter of stained glass, as well as stonework and wood carvings. Today, the chapel is operated by the university Office of Religious Life, hosts ecumenical Christian services, Roman Catholic mass, and other special events, such as service of Remembrance, Baccalaureate, and concerts.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Machinery HDR Review

http://machineryhdr.com/
HDR photography is getting very popular over the last few years, with good reasons. First, HDR allow you to 'see' broader range of light and tone as we seen in the real world. Second, perhaps the most engaging reason for many people – it’s allows you to create the unique-looking, surreal and artistic effect. HDR can be subtle or extreme; it’s all depending on your personal taste.

Today, there are dozens of HDR software on the market. I have been a hardcore church shooter over the past few years. Often, the complex lighting condition is a big challenge - the church interior is dark and usually underexposed, while the windows are bright and usually overblown. It seems that HDR is one of the best solutions. However, many HDR software tend produce unnatural result, color shift, halo, loss of contrast, etc. The recent generations of HDR softwares are working hard to solve these problems. From my testing, the Machinery HDR really stood out. I am extremely impressed with the result. 

Figure 1. Interface of Machinery HDR, with all the tools on the right side.
My major concerns about HDR software are quality of image, functionality, and price. Surprisingly, Machinery HDR passed all my test, with distinction!! Machinery HDR is very easy to use. The processing is quite straight forward – just load to pictures and it’s ready to go! Once the tone-mapping is completed, you may enjoy the preset. Surprisingly, they are amazingly good, I use them every time. The tool box on the right is where you can do the fine control and adjustment – basically everything that you can imagine, e.g. tone-mapping of HDR, white balance, contrast, saturation, etc. (Figure 1). Best of all, the price is high competitive and attracting! It is very affordable and it doesn’t break your bank!

Figure 2. Original images to be loaded on Machinery HDR,7 photos from +4EV to -2EV.
For my first test case, I use the photos taken in the St Johannes Church (Stockholm, Sweden). My goal was to create an image that has better tone and light in highlight (the overblown winder) and shadow than I could do in a single picture. To capture the full range of light and tone, I took 7 photos, from +4EV to -2EV (Figure 2). Besides, I would like to see more detail, particularly the textures on the wall, bench, and floor, while still looking natural. This is difficult to achieve and has to be done in caution. In many situations, increase in detail will cause the resulting photos look unnatural. Nevertheless, Machinery HDR makes it an easy task. I am particularly in love with the preset “clarity” which did a great job in my church interior photography (Figure 3). Let’s see the result (Figure 4). Please note that I did not further processing the picture in Photoshop, since you are able to fine adjust many of the setting here. I am very happy with the result – with much better highlight/shadow, textures and detail are significantly enhanced, and best of all, it’s look very natural. 

Figure 3. The preset options on Machinery HDR.
By magnifying the picture to 100%, I was amazed with the image quality (Figure 5). It is very sharp, with a lot of detail in it, negligible noise level, and no color shifting. I have used some software in which the resulting image looks terrible in full resolution. Machinery HDR stood out in this aspect – with good resolution and no artifact. What else can I ask for more? 

Figure 4. Final result.
Figure 5. Original size at 100% zoom.
I love the Machinery HDR. I have tried several other HDR softwares and I just couldn't get something like I wanted. My experience with Machinery HDR is great. You can try the Machinery HDR yourself; the download is available from the Machinery HDR website (http://www.machineryhdr.com/). The trial version is fully functional except that you cannot save the full size photos or 48-bit TIFF and there is no plugin for Adobe Lightroom. I am sure you will love it after a few clicks! Stay tuned for the future posts, which I will show more examples on architectural interior and landscape photography using Machinery HDR.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Colorful Shenandoah

Dawn at Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park is best known for its spectacular mountain landscape. The ever-changing mountain landscape is attribute primarily to the changes of light throughout the day. The golden hour (before and after sunrise/sunset) is one of the best times to photograph the mountain landscape. Typically, dawn casts a cooler (blue) light and dusk casts a warm (red) light. The cool or warm light spread across the mountain is beautiful and the scene look fantastic.

Dusk at Shenandoah National Park
Sometimes, the light might be very different and complex due to the weather and atmospheric condition, e.g. cloud, fog, mist, and haze. Therefore, it might be warm at dawn and cool at dusk. These elements not only contribute to the changes of light and color, but also give a wonderfully moody feel to your picture. Moreover, the mixture of warm and cool light may occurred thanks to the interplay between the sunlight and cloud.

Dusk at Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park is an amazing place! This is the place with full of breathtaking beauty and wonderful landscape! I would love to return here to capture the light in different seasons.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Church #5: Hedvig Eleonora Church, Stockholm


Hedvig Eleonora Church is located in the center of Stockholm, Sweden. It was consecrated in 1737 and it is named after the Swedish Queen Hedvig Eleonora (1636-1715), wife of King Charles X. The church is octagonal in shape, although it is classified as round church - which is quite popular design for the early Scandinavian church. The altarpiece depicted Jesus on the Cross, which was painted by Georg Engelhard Schroder and inaugurated during the All Saints Day in 1747. The pulpit was designed by Jean Eric Rehn and it was inaugurated during the Christmas in 1784.

Today, Hedvig Eleonora Church is a popular church for various events. However, like many other churches in Stockholm, Hedvig Eleonora Church is believed to be a haunted place, which is attributed to several mysterious events happened in the church.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Casa Batllo, Barcelona


Casa Batllo is a masterpiece by Antoni Gaudi located at Passeig de Gracia, in the center of Barcelona, Spain. The building was a remodel of a previously built house and was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudi and has been refurbished several times after that. Casa Batllo evokes the creativity and playfulness of Gaudí’s work through the incrassate facades and creative floors. Its unique interior is just as extraordinary and it seems that the goal of Gaudi was to avoid straight lines completely.  

It was originally designed for a middle-class family. In 2002, it was opened to public as a museum as part of the celebration of the International Year of Gaudi. In 2005, Casa Batllo became a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Dusk at Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park


I have been scouting for the nice location for sunset shooting. Lipan point immediately caught my eye by its diverse and colorful landscape. It is located just a few miles west of Desert View. I think this is my favorite view point in the East Rim Drive.

On one side, it is the typical Grand Canyon view - big fissures of the Colorado Plateau. Despite the hazy condition, the light after sunset is amazing. In this case, I would treat the hazy atmosphere as a friend rather than a foe - its help to create the sense of depth.


On the other side, the Colorado River winding through the colorful landscape. The telephoto lens did a great job in capturing the scene. When I return from the trip, I was amazed that many of the good shots are the merit of telephoto lens, not the ultra wide-angle!


This is one of my favorite close-up shot, with definite placement of elements. Granite rocks and trees as foreground elements. The rusty red rocks as mid-ground elements. The layered Paleozoic rocks and Colorado River as background elements.



This is another view on the East site. The soft light after sunset create a peaceful atmosphere. I am so glad I was standing here, witnessing one of the natural wonders of the world.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Zion-Mount Carmel Highway


Our initial plan was to spend 2 days in Zion National Park. Unfortunately, the park was closed following government shutdown. Our plan B is to visit adjecent state parks and towns. On our way to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, we passed by Zion-Mount Carmel Highway which is a good opportunity to see the park during the shutdown. Zion National Park is famous for its unique and diverse geological formation and luckily, many of the famous Zion landmarks can be seen on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway.

The harsh lighting condition in the middle of the day is best suit for black-and-white conversion. This is one of my shots taken on the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway. Technically, I purposely place the primary element in the center - there is no rule-of-third here! The tree on the bottom left and the hillside on the bottom right serve as secondary elements which draw the visual attention away, thus creating a dynamic and harmonious composition.

This is the skill that I recently learnt from an ebook, Visual Flow by Ian Plant. This is a really great book about composition in landscape photography and I highly recommend to everyone who wish to improve their composition skill.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Kampong Kepayang: The Abandoned - Part 2


The authority wants to demolish the place for the road expansion but some of the owners of the shops cannot be found, and some owners were unhappy because the requested compensation has not been met. Therefore it was left uncared for years. The Timber, rood tiles, bricks, window frames of hard wood have been harvested for sale. Wild vegetation gradually took over the abandoned shop houses.


Few years ago, someone proposed the rebuilding of Kampong Kepayang for tourism – restore the building and realign the road. The scheme was shown at PHS Heritage Forum in 2010 but it wasn’t taken seriously by the authority.


The main street of Kampong Kepayang straddling the main highway from Ipoh to Gopeng. Extremely heavy traffic flies past the street all the time. A study from Badan Warisan Malaysia claimed that the traffic is the cause of “death” of Kampong Kepayang. The road is narrow and the stream of traffic is loud and incessant – simply unbearable!


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