“Hoping, wishing, and praying, Andrew, shouldn’t ever be confused with doing. Know what I mean?” ~ The Universe
Sunrise at Umgeni River Mouth
Canon South Africa 550D, Canon 24-105L lens, F4, 1/1600 sec, ISO 200 — in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
Monthly Archives: August 2015
Playing with Raya
“Your heart knows the way to Heng Mountain. You are not afraid; few people go there. Inside the boat, you still hear birds and temple chimes. At the river’s source, you dry your monk’s robe in the sun. You had a family, but left it when young; Now there is no temple that would not welcome you. Managing to find a shelter in the cold, You do your usual zazen as snow fills up your door” ~ Chia Tao (779-843)
Last night (7-7-2015) I did my “virgin” run at luminosity masks using the Raya Pro Panel (test) by Jimmy Mcintyre. It’s being released in less than 11 hours (http://www.shutterevolve.com/raya-pro-the-ultimate-digital…/) and only costs R 375.54.
I tried LM’s once before via another platform some months back and couldn’t fathom it. However, I was able fairly easily understand Jimmy’s video and use the panel quite easily.
Yes, I have a long way to go and the accompanying photo is not a good example of the potential of the panel. It was more my experimental photo to work on while I tested all the other features of the panel – there are so many other features; LM’s is just one!
The upshot: I got my varying selections as needed, the ants were marching as asked and I painted in shadows / highlights with ease – in most cases just the push of a button – no big technical stuff.
Canon South Africa 6D, Canon EF 17–40mm lens, F14, 1 sec, ISO 320
— at Thompson’s Bay
Durban: sun, fun & sport 4 final
“Durban is a natural paradise known for its gorgeous coastline of sun-kissed beaches and subtropical climate, situated on the eastern seaboard of Africa. The City is built around one of the busiest ports in Africa and our people are our pride. The city focuses on providing visitors with a unique set of experiences that go beyond the beach and into the realm of Durban’s diverse culture, urban lifestyle and scenic diversity. The City of Durban is an elegant, mature and ambitious city. It is a trendsetter in offering great lifestyle, speckled with adventure activities, blessed with natural beauty and is an astonishingly liveable city. Whether you here as a business delegate or a leisure traveler there is a warm African flavor that will capture your heart forever” ~ Durban Experience.
Durban: sun, fun & sport 3
“Durban is a natural paradise known for its gorgeous coastline of sun-kissed beaches and subtropical climate, situated on the eastern seaboard of Africa. The City is built around one of the busiest ports in Africa and our people are our pride. The city focuses on providing visitors with a unique set of experiences that go beyond the beach and into the realm of Durban’s diverse culture, urban lifestyle and scenic diversity. The City of Durban is an elegant, mature and ambitious city. It is a trendsetter in offering great lifestyle, speckled with adventure activities, blessed with natural beauty and is an astonishingly liveable city. Whether you here as a business delegate or a leisure traveler there is a warm African flavor that will capture your heart forever” ~ Durban Experience.
Durban: sun, fun & sport 2
“Durban is a natural paradise known for its gorgeous coastline of sun-kissed beaches and subtropical climate, situated on the eastern seaboard of Africa. The City is built around one of the busiest ports in Africa and our people are our pride. The city focuses on providing visitors with a unique set of experiences that go beyond the beach and into the realm of Durban’s diverse culture, urban lifestyle and scenic diversity. The City of Durban is an elegant, mature and ambitious city. It is a trendsetter in offering great lifestyle, speckled with adventure activities, blessed with natural beauty and is an astonishingly liveable city. Whether you here as a business delegate or a leisure traveler there is a warm African flavor that will capture your heart forever” ~ Durban Experience.
Durban: sun, fun & sport 1
“Durban is a natural paradise known for its gorgeous coastline of sun-kissed beaches and subtropical climate, situated on the eastern seaboard of Africa. The City is built around one of the busiest ports in Africa and our people are our pride. The city focuses on providing visitors with a unique set of experiences that go beyond the beach and into the realm of Durban’s diverse culture, urban lifestyle and scenic diversity. The City of Durban is an elegant, mature and ambitious city. It is a trendsetter in offering great lifestyle, speckled with adventure activities, blessed with natural beauty and is an astonishingly liveable city. Whether you here as a business delegate or a leisure traveler there is a warm African flavor that will capture your heart forever” ~ Durban Experience.
Beverly Hills, Umhlanga – Durban South Africa
Southbroom KZN – South Africa
“The more “ingredients” you add to your life, the greater the possible combinations come about. Combinations that can spark you into going in a new direction. A common theme in many success stories involves the person trying new things, exposing themselves to new environments, and then it just clicked. They KNEW that was it. For some people, it was visiting a boxing gym for the first time. For others, it was watching a dance class. Still for others, it was hearing a person talk about their scientific work. The more you expose yourself to new things, the greater the chances of finding a spark that can ignite something within you to create a whole new chapter in your life” ~ Brian Kim
I woke up this morning, early bells, and thought I would give the Raya Panel (http://www.shutterevolve.com/raya-pro-the-ultimate-digital…/) a better test of its abilities. I looked for a set of 5 images where there were big shadows and highlights. I exported them into Photoshop and tested the auto-align for fun (even though I shot on a tripod). I then used Rapid Blend method but found that the Apply Image button / method worked better. A little fiddle with the contrast, shadows, highlights, detail and resize / sharpen for the web (all on the same panel) and I was “A” for Away! Oh, I also used Jimmy Mcintyre‘s free actions / tutorial to remove chromatic aberrations (click the button and brush them out). Ease of use and good value for money. NB: I haven’t even looked into the Luminosity Masks feature but one of my friends did say it looks to be easier to use than some of the other LM panels around. What I know about LM masks is dangerous!
Base image F16, ISO 320, 1/4 sec, Canon South Africa 6D, 17-40L
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
This morning I ambled down to Wilson’s Wharf with my dogs and found that Henry Prakash Peter Wayne and others had gathered for a photo walk in the SW hub of the CBD. I took some photos at Wilson’s Wharf with my Canon South Africa 550D and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens – still need to process those (some nice photos of the gents there I think). After all had gone walking I got into the bakkie and was about to leave. The pigeons were doing their usual crazy fly arounds and I took the photo below with my Samsung South Africa Samsung Galaxy Note 4. When I got home I took the photo off camera and did some post-processing on the desktop. This little cell phone camera keeps surprising me; given enough light it can do its thing for sure.
The other two photos of DNA 27 were also taken with the same cell phone.
Head of the Bay 2015
As mentioned, I went down to Point Yacht Club area this morning before sunrise, and specifically to Durban Rowing Club. After getting stuck in the sand and being assisted by Salim & Co of NSRI, I made it to the club. Finally got to meet Nola Mitchell and a few other persons, had a lekker egg & bacon roll made by Sean Houlson (paid for by Wendy Houlson). I really like some of the 131 photos but this one is one of my favourites.
5 Star Durban Celebrate Durban! I Love Durban
Show Me Durban Durban2022 Durban Rowing Club
Backsplash: SA Rowing Magazine
Rowing I love Rowing
— at Durban Rowing Club
Andrew Harvard Photography 