Stuttgart on a January evening

  This was shot from Panaramastrasse around 18:50. I always wondered why my photos were never producing the detail that some professional guys were putting out when I was using the same software that they were. Well I of course do not have the cameras that they have (D3x or D4) but I still felt that I could step up my photos to get closer without spending more money on a new camera. Well I just had to listen closer to the pros and I'm improving. My camera (Nikon D5100) is not a bad camera but it will only shoot 3 photos when in bracket mode. So when I was listening to one of the pros his camera can take 5 photos in bracket mode (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). So his photos were an HDR merge of 5 pics versus the 3 that I was merging. So since my camera is on a tripod when I take photos like this I just shot additional photos at various settings in bracket mode in order to get the 5 shot variation (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). Now this picture is not the best but I just had to go and test my theory out and based on previous photos I can see more detail over my normal 3 shot HDR.


Camera & Picture Info
Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)
Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Focal Length: 32mm
Focus Mode: Manual
AF-Area Mode: Single
VR: OFF
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 200

Merged with Photomatix Pro
Edited with CS2

Schuztengel von Jürgen Goertz

Very interesting fountain with quite a few different sculptures in it. The "Schutzengel" "Guardian Angel" looks really cool so I thought I would share it with those who may never get to see in person. This particular sculpture was completed in 2007. The church in the background is the Saint Laurentius Catholic Church which was built between 1745 and 1751.

Picture 1

Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)

Image Comment: grnantphoto.blogspot.com            

Camera Info

Device: Nikon D5100

Lens: VR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G

Focal Length: 55mm

Focus Mode: AF-A

AF-Area Mode: Auto

VR: ON

AF Fine Tune:

Exposure

Aperture: f/4.2

Shutter Speed: 1/500s, 1,1000s, 1/250s

Exposure Mode: Manual

Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -1.0EV, +1.0EV

Metering: Matrix

ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100

White Balance: Auto, 0, 0

Picture 2

Image Quality: Compressed RAW (14-bit)
Image Comment: grnantphoto.blogspot.com            
Camera Info
Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: VR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 55mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
VR: ON
AF Fine Tune:
Exposure
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/50s, 1/100s, 1/25s
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -1.0EV, +1.0EV
Exposure Tuning:
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100

White Balance: Auto, 0, 0

Johanneskirche am Feuersee

One from this mornings outing.



Device: Nikon D5100
Lens: 10-20mm f/4-5.6G
Focal Length: 14mm
Focus Mode: AF-A
AF-Area Mode: Auto
Aperture: f/5
Exposure Mode: Manual
Exposure Comp.: 0EV, -2, +2
Metering: Matrix
ISO Sensitivity: ISO 100
White Balance: Auto, 0, 0
HDR: Photomatix Pro
Sizing & Text: CS2

Inverted Candy

St. George Monastery

St. George Monastery

This is a photo of a monastery located on one of the Princes Islands in Istanbul, Turkey. It was quite a hike up to this place but the view was awesome.

TOPKAPI SARAYI Istanbul, Turkey

TOPKAPI SARAYI

I took these photos while on vacation to Istanbul. There were many awesome colorful areas like these and I definitely have to go back once I have more photography experience because I missed some great photo opportunities. 

"Garten der schönen Melodie" - Stuttgart, Germany

Great little park in the hills looking over the center of Stuttgart, Germany. The clouds were perfect for me to practice my auto-bracketing function. This allowed me to upload them into Photomatix Pro 4.2 which merges the pictures and provides you various presets to choose from for the final product. I will definitely go back to beat the crowds to get some uninterrupted pictures.