Black and White conversion using Silver Efex Pro2

Do your photographs seem to have little contrast, appear flat, your black is not black enough or, on the contrary: your white literally shines? I have prepared this tutorial for those of you photographers, who are interested in moving their conversions into black and white to a higher level. I accidentally found this program right at the beginning when I discovered my passion for black and white photography and I’ve been using it ever since and I won’t say a bad word about it. You can also find a plug in version for Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture.

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LEE filters for Long Exposure Photography

LEE filters

In the previous article we talked about B+W filters for long exposure photography. You might have noticed that I was using the past tense. It’s because I’m not working with them at the moment and I’m using the LEE filters. I use LEE Big stopper instead in combination with another LEE ND filter. I’ve decided for a change only because I bought a Nikon D800 camera and I’m using a full frame lens Nikon 16-35. This lens belongs to the ultra- wide lens category and I have decided to get a maximum out of the wide end, so I had no choice other than leaving the B+W. If you are novice in this genre of photography, please check my tutorial about how to shoot long epoxusres.

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BW photo stories: Padang – Padang Beach, Bali

BW photo from Padang – Padang Beach, definitely a must do on your tri to Bali

Padang – Padang Beach is one of the most beautiful places we visited on Bali. Whether you love surfing or prefer just lying on the beach and admiring the magnificent surroundings, you will be amazed. This place is located about 25 km from the Denpasar airport in Badung regency. Some of the beautiful scenes of Bali that appeared in the movie Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts in the main role were made in this very place. The crystal clear water and the scenery around will literally take your breath away. If you‘re hoping for some romance, just wait for the sunset which is so magical here. This place is definitely a must do on your trip to Bali.

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Long Exposure Photography: B+W neutral density filters

Considering B+W or LEE ND filters for Long Exposure Photography

If you’re currently deciding between filters for daytime long exposure photography, then this article is dedicated to you. I have been working with long exposure photography for some time and I‘ve tried several different filter brands, starting from the cheapest ones to the most expensive filters and filters of the highest quality that can be possibly found. I came to the conclusion that the ideal brands are B+W and LEE. In this article we will take a closer look specifically to the brand B+W from the company Schneider Kreuznach. If you are interested in brand LEE, please read my arcticle about LEE filters for Long Exposure Photography. If you are novice in this genre of photography, please check my tutorial about how to shoot long epoxusres.

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Long Exposure Photography tutorial: Follow my steps.

Long Exposure Photography

Several tutorials regarding the shooting of long exposures can be found on the internet, however, not all of them are complete or easy to understand for absolute beginners. My aim here is to write all the different steps as easy as possible. Do not get discouraged by the lenght of this article, all the steps that need to be taken are covered along with important information which is related to them. You will gradually adopt these the way that you start doing things automatically. Do you use a different technique? I will be thankful, if you joined the discussion to this article and shared your experience with other Long Exosure Photography fans.

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Black and White Photography and patience, my conversion workflow in 5 easy steps

Patience in black and white photography

In one of my previous comments I have already mentioned how important is patience in photography.  This is particularly true for B&W Photography. I would like to clarify what I mean here in more than in just one sentence.

One of the many things I love about Fine Art Photography is that the final images of different photographs depend only on you. There is no manual on how to do things right or an exact procedure for photography adjustment which you could massively apply for all pictures to get a guaranteed result. Certainly not.  Nevertheless, there are certain processes that seem easy, if not trivial but once you start using them, trust me, your portfolio can significantly move forward.

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Batur Lake – widest lake in Bali

About Batur Lake, Bali

Lake Batur is the widest lake on this island. It lies down on the feet of Mount Batur and Mount Abang. On the left side which is not seen in this photograph, there is mount Batur, which is a small volcano. The volcano is still active today as Balinese still remember the great eruption of 1917. It claimed thousands of lives and destroyed hundreds of temples. It has erupted about 24 times since the year 1800. From the distance you can see many trucks carrying away the volcanic soil which is later used in the construction industry all around Bali. There are six ancient villages around the cauldron of Batur Lake which is often conceived to be the Bali Age Village. The total number of residents in this area is about 15 thousand; they are mostly working as farmers, merchants or they work in tourism.

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