Bicycles in Rome... HDR with Nik HDR Efex Pro

The city of Rome is a most exciting place! The cars are mostly small, and so are the motorcycles, actually scooters. I saw one Harley Davidson, and a ton of Vespa's.  I believe people live there by divine intervention. I have lived my entire life without ever getting close to getting hit by a car, but count three times in Rome including a police car while I was in the crosswalk!  I'm not counting the scrapings, and a few near hits (misses?) in taxi's, but, I lived to write about it.  :-) 

There are a lot of bicycles too, including this pair that I photographed in an alley. What attracted me to the composition was the texture of the stone and stucco, and the trio of posters above the bikes. It rained a lot in Italy, creating a look that the world was saturated with color. The bicycles were the perfect pairing for an HDR image. I made a series of three exposures using a Nikon D3s and 24-70mm lens, which is one of my favorites. 

Tips for HDR: Use a tripod, and remote release which is helpful for low light levels to prevent camera shake when pressing the shutter. Check the histogram to make sure there is detail in the exposure for highlights, and also the image for the shadows. You may only need to make three exposures in most cases, however in contrasty situations you may need to make additional exposures. Nik HDR Efex Pro worked beautifully to bring out the color and detail throughout the image. The presets are a great springboard to customize your image, and you can fine tune and save your settings to customize your HDR image. Have fun shooting!

A quiet evening in Rome...

Twilight is one of my most favorite times to photograph - the sky is often the most beautiful blue. The light was balanced between the night sky and all the city lights for just a few minutes. The water under the bridge seemed to soak up the most amazing reflections, creating a very painterly image. Early morning and late evening is the perfect time to walk along this section of the pedestrian bridge. The view is always impressive. Long exposures at twilight paint the water with golden light, giving it an entirely different texture and color than during the day.

I used an inexpensive but sturdy tripod called a Joby Gorillapod to make this picture. It easily holds a heavy camera and lens still during exposure. A cable release or self timer works well to reduce vibration that could be transferred to the camera during exposure. Placing the tripod directly on the widest part of the ledge on the bridge allowed for the best angle.

Another thought is consider white balance settings. A setting of Automatic created a very cool look, while Sunny, which was used here warmed things up bit and made the scene more inviting. If you have Live View on your camera, you can scroll through the various white balance settings to see which one gives you the look that will complement your visual story. Finishing touches from Nik Viveza 2 made it easy to quickly brighten and dark selected areas without complex masking. Your coupon code for anything Nik is DSANDIDGE. Have fun shooting!  Ciao...

PS.. If you want to learn more about twilight and night photography, please join me at Florida's Birding & Photofest in St. Augustine this April. I'll be covering, twilight photography, HDR, infrared and everything creative!

Think about it...

Rome is a fantastic city, there is a lot to ponder. The art, the music, the food, and for the photographer, everything is a picture! There isn't enough room in a day to fit everything in, but that is the fun part. When taking pictures, I like to start with the wide shot, and then move in closer for all the detail shots like the one above. Think about the background and what's going on behind the subject.  Consider lens choice, aperture/shutter speed, and angle to capture a variety of different and interesting photos.  Most important, have fun shooting!