Pics Can Talk

Every bit of pun was intended with the title above .  Well, I've just added a collection of shots on Flickr of my trip to Bali.  These are HDR rendered sets, all edited with a single RAW. What is interesting about this new shots are the fact that I am applying some texturing effect, such as the sunlight streaming effects to create a unique and even more surrealistic effect to the shots. 

Honestly, I discovered it by accident as I had been doing some retouching effects to reduce noise and came across the final effect of this.The shot you see above is the first of a number of shots which follows this series.  I will be posting a tutorial here pretty soon on creating this effect.  So do check back often.

The Link : Bali in a Whole New Light

In May's issue of Click! Magazine, I write about the occurrence of digital camera noise.  You can learn how to make your shots smoother and post-processing ideas to remove digital camera noise.

Also remember to flip to the "Yes You Can" pages for some interesting ideas about unconventional methods to improve your photography.

This month, I am also back to reviewing your pics in the Pictures for Review section.

Have fun reading!

A received an email a couple of days ago from the writer of a book called Skyscrapers to have this particular image of the Chin Swee temple of Genting Highlands to be featured in a small section of the book called, "Ancient Roots of Skyscrapers".  It's another testament to the idea that any picture may be interesting and relevant for a particular topic, so don't take your collection of pride and joy for granted. 

Will certainly be looking forward to seeing how my the shot will be used when the book comes on the shelves in September 2008.

Hi I'm in Singapore at the moment. 

This afternoon I was sitting in my hotel room when I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sight, Singapore at Dusk.

So, I took out my little Panasonic Lumix FX7 and took 3 bracketed shots = +1 & 0 & -1 (yes, it's a feature built-into even basic digital cameras).

This was the result after I combined the 3 shots into an HDR image...

What do you think?

Okay, this technique may sometimes look similar to the dodge and burn technique which I had been showing, but only because the dodge and burn techniques may be used to turn out pictures like these.  HDR when you use a software like Photomatix to create, becomes a more "automated" technique whereby your control over the photo, becomes a matter of sliding tabs and determining the extent of your HDR effect.

The examples which I have in this gallery combines the wonderful effect of HDR along with a bit of dodge and burn to perfect the final effects.  Afterall, even if you go through an automated car wash, you gotta get your hands dirty by wiping it down at the end...

Check it out here

I've just posted some new shots in the Dodge & Burn section of my photo gallery.  A couple more people shots.  If you want to see how I've used it to bring out certain shots, go there and have a look.  The theory may be quite straightforward but it takes a good eye to see what you need to be dodging and burning for, to get the best effect.

Flickr Galleries : Dodge & Burn

In the March issue of Click! Magazine, I will be highlighting about the use of dodge and burn for digital enhancements.  This will be an interesting article which highlights a very contemporary technique of dodging and burning to create a unique editing of different exposure levels.

In the tutorial, I have included a step-by-step technique of how to adjust your settings and useful tips to start you off. 

Do pick up your copy and enjoy reading and learning!

- Kenji

Hi Welcome to Pics Can Talk!

This is my new blog site which I have created to be dedicated to stuffs about photography, photo-editing, manipulating images and creative designs.

The contents on this blog has come and will be coming from several avenues, through my career as well as my hobbies and works which I had created just for fun.

I hope you learn something from here and have fun while you are at it. 

Enjoy!