Getting into HDR

La Pêche – Re-edited in HDR with Photomatix Pro

I thought I’d experiment a little with some HDR images. I have again been inspired by browsing 500px.com, as there are many HDR images on this site that seem to become popular. I looked into some HDR apps and downloaded a trial for Photomatix Pro, then loaded one of my favourite images into it, and here is the result of a little experimentation with the presets available within it.

If you’re not familiar with HDR, it stands for High Dynamic Range, and is a composite image made by combining multiple exposures of the same shot, ideally captured in-camera. Most HDR programs available allow you to load a single image, and use a ‘tonemapping’ option, so that you don’t need multiple exposures. The end result is, traditionally, a perfectly exposed image, as it takes the best exposed areas of each and merges them together, however it creates some pretty surreal effects, that have made it quite a popular tool; just go to Google Image earch and type ‘hdr’ to see what you get.

So I uploaded this image to my profile on the 500px website, and in the time it’s taken me to compose this post, the image has received as many views as the original unedited version that I uploaded to the same site two years ago.

Café Terrace at Night – Lost in Translation?

Café Van Gogh, Arles, France in 2007 (left), and Van Gogh’s painting ‘Café Terrace at Night’, 1888.

I was looking for the original title of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting Café Terrace at Night (above right), because I wanted to upload my photo (above left) of the same scene to my profile on the 500px.com website. I try not to leave the ‘description’ field completely empty when I publish an image there, so I thought I’d check out the name of the café, the original name of the painting, and the English name of the painting. The way I see it, there is something of a distortion in the translation. The French name is Terrasse du Café le Soir,  and by the time it’s in English, Café Terrace at Night, it’s a generic café terrace in the evening.

The actual meaning of its French title is that it’s the terrace of a café called ‘Le Soir‘. At least that’s my interpretation; as I understand it, in French, a named café puts the word ‘Café’ before its name, for example, ‘Café le Baron‘ is a café called ‘The Baron’. So Café le Soir is could be interpreted the same way.

Please correct me if I’m completely wrong; I make no claim to actually being any good at French.

So have I discovered, here, that when an English speaker looks at the painting and sees this title, they are being given misinformation? Is it really an incorrect translation that misleads us when we read into the meaning of the painting? I’m not sure. I’m not sure if the title actually matters. It’s a café with seats and tables in the street, and it’s in the evening.

When people look at an image of any kind, they interpret it in their own way. The title of an image can have a very important impact on how we interpret both its content and meaning. At a very simple level, let’s imagine a red square being printed onto canvas and hung in three different art galleries. In each gallery it is given a different title: ‘Sauce’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Claret’. The audience at each gallery will probably perceive the painting in three very different ways.

The source of the apparent difference in translation with the Café Terrace at Night may be that when it was originally put on display, it was titled Café, le soir, or Coffeehouse, in the evening.

So perhaps the confusion is down to the lack of a comma?

So it’s easier to compare, here are the four different variants of the painting’s title:

Original English: Coffeehouse, in the evening
Original French: Café, le soir
Current English: Café Terrace at Night
Current French: Terrasse du Cafe le Soir

I’d be interested to read other peoples’ thoughts …

A Word a Week Photo Challenge – ‘Zoom’

So here’s my latest ‘word a week photo challenge’ submission. I lived 12 years in Lyme Regis, a lovely town at the heart of the World Heritage Jurassic Coastline in Dorset. Walking to work in the mornings down the street, this was the view. In the summer the bunting was up to make the tourists happy.

Here is the Word A Week Photo. Challenge original post. Why not take part yourself?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Beyond

I’m going to enter a second photo challenge in a short space of time; this one is ‘Beyond’, from The Daily Post. I could have re-entered the same image again for this category, but I thought I’d like to use the one below, taken from the top of the ‘Tour Magne’, a fantastic Roman tower in Nîmes, France.

My First Photo Challenge

Well I’ve just decided to take part in a photo challenge on WordPress for the first time, so here goes. The post setting the challenge is here: A Word in Your Ear blog.

Here in the UK we experience some quite varied weather. As some of you may know, we are in the midst of utter chaos caused by 3-4 inches of quite widespread snow, and a few areas with 12 inches or more. Not really a lot by many standards, but the country just does not have the facilities and equipment to cope with it.

Lightning is something I haven’t seen for quite some time. Last time I saw it though, here is what I got:

Lightning fork near Lyme Regis

For more pictures, find me on Instagram: Laurence Madill on Instagram

I’m on Twitter: twitter.com/Laurencemadill

Please share this post using the tools below Thanks

Portland Storm

Storm on Chesil Bank

This week I was sorting out some old files for deletion to clear some space in my laptop, and I discovered a whole batch of photos that I hadn’t loaded into my photo catalogue, of a storm in November 2009. I took a trip over to Portland Bill to see what the sea was like. Here are a few of the photos. Note the size of the breaking waves compared to the people on the beach in the sixth image.

Quarry Crane, Portland Bill

Quarry Crane, Portland Bill

Quarry Crane, Portland Bill

Quarry Crane, Portland Bill

Pulpit Rock, Portland Bill

Storm on Chesil Bank

Storm on Chesil Bank

Storm on Chesil Bank

Storm on Chesil Bank

France 2007

I think I visited France twice in 2007, once with a friend in the summer for a week to Brittany, it looks like I didn’t take any photos on that trip, so that means I can’t actually remember when it was.

My parents were visiting France in November 2007 for three weeks, and in the middle of this they had booked a holiday cottage in Arles. I decided the night before they were due to arrive there that I was going to fly out to meet them, so I asked them to pick me up from Avignon airport the next day. As they had their car out there it was easy enough, and it was easy for us all to go and visit various places.

Roman Theatre, Arles

It was also cold. The Mistral is a wind that can be particularly strong down the Rhone valley, and brings particularly cold air in the winter. I wasn’t expecting it to be that cold. What it did mean though was beautifully crisp, clear skies for the whole time we were there, and stunning views wherever we went.

First we explored the town of Arles, a lovely town, with a number of Roman buildings including a theatre, amphitheatre and bath houses. It is also home to the Café Van Gogh, the subject of Van Gogh’s 1888 painting, ‘Café Terrace at Night’.

Les Arenes, Nîmes, view from ‘Tour Magne’

We took a trip out to explore Nîmes, with beautiful 19th Century gardens and the Roman ‘Tour Magne’ (Great Tower) atop a hill, with stunning views of the city.

We also took a trip down to the Mediterranean coast, to the medieval town of Aigues-Mortes, with well-preserved defensive walls. The walk around the top of the walls was bitterly cold but well worth it.

Driving back we saw flamingos in their natural habitat on a lake in the Camargue, Western Europe’s largest river delta. It is largely made up of brine marshes and shallow pools.

My final exploration was when my parents dropped me off in Avignon so I could catch my flight home. I convinced them to take my luggage in their car and bring it home with them later on, so that when they dropped me off I had the day, and my hands, free to explore the town.

I first went to the tourist information centre to book a taxi to the airport for that afternoon, for some reason, the staff didn’t recognise my accent and offer to speak in english, not that I was offended.

The Pope’s Palace, Avignon

I took a walk round, and went out onto the Pont St Bénezet, perhaps better known as the Pont d’Avignon from the childrens’ song. I then went round the Pope’s Palace, a stunning and massive Gothic building. Unfortunately photography was banned inside, which was quite a disappointment.

Time for the taxi to the airport, and it didn’t turn up. I returned to the Tourist office, where the helpful staff (who still didn’t speak any english) directed me to a taxi rank and said if I couldn’t get a taxi I should come back and they will ‘sort something out’.

Below are some of my favourite photos from this trip:

Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

View of the Alpilles from the Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

Roman Amphitheatre, Arles

Roman Theatre, Arles

Roman Theatre, Arles

Roman Baths, Arles

Architecture, Arles

Arles

La Tour Magne, Nimes

View from Roman Amphitheatre, Nimes

Roman Amphitheatre, Nimes

Les Quais de la Fontaine, Nimes

Les Quais de la Fontaine, Nimes

Les Quais de la Fontaine, Nimes

Gardens, Nimes

View from La Tour Magne, Nimes

Ornamental Gardens, Nimes

Ornamental Gardens, Nimes

Ornamental Gardens, Nimes

Maison Carrée, Nimes

Café de la Nuit, Arles

Paul Cézanne’s Home and Studio

Museum at Arles

Museum at Arles

The Alyscamps, Roman Necropolis at Arles

Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes

Flamingos in the Camargue

Le Pont d’Avignon

The Pope’s Palace, Avignon

Cosmos – Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan’s ‘Cosmos’, front cover

I’ve started reading ‘Cosmos’ by Carl Sagan, this is a real classic book, written by one of the great astronomers of modern times.

It is a very sad coincidence that as I was writing this I heard the news that Sir Patrick Moore had passed away, aged 89. What an inspiration he was to so many people.

Dr Carl Sagan had an extraordinary ability to explain ideas, and make them comprehensible to everyone. He received an award for ‘distinguished contributions to the welfare of mankind’, and the Pullitzer Prize for literature. He sadly died in 1996. To the current and future generations, Professor Brian Cox may well one day be regarded in the same way.

Even in the early pages of the book, before the end of the first chapter, I’ve been inspired to learn more. We haven’t even really got onto the astronomy yet. I’ve learnt a tantalising little bit about the ancient city of Alexandria, and some of the people who lived there and worked in its great library. The director of the library, Eratosthenes, correctly calculated the circumference of the Earth, over two thousand years ago. He did it by observing the shadow of vertical sticks at noon on June 21st in two different places. One, as he had read in a papyrus book in the library, had no shadow in Syene. The Sun was directly overhead. He decided to do the same test in Alexandria, and saw that the stick still had a shadow. He realised the only possible reason was that the Earth’s surface was curved.

Eratosthenes hired a man to pace out the distance between Syene and Alexandria, 500 miles, and using this with the difference in the shadows, he correctly calculated the circumference to be 25,000 miles, accurate to just a few percent. Not a bad achievement for 2200 years ago.

Not only this, I have already learnt that Alexandria was a place where all races lived in harmony, and marriages between them were encouraged. So by the end of chapter one, I need to find books to read about what life was like in Alexandria.

And on to chapter two: ‘One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue’…

Lyme Regis

I have ‘Lyme Regis’ as a saved search in my wordpress app, so I check it once every couple of days to look for any inspiring photos etc, especially now I’ve moved away and have lived in Sussex for about 16 months. I thought I’d use this to see if anyone actually uses saved searches, I know the post may be found in other ways but do people actually use saved searches?

So for anyone that has ‘Lyme Regis’ as a saved search, here’s a short pick of my photos and if you do, post a comment and let me know your thoughts .

Damned cats…part two

Well the kittens have gone. We found a home for one, but a very nice lady from the Cats Protection League took them off our hands. Now the mother can be done, but she’s out of season so she won’t get pregnant for a little while yet anyway.

We went on the waiting list for the CPL to be able to take them, and last week we had a phone call to say there is a pen available but she has found possible homes for them too. Here are just a few final photos I took before they left:

Getting into Reading

Ever since school, and as long as I can remember, I never read books. I used to like factual books, picture books and encyclopaedias, but I never read stories.

In the last year though, I’ve started to get into reading proper novels. I’ve taken advantage of offers in shops like The Works, three selected books for £5, not really knowing what to expect. Admittedly, there are several I haven’t read, but I have read a few, an they’ve been enjoyable. I seem to be drawn to crime novels, and have been unable to put them down.

More recently, I’ve discovered the free iBooks app available on the iPhone and quite a large number of free books available. I’ve already read a couple that have made good reading, and I’m in the middle of a third one.

I’ve also discovered Goodreads, where I can rate books that I’ve read and discover new ones. I haven’t yet rated enough to get recommendations, but they have a great app where you can scan barcodes of your books to add them to your goodreads library. You can then say whether you’ve read them, what rating you give them, and once you’ve read and rated 20 books, you will start getting the recommendations.

If you have an iPhone, download iBooks, and browse through the bookstore for free books. You’ll be surprised what books you can get that you don’t have to pay for. Many of the classics whose copyright has expired are available for free, along with a surprising number of modern books in all genres.

I used to really want the Amazon Kindle, but now I just don’t think there’s any need. On an iPhone you can also download the Kindle app so you can use the Kindle bookstore.

Apple’s iBooks app

Damned Cats

These damned cats! We have two cats. Frankie is a black and white boy, a bit over two years old. He’s been done. Rose is a bit over a year old, she’s just had her second (and last) litter of kittens. As gorgeous as they are, these are a big handful, as Rose isn’t looking after them properly.

Frankie more or less left home when the first litter of kittens were born. We haven’t seen him a lot since. Last night he came in briefly, then started hissing and barking at us. Yes, he barks like a dog. I’m reluctant to let him in the house any more, he lives quite happily with a household of other cats down the way. I’m beginning to think they’re welcome to him. It’s not so much because he’s become so spiteful, but I think it’s fairer on him if he’s happy there and not happy in our household any more.

As for the newest kittens, we had to bath them this week. We tried giving them some goat’s milk, but instead they went swimming in it. This morning I woke up to find one of the kittens curled up fast asleep in the bowl of kitten biscuits.

Yes, these kittens are very cute, but they need to go.

For my French Followers

I’ve noticed a number of visits recently from France in my stats, and likes from a few French blogs, probably something to do with my previous post.

I thought, therefore, that I would post a link to an interview about my photography on the http://www.PhotoPassion.fr website: Interview Photographe: Laurence Madill

France 2005

La Mairie de Vannes

I haven’t been updating this blog as often as I’d like, so I had this little idea that once in a while I’d take a little look back at something I’ve done, or somewhere I’ve been somewhere in the past.

Today, I’m going to share some of my experiences of a 16 day trip to France in 2005; just me and my car. The main reason for going was because I fancied touring abroad in my new (to me) Audi Cabiolet. I didn’t plan a lot in advance. In fact all I did plan ahead were the Channel Tunnel crossings there and back. I booked them the day before I left. Another day before that was when I decided I was going to go on holiday. Sorry folks, it’s a long post, so I’ve had to add just the first snippet to the homepage.

My views on Likes and Follows

I’ve read a number of posts about peoples’ opinions on liking posts, or following blogs, and bloggers being disgruntled that someone has ‘liked’ the post without adding visitor numbers to their stats.

It suggests that people are using the Reader; you can use it to read a post, often without having to visit the site. Isn’t that the point? A quick way to read the posts about topics you’re interested in, or to read updates from blogs you follw. The Reader is great, but I wonder if it does make people click ‘Like’ without having actually read the post.

What I’m really doing here is just clarifying my point of view. I use the ‘Like’ button more as a bookmark to come back to later. If I see a post that looks interesting, I will Like it if I don’t have time to read it. If I haven’t read the post yet, I will read it in the near future. I will also make a point of looking through the rest of the blog to see if I should follow that blog too.

Similarly, if someone Likes one of my posts, I will make a point of visiting their blog and looking for anything I can Like or follow.

However: I don’t do this to try and gain likes or follows. If I like what I see, I’ll follow you, I won’t expect it to be reciprocal in any way.