Friday, October 23, 2020

Central Park In Black And White

Grayscale In Green Spaces


Central Park offers
A dazzling array
Of dynamic visual delights

It's a marvelous place to take photographs
In color
Or black and white!



a black and white photograph of the eldorado apartment building central park west new york
The Eldorado on Central Park West





a black and white photograph of boats in central park new york
Rowboats Moored On The Lake





a black and white photo of people exercising in central park
Exercise





a black and white photograph of a radio controlled toy boat in central park
Radio-Controlled Boat





a black and white photograph of the sign at the boathouse restaurant in central park






a black and white photograph of pedicabs and a skateboarder in central park new york
Pedicabs And Skateboarder - Central Park





a black and white photo of a woman on a staircase at bethesda terrace new york city
Staircase At Bethesda Terrace




Camera: 
Sony a7R III 

Lens: Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS


Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.
All Rights Reserved



Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Evening Street Scene In Nice

 When Once We Gathered Freely


This year has been rough on everyone, but please to whatever you have to to stay safe and maintain a positive outlook. Better times lie ahead. We'll all be traveling again soon!



a photo of people walking the streets of nice france on a summer evening




Camera:
            Nikon D700 

Lens:
            Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED


Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.
All Rights Reserved


Monday, October 5, 2020

Castles of the Loire Valley

 Les Beaux Châteaux

The Loire Valley, located about 200 km southeast of Paris, features an amazing collection of well-preserved castles and regal residences, each with a distinct flavor, and all of them featuring a delicately decorated French style.

I have not spent a lot of time in the Loire Valley, but I made a brief stop there some years ago. Here are a few of the properties that I had the great pleasure to visit.


Le Château de Chambord is as grand as it is elegant. 


a photo of the chateau de chambord in the loire valley france
Château de Chambord - Loire Valley




Le Château de Cheverny features prominently in the Tintin adventures.


a photo of the chateau de cheverny in the loire valley france
Château de Cheverny - Loire Valley




Le Château de Chenonceau is uniquely architected to cross the River Cher.


a photo of the chateau de chenonceau loire valley france
Château de Chenonceau - Loire Valley





Le Château de Blois is impressively well preserved inside and out.


a photo of chateau de blois loire valley france
Château de Blois - Loire Valley




Boats at the Château de Chambord on a pleasant afternoon.


a photo of boats moored at the chateau de chambord loire valley on a sunny day
Boats at the Château de Chambord




Camera:
            Nikon D700

Lenses:
            Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
            Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VRII

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.
All Rights Reserved



Nice - South of France

Enhanced Resolution

I compose music. When I post my music online, I often make a slideshow to go with the audio. Hopefully, this adds interest by giving people something to look at while they're listening.



a photo of a grand hotel negresco in nice south of france daniel south
Hôtel Negresco - Nice - South of France




It's surprisingly challenging to decide which photos to use with a piece of music. I wouldn't think that this would be the case, given that I took the photos and wrote the music, but typically I'll spend days agonizing over the choice. I want to make sure that the mood of the photos matches that of the music, and I want to avoid, when possible, using images that I have used in other slideshows.



a statue of miles davis at the hotel negresco nice france
Statue of Miles Davis at the Hôtel Negresco




I went through this struggle earlier this year when I posted the three movements of my first Tuba Concerto online. I had composed the concerto in 2015, but for some reason, I procrastinated on publishing the score and registering the copyright. I finally got everything organized this year during the pandemic shutdown.



a photo of a small pier in the water off of the coast of nice france
Untitled - Nice (2009)



I settled on using photos from a 2009 trip to France. I felt that the images were a good match for the music, but using them involved some technical challenges.



a photo of beach chairs in nice france
Beach Chairs in the Morning - Nice (2009)




I wanted the slideshow to display in 4k, but some of the photos didn't have enough resolution to meet the 4k specification after cropping and applying zoom effects. My 2009 camera had limited resolution compared to more recent models.



a fine art photo of a floodlit pier at night in nice france
Floodlit Pier At Night - Nice (2009)





Sometimes innovations arrive just as we need them. A software package that increases the resolution of photo files came to market recently. I tried it, and I was very happy with the results. I increased the resolution of my files when necessary, and the 4k video looks crisp and detailed throughout!

Nice is once of the most beautiful cities that I have visited in my years of traveling. Highly recommended.


Camera:
            Nikon D700 

Lenses:
            Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
            Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VRII

Light happens. Be ready. Shoot hard.
All Rights Reserved