Changing Of The Guard In Bangkok

Exploring the Grand Palace of Bangkok we were lucky enough to witness the changing of the guard. It happens once every 2 hours all around the palace grounds. I couldn’t believe the size of the guns these guys were carrying!

It was fun to watch them go through their choreographed routine, even if it was a little bit scary. I’m not sure why it made me feel uneasy, I guess I’m just not used to seeing guns. It was probably only the second or third time I’ve seen them in real life!

I used the Cross Process 2 Lightroom preset on this shot before making a few other small edits. This preset seems to work quite well on lots of the images I have from Thailand. I think it brings a tropical, exotic feel to the colours which I haven’t been able to recreate myself.

Searching For Lac De Roy

I went searching for Lac de Roy in the French Alps and all I found was this small puddle. After about 4 hours of hiking with no navigation equipment this was as good as it was going to get. I guess I really need to update my tech! Or at least take a map.

Since there was no distinct path I ended up going a bit cross country, wherever my camera eye decided was best. Fortunately I spotted this collection of water that I thought might provide some foreground interest. It was pretty damp and I was very thankful for my waterproof shoes!

After returning home I discovered that I actually got really close to Lac de Roy, it was just a few hundred metres the other side of a peak I decided not to traverse. So I’ve looked up a shorter, more simple route for the next time I’m in this beautiful area of the Alps.

Out Of Season

It was very strange to see so many chairlifts completely deserted whilst hiking near Sommand in the French Alps. I’ve been on a few similar adventures so far this year, but this was the first that took me to a ski resort area.

The contrast to high season was incredible. Not only does the landscape look very different under a blanket of snow, but the crowds of people create a hustle and bustle about the place throughout the winter that is completely at odds with the emptiness of summer. I think I saw four people in an entire afternoon, it was fantastic!

I wanted to capture that out of season feeling, so an obvious subject was the empty lift in front of me. Against the backdrop of green, snow-less mountains and some blue sky it was the perfect opportunity.

As a first attempt I took this shot while the sun was hiding behind a few clouds so the light was a little flat. Fortunately it decided to show itself a few minutes later, so I rushed back to this spot to reshoot with some shadows. A little bit of light makes a world of difference!

Have you ever visited somewhere out of season? Did you enjoy the experience? I’d love to hear from you!

Am I Being Watched?

While wandering around the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon I suddenly had this feeling I was being watched. Out of the corner of my eye I could see these little animals peering at me through a window. At first it was a bit creepy!

But as I got closer I could see they were just inanimate objects, and that this might also make a great photo. There were lots of things I loved about Lisbon, and many of them can be seen in this shot.

The beautiful bright blue tiles that are a symbol of the city, the mild state of disrepair present in the wall and window frame, and the quirky nature of these small dogs watching from the window all combined to form a simple snapshot of the city in a single frame.

Vanishing Points And The Golden Ratio

Lines leading to a vanishing point always seem to make for great composition. This shot was taken on the Lisbon Metro, but I guess it could be any underground train network in the world. The frequency of trains left a lot to be desired, but at least it gave me time to take this shot!

When composing images like this I always try to put the vanishing point on one of the phi points of the golden ratio. I know a lot of people swear by the rule of thirds, but at least 50% of the time I prefer this crop instead.

If you’d like to experiment in Lightroom, go to the Tools menu and select Crop Guide Overlay. Then you can have your pick of different grids to guide your composition. I’m sure that on at least one occasion the golden ratio will be just perfect!

Name That Lake

I went the wrong way a couple of times trying to find this hidden gem of a lake, and I still have no idea what it’s called. Maybe we can come up with a name here! At the end of an afternoon hiking in the nearby mountains I was almost ready to give up and go home.

It makes me wonder how many times I’ve been so close to something so beautiful and had no idea. If you’re interested it’s one of the three lakes just south east of Lescheraines in the Massif des Bauges. I’m looking forward to exploring the other two on another trip.

Reflections like this are always nice to look at, but there is also a subtle natural progression from dark to light across the image from right to left which I really like. Hopefully it leads the eye through the image. Although apparently we look naturally from left to right, so maybe that won’t work quite so well. Let me know!

Exploring Le Pointe De Miribel

There was so much great foreground interest at le Pointe de Miribel I wasn’t really sure where to start! With five crosses at the summit alongside this Madonna statue, I had a fun afternoon exploring all of the angles.

I was really lucky to get some images up here without any other hikers present. Just after I finished shooting this scene a couple sat to eat their lunch by the statue. From then on there was a steady stream of people arriving to admire the view.

I’m not so keen on these empty blue skies. A few more clouds would have been welcome! But in this case it does at least provide a nice clean backdrop for the Madonna statue, avoiding any unnecessary distraction.

I’ve seen some great shots of this location in winter, so I’m really looking forward to getting back out here come the snowy season!

Into A Dream

On Sunday I was invited on a hike in le Massif des Bauges by one of my esteemed work colleagues. He grew up in this range of mountains located just south of Annecy, and was keen to show me how great they are. Apparently his mother literally wrote the book on hikes in the area! So I wasn’t surprised that it ended up being a fantastic day.

I turned to take a shot after crossing this small bridge and the lighting was just perfect. That moment felt almost dreamlike, as if the bridge could be a portal into another dimension. I did my best to recreate that feeling with my processing in Lightroom.

If you want to create a similar effect, try boosting the Temperature slider into the yellow end until you reach a level you’re happy with. Then add a post-crop vignette to draw the viewer into the shot. I know lots of people don’t like vignettes, but I think they work really well in images like this!

The Sun Shines Through It

Shots like this one always put a smile on my face. There’s something about that sunburst effect which is inherently joyful. I can’t say that I go out specifically seeking the sun, but every now and then it pops up in the right place at the right time.

Fortunately this was one such occasion, taken while I was hiking up Le Môle in the French Alps. As I stopped for a breather (one of many) I caught this scene in the corner of my eye. It’s always great to see nature align perfectly right in front of you.

If you want to get this sunburst effect you should use a really small aperture. Somewhere around F22 should do the trick. But don’t look at the sun! Unless you’re using an electronic viewfinder, I think it should be ok then. At least I hope so as I’ve been doing that for a while now.

With Gothic Style

Probably the most memorable tourist attraction we visited in Lisbon, this shot was taken in the Church of Santa Maria which adjoins the Jerónimos Monastery (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos). I really loved the ceiling in this place! I just couldn’t stop looking up, and had quite a sore neck by the time we left.

Since I didn’t have a tripod on this trip there was some substantial noise in the image. I tried to get rid of it as best I could using a combination of Lightroom and Topaz DeNoise. Actually I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let me in with a tripod anyway, as seems to be the case with just about every church I’ve ever visited!