To the End of the World

There certainly is something in the distance. Invisible, yet real.

With every step, new shapes appear. With every step, more is revealed. With every step, more is hidden. With every step, change is made. With every step, nothing ever changes. With every step, new opportunities open. With every step, ideas are challenged. With every step, obstacles show up. With every step, the void calls. With every step, lines are broken.

Different, yet similar?

On HDR 2

I use my visual perception constantly, yet I am practically never aware how it works. Most of the time I do not recognize its flaws and limitations, or its great capabilities. I only see the end result. It is composed not only from the things seen, but also from expectations and previous experiences. Seeing the reality is different from looking at a static picture. There is no way to stop time to get only momentary impression of reality. Although taking a picture means capturing light only during relatively short amount of time and because the capabilities of photographic technology are different from my visual perception, it is not yet possible to record an almost identical view of reality. People have found various ways around these limitations and even learned to appreciate them. But there will always be that need to get it all and retain even the tiniest nuance of whole scene. Keeping all detail of surroundings is relevant. And not to forget the additional opportunities for experimentation that HDR brings. The additional tools and processes give me something new to try out. Given the photographic limitations we have learned to cope with or like, more options to experiment with are welcome for creativity.

Vizuálne vnímanie využívam vždy, avšak prakticky nikdy si ho neuvedomujem. Väčšinu času nepoznám jeho nedostatky a obmedzenia, alebo naopak úžasné schopnosti. Vidím len konečný výsledok. Ten sa skladá nielen z vecí, ktoré práve vidím, ale aj z očakávaní a predchádzajúcich skúseností. Pozerať sa na realitu sa odlišuje od pohľadu na nehybnú fotografiu. Neexistuje totiž spôsob, ako zastaviť čas a získať len chvíľkový dojem z reality. Aj keď fotografovanie znamená zachytiť svetlo len počas pomerne krátkeho časového úseku a kvôli odlišným schopnostiam techniky of môjho vnímania, nedá sa zatiaľ zaznamenať takmer rovnaký pohľad ako ten skutočný. Ľudia si našli rôzne spôsoby, ako obísť tieto nedostatky a dokonca sa naučili oceňovať ich. Avšak vždy tu bude potreba získať všetko a zachovať aj tú najmenšiu nuancu zo scény. Zaznamenať všetky okolité detaily má svoje opodstatnenie. A netreba zabudnúť ani na ďalšie možnosti pre experimentáciu, ktoré HDR ponúka. Tieto ďalšie nástroje a procesy mi dávajú niečo nové na vyskúšanie. S danými fotografickými obmedzeniami, s ktorými sme sa naučili vysporiadať alebo sme si ich dokonca obľúbili, sú nové kreatívne možnosti vítané.

On HDR 1

The last three photographs were processed a bit more than other I've posted so far (or maybe not?). Yes, they are HDR photographs. This post is about my view, a view of an young amateur, on HDR images. I like panoramas (meant as stitched images), they overcome a limitation of photographic hardware in some way. Panoramic pictures are usually used to provide wider view, but stitched pictures can also be used to increase resolution of a photo. Similarly, HDR helps to overcome a limitation of camera's sensor to capture scenes with both very bright and dark areas. I'd say HDR is any composite photograph that contains higher dynamic range than the camera can capture. Therefore, this abbreviation includes photos processed with various techniques, like manual exposure blending, exposure fusion or tone mapping a true HDR image. Simply anything that needs multiple differently exposed images. Although this definition does not fit computer graphics, it might work with photographs and mainly for me. Only now I've begun to realise how sophisticated my eyes are (or how pathetic the technology is - in some aspects). I'm able to see sun lit buildings across the street, but only a quick movement of eyes and few milliseconds later I can also notice details in relatively dark corner. Amazing! Interestingly, the same eyes are also quite limited, sometimes when looking at LCD monitor, small dark details on white background are hard to distinguish. Definitely something worth of thoughts besides basic and more obvious things related to photography.

Tri predchádzajúce fotografie boli trochu viac upravené ako tie, ktoré som dosial ukázal (alebo nie?). Áno, sú to HDR fotografie. Tento príspevok je môj pohľad, pohľad amatéra, na HDR Fotografiu. Obľubujem panorámy (poskladané z viacerých obrázkov), tieto pomáhajú prekonať obmedzenie fotoaparátu. Panoramatické fotografie sa najčastejšie používajú kvôli širšiemu záberu, ale takisto môžu zvýšiť rozlíšenie výslednej fotky. Podobne, HDR pomáha prekonať obmedzenie snímača, ktoré nedovoľuje zaznamenať scény s príliš jasnými a tmavými oblasťami. Povedal by som, že HDR je hocijaká zložená fotografia, ktorá obsahuje vyšší dynamický rozsah ako ten, ktorý dokáže fotoaparát zachytiť. Takže pod touto skratkou sa skrývajú fotky spracované rúznymi technikami, ako ručné prelínanie expozícií, automatická expozičná fúzia, alebo premapovanie tónov skutočného HDR súboru. Jednoducho povedané, hocičo z viacerých expozícií. Aj keď táto definícia nemusí byť použiteľná v počítačovej grafike, môže dobre fungovať pre fotografie a hlavne pre mňa. Len teraz som si začal uvedomovať ako sofistikované sú moje oči (alebo ako je technika nedokonalá - v niektorých aspektoch). Som schopný pozorovať slnkom osvetlené budovy, avšak stačí len rýchly pohyb očí a o niekoľko milisekúnd neskôr viem rozpoznať detaily v relatívne tmavom kúte. Úžasné! Zaujímavé je, že tie isté oči sú aj dosť limitované. Keď sa niekedy pozerám na môj LCD monitor, malé tmavé detaily na svetlom pozadí sa dajú len ťažko rozpoznať. Určite sa oplatí uvažovať aj o tomto, nie len o iných, zrejmých a základných veciach súvisiacich s fotografiou.

Four Images

The last four images were all taken the same day. Originally, I didn't even think they would fit together. They all were just "stand-alone" pictures. And not particularly interesting. Probably doomed to just take up space on HDD.

But a few days later, just by chance I found a link between them. Looking at a folder full of dull pictures, I suddenly got it: A dialogue during a journey to nowhere. Some pavement, a path in grass and a steel bridge, this might be a long way. To someone, the photographs might look like they were taken in different places. But they were not and the destination is unknown, so it can be called a journey to nowhere. But who is talking?

"Official First Post"

I have a strange feeling to write an "official first post", but I don't know what to write in it. Therefore, simply: Welcome!

When I started this blog almost a year ago, I didn't have any idea or concept of what and how should I present here. Now, I don't even remember why I decided to have a blog. Now, I just started experimenting...