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Return From Paradise - 7i Pics

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J A K

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Hi Everyone:

I have returned home after a vacation in French Polynesia and Hawaii. Although the weather did not always cooperate, the vacation was great. Returning home was unfortunate (you know how it goes – must work to eat).

I really enjoyed the GREEN, GREEN, GREEN scenery (WOW!). Even during severe overcast conditions, the lush tropical scenes were a real treat for me (note - I live in the desert). When the sun peeked through the clouds, the scenery (especially flowers) became absolutely spectacular.

There are a few “trip pictures” to share posted at Pbase in a sub-gallery entitled “7I_Tahiti_Hawaii (just follow the link below). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
Joe,

I enjoyed the pictures. I will be going to Maui at the end of February and have just purchased a 7i. I hope my pictures will be as good as yours.

Ron
J A K said:
Hi Everyone:

I have returned home after a vacation in French Polynesia and
Hawaii. Although the weather did not always cooperate, the
vacation was great. Returning home was unfortunate (you know how
it goes – must work to eat).

I really enjoyed the GREEN, GREEN, GREEN scenery (WOW!). Even
during severe overcast conditions, the lush tropical scenes were a
real treat for me (note - I live in the desert). When the sun
peeked through the clouds, the scenery (especially flowers) became
absolutely spectacular.

There are a few “trip pictures” to share posted at
Pbase in a sub-gallery entitled “7I_Tahiti_Hawaii (just
follow the link below). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I
enjoyed taking them.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
 
Joe,
Great job. The Hilo picture and sunsets belong on a postcard!

Ashok
J A K said:
Hi Everyone:

I have returned home after a vacation in French Polynesia and
Hawaii. Although the weather did not always cooperate, the
vacation was great. Returning home was unfortunate (you know how
it goes – must work to eat).

I really enjoyed the GREEN, GREEN, GREEN scenery (WOW!). Even
during severe overcast conditions, the lush tropical scenes were a
real treat for me (note - I live in the desert). When the sun
peeked through the clouds, the scenery (especially flowers) became
absolutely spectacular.

There are a few “trip pictures” to share posted at
Pbase in a sub-gallery entitled “7I_Tahiti_Hawaii (just
follow the link below). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I
enjoyed taking them.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkji
Click to expand...
 
You're on my pbase favorites list, and I got to see these this morning :-) As usual, very good pics Joe! I really like your Hilo waterfall picture. I'm a sucker for the silky water effect :-)

I just got back from the Chiricahuas, I'll post to Pbase sometime this week.
Nice fall colors down there, hopefully I did them some justice.

Later
Jason
J A K said:
Hi Everyone:

I have returned home after a vacation in French Polynesia and
Hawaii. Although the weather did not always cooperate, the
vacation was great. Returning home was unfortunate (you know how
it goes – must work to eat).

I really enjoyed the GREEN, GREEN, GREEN scenery (WOW!). Even
during severe overcast conditions, the lush tropical scenes were a
real treat for me (note - I live in the desert). When the sun
peeked through the clouds, the scenery (especially flowers) became
absolutely spectacular.

There are a few “trip pictures” to share posted at
Pbase in a sub-gallery entitled “7I_Tahiti_Hawaii (just
follow the link below). I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I
enjoyed taking them.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
--
Jason
http://pbase.com/jgsampso
 
Kansas Ron said:
Joe,

I enjoyed the pictures. I will be going to Maui at the end of
February and have just purchased a 7i. I hope my pictures will be
as good as yours.
Click to expand...
Hi Ron:

Glad you enjoyed the pictures. You should have no problems in Maui - the 7i is an excellent camera. For scenery stuff, I do suggest you practice in your back yard using the histogram to set up "best exposure" in the manual mode, then bracket your shot and see if your "best exposure guess" is really the best. FWIW, I always bracket exposure for scenery shots. Also, it will pay for you to get comfortable with "flex focus". Don't be afraid to ask questions on the forum - we have a bunch of great folks ready and willing to help out. Good luck with your new camera and have a great time in Maui!

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
Jason Sampson said:
You're on my pbase favorites list, and I got to see these this
morning :-) As usual, very good pics Joe! I really like your Hilo
waterfall picture. I'm a sucker for the silky water effect :-)

I just got back from the Chiricahuas, I'll post to Pbase sometime
this week.
Nice fall colors down there, hopefully I did them some justice.
Click to expand...
Hi Janson - how is everything going?

Glad you liked the waterfall picture (it was a Photoshop blend of two exposures). With fifty million bugs chewing on me, it turned out to be a rather difficult picture to get (I still itch from all the bites).

I've never been to the Chiricahuas - looking forward to your pictures. Please let me know how the area compares to "Fall" shots in the Flagstaff area.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
Kirk Bauer said:
Those pictures are great... were they post-processed at all?
Click to expand...
Hi Kirk:

Thanks for the compliment. There is often a minor amount of post-processing ("levels", and sometimes, "levels" followed up with "curves") required for the scenery shots. The waterfall picture was a digital blend of two exposures using Photoshop; this was an unusual case because of the huge dynamic range associated with the scene.

To reduce and/or eliminate the need for post-processing, you must get to a condition of proper exposure. Because I bracket all my scenery shots (normally + - 0.5 stops) after VERY carefully setting nominal exposure, I'm usually left with very minor (if any) post processing to perform.

Hope this helps answer your question.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
Thanks Joe. I do plan to get plenty of practice before going. I have been using a G2, which I am putting on eBay. I plan on posting some pictures when I get back (unless we decide not to leave - I wish).
J A K said:
Kansas Ron said:
Joe,

I enjoyed the pictures. I will be going to Maui at the end of
February and have just purchased a 7i. I hope my pictures will be
as good as yours.
Click to expand...
Hi Ron:

Glad you enjoyed the pictures. You should have no problems in Maui
  • the 7i is an excellent camera. For scenery stuff, I do suggest
you practice in your back yard using the histogram to set up "best
exposure" in the manual mode, then bracket your shot and see if
your "best exposure guess" is really the best. FWIW, I always
bracket exposure for scenery shots. Also, it will pay for you to
get comfortable with "flex focus". Don't be afraid to ask
questions on the forum - we have a bunch of great folks ready and
willing to help out. Good luck with your new camera and have a
great time in Maui!

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
 
Lovely pictures as usual Joe.
Looks like a great holiday.

Stunned by that waterfall shot. I thought one normally had to use ND filters to get in that sort of effect.

You EXIF info gives the times for one of the shots you've blended in. What settings did you use for the second shot?
Thanks for sharing your beautiful shots.
Regards,
--
DaveMart
 
My goodness!!! Did you say you were on vacation or an assignment? These sure don't look like your vacation snap shots. Hope you got to enjoy the sites and not spend all the time setting up for the shot ;-)
Just fantastic!!!!

Peter
 
PeterY said:
My goodness!!! Did you say you were on vacation or an assignment?
These sure don't look like your vacation snap shots. Hope you got
to enjoy the sites and not spend all the time setting up for the
shot ;-)
Just fantastic!!!!

Peter
Click to expand...
Peter,
You don't know Joe. I think he could take great shots in his sleep.
I think he cheats and has done it before!
Regards,
--
DaveMart
 
David Martin said:
Lovely pictures as usual Joe.
Looks like a great holiday.
Stunned by that waterfall shot. I thought one normally had to use
ND filters to get in that sort of effect.
You EXIF info gives the times for one of the shots you've blended
in. What settings did you use for the second shot?
Thanks for sharing your beautiful shots.
Regards,
--
DaveMart
Click to expand...
Hello David - how is the world treating you?

First, thanks for the compliment - I really appreciate it.

Second, the data you requested. Both pictures were shot at f/8.0 and ISO100. Exposure times were 1/2 second and 1/3 second. Although the sky was overcast and it felt like I was shooting in a cave, there was a definite need for a polarizer (I checked the scene both with and without the polarizer). I wanted to shoot the shot at f/8.0 to get the necessary DOF. The attenuation of the polarizer (I took a circular polarizer on this trip) in conjunction with the f/8.0 aperture got me to the shutter speed necessary to achieve the "misty" waterfall effect.

Third, there was a problem getting the EXIF data you wanted. For some reason, DiMAGE Viewer 2.10 does show EXIF data on either one of the two shots in question. I don't understand what the heck is going on. On other pictures stored on the same CF memory, DIVU shows the EXIF data. This has happened to me before. It is not a big deal, I can always get to the EXIF data via Thumbs+ or QImage Pro. It bothers me that DIVU is not consistent (for some oddball reason). Have you had any problems with DIVU on your 7 that are similar to mine using a 7i? Thanks in advance for your help!

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
J A K said:
David Martin said:
Lovely pictures as usual Joe.
Looks like a great holiday.
Stunned by that waterfall shot. I thought one normally had to use
ND filters to get in that sort of effect.
You EXIF info gives the times for one of the shots you've blended
in. What settings did you use for the second shot?
Thanks for sharing your beautiful shots.
Regards,
--
DaveMart
Click to expand...
Hello David - how is the world treating you?

First, thanks for the compliment - I really appreciate it.

Second, the data you requested. Both pictures were shot at f/8.0
and ISO100. Exposure times were 1/2 second and 1/3 second.
Although the sky was overcast and it felt like I was shooting in a
cave, there was a definite need for a polarizer (I checked the
scene both with and without the polarizer). I wanted to shoot the
shot at f/8.0 to get the necessary DOF. The attenuation of the
polarizer (I took a circular polarizer on this trip) in conjunction
with the f/8.0 aperture got me to the shutter speed necessary to
achieve the "misty" waterfall effect.

Third, there was a problem getting the EXIF data you wanted. For
some reason, DiMAGE Viewer 2.10 does show EXIF data on either one
of the two shots in question. I don't understand what the heck is
going on. On other pictures stored on the same CF memory, DIVU
shows the EXIF data. This has happened to me before. It is not a
big deal, I can always get to the EXIF data via Thumbs+ or QImage
Pro. It bothers me that DIVU is not consistent (for some oddball
reason). Have you had any problems with DIVU on your 7 that are
similar to mine using a 7i? Thanks in advance for your help!

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
Joe,

I've always avoided DIVU since I had my first unproductive encounter with it. If I ever want to shoot in RAW I'm going to try Image Shifter.
Do you mean you shot in RAW?
P.S. Just got my first blended exposure I'm reasonably pleased with - check out:
http://www.pbase.com/image/6747998

Can't make my mind up on whether to do a perspective correction and take out the furniture though.
Great to have you back.
Regards,
--
DaveMart
 
kind.
David Martin said:
PeterY said:
My goodness!!! Did you say you were on vacation or an assignment?
These sure don't look like your vacation snap shots. Hope you got
to enjoy the sites and not spend all the time setting up for the
shot ;-)
Just fantastic!!!!

Peter
Click to expand...
Peter,
You don't know Joe. I think he could take great shots in his sleep.
I think he cheats and has done it before!
Regards,
--
DaveMart
Click to expand...
Guys - thanks for the compliment. Time - I didn't spend much time taking shots (the weather simply did not permit it). The two best possible days on Tahiti that could have supported picture taking were spend in the water looking at fish.

We did have a nice day for photography when the ship stopped at Lahaina, Hawaii, but I did not have the camera with me. I have to tell you guys that I did see the most fantastic site at Lahaina. There was a 130 year old Banyon tree in the center of the town square; this tree was about 450 feet wide. I bet there was a hundred stands under the shade of this tree with vendors selling art and other tourist items. Roots come down from the top of the Banyon tree. When the root touches the ground, it forms a new trunk for the tree. There were many huge mini trunks (25 feet in diameter) all over the place supporting this giant tree structure. The entire tree was a city block (with buildings all around the block). I looked and looked and looked - then wondered how in the heck you could capture this with a photograph (I never came up with a plan). I talked to a couple of artists and a photographer selling their products under the shade of the tree; they have never come up with a plan to capture the image of this tree. You have to see it (the tree) to believe it, but don't leave home with your camera (it will serve as dead weight only).

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
 
All is fine here, enjoying my sabbatical and taking as many camping/hiking trips I can before my big trip to New Zealand. This is the first time to the Chiricahuas, and I'm pretty impressed. One part of the Chiricahua National Monument has rock formations similar to those in Zion or Bryce (can't remember which), but not as colorful. However, the east side is spectacular. Some very nice hiking and remote camping opportunities exist.

Coincidentally, there is a nice article in this month's AZ Highways on the Chiricahuas. I noticed it at the grocery store, and I swear, we decided to go down there before I saw the article. :-)

Again, as usual, you take fine pics Joe....

Jason
J A K said:
Hi Janson - how is everything going?

Glad you liked the waterfall picture (it was a Photoshop blend of
two exposures). With fifty million bugs chewing on me, it turned
out to be a rather difficult picture to get (I still itch from all
the bites).

I've never been to the Chiricahuas - looking forward to your
pictures. Please let me know how the area compares to "Fall" shots
in the Flagstaff area.

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
--
Jason
http://pbase.com/jgsampso
 
Hi Joe,

Welcome back! Looks like you had an incredible vacation. Your pictures are great and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Just think of all the threads on 7i noise you missed while you where gone...

I too have been to that Banyan tree in Lahaina, and I agree, it is a fantastic site. Come to think of it, I have never taken a photo of it. It is so massive, I am not sure how one would accomplish such a feat.

Thanks again for sharing your photos, and we all look forward to your next(?) trip.

Steve
J A K said:
David Martin said:
PeterY said:
My goodness!!! Did you say you were on vacation or an assignment?
These sure don't look like your vacation snap shots. Hope you got
to enjoy the sites and not spend all the time setting up for the
shot ;-)
Just fantastic!!!!

Peter
Click to expand...
Peter,
You don't know Joe. I think he could take great shots in his sleep.
I think he cheats and has done it before!
Regards,
--
DaveMart
Click to expand...
Guys - thanks for the compliment. Time - I didn't spend much time
taking shots (the weather simply did not permit it). The two best
possible days on Tahiti that could have supported picture taking
were spend in the water looking at fish.

We did have a nice day for photography when the ship stopped at
Lahaina, Hawaii, but I did not have the camera with me. I have to
tell you guys that I did see the most fantastic site at Lahaina.
There was a 130 year old Banyon tree in the center of the town
square; this tree was about 450 feet wide. I bet there was a
hundred stands under the shade of this tree with vendors selling
art and other tourist items. Roots come down from the top of the
Banyon tree. When the root touches the ground, it forms a new
trunk for the tree. There were many huge mini trunks (25 feet in
diameter) all over the place supporting this giant tree structure.
The entire tree was a city block (with buildings all around the
block). I looked and looked and looked - then wondered how in the
heck you could capture this with a photograph (I never came up with
a plan). I talked to a couple of artists and a photographer
selling their products under the shade of the tree; they have never
come up with a plan to capture the image of this tree. You have to
see it (the tree) to believe it, but don't leave home with your
camera (it will serve as dead weight only).

Sincerely,

Joe Kurkjian

http://www.pbase.com/jkurkjia
Click to expand...
 
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