The Bike and the Bells

•  HDR Photo ~ The Saturday Archive Series

Or more accurately, “The Bike(s) and the Bells,” since there are two bikes in the picture, something even I didn’t notice for quite a while. But I liked the sound of the singular bike much better.

The HDR process really helped to bring the bikes out of the shadows and really helped brighten up the trees in the background. It even gave me brighter whites! In addition, I upped the orange saturation a bit, plus cleaned up some green mold starting to grow up the wall in the foreground. You can still see some of it on the bricks.

Rainbow Over Chernigov

•  HDR Photo

With part of a second rainbow thrown in for good measure!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Summer River

Just a random summer shot, in HDR!

Building on Khreschatik, Kiev

Stalinist architecture (Russian: ста́линский ампи́р – Stalin's Empire style or Russian: ста́линский неоренесса́нс – Stalin's Neo-renaissance), also referred to as Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism, is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933, when Boris Iofan's draft for Palace of the Soviets was officially approved, and 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev condemned "excesses" of the past decades and disbanded the Soviet Academy of Architecture.

Stalinist architecture has associations with the socialist realism school of art and architecture.

Stalinist Architecture

All Clouds Lead to Mt. Tahtali (HDR)

•  The Saturday Archive Series

It was quite a technical challenge putting this together, even before I got to the HDR part.

This set of photos, seven in all, were taken in a kayak off the Antalya coast of Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea. Back on land, these seven photos were aligned and stitched into a panorama using Hugin. (It was only then that I noticed the cloud formation seen in the final photo). The uneven edges were trimmed in Lightroom. Created virtual copies at 0EV, -1EV, +1EV. Created the HDR in Photomatix, then added final touches in Topaz Adjust. Whew!

Taken during a family vacation at Simena Sun Club,  Kemer Turkey.

Have a Great Weekend, all!

St. Michael's Golden Domed Monastery (HDR)

• HDR/Panorama

Panorama created from 3 images, then HDR'd. This shot was quite difficult to put together. To create this, I took 3 images using a Sigma 10-20 set at 10mm and stood with my back to a wall behind me. It was not possible to fit this whole building into a single shot!

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery (Ukrainian: Михайлівський золотоверхий монастир, Mykhaylivs’kyi zolotoverkhyi monastyr; Russian: Михайловский златоверхий монастырь, Mikhaylovsky zlatoverkhy monastyr) is a functioning monastery in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The monastery is located on the right bank of the Dnieper River on the edge of a bluff northeast of the Saint Sophia Cathedral. The site is located in the historic administrative Uppertown and overlooks the city's historical commercial and merchant quarter, the Podil neighbourhood.

Originally built in the Middle Ages by Sviatopolk II Iziaslavych, the monastery comprises the Cathedral itself, the Refectory of St. John the Divine, built in 1713, the Economic Gates, constructed in 1760 and the monastery's bell tower, which was added circa 1716–1719. The exterior of the structure was rebuilt in the Ukrainian Baroque style in the 18th century while the interior remained in its original Byzantine style. The original cathedral was demolished by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s, but was reconstructed and opened in 1999 following Ukrainian independence.

St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery

Statue of Andrew, Olga, Cyril, and Methodius (HDR)

•  HDR Photo

From left to right, St. Andrew, Princess Olga, St. Cyril and St. Methodius ~ Seen in St. Micheal's Square, Kiev

Buratino (Pinocchio)

Buratino (Pinocchio) ~ Buratino (Russian: Буратино) is the main character of the book The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino (1936) by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, Buratino originated as a character in the commedia dell'arte. The name Buratino is derived from the Italian burattino, which means wooden puppet or doll. The book was published in 1936, and Buratino quickly became hugely popular among children in the Soviet Union, and remains so to this day. The story has been made into several films, including in 1959 and in 1975.

Buratino on Wikipedia

Soviet Era Hydrofoil (HDR)

•  The Saturday Archive Serives

Chernigov, Ukraine ~ When my wife first saw this parked in Chernigov, she recognized what it was right away. I experienced a what the ???? moment. This is a Polesye class hydrofoil, made to operate in shallower waters.

Premier Palace Hotel (HDR)

Now on Google+

So, just what is Google+?  Well, it's Google's attempt to Facebook.  So far, I like it, and it seems to be a very well put together effort on Google's part.  It's pretty cool so far.  Click "Add to Circles" (over there...on the right)! to add me on Google+.

The Premier Palace Hotel, Kiev

The Premier Palace Hotel, Kiev, on a Saturday morning.

Thanks for all the visits this week.  Feel free to recommend my site to your family and friends!  Much appreciated!

Taras Shevchenko University

• HDR Photo

Continuing with an (unintentional) theme...

Taras Shevchenko University is named after Taras Shevchenko, a major figure in Ukrainian literature and art. It is an institution of higher education that trains specialists in many fields of knowledge and carries out research. It is considered the most prestigious university in Ukraine and a major centre of advanced learning and progressive thinking. It consists of more faculties and departments, and trains specialists in a greater number of academic fields, than any other Ukrainian educational institution.

...

The walls of the main building are painted in red while the tops and bottoms of its columns are painted black. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the entire main building painted red in response to student conscription protests during World War I to remind students of blood spilled by Ukrainian soldiers.

Taras Shevchenko University on Wikipedia

Statue of Taras Shevchenko

• HDR Photo

Statue of Taras Shevchenko in Shevchenko Park, Kiev.

Taras Shevchenko has a unique place in Ukrainian cultural history and in world literature. His writings formed the foundation for the modern Ukrainian literature to a degree that he is also considered the founder of the modern written Ukrainian language (although Ivan Kotlyarevsky pioneered the literary work in what was close to the modern Ukrainian in the end of the eighteenth century.) Shevchenko's poetry contributed greatly to the growth of Ukrainian national consciousness, and his influence on various facets of Ukrainian intellectual, literary, and national life is still felt to this day. Influenced by Romanticism, Shevchenko managed to find his own manner of poetic expression that encompassed themes and ideas germane to Ukraine and his personal vision of its past and future.

Taras Shevchenko on Wikipedia

Living on the Edge

•  The Saturday Archive Series  •  Have a great weekend everybody!

Seen in the countryside outside Kiev, Ukraine.

Independence Square, Kiev

A Before and After.

I haven't done a "before and after" in awhile, so I thought I'd post one today.  The after photo has been HDR processed, with some additional processing in Topaz Detail.  The most obvious difference is the sky.  The original photo caught the colors and details in the building and flowers, but the sky went white.  HDR bought the details back into the clouds.  Topaz Detail sharpened the details in the brickwork, the buildings, and the flowers.

The "after" photo...

The "before" photo...

Vortex over Kiev

HDR ~ 4 Image Panorama ~ Independence Square, Kiev

July 3, 2011 ~ It's one of those strange things.  I did not see this with my eyes.  It wasn't until I got home and viewed the individual images that make up this panorama that I saw this.  The HDR process helped me highlight the form of the clouds without the buildings and the street going black.

We are the Children (Detailed View)

A more detailed view of last Friday's photo.

Traditional Musical Instruments

•  The Saturday Archive Series  •  Newly Updated Version.

Seen at a restaurant in Kozyn, Ukraine. You know the type. The type with old road signs, license plates, gas station signs, memorabilia, etc. That type.

We are the Children

•  HDR/4 image Panorama photo

Another in the set of interesting mosaics found on "Landscape Alley" in Kiev.  Next time I think I need to position myself better so I don't have that tree going through the middle of the kid's face on the left.