Abandoned & Decayed - An HDR/URBEX Paradise

Decaying and abandoned old buildings are a treasure trove for the photographer or the urban explorer (URBEX) and these types of environments just shout out for the use of HDR and other post-processing styleization techniques to produce a moody and atmospheric image. The inside of these buildings are normally very dark and where there is bright light spilling in from the outside you can get large changes in dynamic range which can be limiting for most camera sensors. Hence the need for taking multiple bracketed images over a range of exposures to bring out the details in the shadows and properly expose the washed out highlights.

The above image, taken inside an old abandoned colonial house in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, was created by tone-mapping 3 bracketed images as shown below.

0 EV

-2 EV

+2 EV

For dynamic ranges like this where there is a large difference between the dark shadows and the bright highlights of the open doors and windows I would normally have taken more brackets; 5 or even 7 to cover the dynamic range of the scene. However in this case I was taking hand held as I was sans tripod so shot off 3 quick brackets to try and miminise any camera movement.

The images were imported into Aperture and then tone mapped using PhotoMatixPro. I subsequently did some additional post-processing in  Viveza 2 from Nik Software to enhance the colour and texture of some areas such as the wall on the left hand side and the wonderful eroded ceiling beams.

Looking at the final image compared with the "normal" 0 EV photo it really highlights the benefits of HDR techniques to bring out the full dynamic range of the scene.

Blue Indigo Window

This blue coloured shuttered window was photographed in Lorong Stewart in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The back streets and lanes of Georgetown are great to wander through to view old historical and heritage houses. I particularly like windows and doors and this window was a great example of that run-down, dilapidated and decaying style that I like in these Asian buildings. You can make out a blue colour in the surrounding walls as well as on the window shutters and this was a very typical colour used in the colonial period. The distinctive blue colour is made by mixing lime with the natural blue dye made from the indigo plant and this dye was imported from India during those days.

Heritage Buildings of Georgetown, Penang

Backstreets and lanes of historic towns like Georgetown, Ipoh and Malacca are a wonderful place to find some colorful old heritage style houses and shops. This corner house has had some rather unique renovation carried out as you can see with the tacked-on extra room made from corrugated iron. Of course I'm sure that proper planning permission was granted here and that these modifications adhere to good building practice and regulations!

i-Phone Friday

It's Friday and time for a new theme. I call it i-Phone Friday. The i-Phone camera produces a pretty decent 5 Mp image and now with the multitude of photo post-processing i-Phone apps it's amazing what you can produce from a very portable and easily accessible camera in your pocket. So I decided to start to hone my skills in the use of my i-Phone camera and the few photography apps I have just to see what we can come up with.

So starting today here is the first i-phone image .... a pretty mundane shot of a flower .... a little mini rose that is in my garden. The shot is post processed in a recent app released by Nik Software called SnapSeed which offers a multitude of image manipulation and filters.

So look out every Friday will now be i-Phone Friday ..... let's see how creative we can be .... hope my Canon 5D will not get too jealous!

Graveyard Greenery

This old Christian graveyard in the center of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia lies overgrown and run down providing an atmospheric environment of tropical crumbling, decay. It's fascinating to explore these types of abandoned urban areas which provide opportunities for HDR photography. 
Urban exploration (often shortened as urbex or UE) is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities. Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as infiltration, although some people consider infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or inhabited sites. It may also be referred to as "draining" (when exploring drains) "urban spelunking", "urban caving", or "building hacking". 

The nature of this activity presents various risks, including both physical danger and the possibility of arrest and punishment. Many, but not all, of the activities associated with urban exploration could be considered trespassing or other violations of local or regional laws, including—but not limited to—invasion of privacy and certain broadly-interpreted anti-terrorism laws.

Boy Liam

It was low tide at Plockton harbour and this little fishing boat Boy Liam was sitting proudly above the shore waiting patiently on the incoming tide. The tide in this part of the country moves in quickly as we found out when my mother was almost stranded on the small island just in the distance of this shot due to the rapid influx of the water. Luckily she made it back to shore with only a few blue stains on her feet from the seawater soaked shoes!

Red Phone Box

These classic old red phone boxes can still be seen in a few locations and this one was photographed in the small village of Plockton in north west of Scotland. This image was post-processed using Silver Efex Pro 2 from Nik Software and the red colour of the phone box recovered back to create impact.

Top of the Rock

Probably the best view you can get of New York is from the top of the Rockefeller Centre building or "Top of the Rock". From here and looking to the south you can get a wonderful view of the Empire State Building and the whole of Manhattan Island which really gives you a great perspective of the city. If you look from the north side of the building you will see a great view of Central Park - look out for a post on this view later.

High & Dry

This is the small remote village of Toscaig in on the west coast of Scotland on the Applecross peninsula and this bright blue boat stood out having been left high and dry at low tide. This image was post processed in Nik Software's HDR EfexPro 2 and Silver Efex 2 applications.

Canal Boat

This scene, shot on one one of the canals in central Amsterdam, almost looked like an oil painting with the murky canal water, the floating leaves and the run-down boat with the peeling paintwork. The photo comprised of 3-bracketed shots and was post-processed in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro.

Brooklyn Bridge

The intricate design of the Brooklyn Bridge as seen from below which highlights the details in the girders and the mass of supporting wires.
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.
Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and as the East River Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge in a January 25, 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972

Fatality Lives

Some of the buildings and architecture in New York are spectacular and particularly just as the sun is setting when the neon lights are switched on. You can get some beautiful reflections in the glass fronted buildings such as we see here in this building in the Times Square area of Manhattan. The large advertising banners for the film "Mortal Kombat - Fatality Lives" seemed to blend seamlessly with the reflective colours on the building.

Pluck U

The colourful Pluck U restaurant in the Greenwich Village area of New York stood out from the usual gray buildings. A quick Google search on the restaurant comes up with a wide range of reviews .... from "New York's #1 chicken wings 6 years in a row" to "Do not, I repeat, DO NOT eat Pluck U chicken wings without having a toilet and double-roll of toilet paper nearby." Don't know who to believe here.

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal in New York is the largest train station in the world by the number of platforms; 44 with 67 tracks along them. It is often incorrectly known as Grand Central Station and sometimes shortened to Grand Central. The station was built by New York Central Railroad in the heyday of long distance train travel.

The image shown here is the Main Concourse which is cavernous and usually bustling with crowds of people. The large American flag seen at the left was hung in the station shortly after the September 11th attack on the World Trade Centre.

The classic meeting spot is at the central information booth with the four-faced clock which is the most recognisable feature of the station.

I was blown away by this station in terms of its architecture and the beautiful condition of all the fixtures. Not many train stations around the world can claim this.

Flatiron Building

Another iconic building in New York is the Flatiron Building which at it's time of completion in 1902, was one of the the tallest building in New York and is regarded as one of the groundbreaking skyscrapers. It is situated on a triangular block at the intersection of 5th Avenue, Broadway and East 22nd Street. The building is a functional office building although I believe there are still some individual units being utilised as apartments. The building is also known popularly as being depicted as the headquarters for the Daily Bugle where Peter Parker worked as a freelance photographer in the popular Spiderman movies.

Times Square - Crossroads of the World

Times Square is probably one of the most recognised and iconic city centres in the World. Situated in Manhattan at the junction of Broadway and 7th Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets this commercial area has an incredible concentration of neon advertising with gigantic Jumbotron video screens now taking up much of the real estate creating a dynamic and colourful vista on all the tall buildings.

This larger area around Times Square from 6th to 8th Avenue and from 40th to 53rd Street is known as the Theatre District where most of the Broadway theatres are located as well as many other theatres, movie theatres, music halls, restaurants, hotels and other entertainment outlets. This whole area just buzzes with peope and happenings and at night with all the neon lights on can be quite spectacular.

Our hotel was situated on West 49th street so we were right in the heart of this area and Times Square was a short 2-3 minute walk away.

SilverEfexPro 2 - Initial Review

I have been using SilverEfexPro now for some time and have been very impressed by it's capabilities and performance so when Nik Software announced they were releasing SilverEfexPro 2 I was on their pre-order waiting list immediately. It was released just a few days ago and I have done some initial tests of the new features which are summarised below:

1. Intuitive History Browser
2. Structure and Fine Structure
3. Soft Contrast
4. GPU Processing
5. Dynamic Brightness
6. Natural Image Borders
7. Specially Developed Algorithms
8. Amplify Black and Whites
9. Selective Colour

The above image, which is another early morning photo taken at Putrajaya, was really a quick test image where I tried out some of the new features including the very useful selective colour feature. I was pleased with the added control on tonality and structure and the border feature is a welcome addition for finishing your print. The interface seems a little quicker, probably due to the multi-threaded, 64 bit GPU processing. Check out all of SilverEfexPro 2 features here and you can always download a trial version for 15 days to test it out. It probably ranks as one of the best if not the best black & white processing software and one which is firmly embedded in my workflow. I use it as a plugin to Aperture so it really is very easy to export to the application and then save the finished black & white image without leaving Aperture.

For comparison the original image is below.

The Old Water Wheel

This water wheel was seen in Prague, Czech Republic. I used Nik Software's Silver Efex application to convert the image to black and white which I thinks adds character and a timeless effect to the image.

Red Temple

Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto, Japan is a wonderful visit offering panoramic views over the city of Kyoto. I have visited Kyoto twice now and would welcome the opportunity to visit again, particularly around the time of cherry blossom in Spring. 

This single RAW image was produced using the new release of Nik's Software HDR EfexPro package which I have been testing in comparison to my existing HDR software, PhotoMatixPro. Although it appears slower in performance than PhotoMatixPro and has a somewhat different workflow it does have some unique qualities in terms of being able to define specific areas of the image you apply both the HDR effect and other image attributes to. I will be continuing to test this new software and hopefully have a more comprehensive report soon.