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Category Archives: Photography
Fun Photography Trick: Star Trails
Here’s a fun trick to try at night if you own a camera that can take 30 second exposures, a decent, fully-charged camera battery, and a tripod. This is not the best example, but it’s what you should be able … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general
Tagged celestial pole, Image Stacker, night photography, Star trails, stars, Starstax, startrails
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Digitally enhancing analog photos – is it cheating?
The whole “back to basics” photography movement, with its return to analog film and (in some cases) cheap plastic lenses has a kind of purity about it that doesn’t mesh well with all of the computer-aided post-processing of photos we … Continue reading
Tone Mapping in the Namibian Desert
I’ve read a number of explanations of tone mapping, but I confess I still don’t understand what’s going on. I know it’s a way to manipulate a digital image so that what you see in the image better approximates what … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photography, general
Tagged desert, Hoodia Lodge, Namib Naukluft, rainbow, Sesriem, Sossusvlei, sunset, tone mapping
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Getting that “Wild West” feel – “down under” in Namibia
Just outside the vast “dune sea” of the Namib Naukluft Park is the last place you can get gas, before you venture into the coppery-red dunes of Sossusvlei, a dry but harsh landscape where only the most well-adapted creatures can … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photography, general
Tagged effects, Photography, Photomatix, Solitaire, Sossusvlei, tone mapping, vintage cars
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Make an HDR Photo from a Single Exposure
Yesterday I talked about HDR photography, and how you can combine multiple exposure photos of the same scene with software to ensure all the different parts of the scene are exposed the right amount. What I didn’t mention is that … Continue reading
HDR Photography: First Attempts
I’m sure everyone else has heard of “high dynamic range” or HDR photography, but for me, it’s “The Latest Thing” I’ve discovered. You know how you sometimes come across this amazing scene with lights and darks and bright colors, and … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general
Tagged HDR, high dynamic range, Photography, Photomatix, RAW, tonemapping
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2013 “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” Competition Kicks off Today
In its 49th year, the venerated “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” competition is accepting entries from today (January 7) until February 25th. Competition will be stiff, with the number of entries expected to be near 50,000, but who knows? You … Continue reading
Flickr Makes its Move
Over the last month, there’s been some interesting maneuvering going on in the photo-sharing community. Specifically, once-dominant Flickr, which had been stagnating in comparison to its made-for-smartphone rival, Instagram, has made a couple of moves likely to put it back … Continue reading
Sunsets: the impact of cropping and zooming
I never tire of these Windhoek sunsets during the “rainy season”. But I’m always amazed by how much of a difference cropping and zooming make on sunset photography. These are three photos taken in succession of the same sunset, with … Continue reading
In Namibia, the best light for photos is within 10 minutes of sunrise
Driving through the Namibian desert just outside the coastal town of Swakopmund at about 0545 can give you a real visual treat. It would have been more spectacular with a bit more of the fog/mist the area is known for, … Continue reading
The Magic Hour
Strange things happen to the light in the last minutes before sunset. And in Windhoek, during the “rainy season” (usually December and January) it’s even more extreme. Every night, there are a few minutes where everything turns a brilliant yellow … Continue reading
Water & Sky Photography: Fixing the Horizon in “Post”
This is a pretty basic point, really – but I see the same mistakes made over and over by hobbyist photographers. In my experience, virtually every photo you take that has a prominent horizon in it will require some correction … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general
Tagged correction, horizon, photoshop, post, rule of thirds, water and sky
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Easy Panoramic Photos – Southern Namibia Horizons
I’ve posted before about how you can take panoramic photos these days without one of those fancy panoramic cameras. Given the resolution of cameras these days, you can just take a slice from an ordinary photo of the horizon or … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photography, general
Tagged horizon, Keetmanshoop, panorama, panoramic, southern Namibia
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Accidental Photos
Sometimes you can get a cool photo when your camera fails. Standing under a streetlight in Katutura, a small child was begging to have his photo taken, yet for unknown reasons the flash wouldn’t fire. The result is below. I … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general, Random Thoughts, Observations and Weird Stuff
Tagged accidental, flash, photo
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Making Ordinary Photos Panoramic
Sometimes I wish I had one of those fancy panoramic photos where you can capture the full breadth of something – usually the horizon – don’t you? Well, it turns out that with today’s high-resolution digital cameras, you can easily … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general, Tips and Tricks
Tagged panorama, panoramic, photo, Photography
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Photographing Victoria Falls
So you go to one of the most spectacular views in the world and you figure the photography is going to be child’s play – just hold the camera up in the right general direction and shoot. Not so in … Continue reading
Under the Namibian Sky (Time Lapse)
Namibia is truly one of the most amazing places for stargazing – sparse population, cloudless sky… Here is a timelapse by a group of folks who spent 10 days (and nights) on a Namibian farm doing just that. Add a … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photography, general
Tagged constellations, Namibia, night, sky, stargazing, stars, timelapse
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Our Coast, Your Photo Contest Entries
The entire TAZM Pictures crew entered a local photo contest sponsored by the Windhoek newspaper, The Namibian, and Studio 77, a photography studio. The contest was set up to raise awareness about the fragility of the Namibian coast, most of … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photo Contest, Photography, general
Tagged beach, coast, dunes, Namibia, ocean, sea, swakopmund, Walvis Bay
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Macro [micro] Photography – Spider
Since the unhappy theft of my camera and laptop, I’ve been relatively silent on the blog as there’s not a whole lot of photo/video action to write about. But I’m still enjoying the digital microscope I got recently from the … Continue reading
Posted in Macro Photography, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged Macro Photography, micro, microscope, photo, spider
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Macro Photography: Weird Big Bug
There are so many insect species out there that it’s almost impossible to identify the ones you come across. This one flies and lives in Namibia, and has odd hind legs, almost like a bee laden with honey. It’s fun … Continue reading
Posted in Macro Photography, Photography
Tagged bug, close-up, entomology, insect, macro photography, stinkbug
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Macro Photography: Grasshopper After Rainstorm
Check out these macro photos of a grasshopper (or, as my daughter felt was more appropriate, “locust” – it was a good 3 inches long!) that was perched outside out front door. If you look close, you can see little … Continue reading
Posted in Macro Photography
Tagged grasshopper, insects, macro photography, Namibia, Photography
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Spider: 3 Views
I happened to catch this interesting spider on a glass door, and snapped a couple of different photos. I believe it’s Selenopidae, or the wall crab spider. Because it’s so flat, depth of field/focus issues are not as much a … Continue reading
Photos: Reflections at Etosha NP
It’s fun to play around with reflections off a body of water – though in my experience, it’s rare to come across a body of water (a) that’s calm enough to reflect without too much distortion (b) at the right … Continue reading
Posted in Namibia, Photography, general, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged reflections, rhinoceros, sunset
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Photoshop Express Effects
I’ve been fooling around with the Photoshop Express App for the iPad – mostly because I’m not clever or patient enough to master the REAL Photoshop. Given the right photo, you can use the (relatively) limited effects available on the … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, general, Tips and Tricks
Tagged app, effects, iPad, photoshop express
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Wildlife through a Loupe – Micro goes Macro
For my latest video, I noticed I had gradually been collecting random footage of “micro-wildlife” I have come across while working in my new garden here in Windhoek. One of the creatures I had been continually running across is the … Continue reading
Posted in Gear, Macro Photography, Tips and Tricks, Wildlife and Nature
Tagged closeup, grasshopper, lizard, Macro Photography, millipede, Wildlife and Nature
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