My roadtrip blog : Gunma - the mountains of Japan.

[informer]

Well I promised some pictures of my recent roadtrip in Japan, but I took more than 700 pictures which took me forever to sort through!

This is also my first time writing up a blog so it will take some time to get everything finished.

Currently, I have only some sepia pictures as well as some dark ones from the dark series (inspired by the dooda PotW). I know I can't quite get the same effect and I don't have Photoshop, but they turned out alright. Just playing around with different effects.

Anyway I hope I won't regret this :

http://englishnewbies.tripod.com/blog/


Or go straight to the photos :

http://englishnewbies.tripod.com/gunma_roadtrip

I still haven't posted the coloured versions but I hope to get around to doing it soon.

[ozimax]

Some nice pics here, like the dragon fly. I love Japan, have been there 4-5 times, mainly Hokkaido, but a little bit around Tokyo and Osaka too. Was there for autumn colours in 2003, colours are breathtakingly well er breathtaking, the northern island holds its own until winter comes and then it just snows for months on end!

Max

[genji]

Currently, I have only some sepia pictures as well as some dark ones from the dark series (inspired by the dooda PotW).

informer

why in sepia?? imho might look better in b&w. its shame with the 2nd pic u didnt use a longer exposure to capture the flowing water.

[informer]

Some pictures came out nice in B/W, but a lot of them looked better in Sepia IMO. I don't know its just my eyes, can't get enough of sepia

As I'm a beginner with the functionalities of my camera, I still need a bit of time before I can master long exposure shots.

Thanks for the comments though! Keep it coming!

[MCWB]

Informer:

1: is a great shot!
2: there's something about the vegetation that bugs me. Not exactly sure what it is, maybe a bit too green? More dried-out might look better? Got a colour version, should be nice IMO.
3: Dynamic range issues. It's an impossible scene to meter for, did you shoot RAW? You might like to create one image for the highlights, one for the shadows then PS them together to get the best of both worlds?
4: Great shot, love the detail in the wings!

[informer]

MCWB, as usual you come up with very relevant and helpful comments, thanks!

Its late but I've got to respond :

1. Absolutely Potw worthy

2. You're right, I was playing around with PictureProject and decided what if I up the contrast a bit even though its in sepia. Granted, I wouldn't post this picture up for any competition mainly because I was disappointed with the surroundings and I couldn't get a decent angle or the theme that I wanted.

3. Right again, in fact I was disappointed that I couldn't get a better shot of the onsen which was basically the highlight of my roadtrip! Did you notice the plastic bottle at the foot of the rock? Doh!

4. Ah, but I have a surprise for you, got something even better than that

[dooda]

Just noticed the shadow of that dragonfly. Really cool. THe others are nice too, I really like the texture of the trees and the light that spills into the leaves at the top. The woodpile is pretty good, but there is something awkward about the framing, I'd have added a little more foreground and not left quite as much room at the front. The river is nice. It's a little too much brown for me though, I don't like too heavy of a sepia, more a light brush over is my thing.