Horse - Camera Raw Processing

With a slew of Adobe products available to photographers, many have gravitated towards using Lightroom to manage their photo collections and to develop them non-destructively. While Lightroom 2 is really a worthwhile and excellent upgrade, it seems that using Adobe Bridge in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Camera Raw 5.3 seems redundant.



Well I have to say using ACR is now a breeze and actually capable of quite dramatic results on its own. The beauty of ACR is that adjustments and refinements made are non-destructive with plenty of options for effect. Here I took inspiration from the Lord of the Rings to try to depict a horse post processed as dark and evil versus good and light. Taken with a K100D with the superb Voigtlander 125mm Apo-Lanthar Macro.

Silhouette abstracts

Took these close-ups of a metal sculpture that was made up of outlines of human figures. Meant were to represent different poses and expressions of the human body, they were connected into many branches to form an interlocking tree. K20D with DA 50-200mm.

Rain drops on bonsai

Took this macro using the K20D and the FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro. I really like this shot and it was fortunate I could visualise the shot because the lead was pretty small to begin with.

Our Lady of Lourdes

Just two images of Our Lady of Lourdes Church taken very early in the morning.



This is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Singapore. Built in 1888, it is the first Tamil Catholic church in Singapore. Architecturally, it is modelled to the original church in Lourdes, France. It has in my view an excellent facade and it is now gazetted as a national monument.



Took the opportunity to give the images a HDR like treatment. Processed in Lightroom and Photoshop CS4. Taken with the K20D and the DA 18-55mm II kit lens.

From an early morning walk

Today I grabbed my K20D with my DA 18-55mm II kit lens to shoot some images by the beach at dawn. I spent a productive time there deep in thought and took these images almost by accident, shooting with no defined purpose which ordinarily is not a good thing!


Forest shadows


Coconut and leaf


Boulder at dawn

Opening the images in Adobe Bridge, a few images immediately drew my attention as being ideal in black and white. Post processed the images in Photoshop CS4 in a jiffy. What I can conclude is that even with the lowly kit lens, one can get excellent results with the K20D. The camera's dynamic range was well able to handle the strong side lighting from the morning sun, and I wasn't even shooting in RAW but jpeg. I've been pleasantly surprised by the kit lens as it makes for a very cheap wide angle lens. Just when my mind says to switch to a better performing and more expensive lens the kit lens always comes back with winners and "deliver the goods."


Pointed rock

Changi Museum Chapel

Took a quick visit with my son to the Changi Museum last week. Situated just a few kilometers away from my home, the museum is a memorial to the thousands of Allied servicemen interned by the Japanese forces at Changi Prison during the Second World War. The centerpiece of the museum is a replica of the Chapel that the POWs erected during those dark days. The museum gives a good account of the harsh conditions the POWs endured. A poignant reminder of the sacrifice they made and certainly well worth a visit.



The image of the Chapel was shot with my modified for infrared Pentax *ist DL2 with a DA 18-55mm II kit lens. Image was post processed in Photoshop CS4.