[Toad]

I have a lot of photos from my recent trip to Morocco and Spain. Here are a few landscapes and cityscapes...


Arcos de la Frontera in Andalucia, Spain





I walked up to the top of an old Moorish tower in Zahara de la Sierra, Spain - hoping for a great view. I wasn't disappointed.





This bridge in Ronda, Spain, is called the New Bridge - the "Old" bridge is even older.





Chefchaouen, Morocco. Always a million photos to be taken here.





Near Arcos de la Frontera in Spain. I call this one "Bliss" because it reminds me of the standard Windows XP wallpaper.





In the mountains of Andalucia...





Chefchaouen again, taken a few minutes after #4...

[NT73]

The windows theme () stands out with being a little different. A bit of HDR in some/all of the others?

[Toad]

There is a bit of HDR processing in about 3 of them (#s 3,4 6). I don't like to call that out though. HDR is just another technique like levels, curves or noise reduction - and not the *subject* of the photo.

What you are seeing is photo enhancement alright - but mostly the old fashioned way - selecting a bit of the photo and dodging and burning (in PhotoShop).

[smarti77]

Very inspiring. You found some amazing view points.
The first one and 'In the mountains of Andalucia' are my favourites..

[Don Schaeffer]

You really make a place come alive. Amazing dynamics in your photos. You keep my eyes busy. They feel good.

[NT73]

There is a bit of HDR processing in about 3 of them (#s 3,4 6). I don't like to call that out though. HDR is just another technique like levels, curves or noise reduction - and not the *subject* of the photo.

What you are seeing is photo enhancement alright - but mostly the old fashioned way - selecting a bit of the photo and dodging and burning (in PhotoShop).

It was not a criticism, more a curiousness.
I thought the first came across as HDR, so it is a compliment to your dodge and burn techniques.
I have a shot of the Ronda 'New bridge ' almost identical to yours but taken from a bit of private land up the side of the gorge.
A good area for landscapes.

[Toad]

Thanks guys.

[Pavel]

These are very impressive photos. Large-scale landscapes are difficult for me, but you seem to breeze through that. I love the composition on the first image in particular. How do you deal with haze? My apprach works, but only from here to there - I think yours is better.

Great looking at your photos - a real treat. Pavel

[Toad]

It was not a criticism, more a curiousness.
I thought the first came across as HDR, so it is a compliment to your dodge and burn techniques

No problem - what I usually do is make 2 or 3 exposures from the original RAW and blend them manually (as layers) by erasing the bits that are *wrong* in each one. I usually use HDR only when it is too complicated to be done easily (or when I am lazy - like in the Ronda bridge shot)...

[Toad]

These are very impressive photos. Large-scale landscapes are difficult for me, but you seem to breeze through that. I love the composition on the first image in particular. How do you deal with haze? My apprach works, but only from here to there - I think yours is better.

After looking at your last set of photos published today, I am honored that you think so - they are truly superb. My secret for large scale landscapes (and it isn't really much of a secret) is to shoot lots of photos at different zooms - choose the best one and work from there. As I said, not much of a secret. The one that you like from Arcos is just the best of 10 or 12 - and the one I chose to fiddle with.

As for haze, I just select areas of the photo and play with contrast for the most part - usually I will fiddle with contrast 2 or 3 times during the retouch process. I also use curves a lot - I take the eyedropper in curves and touch the tone point on the photo that needs work - that highlights that spot on the curve. Then I grab the curve at that spot and adjust to taste. Then I choose the next tone that needs adjusting and repeat as required.

I use the word tone because it is not the same as color - it is an area that reflects a degree of darkness or lightness rather than a particular hue.

Anyway, thanks for the comment - your latest stuff rocks!

[Kombisaurus]

Aboslutely gorgeous Toad!
Such a beautiful place and your photos really do it justice.

I think the thing I miss most about living in Western Australia are the mountains and views I left behind in Tasmania. Even though Tasmania is *very* different to Spain, looking at photos like these still makes me a little bit homesick.

[Wedding Shooter]

Stunning Toad - the sense of being there is really captured in these images. The last one is my favourite and I love the first one for it's scale.

[Toad]

Thanks for your kind words, guys

[Janika]

What an amazing experience it must of been, Love the mood on these shots...

[Pavel]

Thanks Toad for your advice.

Pavel