Baltic Palaces & Cathedrals

Shot on a recent trip to the Baltic. Constructive criticism welcome.

1. Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

IMGP1798 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

2. Chandelier at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

IMGP1868 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

3.Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg

IMGP1862 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

4. Oliwa Cathedral, Gdansk, Poland

IMGP2024 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1

I love them all! Good tight compositions and frame filling interest makes them all strong. The last is my personal favourite due to the great lighting and perspective effect, but there's plenty to take in and enjoy in the others too. Great detail and colour balance particularly in the first, and I appreciate the vibrant colours on the outdoor one as well. I hope there's plenty more to come from your trip!

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My Guides to the Pentax Digital Camera Flash Lighting System : Download here from the PentaxForums Homepage Article .... link
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver

What a great set. Nice and sharp and full of detail. Well selected and interesting architectural features. Looks like a place worth visiting.

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Best wishes,

Andrew

"These places mean something and it's the job of a photographer to figure-out what the hell it is."
Robert Adams
"The camera doesn't make a bit of difference.  All of them can record what you are seeing.  But, you have to SEE."
Ernst Hass
My website: http://www.ephotozine.com/user/bwlchmawr-199050 http://s927.photobucket.com/home/ADC3440/index
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Thank you for the positive comments.


St. Petersburg is the most interesting and beautiful city I've ever been to and it's a little further off the beaten track than some more accessible European cities. It's a photographer's paradise.

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1

Thank you. Well, here are a couple more. A little more obvious / stereotypical but to give more idea of St. Petersburg.

5. St. Isaac's Cathedral

IMGP1943 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

6. Peterhof Palace

IMGP1902 by Roy Coote, on Flickr

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1

Lovely again! That Peterhof Palace looks like a real gem for a photographer.

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My Guides to the Pentax Digital Camera Flash Lighting System : Download here from the PentaxForums Homepage Article .... link
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver

Looking at the details is great and you've selected some really effective subject matter. The first image I'd suggest a slightly tighter crop to eliminate the rather duller area through the arch at the bottom of the picture.

In the penultimate picture there's an unfortunate bright highlight on the left and that can be quite tricky. A slight change of position might be enough to cure it, but when shooting it's good to be mindful of these hotspots as they can spoil the effect.

Hope those comments are helpful!

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Best regards, John

St. Petersburg looks like lovely place to photograph, did you have any trouble to get into Russia?

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Flickr
It's the photographer who takes pictures, camera is just a tool

Thanks John - especially with abstracts I struggle with exactly where to crop. I originally kept the "steps" through the arch at the bottom because I thought it leant an Escher-like quality. Were you thinking more of a crop like this? Do you think this works better?


alternative crop by Roy Coote, on Flickr


Not sure I could avoid the hotspots apart from waiting for the sun to go behind a cloud and fortunately for the holiday, if not this image, it was sunny all the time whilst we were in St. Petersburg. I get your point though now you've pointed it out and maybe I can do something in post-processing.

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1

Yes, I think the crop works better, although it's your image and in the end where you crop is where it pleases you most.

The hotspot is unfortunate, but I know what you mean about the sunny weather being what it was. We are only in these places for a very short time and sometimes we just have to shoot what we can. It might be different if we could go back at different times of the year when the light was kinder.

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Best regards, John

If you are willing to accept a recorded JPEG image, the HDR Capture option with Auto Align can work quite well - if you can hold the camera reasonably still - to tame the over-bright areas in a scene. And it can be surprising how much a Pentax JPEG can then be edited to enhance it later in imaging software.

Generally, lovely images.

Cheers.
Philip

We visited as part of a cruise holiday. You can apply for a visa yourself, which sounded a bit bureaucratic, or you can go on an organised tour with a tour agency registered in Russia and you then use the tour agency's blanket visa - this is what we did. I booked with a tour agency based in Russia (SPB Tours, who were excellent) before we travelled, which was much cheaper than using the cruise ship's own tour.

All the other countries didn't even look at our passports but Russian immigration / border control was, as you would expect,very strict and they checked everything carefully before they'd let us through.

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1

Thank you. I didn't really notice the hotspots but if I had I would've assumed HDR was a no-go because I wasn't using a tripod - I wasn't aware of the auto align. I'll have to dig out the K-3 manual....

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My PPG link
K-3, K-5 + D-BG4 Grip, Pentax: FA 50 1.4, DA* 300, Sigma 70-200 2.8 Macro HSM II, Sigma 18-50 2.8 EX DC, Metz 58 AF-1