Trip to Shangeri-la. SD1 shots.

SDIM4498 Original from the window of my car..

For the last four days I’ve been on vacation on my vacation to the north of Yunnan province, to a place named Shangeri-la.. I used ISO200 in order to get the entire scene without having to bracket (take three or more shots with different exposures). So in order to get sky and foreground in one shot I used x3 fill light which works remarkably well with SD1 images, very different from my past experience.

Now, the colorbug within SPP5 isn’t yet fixed and I have to fight the magenta touch in Aperture and I feel/fear that I loose density because of this fight. Anyways. Don’t forget to click the boy shot and the water shot as they’re both incredibly detailed.

Some additional info can be found in my Dpreview Sigma forum thread.

SDIM4480 Original Fill light used and cropped as well. Have a look at the original as it’s super-detailed. 18-50 macro at it’s best!

SDIM4327 Original

SDIM4581 Original Driving at Tiger Leaping Gorge

SDIM4603 Original <– Look at this one at full resolution!

And last a shot from when I passed a waterfall just beside the road, Linn opened the window to touch the water. :P

SDIM4584

There will be more!

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The magenta girl..

Couldn’t resist.. And she even exaggerate the magenta effect quite a bit.. :)
Little girl #2Little girl #1

A bit later I saw her again, now her dad had collected some more of what he was collecting.. I tried to make her smile, but she wouldn’t. :(

Little girl #3

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Electric trip

EV bike a bit too fast..
Original

I love ev-bikes! I had one many years ago when I lived in Kunming and the other day we tried a few to see if perhaps it would be time to get another one.. They’re really awesome!! This one can do about 45km before running out of juice and cost around 2000rmb (€200) – And it’s foldable and battery is easily removable. Cool stuff!!

Good that I have Linn, she makes my photos look so much better! :D

Posted in 18-50, Apple Aperture, China, Full size, Portraits, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Close to water..

These are some older shots from some weeks ago, still SD1 of course. Now looking at them thinking that maybe a bit too magenta. Oh well. :)

Hey!Original
None of these are taken in HI mode, but in mixed MED and LOW mode.

Do I dare?
Original

FishermanOriginal

I told you..

Posted in 18-50, 70-200, Apple Aperture, Full size, Portraits, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The God Fathers..

The God FathersOriginal

I will not post much until next release of SPP5 is out. It’s just an amazing amount of work to get anything right and out without looking too off from your original idea. But please enjoy this small selection.

All images taken using the Sigma SD1 + 18-50 2.8 macro.

Afternoon tea
Original

Sleeping fighter..Original

Look closer!!Original (look closer)

prepping pepperOriginal

did you hear that..Original

Look, there!

colors, a difficult matter.Original

CardsOriginal

Mao on the wallOriginal

Posted in 18-50, Apple Aperture, China, Full size, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Proper sharpening of SD1 images.. (+ dog)

User Usee has showed me how great those “-2.0″ shots can look when proper sharpening has been applied using Silkypix Pro 5. He writes over at dpreview’s image gallery;

This is my post processed version from Carl Rytterfalks SD1 .X3F SDIM1547. Be aware that this version isn’t for commercial use and exclusively made for Carl Rytterfalk, due to his asking in this thread: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=38842496 …for showing the possibilities the SD1 offers, if it is used in conjunction with Silkypix Pro 5. The hint to the source (link above and Silkypix Pro 5 as post processing software) has to be made, if this version is shown. Thank You for being decent!

 

Sigma, please rethink how sharpening is done in Sigma Photo Pro 5. Why not have the Silkypix people make the future SPP but using some of your processing? Silkypix Pro with only Sigma support and let the user pay extra to get the extended version? :) Just saying..

Edit: I now use the free open source based software RawTherapee and even if it’s far from perfect it has great sharpening abilities. Here’s a dog shot from a couple of days ago..

SDIM3058 RawTherapee
Original size (Full SD1 resolution)
Colors did not come out as I liked them.. They look different in SPP5 and RawTherapee AND then in Aperture as well.. :) Something isn’t right here. But still. Detail is nice.

Posted in Full size, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1, Silkypix | 51 Comments

One more thing..

Before I go to bed..

Don’t forget to visit Bob and Olga’s SD1 page over at Vstudio! They have some awesome shots to show! http://www.vstudio-fotografie.de/studio-portraits/. They even have RAW packs for download! :P

That’s it for today. Good night.

Posted in Full size, Link, RAW, Sigma SD1 | 2 Comments

Salty tears by Kerstin Karlsson + SD1 images..

Salty tears by Kerstin Karlsson

I’m a bit sad (therefore sharing my little sisters latest song) to note that even if I save as Tiff and Apple RGB from SPP5, and later do my post production thingi on my Macbooks iPhoto, iPhoto don’t convert to sRGB, instead my published stuff remains in the AppleRGB color space. (I think).

But I will share a few shots from yesterday. All with the 8-16mm lens which isn’t perfectly suitable for the SD1. (at least not the one I have). I’m waiting for the new 12-24 which I hope will be a real sharpness killer!

Dali by bike 11Dali by bike 5 Dali by bike 10Dali by bike 6Dali by bike 4Dali by bike 1Dali by bike 2

 

Posted in 8-16, Full size, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | Tagged , | 23 Comments

Some recent pictures from SD1..

As you know I’m on a laptop and I developed these in different light etc so just enjoy, don’t pick too much on the development. I used iPhoto as my post production software and iPhoto saves JPEGS either as super compressed or not compressed – the not compressed option creates JPEG’s of 15MB-21MB each so it’s really a no no.. So, jpeg artifacts can be seen quite easily. So beware! :)

Some shots from Kunming:

Look closer
Original

At night, Kunming. DetailsSummer. (her name)Testing out.Our Kunming home.

Linn’s grandmother recently past away. Some shots from her grave and home.
At the grave..At the grave..Nai Nai

My Chinese family, with mom and dad (in China, the custom says that when married, they become my parents as well.. So saying mom and dad to them feels awkward but nice. :)

Food..Me, Tien Tien, Mom and Dad..What a ride!SDIM2179My chinese Dad

70-200 in action! I’m not often keen on using it as it’s a bit heavy. But it’s really a nice lens! It’s the old version btw, without Macro.

NatachaRed coverHer hands! Look closer!Monochrome output..DofuHere looking at you..

Have to go, all at full size over at flickr. Please go there for more images and more info. I’m off now to the old parts of Dali.

Posted in 18-50, 70-200, 8-16, Full size, Link, Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | 15 Comments

SD1 sharpness settings etc.. (edit)

Written over Dpreview about sharpness, profiles and such..
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=38817075

Make sure you read this one (or see). A comparison made between SPP5′s sharpening output and Silkypix pro 5′s output. Silkypix looks like a winner! Actually looks quite remarkable. Thanks Uli for the comparison, the picture he used can be found in my SD1 Raw pack nr 2.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=38826090

Brian? Please bring Raw Developer to the table soon! :)

Posted in Sigma Photo Pro, Sigma SD1 | 9 Comments