square picture - nature, landscape & more

SAAB

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 08:06:00 PST

Turns out I had not posted this one here yet.

I Will Make It, Līgatne (LV) 2012

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:07:00 PDT

Dark Forest, Līgatne (LV) 2011

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 11:53:00 PDT

There are no other woods in Latvia, where I would rather take a walk, than in my homeland.

Transparent blanket, Druva (LV) 2011

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:41:00 PDT

CRACKLING WIRES II (SALDUS, 2011)

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 01:56:00 PDT

This was shot into the opposite direction as the previous image, with the sun rising behind the dense fog.

CRACKLING WIRES (SALDUS, 2011)

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:11:00 PDT

The Dam

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 11:33:00 PDT

PARADISE BEACH

Mon, 23 May 2011 04:17:00 PDT

I could not think of a better name for this image. Despite the fact that there is no sky-blue water or palm trees on the beach, looking at this picture I feel like it was made on a vacation trip and not where it was actually taken - 10 minutes drive and five minutes walk from the centre of the city, exactly from the same spot as one of my other recent images.

QUAY

Thu, 05 May 2011 11:11:00 PDT

It usually takes a lot of time for me to get to the final result of an image, ie. before the image looks the way I want it to look after post processing. Sometimes the RAW files are put aside for months or even for years. I like to play around with them now and then, and then leave alone again. My processing technique is mostly about dodging and burning, ie. darkening or lightening particular areas of the image. I don't know if this is because the camera cannot capture reality as it is (partially this is true) or is it because I do not see reality the way it is.
This time it did not take much time (if we consider that ~ 8 hours is not much). I took this and the previous image on Tuesday. But it may be that I return to it in a year and completely remake it.

BOAT, MEZAPARKS (LV, 2011)

Tue, 03 May 2011 13:57:00 PDT

One of the things I like most about long exposure photography is that it makes common things and well known places look different and new. I wonder how many would recognize this if there wasn't the name of the image.

Outskirts - Saldus (LV), 2011

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:30:00 PST

This is the first winterscape I've made this winter. And the only one I made that day. The cold wind made be jump back into the car very quickly.

Reach

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 08:45:00 PST

Just a shot from the walks by the sea previous autumn. They kinda look as if they were reaching for the sky.

Stranded On Ice - (LV) 2009

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:16:00 PST

This one I took in December last year just before Christmas. I remember the ice not being very thick at that time so I could not walk too far from the shore as much as I wanted to. There was a moment I actually thought I'd brake throuhg it.
I wonder how the boat actually got above the ice...

ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - (LV) 2010

Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:00:00 PST

How long have I lived in this apartment...? Five years or so. And just a couple of days ago I came to the idea that I could photograph one of the most impressive buildings of this city from my apartments window. No distortion like shooting from down on the street, no photoshop to correct that. Just my Sigma 105mm macro lens.
I guess I'd be shooting architecture much more often, but do not own a tilt-shift lens, and without it it's just not the real thing. And getting to places as perfect for shooting as my apartments window is not that easy too. But I'm glad I finally noticed this opportunity.
And by the way, winter has come to Latvia. Snow, snow, snow... I wonder why, but the first melody that comes to my mind when I see the first snow of the year, is A Winters Tale by Queen.

GAUJA - GAUJA (LV), 2010

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 11:31:00 PST

Went to the sea today to find some new accessories for professional use. We found that spod during a bicycle trip thiss summer when we went to where the river Gauja flows into the sea. To accomplish the mission I had to carry a 15 kg log for at least half a kilometer back to the car. At the end it seemed as if it was at least 30 kg :-). Should have done it during the summer when those old logs were dry and light like a feather.
This was the only successful shot today.

Timelapse movie

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:21:00 PDT

My first attempt at timelapse photography. Canon EOS 40D, tripod, intervalometer, ISO 100, 12mm, f/16, 1/6 sec, ND8 filter and one hour freezing on a rooftop and noone to bring you a hot coffee.

The movie is made of 973 frames at 25fps. HD version here: www.vimeo.com/16283524

The roof terrace of the new shopping center "Galerija Riga" is probably one of the best things that has happened to this city lately. Well it's good enough to make me finally create my first timelapse. No further comments, just watch.

Piano: Gonzales - Overnight (I hope I'm not getting sued for using the music).

© Armands Belakovs-Ceimers. All Rights Reserved.

l i l i l

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 09:51:00 PDT

Finally got some of the backed up images that were on a DVD that no DVD reader wanted to read from an old broken HDD. This is one of them.

Photoblogger of the month

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 10:31:00 PDT

I have been chosen to be the featured photoblogger of October by Mansi Bhatia.
Mansi Bhatia is a writer/editor by profession and nitpicker by choice. Based in San Jose, CA, she has worn many different hats in the last decade -- from corporate communications specialist to a freelancer for magazines and newspapers. Armed with a master's degree in journalism and married to an engineer, she is a cross between a super-communicative nerd and an introspective geek. Her daily musings can be found at First Impressions (http://www.mansibhatia.com) where she talks about relationships, jobs, societal demands, career tips, children, family... She thinks, observes and questions -- providing a commentary on this ride called life. Hop on if you'd like.

Crossroads - (LV) 2010

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 01:00:00 PDT

dangerous sky - (LV) 2010

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:38:00 PDT

taken just today...

RETURN - PLIEŅCIEMS, 2010

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:35:00 PDT

How many times have I already been here... Not sure, but I'll probably be coming back for the perfect shot. This is the best so far.
While I was taking this there was a small hurricane far out in the distance. It's on the left side of the image, but has been washed out due to the long exposure. First time in my life I saw something like this.

FOOTBRIDGE - ENGURE, 2010

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:01:00 PDT

As you might have noticed I've made my blog white. Turns out that saves energy. I always thought that a black page would use less energy since liquid chrystal is basically black. Well no, it's vice versa. Always good to do something for the environment, even if it's just a tiny bit.
Regarding the picture - I've been wanting to go (or return) to this place for a long time, and this week the weather has been perfect for long exposures. This has been a productive day...

Mother and Child...

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:32:00 PDT

FIRST LIGHT - VECAKI, LV (2010)

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:22:00 PDT

Went to the port gates the other morning planning to take some shots of incoming ferries. The composition as planned did not work, so not much of a ferry in this shot :)

THREE BOATS - BIGAUNCIEMS, LV (2010)

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:00:00 PDT

ROCK

Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:43:00 PDT

Finally I got some new material. No square this time. Though nothing special, it's good to be out there after such a long time. Unbelievable how fast I have lost some of my skills, at least that's what I felt like, but maybe that's just the not so perfect weather conditions...
I told before that I would tell why I haven't been out for such a long time. The thing is, I have been working on a project on becoming a pro photographer. It's still a long way to go, but here is our new homepage/blog. It's available in my native language only for now, but you'll see what it's about.

Published

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 08:52:00 PDT

My photo The Opening Sky has been published in issue 18 of BLUR magazine.
BLUR magazine is a project founded and run by photography enthusiasts and volunteers from all parts of Croatia. It's free and can be downloaded as PDF from their home page.

LOW FLYING OBJECT

Mon, 17 May 2010 03:24:00 PDT

Haven't posted anything for ages. But that for a good reason. More on that to come, hopefully soon...
On the image - my new-old 'black arrow'.

The Opening Sky B&W - Bigaunciems (LV) 2009

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 06:01:00 PDT

Just a bw version of a previous shot that I have been working very long on to get the desired result.

GATE (LV) - 2009

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:54:00 PST

It's been ages since I posted anything here. And it might be ages till the next one. Times are changing. And hopefully better ones are ahead.

Winter Abstract - Riga (LV), 2010

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 06:05:00 PST

Continuing my "real winter" series. One of last weeks nights suddenly a very dense fog came up although it was about -12 degrees Celsius and built a thick layer of rime (hoarfrost) on the trees. I'm not sure if I have ever seen a beauty like this in my life. Fortunately it lasted for several days so I at least had the chance to do some shots on my way to work.

WINTER OVER THE RIVER - LIGATNE (LV), 2010

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:32:00 PST

Finally real winter has returned. A winter like I remember from my childhood - really cold and lots and lots of snow. Where I took this image I was taking a walk in the Gauja National Park along the river Gauja not far my parents house. That's where I have spent 18 years of my life before I moved to the city. And taking the walk I really felt like I was back in those days.

FOUR BIRCH BROTHERS - (LV) 2009

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:36:00 PST

A location I had visited before. After some weeks of real winter and one day after a white Christmas the landscape started to turn grey again, but some snow was still there.
For this shot I used my 50mm lens. I also tried my ultra wide angle, but this seems to have turned out better. The image has only been processed in Lightroom since my computers graphic card has broken down and I'm waiting for it to be repaired and have no Photoshop. But maybe that's even better. That way this is more of a film like processing - almost like the traditional darkroom.
29.12. EDIT: Playing around with a Lightroom Geotagging plugin today. You can even see the 4 birches from space: click here to open the location in Google maps. Choose the sattelite view and zoom in.
Thank you all for your visits, your votes, the kind words and support, and I hope to see you here again in 2010! And don't forget to sign the guestbook, so I can visit you too.
I wish everyone a Happy New Year!!!

Marl II - Plienciems, Latvia 2009

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:40:00 PST

Selenium - Bigaunciems (LV) 2009

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:29:00 PST

While the low tide was still lasting I went to another location to try some new angles. Toned this one a little selenium as this gave more contrast and greater impact.

Revealed - Plienciems (LV) 2009

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:28:00 PST

I went to a location I have been many times to. It turned out the water level in the sea was very low offering many new opportunities.

U Turn - Riga (LV) 2009

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:56:00 PST

I shot this while going for a walk to take a look at the "Staro Riga" light festival objects. Though this has nothing to do with the light installations of the festival, to be honest I found this u-turn more interesting.

The Opening Sky - Bigaunciems (LV) 2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:52:00 PST

SHINING THROUGH

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:38:00 PST

I'm a bit in a PS fever lately. Just experimenting. This is one of many shots I made a sunday morning last week. One of very few mornings where the sun came out shining through the clouds.

DECAY

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:42:00 PST

I wonder how many generations these have experienced...

GRAND STONES - Engure (LV) 2009

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:11:00 PDT

I'm sorry I have removed all the previous comments from the blog. I just wanted to remove the comment form. Will fix that asap. The blog changes are still in process.
Have a nice weekend!

Autumn Gold - Sila Priedes (LV) 2009

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:12:00 PDT

It might be one of the very few autumnal shots I get this year. The storms have blown most of the beautifully coloured leaves away already.
I have disabled commenting on this image and most probably in future there will be no such option as commenting on this blog. It does not mean I wouldn't appreciate your comments. It's just the opposite. I do, and I feel obliged to go back to your blogs and check them out to give something back. The problem is, since I started this blog a bit more than a year ago, it has taken me so much time. Ant it's just too much.
But there are other ways you can show that you like my images, like voting or bookmarking. And most probably I will create a 'guestbook' so you can leave your opinions there.
But this does not mean either that I will not be checking other blogs. I always try to do so as much as possible and I always try to visit the ones who have left some comments or voted. Therefore thanks to all who have done this so far and I hope to see you here again - even a visit is always appreciated.

Circumfluous bw - Engure (LV) 2009

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:36:00 PDT

It took me some time to get a decent bw result for this shot. But now I'm quite pleased with it. Hope you like it!

CIRCUMFLUOUS

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 11:57:00 PDT

A small stone with trails of history on it's surface washed out by the sea. Shot today. Could not wait to put it online :-)

POLE

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:13:00 PDT

The weather seemed to be perfect and I decided to go for a shoot. It was nice and cloudy, but it had not rained for the whole day. While I was driving it started to rain. Of course. No way I could do a long exposure shot. I went out to the beach and took a walk back and forth. After about 30 minutes it stopped raining and my patience was rewarded. For me as a landscape and nature photographer it's what photography is about - patience and being rewarded.

COLOR TRANSITION

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:14:00 PDT

These guys are extremely fast...

PILING

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:04:00 PDT

LONE

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 01:38:00 PDT

Worked on this one a little to try to give it a dreamy paintinglike effect...

FROZEN INTO WATER

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:47:00 PDT

After a longer period, a rather successful phototrip to the seaside. 73 sec exposure. Hope you like it!

A SHELTER [HAREBELL]

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 12:08:00 PDT

ROLLIN'

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:16:00 PDT

It's that time of year again, and one of my favourite motifs. This is already the 6th picture of hay bales I've posted on my blog (so far :-).
And by the way, I've reregistered my blog at photoblogs.org. I wonder if it's ever going to make it into the hall of fame again...

NEVER FORGET

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:34:00 PDT

Finally I've managed to validate my sites XHTML and CSS. It turned out to be much easier than I thought.
Your Photo Tips has published a promotion list with some great photographs - one of them is mine ;-)
And our son made his first steps on his own just yesterday. Isn't the world a great place to be..?

ROCK ME GENTLY - Saulkrasti (LV) 2009

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:41:00 PDT

There had to be a square crop, too, of course. This is a shot from the same day as the previous one. Again I didn't convert this to bw and tried to remove the extremely warm hue resulting from the ND filter and I think I managed to keep the tones rather natural, though the sky was more gray that day.

OUT NOWHERE - Saulkrasti (LV) 2009

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT

Got this image published on 1x.
It's funny how you never really know what people will like.
I wonder if you would have voted for publishing, too..?
It's a 103 sec exposure at f/16 and ISO100.

DRIFTWOOD AND SHIPWRECK II - Vecāķi (LV) 2009

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:15:00 PDT

I had to struggle quite a lot with spam comments lately (263 in one night!) so I had to use the option of verifying each comment. Sorry for that, I will verify all comments a.s.a.p.
This is a picture of the same location I was to some time ago. I returned there a couple weeks later for a remake, hoping that the driftwood would still be there. Not sure if this one is better than the previous, but I wanted a square crop and this time I composed it right.

AWAKENING

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:00:00 PDT

The poppy has always been like an unofficial symbol for the St. John's Day or the Midsummer Day to me(or better said, night - celebrated on the night from 23rd to 24th of June). And so are the first strawberries from our own garden.I remember it from my childhood, as if it was today, how every year a few days before the Midsummer Day there were enough red strawberries in the garden so I could pick a full bowl and prepare them with milk and sugar. First time in the year they always taste the best...

A NEW BEGINNING

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:02:00 PDT

I have decided to change my domain name and also the blog name itself. I could name several reasons why I do it, but the main reason to me is that a.b.c. photography was not a unique name. If you write a.b.c. photography into Google, you will get a bunch of links that have nothing to do with my blog. I have to admit I was in the top 3, but...
Therefore a.b.c. photography becomes "square picture" today. All the constant followers - please resubscribe to my feed! Thank you all!

A TOUCH OF PINK

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:00:00 PDT

It's not like I didn't have any new images to post, but I dug this one out from the archives of last autumn just to try some new PS techniques.

THE CROWN

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:00:00 PDT

As you might have noticed I have changed the template of my blog. I did it because I had altered the previous one too much and the HTML code was just awful. Nevertheless, this one is also far from being finished and I will be working on it during the next...well, whenever I'll find the time. Therefore I want to apologize if any problems occur while I do so. (Hopefully I do not get problems with spam comments again which will force me to switch back to the previous template. For now the problem seems to be solved). And thank you for taking the time to come by and leave your comments.
The image is the top of a bank building. Exposure - 30sec. Converted to high-key.

THE BOG

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:19:00 PDT

This is just an old photo from the archives and this time it serves as reason to tell you what I've discovered yesterday.
As some of you know, one of my favourite places to visit was the Moorland of Kemeri, before it was closed down. But it has always been hard to express the reason for it in words. Browsing through the Internet I came across something that expresses it perfectly and I could have never said it better. An article by Niall Benvie that explains everything.

BACK IN SERVICE

Sun, 31 May 2009 03:37:00 PDT

I don't even remember when was the last time I shot anything handheld except some family portraits. It was a perfect sunset and I had rather been somewhere else, but I had to wait for our vessel when she was returning from some unexpected drydocking, so I just used the opportunity to make some shots. The light was absolutely beautiful.
This was shot with a Canon 50mm f/1.4 at ISO800.

ABANDONED DRYING KILN - Druva (LV) 2009

Sat, 23 May 2009 09:27:00 PDT

Can you tell that (and where) there has been a wire almost across the entire image? I think for a one minute job this is not bad. Some time more and the result would be perfect.
And the secret tool is Wire Worm. One of the best free (yes, FREE) PS plugins that I have ever seen. If you have ever been in this annoying situation - a nice (city) landscape full of wires, or just one wire across the entire scene - this tool is your saviour.

ISLAND - Vecāķi (LV) 2009

Tue, 19 May 2009 14:26:00 PDT

Still enjoying my new long exposure technique and I think I'll be doing this for a very long time. This one is 70 seconds.

A DRIFTWOOD AND A SHIPWRECK - Vecāķi (LV) 2009

Tue, 12 May 2009 09:28:00 PDT

Just continuing the series of my attempts at black and white fine art photography.
Be sure to check out my latest tutorial on noise reduction and sharpening.

THE BEACON

Sun, 10 May 2009 14:53:00 PDT

Lately I have discovered some new challenges for myself in photography. It is the square format, long exposure and black and white photography. All in one.
It all started out with this image
and mooch pointing out it looked similar to Michael Kenna's work. Since then I have found some more b&w photography artists that were and are very inspiring for me.
Inspired by Michel Rajkovic and Jozef Hoflehner.

THE PIER

Wed, 06 May 2009 04:04:00 PDT

It was Patrick who pointed out that this shot would look better with a longer exposure. Yesterday I went back there and here is the result. A 30 second exposure. Though this was not the best of the day. Some more are coming.

SHINE

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 14:51:00 PDT

Just playing around a little. The original file is a four minute exposure I made earlier this week at the same location as here and here (again).

EIGHTEEN IN THE FOG

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:16:00 PDT

A foggy Easter morning...

MAN ON THE MOON

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:00:00 PDT

Same place, same ships, another day (night).

THE EARTH HOUR

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:52:00 PDT

My first attempt at shooting star trails and a little bit of painting with light. Not the best result, but I'm quite satisfied with it though there is a lot of space for improvement.
It's a 36 minute exposure. Seems a bit boring, but if you don't get to watch the stars too often, here you got the time.

AFTER BATH

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:14:00 PDT

I always thought, I had some really nice images of my kid...before I saw this.This image here is my favorite by the way (a slightly grungy version).But Baby as Art is the ultimate collection.

AFTERGLOW

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:27:00 PDT

An absolutely perfectly cloudless evening and a stitch of three images.

TINY WORLD

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:21:00 PDT

A tiny bug out in the rain carying the raindrops like a heavy cargo.
Just found out via Flickr that this image made it into the final rounds of judging of IGPOTY 2008. Unfortunately not into the finals.

AFTER THE RAIN HAS FALLEN

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 07:37:00 PDT

...after the tears have washed your eyes.After a very rainy day it turned into a very nice evening despite the dark clouds still ominously gliding in the sky as if not wanting to leave.

CLICHE

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:15:00 PDT

Probably one of the best known (and most cliche) views of the city I call my home - Riga - with the new bank building and the cable bridge. It's a HDR night shot converted to b&w.

Also check out my new project - 3T - some of you might be interested.
Cheers

TIMELESS MEDITERRANEAN BEAUTY - Trogir, Croatia (2006)

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:56:00 PDT

Something from the archives. A memory from a trip to Croatia in October 2006. It was an extremely foggy morning. You cannot see it here, but behind my back further behind a bridge from where we had to start off our "100 Islands" boat trip you would hardly see your hand in front of your face. The boat did not have any modern navigation so we had to depend on the skill of the captain and Rakia or Travarica. When it became too dangerous we stopped at one of the many islands without knowing how we are going to get back. Luckily after an hour or so the fog rose up and we could continue our journey, have a great day and return to the harbour just by sunset.
Shot with a Canon 300D/ 18-55mm kit lens/ hand held.

MY TREE

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 14:54:00 PDT

Everybody should have ones tree. This one is mine. I didn't plant it. I just discovered it. And I hope it will be there for a long time.

SHAPES OF WINTER

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:44:00 PST

I used a Hoya ND8 filter for a 83 second exposure to get the sky really blurred.

ORANGE SANDS

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:28:00 PST

After all those dull days I finally managed to catch some texture in the sky and get out for a real phototrip with wet feet (Broke through ice. Luckily it was just as deep as to get my shoes and socks wet. So I had to get back to the car to try to dry them as much as possible and get back to the location.) and some nice results.
You probably wonder about the weird color in the sky. Here I used a Cokin ND grad with a Cokin light sunset grad filter. I thought the orange sky would contribute to the orange sands in the foreground nicely in this one.

FIELD OF GOLD

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 04:12:00 PST

Cannot wait for the summer to come...

MERMAID II

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:04:00 PST

This image is actually a couple of years old already. It was taken with my old EOS 300D while waiting for our company vessel MERMAID II to moor. It was about -30°C outside (definitely the most extreme conditions I've ever photographed in). The thermal power station upwards the river was pouring off the cooling water back into the river, and the steam was beautifully rising from the surface of the water.
The reason I hadn't posted the image was that I had totally ruined it by processing it in Photoshop and had lost the RAW file too. Besides I didn't think of it as anything special. Now I've taken a fresh look at it and tried to recover the JPG file I had left. Hope you enjoy the result.
EDIT: ok, i cheated a little. i checked the weather map archives and it was about - 26°C. But that was not the point here...

WINTER RYE FIELD

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 01:28:00 PST

-7.5 °C (at least that's what the car thermometer was saying) and a bloody cold wind, but I gave it a try.This was supposed to become a panorama. I set up the camera vertically and made 3 shots overlapping them by about 30 %. And guess what I got? An almost perfect square, what else. For a panorama it should have been at least 5 or 7 shots. Guess the cold weather stopped my brain from thinking. So I've been considering a lot, if I should keep it as it was or crop it, and if, how to crop it. Well, I'm still not sure if this is worth publishing, but this is the result. I wanted to capture the curvature of the landscape and the lines that lead up to the hill. I've tried that before, but never really succeeded.

AND IT WAS ALL...ORANGE

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 02:24:00 PST

Awful weather outside all the time. One could even say it's no weather at all. Had to dig out something from the archives again. There's not even enough light to do some home projects. Have to look for some strobist experiments maybe...

STANDING TALL

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:20:00 PST

Working hard on another additional page of my blog (spent the whole weekend at my laptop, but still some work to do), haven't even had time to post anything new here.
This was taken in the first seconds of a snowstorm that came over me from behind my back in no time while I was taking the photo. The wind was blowing from behind so I was able to capture the image without getting too much snow on the front of the lens.
I blended this image together from three exposures to get all possible detail in the highlighted area, but kept the effect strength slider down not to get the artificial look that Photomatix produces.

DECEMBER 1st

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 01:28:00 PST

Went out later in the morning on the first New years day and captured that one right after a 10 minute snowstorm.

THE PATH

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:56:00 PST

Pulled this photo from the archives.The Great Moorland of Kemeri is where the legendary (and notorious) Christmas Battle began on January 5, 1917 (December 23, 1916 as to the old calendar).A little history...

CHRYSTALIZED

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:15:00 PST

A red bilberry bush at my favorite place - the swamp of Kemeri. This is most probably the last shot I have made there for a long time. Some days later it was announced in the press that the path is being closed down for 2009. It's been demolished and there is no money to repair it.But who knows, maybe it's better so. This will be a good opportunity to look for other locations, because, you know, one of the golden rules of photography is "location, location, location...".

SUNSET AT THE GATES

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 10:31:00 PST

The 2008 Photoblog Award results have been announced. And could the year start better than seeing my blog in the finalist lists of Best New Photoblog and Best Photoblog Design..? Thank you everyone, who contributed to that! And, once more, a happy and prosperous new year!!!

BACK TO NATURAL

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:51:00 PST

In the past few months I've been a bit confused about my photography style. Do I have one? I've been through a lot of experimenting and started thinking what I actually wanted from photography. And then I opened the site of Helen Dixon.It was about 2 years ago when I first saw Helen's photographs in the Digital SLR magazine. Then I had my first DSLR - the EOS 300D, the kit lens and a 90-300mm lens. Seeing her work I knew what I wanted to do and bought my first ultra wide angle lens for landscape photography. I find her photographs really amazing and what's more special about her, in this digital era she is still working with all kinds of filters and does as little as possible processing. And now, when I opened her page some weeks ago again, I was happy to see the latest additions. And I remembered where I was going. I think this is a good thought for me to start into the new year.HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

YELLOW SUN, BLACK SKY

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 09:45:00 PST

ANGELS AND DEMONS...

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:22:00 PST

PEACE AND HARMONY

ROCKS

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:51:00 PST

Baltic Sea - west coast of Latvia. Port of Liepaja.

NATURAL STRUCTURES

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:39:00 PST

ALIEN PRAYER

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:57:00 PST

I really do not want to bore anyone by posting a picture with smoke trails every day (i have plenty of those now). Just this last one - it's my personal favorite.

SMOKIN' DEVIL

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:02:00 PST

If i don't get out on the field with my camera for a while (though it's not like i haven't recently, but last time i did i almost got bitten by two dogs and went home with nothing but wet boots), I tend to do experiments at home. This time I decided to play around with smoke. No, I don't smoke. I used an incense stick. And it turned out to be quite easy. And i finally got to test my newly purchased Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens in real conditions.Hope you enjoy the result.

TWO AND A HALF MINUTES

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:50:00 PST

I guess the name of this image says it all. I wanted to take a sunset scene on the western rocky seaside of Latvia. Unfortunately it started raining. But I waited in the car while it stopped. The sun was already down and behind the clouds so that two and a half minutes exposure was necessary to get a result. I used a ND grad filter for the sky, so no HDR this time.

FIRE IN THE SKY

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:06:00 PST

Another shot from the field of hay bales i uploaded some time ago.

BEFORE THE SUNRISE

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:30:00 PST

I took this one just before the sun rose over the horizon and the cool blue colors were changed by the warm orange-reddish hues, resulting in this.

ROLL UP THE HAY

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:29:00 PST

Yes, it's hay again. I hope i'm not boring anyone with those.

TIED DOWN

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 03:20:00 PST

DISTANT RAINSTORM

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 07:49:00 PDT

Taken at abt 6 am last spring on my good old Canon 300D. It was very windy and cold and i almost froze my fingers off that morning.

LATE HARVEST

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:21:00 PDT

I planned to stop at this location on my way home, but i didn't expect to see a that spectacular sunset. I wish i was at the sea not on a field of hay that moment, but A location is better than NO location :-)

ROCKS

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:54:00 PDT

Focal length: 14mm
Exposure: 4 sec
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100

FALL

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:07:00 PDT

.:Autumn colors:.
This might be the image i've spent most time on processing it. The leaf was actually held in the air by my wife (actually, when this was taken, she was my girlfriend, not yet my wife:-) so i could photograph it. I had to mask out the hand and draw a peace of the stem. The rest was a peace of cake :-)

MOVEMENT

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:11:00 PDT

Focal length: 12mm
Exposure: 3 exposures
Aperture: f/13
ISO: 100

LITTLE WATERFALL

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:28:00 PDT

Focal length: 12mm
Exposure: 3 exposures/ AEB
Aperture: f/22
ISO: 200

SUNSET OVER MOORLAND II

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:54:00 PDT

The worst thing i could imagine could happen, did happen. 3 and a half days no internet and no blog...
I'm sorry to all those who tried to enter my blog, but did not succeed. And thanks for the patience!
This is an old image from the same location and the same evening as the very first one in my blog. Just a bit different perspective.
More to come soon!

HARVEST

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:44:00 PDT

DARK SUNRISE

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:01:00 PDT

Focal length: 12mm
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100
This particular image is what i call a 'manual HDR'. I blended together 3 exposures in PS revealing the necessary detail from each layer step by step. With the time i'll create a tutorial section in my blog and try to explain the technique, for those who are interested.

FUNGI

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:51:00 PDT

Focal length: 105mm
Exposure: 1.6 sec
Aperture: f/9
ISO: 200
EV: -0.7

SERENITY

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:24:00 PDT

Went off to the beach to photograph some boats while it was still raining, hoping that the rain would stop. It did, but there was nothing special about the boats. In return i found this really old drifting peace of wood and used it as a foreground.
Focal length: 12 mm
Exposure: 1,3 sec
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100

FUNGI

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:18:00 PDT

I tried different angles before i knew what i had to do to get the shot i wanted. With the lens in the moss it worked out.
Focal length: 105mm
Exposure: 1/2 sec
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 200

TRANQUILITY

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:01:00 PDT

This place i pass every day on my way to work.Once i stopped to make a picture.

SWALLOWTAIL CATERPILLAR

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:32:00 PDT

The swallowtail is one of the most spectacular butterflies in
Latvia. Its wingspan can reach up to 9 cm. The
butterfly only feeds on nectar from plants of the Apiaceae family. Like other butterflies, it develops from an egg that
produces a caterpillar that subsequently pupates. The caterpillar spends the first part of its life with the appearance
of a bird dropping, an effective defense against predators. Later on it develops a special organ (osmeterium) that
can release foul smell. A large, beautiful butterfly emerges from the pupa either the same year or right after wintering.

BEFORE THE STORM

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:01:00 PDT

DEW

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 11:23:00 PDT

Red bilberries under a spider web.

EARLY SUNRISE

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:01:00 PDT

A very early morning in the swamp (Kemeri).

ICELAND SUNSET

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:51:00 PDT

I called this picture "Iceland sunset" because when a friend of mine saw it, it reminded him of Iceland.

FUNGI

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:48:00 PDT

A tiny little mushroom i found in the wood on an old tree stub.

GREEN

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:39:00 PDT

Leaves of flowers.

INTO THE SEA

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:21:00 PDT

A view along the river Daugava through the Riga port gates direction sea, between two rain showers.

SUNSET OVER MOORLAND

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:10:00 PDT

One of my favourite places to go on phototrips - the Swamp of Kemeri with a wooden path leading through it. It's a part of a National Park. Images from here you will find quite often in my gallery. Unfortunately my old HDD caught a virus and broke down at the same time (and i didn't have a backup for all the images :( ). The good news is they can be saved, so now I'm waiting to get them back.