Topaz – Herman van Bon Photography

Salisbury Cathedral 1998

(reworked negative film)

This is, personal opinion, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. And believe me; I’ve seen quite a few of those ancient buildings. It’s a pity I did not make interior pictures at the time. Salisbury is one of my favourite towns in the UK. I’ve been numerous times in Salisbury. In the seventies I worked for 4 years in Bath and whenever I had time I drove to Salisbury for the day or whatever. But also between the seventies and our move to South Africa in 2000 I’ve been several times in the area and always scheduled a detour to see this ‘Holy Building’. The last time was in 1998 when I made these pictures on negative film (digital photography was still in the ‘baby-shoes’). I’ve reworked the negatives but during the years quite a few negatives were severely damaged for whatever reason. Anyway; this is the result of a day’s hard work behind the computer. I used several techniques and layers and processing done in Photoshop, DxO Optics, Topaz and Photosuite Pro. What I also like of the cathedral is its location; in the center of town AND in the countryside (from where the pictures are made).

Disrespect

My official botanical name is Avonia papyracea and I’m South African by nature. I’m very insignificant, true but also beautiful if I may say so myself. I’m so insignificant that even that lot of Wikipedia is unknown with my existence but locals do if they see me; they named me ‘goose manure’….. Talking about respect … 😉

Aviona papyracea is a very small member of the Aviona genus. Its flowers have a diameter of approx. 2-3 mm. This hdr-image is a fusion of 2 shots with my Sigma 70-300mm macro lens. Not the best lens for macro-shooting but fitting within my modest budget. Picture enhanced with a combination of Photomatix, Photoshop, Topaz and PhotoSuite8.

Irrigation

As usual one can be sure that if you irrigate your garden after some dry and warm weeks; it will rain within hours. I irrigated the garden last night and yes; a few hours after we got blessings from the sky …

Anyway during the ‘sunset irrigation’ I made a B&W and a FC picture and combined the two of them in Photomatix Pro. After that some processing in Topaz and Perfect Suite 8 and this is the result. Not exactly what I was aiming for (the blues should be more accentuated) but for the moment it will do.

Sunrise on the beach

Shot during an early morning hike along a non-touristic beach near Quoin Point somewhere between Hermanus and Cape Aghulas in the Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa. The sea mist start to move in. HDR-fusion of 2 images with shutter times of 5 and 7 seconds, apertures of 22 and 32 and ISO 100. Processed in Photomatix Pro, Topaz and Photoshop.

Still Moving or is it moving still? 5 of 5 (last = best?)

Recently I made some bracketed pictures of a still on the verandah table but between the shots I moved the cup with spoon and only once two of the berries. I made several HDR versions by combining (mixing) Photoshop with Photomatix Pro, Perfect Suite and Topaz. This is one of the results.

Still moving or is it moving still? 4 of 5

Still moving or is it moving still? 3 of 5

Still moving or is it moving still? 2 of 5

Still moving or is it moving still? 1of 5

Grape Harvest

With the grape harvest in South Africa about to begin I thought it was a good idea to ‘dive’ into my archive and re-process some harvest pictures of last year. Photo shooting at Springfontein Winery in Stanford, South Africa. Original RAW-images reprocessed with Topaz (Photoshop plug-in) in ‘opalotype’