OllieD's photostream

"Loving would be easy if your colours were like my dream,
red gold and green, red gold and green... " (Culture Club)

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Capture
- Speed priority @ 1/800s
- ISO 320
- Sony 70-300G SSM @ 210, f/5.6

Softwares
- uFRaw for RAW processing
- The Gimp for layer blending

Post processing
- Used smart sharpening technique for enhanced micro-contrast

Sichuan Opera is famous throughout Sichuan, Yunnan, and Guizhou Provinces. Sichuan Opera is an important part of Chengdu culture, and one of the contributing styles that became Beijing's famous Peking Opera. Developed over centuries, the present form came about during The Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Besides the normal singing, and martial arts, Sichuan Opera has many unique features that set it apart, features such as fire breathing, changing faces, and juggling pottery. Sichuan Opera is far less formal in style than Peking Opera and the role of the clown holds a comparatively large part of each opera.

The changing faces part of Sichuan opera is performed by an actor wearing a silk mask that looks similar to a Peking Opera mask. The actor struts and spins around the stage. When the actor spins around, or jerks his head, his mask is changed for another. An experienced actor can have dozens of masks that he can change. Most visitors try to figure out how it is done, but it is done with such speed that its secret cannot be discerned. It is very similar to watching a magic show in the middle of an opera. Fire breathing is another important and spectacular part of Sichuan Opera. An actor in a mask shoots huge balls of fire out over the audiences head. It is perfectly safe, and quite exciting.

Read more...

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Capture
- Speed priority @ 1/500s
- ISO 1000 (I didn't want to go higher to avoid too much noise)
- Sony 70-300G SSM @ 300, f/5.6

Softwares
- uFRaw for RAW processing
- The Gimp for layer blending

Post processing
- Fusionned 2 shots (-2 eV & +1eV) from RAW using basic blending exposure technique (the dark layer was blended using the multiplication mode)
- Used smart sharpening technique for enhanced micro-contrast

Take in the streets of HK while the ladies were busy shopping outside. I used a lamp post to hold my camera. The rest was just a matter of timing!

This is a fairly old picture that I wanted to process for a long time. Process applied:
* Merged 2 shots (one with the car trail, one with the background)
* Desaturated all colours but the red and yellow
* Darkened the BW layer

Hope you like it!