_g r o e n k e m a r q u e z photography_

Monarchs

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:20:24 -0800

Monarch Butterfly, Cerro Pelon Sanctuary

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:14:12 -0800

Deira

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:40:33 -0800

Life on the Creek

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 18:12:14 -0800

A view of Dubai

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 04:13:50 -0800

Atlantis at Dawn - Palm Jumeirah

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 19:12:39 -0800

Bell Tower

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:01:49 -0800

Angel

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:12:14 -0800

Teotihuacan

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:29:55 -0800

Trinitarias

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:47:00 -0800

San Miguel de Allende Postcard

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 17:23:20 -0800

Rooftops

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 17:48:19 -0800

Just another sunset

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:25:41 -0800

Under the stars

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:45:38 -0800

Kites

Sat, 6 Jun 2009 23:40:58 -0800

Sail Away

Thu, 28 May 2009 06:35:00 -0800

Beacon

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:27:13 -0800

A moment to lay back

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:51:04 -0800

I haven't been able to go out too much recently, and I was feeling the urge of grabbing my camera and shoot some pictures. I remembered a list of things Chris Marquardt recommended in his site to help stimulate creativity and that was it. I started taking pictures of every object in my living room, dining room, kitchen. I went down to the parking lot and took a couple of shots to have some textures that I could use to apply to some of the images and see what came out. This is one of those creatures. The shot consists of a single exposure, then applied the red channel to a copy of the image and applied curves and a bit of sharpenning as well. The final touch was a layer with an image of a concrete surface as the texture, blended in overlay mode, opacity down to 40%. It reflects the mood I was in while playing with the camera. Hope you enjoy it !

Sunset at the estuary

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:31:04 -0800

Another low light shot. The main thing I was trying to accomplish was obtaining different shades of black in the dark area of the image. I composed so that the darks wouldn't take the whole frame. I was tempted, but one thing I learned recently was that the human eye is capable of registering 11 stops of light, while the camera, at least mine, can only register 5. For this image, I spot-metered the sky and overexposed 1 full stop, to compensate for the camera trying to make the sky an average tone, which in this case I feel it is not.

This one has almost no PP. Just applied Surface Blur to the Blue Channel to minimize noise and that was it.

Busy

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 09:25:21 -0800

Continuing experimenting in low light conditions. This shot came out as the best of a series I took handheld. To imporve my odds of getting at least one acceptable shot I leaned against one column, held my breath and pressed the shutter. I used a higher ISO too. I know, nothing new in the world of photography :) In PP, toned down a bit with curves, color correction with shadow and highlights threshold and sampling. A wee of sharpening in LAB color space. That was it !

City at Dusk

Sat, 7 Feb 2009 07:57:04 -0800

Another shot from town, taken from my kitchen window. I don't normally take pictures of this side of town, because there's nothing really interesting to capture from here on broad daylight. There is even a huge telecom antenna in the way that would spoil any attempt of photography, but I thought low lighting conditions with dramatic sunset colors and some streaking car lights could make an interesting shot. So here it is.

Around town

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 16:59:50 -0800

My first attempt to shoot at night. This shot I took on a tripod, with a lot of wind, so I had to get in the way to minimize shake as much as possible. I checked the traffic lights for a few minutes to be able to catch the sequence from green to red in a single shot. There was a lot of ambient light, from the light posts and all so I used a polarizer to loose a couple of f-stops and together with a small aperture I was able to shoot at a relatively long shutter speed and also I obtained those cool star-shaped lights. What do you think ?

Near Moab

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:47:53 -0800

I'm not totally sure about this location. This is along the road between Arches National Park and Moab. Very dramatic scenery.

Delicate Arch, Arches National Park.

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:21:37 -0800

On the Road

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:38:07 -0800

Frontier

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:35:48 -0800

This shot was taken near the crossing from Colorado to Utah. Vast and dramatic scenery !

Plateau

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 13:32:59 -0800

Today I'm starting a series with a number of shots that I selected from a trip to Colorado and Utah, USA. They look amazing in color, but I decided to post B&W conversions, that I believe enhance the richness of textures seen in those places. A few were taken on the road between Grand Junction, Co and Green River, Utah. I selected a few from my visit to Arches National Park, one of the most amazing places that I've had the chance to visit and photograph. Hope you enjoy !

Out my window

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:31:22 -0800

Life in a mountain

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:07:04 -0800

Art, Crafts & Flowers

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:20:31 -0800

Rural living

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:28:16 -0800

The idilic locations of remote towns. People living off their agricultural production, with little to no basic services. It is outstanding how these people strive and survive in these conditions, and they always manage to wave at strangers and offer an unconditional smile. Beautiful !

Flying alone

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:35:40 -0800

I was waiting for a flock to appear in front of my camera as I waited to board a ferry. It never happened, but I got to capture this lonely fella. I burst a series of shots and this one made the cut to be shared in this blog. I'm not used to shooting birds, so this is far from perfect. I like the fact that , to my surprise, the pelican came up pretty crisp and recognizable and it is an overall ok picture, I think. I hope you agree !

Menace

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:33:42 -0800

I was lucky to capture this strange cloud formation from the deck on a Ferry, in the ever shifting weather of a small fishing village this past December just minutes before a storm hit us. Fortunately we were able to reach the shore safely before the rain started.

Fishing Ships, the old and the new

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:49:33 -0800

After a hard day at work

Thu, 8 Jan 2009 21:06:55 -0800

No fishing today...

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 11:39:45 -0800

First, I want to say that I am thrilled with yesterday's pick for Daily Shot. It's incredibly rewarding and I want to show my appreciation to the people who stop by to check out my work.

Today's post continues the series of photos on a small fishing village.

Art for a Living

Tue, 6 Jan 2009 12:57:14 -0800

Extraordinary craftsmen build these beautiful boats for the local village fishermen. Looks like a lot of work, but I'm sure the results are just worth the enormous effort.

Fishing Ships

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 11:10:05 -0800

I couldn't decide which one to post, so I uploaded both versions. I think the BW version loses a little bit of detail across the ships, but partly this is due to the downsizing and the conversion. The original looks a lot better in my opinion. Unfotunately, it can't be posted here.

A day at the market

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:23:59 -0800

This was shot one Sunday morning at the indigenous market, San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico.

Life as a peasant

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:28:12 -0800

Ordinary day around the peasant villages near San Cristobal de Las Casas in the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

A quiet morning

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 11:41:15 -0800

A little bit noisy in the darkest areas, but it doesn't really bother me. Actually, applied a slight curves adjustment to bring up a little more detail from the shadows.

Cathedral

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 05:28:23 -0800

Cathedral at the Zocalo in Mexico City. This strcuture is famous for its ondulating floors and twisted columns, resulting from the continuous sinking into the soft soil. 1$ tours will take you to the roof and belltowers. An extraordinary monument.

Busy Sunday

Sun, 7 Dec 2008 13:28:40 -0800

Another view of downtown Mexico City along the tourist path. The avenue ends up right at the Zocalo or Main Square and it's filled with a lot of places and buildings to admire. It's crazy, it's hectic, and interesting to see. Totally worth the visit.

This one adds to my short series of B&W conversions.

Torre L.A.

Sat, 6 Dec 2008 10:38:57 -0800

Another shot from my B&W series. This one is of the Latin American Tower in Mexico City. An old, but beautiful structure. Completed in 1956. It is part of the route of the tourist buses, and it is worth the visit. Just across the street, there is the "Palacio de Bellas Artes" and the "Alameda", a couple of highlights in this interesting city.

This shot is pretty straight forward. I didn't particularly like the fact that the statue overlaps the building beside the tower, but for a better perspective, you have to move to a busier part of the curb or even on the street. This was as good as I could frame the shot at that moment. I ended up loving it, though.

I'm including the color version for comparison.

Building Details in B&W

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 06:58:38 -0800

Today I'm starting a short series of B&W conversions. I've been working on a workflow that produces images that I like, and this is my first result. For this series, I'll use a number of images I took during my trip to Mexico City, last July. They are mostly buildings and urban shots. The shots I will show had been discarded because I thought they didn't have much to work on. I think I was awfully wrong. In most cases, the main problems had to do with blown out skies, green/purple fringing along the building contours, so I basically decided to correct these issues by blending different exposures, created from the same shot. This way I was able to recover detail from the sky and to some degree, hiding the fringes. This shot is not particularly bad as far as fringing, but here I managed to recover some detail from the sky by using one underexposed version of this frame. This excercise allows me to work on two major issues: problems related with the image, out of the camera, and to develop a B&W conversion method with images that are rich in textures and with lots of local contrasts.

Hall

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:58:15 -0800

Sunset & Calm

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:18:05 -0800

Beautiful Sun

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:27:40 -0800

A day to remember

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:26:20 -0800

Best kept secret

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:19:28 -0800

Sunset

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:18:51 -0800

Another T&S effect

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:24:58 -0800

Picture of the famous "zocalo" or main square in Mexico City, from the roof of the Cathedral. A place worth visiting if you ever go to Mexico.

T&S III

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:01:54 -0800

T&S II

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:32:10 -0800

Tilt & Shift I

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:27:51 -0800

This is a simple Photoshop Edit, presenting the ilussion of a narrow depth of field, fooling the brain that it's looking at something a lot smaller than it really is. I particularly liked how this almost disposable shot took a different turn with the tilt & shift fake trick. Would you agree ?

Cattle Farm II

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:25:32 -0800

Cattle Farm near Tonina, Chiapas

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:22:13 -0800

Stairs to the Ruins of Tonina, Chiapas

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:21:01 -0800

The Cascades II

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 15:00:21 -0800

Blue Waters

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:59:58 -0800

No trick in this shot. The color in this water is the product of the sulphur content. It comes from a sulphurous spring that merges a fresh water stream and flow to a cascade that ends up in a much bigger river. It looks soapy, and it smells a little like metal, not so much like rotten eggs, which is characteristic of other similar places.

A green World, Tabasco

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 19:42:01 -0800

Beauty in the forest II, Tabasco

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 19:38:38 -0800

Beauty in the forest, Tabasco

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 19:36:57 -0800

Waterfall II, Villaluz Natural Reserve, Tabasco

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 20:18:50 -0800

Waterfall, Villaluz Natural Reserve I, Tabasco

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 19:24:11 -0800

The soapy appearance of the water is produced by the sulphur content. In this waterfall, two different streams of water converge, one is fresh, the other one is sulphurous. I wanted to take a long exposure shot to obtain that curtain look in the water, but there was no good support for a tripod to sit on.

The Tree, Villaluz Natural Reserve, Tabasco

Fri, 5 Sep 2008 22:04:38 -0800

I know, I rarely write about the photos I post, but this deserved a couple of lines. I really love this shot for some reason. It's like this tree could take the weight of the world or something. I was impressed the second I saw it. Hope you like it !

Near the spring of sulphurous waters, Villaluz, Tabasco

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 15:44:14 -0800

Hiking @ Villaluz Natural Reserve, Tabasco

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 20:41:35 -0800

This shot kicks off a new series taken in the forest of the Villaluz Natural Reserve. Enjoy!

Calm shore in Tortugueros, Campeche

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 04:39:34 -0800

Tortugueros, Campeche

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 04:54:31 -0800

Sea Turtle Release Spot at Tortugueros, Campeche

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:21:47 -0800

Gulls taking off, Tortugueros, Campeche

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:43:25 -0800

Tortugueros, Campeche

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:22:18 -0800

Low Tide at Tortugueros II, Campeche

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:19:49 -0800

Seagulls at Tortugueros, Campeche

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:17:51 -0800

Low Tide at Tortugueros, Campeche

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:15:28 -0800

Shadows & Textures, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:44:35 -0800

The Longest Walk, Villaluz Natural Reserve, Tabasco

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:43:49 -0800

Overlooked, Church of Santo Domingo, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:04:26 -0800

Different shades of White, Monastery of Izamal, Yucatan

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:56:06 -0800

Colorful Church

Tue, 5 Aug 2008 11:33:17 -0800

I´m not very creative when it comes to names for the pictures, so I apologize :) This one is particularly one of my favorite shots in a town called "San Cristobal de Las Casas", state of Chiapas in Mexico. It´s the same town where I took my previous picture. As you can see it is a very colorful place, with lots of opportunities to take photographs, so you´ll probably see a few images from this enchanting place. Hope you enjoy !

Colorful Town

Sat, 2 Aug 2008 13:10:07 -0800

San Cristobal de Las Casas

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:39:39 -0800

Isla Mujeres

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:25:38 -0800

Isla Mujeres II

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:25:14 -0800

Shades & Textures II, Izamal

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:57:33 -0800

Fort @ Campeche

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:51:01 -0800

Shades & Textures, Izamal

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:50:02 -0800

The Basilica

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:53:47 -0800

"Basilica de Guadalupe". It is referred to as the second most important Catholic Pilgrimage Temple after The Vatican. It seems to be truth after seeing the huge amounts of people flocking into this place. Just amazing...

Temple @ Comitan de Dominguez

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:52:52 -0800

International Lake, Borderline, Mexico-Guatemala

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:06:53 -0800

Rooftop View, San Cirstobal de Las Casas

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:06:24 -0800

Old Temple, Shrine to Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico City

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:58:28 -0800

New Temple, Shrine to Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico City

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:32:27 -0800

Old & New

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:31:57 -0800

Quiet, Lakes of Montebello, Chiapas

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 20:39:20 -0800

Past, Present & Future, Mayan Ruins of Comalcalco, Tabasco

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 11:00:31 -0800

My land, your land, Aborigen Village in Southern Chiapas

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 10:47:36 -0800

You'll probably notice no people are around, not even by chance. The people from these villages believe cameras can steal their souls, so they won't allow you to photograph them. Well, most of them. Maybe 98% of them.

Wild Orchid, Botanical Garden, Villahermosa, Tabasco

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 11:57:39 -0800

Fearless, Puerto Ceiba, Tabasco

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:03:58 -0800