NikonGear'23

Travelogues => Travel Diaries => Topic started by: Jakov Minić on June 18, 2015, 22:13:50

Title: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 18, 2015, 22:13:50
My visit to Belgrade is an extension to our Slovenian trip.
It's always nice to visit my hometown.
Due to family reasons I haven't been out much and I haven't clicked the shutters of my cameras as much as I would have liked. Today I went for coffee with a friend of mine and I deliberately brought along the Df+45P hoping I would have an opportunity or two to make an image or two.
We sat on a boat on the banks of the Sava River which flows from Slovenia, specifically the River Savica that we visited recently all the way to Belgrade where it joins the big blue Danube :)

The first photo was on may to the river thorough the dirty windshield of my rented car Adam.
The 2nd on the banks of Sava, and the 3rd on my way back.

I hope you like them :)

Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: armando_m on June 19, 2015, 04:01:01
What is the tall building in 1 and 3 ?

#2 is great with all the things happening , the cargo barge, the guy risking falling into the river, and the row of the ducks family , along with impressive DOF , clarity and colors , a very enjoyable image
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 19, 2015, 07:48:15
Thank you Armando. The building is called the Western City Gate and is a residential building.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 23, 2015, 13:33:36
Since I have posted the Western City Gate of Belgrade, here is the Eastern side.

The sign reads:
Danger, facade falling off!
Not a nice feeling standing below 28 stories of concrete, I wonder how people living here get used to it...
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 23, 2015, 13:56:20
These three residential buildings are also known as the Three Sisters.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: elsa hoffmann on June 23, 2015, 14:42:57
oh I like the red sky thingie pics

Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Erik Lund on June 23, 2015, 15:40:55
Nice sky indeed and with a sun star too :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 23, 2015, 17:56:47
Thank you Elsa and Erik, I must make the sky red in every photo from now on :)
I stumbled upon an aircraft museum, or should I say junkyard.
Usually we chase car junkyards, so the objects were a bit larger...
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on June 23, 2015, 18:24:45
The EAST. There is something special about it. I was in Riga twice.

The city layout by the forces of Sowiet Union and Warsaw pact.

 Belgrade in your pictures reminds me of that.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on June 23, 2015, 18:27:41
The eastern gate pics. Very expressionistic. Brutalistic.

People stored like animals we fee on.

I remember a scene from a book that evoked that feel.

A city in Siberia build around a factory
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 24, 2015, 11:37:29
Dear Frank, thank you for your comments.

Yugoslavia was never under the Soviets or the Warsaw Pact.
It was a Socialist country with a one party communist regime and a founding member of the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement.
It was a pure example of how a country could be multi-national and independent.
Sadly it is now broken apart, but the former republics are slowly but surely joining the EU where they will all be together again...

Attached is another photo from the museum. The building in the background used to be the main terminal of Belgrade Airport back in the romantic days when everybody boarding a plane had a suit on :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Erik Lund on June 24, 2015, 12:06:38
Reminds me of some parts of charles de gaulle airport :)

Your PP on this one is... very sixties :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Thomas Stellwag on June 24, 2015, 15:11:39
red sky and helicopter are my favs
for the heli i assume you took  off your beloved 105DC?
i like, how you draw attention with clearly "false" colours to the subjects
in case of the old Ju, i am not shure if it is the best possible green tone, but that is personal feeling
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Gary on June 24, 2015, 15:44:13
I appreciate the "false" colors. I am new here and to your work. Could you explain how you attained your coloration? IR? IR+ filters? Post processing? IR & Post processing? I am curious about your creative thinking and how you chose the colors and methodology to attain the final image.

Thanks,
Gary
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on June 24, 2015, 15:54:33
Jakov. I know the history of Jugoslavia and the falling apart. Nonetheless the feel of the city of Belgrade as presented in your pictures evoke strong feelings in me resembling those caused by what I felt in Eastern Europe.

It might well be that another person will see Belgrade completely different and evoke different feelings in me.

btw. The Helicopter in this extreme wide angle is very original and has a certain caricature aspect to it I really like.

it is like making fun of an otherwise bland subject. I also like the colorisation.

all together a rather subjective approach to picturing the world. Curious to see more of your work.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 24, 2015, 17:02:04
Erik, thanks!

Thomas, thanks, I love the 105DC, however I only used that lens once during our gathering in Photokina last year.
My beloved lens is the 85/1.4 AFD, and recently the 45P which just matches the Df in my opinion.
All these images were made with D200 and 10.5/2.8 fish-eye. I adore fish-eye lenses, and I started off with the 16/3.5 and then the Sigma 8mm circular fish-eye lenses. The 10.5/2.8 is a lens I chose for these travels, and I have to admit that it is very good. In fact they are all good, now I have difficulties choosing :)

Gary, thanks, I have a 600nm cut-off filter covering the sensor of the IR-modified D200. The filter is similar to the Nikon R60 filter which the 16/3.5 has already installed. I believe the Nikon 8/2.8 fish-eye has it too, and probably other lenses. I also bought that same Nikon R60 to mount on lenses which helps tremendously with B&W photos in achieving dark skies. Bjørn and Erik showed me that feature on Erik's baobab tree shot. I wonder if Erik can find it and post it here. Ever since I say that photo and the effect the R60 makes I fell so in love. Of course, in visible light with the R60 you have a range from 600-700 nm. However, when I shoot IR the range extends the 700nm, and I guess it reaches 1000 nm, perhaps even further. The photos aren't 100% IR because I get the visible light from 600-700nm, but who cares :) The reason why I chose this filter instead of the 720nm or 900nm is because I have more colors to play with. The beauty of IR for me is the fact that I never know how the color balance will turn out, or how I will end up processing it. Because the colors are false anyhow (apart from the reds, a bit of orange and traces of yellow on some occasions dependent of the light and scenery). Bjørn taught me a lot on how to process these images, but I am very stubborn and I don't listen to him as much as he would want me to or as much as I should, so we process them differently. Whilst Bjørn process the photos with curves, colors, white balance, etc. I mostly maneuver the color balance, by either desaturating colors that I don't like and changing their hue. Attached you will find a non processed image of the same subjects (the plane and chopper), and that was my starting point. I used to process all IR images the same way, but that turned out to boring after a while, so now, I rarely process them the same way, and I deliberately don't keep notes as to how I have come up with a certain image. IR is simply fun :)
I hope I was eloquent enough :)
Bjørn can explain things better than me!

Frank, thanks, don't get me wrong, Yugoslavia's architecture is all about the East, and there are many many many blocks of buildings that resemble all you're talking about. After WWII New Belgrade erupted on the north-west of the river Sava, and they literally named parcels of land as blocks. The Western towers are in Block 30 or Block 31, can't remember exactly. About half a million people live in New Belgrade in the Blocks...
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 24, 2015, 17:35:50
and here is the processed version, which I should have posted initially :)
and I promise never to write so much again :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Erik Lund on June 24, 2015, 17:50:15
8mm 2.8 Ais as shot
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Erik Lund on June 24, 2015, 17:55:06
Also as shot with 8mm 2.8 Ais
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on June 25, 2015, 03:42:51
@Erik: Apocalyptic tales in full blast colourscapes.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 02, 2015, 15:08:05
Erik, i have seen these baobab trees numerous times, and I always enjoy seeing them :)
Thanks!

I am in Belgrade again.
Although the images I am about to post are not taken in Belgrade, they are taken on the road to Belgrade.
Perhaps I should have opened up a new thread/topic but it wouldn't it be too much to have to Belgrade threads in such a short period of time.

I took these photos this morning at Amsterdam airport. They are similar but I couldn't decide which one is better?


Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Erik Lund on September 02, 2015, 22:07:19
first one rocks! Well executed
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 03, 2015, 00:23:34
Thank you  ;)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: John Geerts on September 03, 2015, 08:30:47
Great shots, I prefer the first one. 

But it are not 'promotional' shots for 'Van Gogh' ?   ;)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Akira on September 04, 2015, 01:51:22
Another vote for the first one.  The double exposure (?) looks more effective.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 04, 2015, 10:17:16
John, Akira, thanks a bunch!

John, I think that they can be promotional shots for Schiphol :)

Akira, they are both double exposures :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on September 04, 2015, 11:29:32
I feel in the first the van is less dominat
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 04, 2015, 11:36:15
Two nights ago I went out for a stroll through Belgrade with the Df set to multiple exposure.
Attached are: the St. Sava temple and the National Assembly

Multiple exposure is really fun :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 05, 2015, 10:47:14
The tower of Belgrade also known as Beogradjanka.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: John Geerts on September 05, 2015, 11:03:21
Nice colorful results with that double exposure, Jakov.

No shots from the Nikola Tesla airport?  ;)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 05, 2015, 13:15:32
Thanks John!
The earlier shots with planes and choppers were made at the museum that is located next to the airport.
Perhaps I will make a few shots at the airport tomorrow if I get inspired.
Nikola Tesla is probably the most prominent name you can find in Serbia. There is also a dedicated museum in his honor.
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Fons Baerken on September 05, 2015, 13:18:20
Jakov, lovely body of work, thanx for sharing
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 06, 2015, 23:24:42
Thanks Fons!

Today I was flying back from Nikola Tesla Airport and here are a couple of shots following the theme of multiple exposures :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: John Geerts on September 06, 2015, 23:55:28
Great shots, Jakov.  Gives a nice impression of the Belgrado-airport ;)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 07, 2015, 09:40:21
Thanks John!
Belgrado airport never looked better :)
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Frank Fremerey on September 07, 2015, 13:05:02
I love the way you edit these shot, a unique voice in the choir of photography
Title: Re: Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 07, 2015, 15:53:23
I love the way you edit these shot, a unique voice in the choir of photography

What a lovely comment, thank you Frank!