Pic(k) of the week 24: L o o k i n g u p ! Carrer de Milans, Barcelona
Once in a while, one finds these little quiet gems, in a city which is otherwise flooded with tourists. Such was the case last week, in Barcelona (Spain)...
When I travel for the day-job (airline pilot), my stays are often limited to 24hrs. In order to maximise my photography, I strongly believe in planning ahead by doing online research. While I've pretty much been to most of the popular sites in Barcelona, I discovered a few online images of what looked like an interesting street; "Carrer de Milans", just West of Barceloneta.
Even though I got there just before sunset, the dynamic range (difference between the shadows and highlights), was still very high. As I didn't want to make an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, by the typical bracketing of several exposures, I decided to try and capture as much date as possible in a single RAW file.
It keeps surprising me how good the dynamic range of the little Fujifilm X-T1 sensor is! As much as I like the Fujifilm jpeg film simulation modes, I personally believe there is definitively still a place for shooting RAW format for the more demanding dynamic range images.
Image details:
Fujifilm X-T1 with the Fujinon 16mm f1.4 lens
ISO 1000, 8, 1/250s, 16mm (24mm full frame equivalent)
Iridient Developer for RAW conversion
Lightroom CC for further contrast enhancement
As I wrote some time ago, I've been experimenting with Iridient Developer for editing my RAW files. Opening the full dynamic range with Iridient is more demanding than in Lightroom, but when it comes to shadows and highlights, the end result, is pretty much the same. Details and sharpness in the more demanding areas, are definitively better with Iridient.
For the ones that are stil not convinced about the potential of shooting in RAW, below is the comparison of the before (straight of camera RAW) and after (final image) shot. Click on the image for a better view.
My review on the brand-new Fujifilm XF 16mm f1.4 lens can be found here, while more of my Barcelona images live here.
Remember: "Don't shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like" - David Allan Harvey
BJORN
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