ljamoller

Amazing Shapes of Baku 5

Black and white image of the Carpet Museum in Baku, Azerbaijan

Black and white image of the Carpet Museum in Baku, Azerbaijan
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X-H1

Aperture f/8 ISO 200 Shutter 1/140 Focal Length 2340/100

location

Baku Kandi, Azarbayjan-e Bakhtari, IR

upload_date

May, 2020

Views

Likes

Awards

Top Shot Award 21

Peer Award

Behind The Lens

Location

This is an image of the Carpet Museum in Baku in Azerbaijan. The museum in placed very close to the Caspian Sea just south of the city center.

Time

I was in Baku for a few days to photograph the amazing mix of old and ultra modern. This image was taken soon after sunrise during the famous golden hour.

Lighting

Sun was rising over the Caspian Sea and coming in from behind the building creating great contrast between the areas in shadow and those that were lit.

Equipment

This image was taken with my Fuji X-H1 camera and the 16-55mm f2.8 zoom lens. I use a Sirui R-5214 carbon fiber tripod and a Flexline double ball head.

Inspiration

I saw a program on TV about conservation of mountain lions in Azerbaijan on TV and saw images of the amazing city of Baku. I wanted to visit the city for a few days to photograph this fantastic city. I was gifted a trip by my oldest daughter and went in September of 2018. The weather and light was perfect for what I wanted to do. This building looks amazing and when I saw it lit by the rising sun I just needed to find the right composition and take the image.

Editing

There are is significant amount of postprocessing to transform an early morning bright color image into a moody black and white image. I use the BW Artisan Pro panel developed by the amazing photographer Joel Tjintjelaar. You need to separate the sky from the "ground", remove a lot of contrast from the original image and then rebuild it by combining hard selections and luminosity masks with gradients to create the mood.

In my camera bag

First of all the Fuji X-H1. I chose this body thanks to the additional sensor cooling as I take a lot of 4 minute exposures. I normally carry either my 16 mm f1.4 or the 16-55mm f2.8 plus the 50-140mm f2.8. Sometimes I add a 14mm f2.8 if I need to go extra wide. In addition I have 6 Formatt Hitech spin-on neutral density filters (3,4,5,6,10 and 16 stops) plus a remote control.

Feedback

Whether you shoot landscapes or cityscapes, early morning and late evenings are generally the best times to be out. Baku was no exception. There were minor issues with security whenever I took my tripod out but after I while they new that I was around and what and why I was shooting. As log as I was not a journalist, things were OK. I normally collect locations by watching other photographers, TV, magazines and other sources of inspirations. Those locations are saved on Google map on special folder so I can retrieve them should I be able to travel to that area.

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ljamoller

ljamoller

Amazing Shapes of Baku 5

Black and white image of the Carpet Museum in Baku, Azerbaijan

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ljamoller

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