Just like when I was playing a little with Fuji cameras to see what they might do for my workflow, I spent some time with the Medium Format Hasselblad H5D. Wow that thing was huge and being a little crazy I decided that a trip across the world including India, the Middle East and Europe (a good chunk by train) with the family was an ideal situation for it. It did give me a lot to think about in terms of what I needed or wanted in a camera system, and it also created some epic images.

The First Hasselblad Adventure

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-01-09 02:04:23
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/20
• Aperture5.6
• ISO200
• Focal Length80.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I was at the main mosque in Abu Dhabi for about four hours before I eventually came to the Very-Obvious-In-Retrospect idea, hey I can actually go INSIDE. As with most mosques, there is a tremendous number of shots from the outside and the courtyards. But you can go inside most of them anytime (as long as it’s not during the call to prayer). Just slip off your shoes and go inside for a wander! I’ve never had any issues at all… in fact the exact opposite, the people inside have always been super welcoming!

Light in the Mosque

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-02-12 15:19:10
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time2.5
• Aperture16
• ISO200
• Focal Length28.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

I was lucky enough to stay on St. Claire’s beach in Dunedin for a few nights. Each morning had a different sort of sunrise. This was one of my favorites. I was out there pretty much all the time, with my camera fully loaded and ready to go! Beautiful mornings like this are so serene, but my serenity is often a bit challenged with trying to get as many interesting photos as possible. Another challenge is getting the quadcopter ready as well. If it’s a great morning like this, then I want to get more than just ground-based photos.

Also, fun fact, Baldwin Street in Dunedin is the steepest residential street in the world… one section is so steep it had to be made from concrete as normal road surfaces on a sweltering day would become unstable and start to melt down the hill.

More Than One Reason to Visit Dunedin

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-04-05 19:55:33
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time0.4
• Aperture11
• ISO100
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

The Thiruvalluvar Statue, located atop a small island, near the town of Kanyakumari on the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula. Here two seas (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) meet an ocean (the Indian Ocean) creating some epic scenes.

The Statue Watches as the Seas Meet

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-01-09 02:04:23
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/20
• Aperture5.6
• ISO200
• Focal Length80.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I don’t do a lot of these abstract scenes, but I do quite like the way this one turned out… I didn’t know for sure if these long shutter techniques would work well on this subject. There’s a lot of experimentation if you want to try something like this yourself. Of course, a tripod is mandatory, but then just switch into manual and try different shutter speeds and adjusting the aperture until you get the lighting you like. This one was 3.2 seconds.

The Calatrava Bridge in Venice

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-02-10 18:48:53
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time3.2
• Aperture8
• ISO200
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

As a little study like project I love mixing together different levels of detail and smoothness in a photo. I think it’s important to have a series of transitions. This one has many transitions, jumping from smooth dull colors to riotous textured colors to bright smooth areas to dull-colored highly textured areas. It’s a fun way to process a photo because it comes out a little different every time, and I’m not ever sure I could re-create this.

Colors and Lines in Venice

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-02-08 16:53:17
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1.6
• Aperture11
• ISO100
• Focal Length38.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

This is not a new photo, but it’s one I took a number of years ago as soon as I got that Hasselblad. Nice, eh? I was still trying to figure out the camera, as the behavior was quite a bit different than my Sony. So, I spent a day traveling around the South Island here in New Zealand to try using the camera in a lot of different conditions. I took this over near Jack’s Point in Queenstown.

First Shot With the Hasselblad H5D

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2015-12-21 01:19:48
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/100
• Aperture16
• ISO100
• Focal Length42.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

Where three seas meet on the southern tip of India you’ll find this massive statue just out of the ocean. I took this at sunrise one morning after we got off the train. It was a disorienting morning because the train rumbled down the tracks all night then we got out off at about 4 AM. Everything is a bit confusing when waking up at 4 AM! Then it was even more confusing navigating a bunch of tiny and crowded Indian streets in the dark of morning. I had no idea what I was really seeing until a little bit of light hit the scene, and then I was totally blown away!

Tina, my first wife, as I liked to refer to her when we were married, had a small panic attack here. Our youngest, Scarlett, kind of got lost in a mass of tourists. We found her about a minute later and of course, being a true extrovert, Scarlett was not worried at all and didn’t even notice!

The Mighty Statue

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-01-09 01:33:12
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time3
• Aperture5.6
• ISO400
• Focal Length70.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramManual
• Exposure Bias

I probably visited over 50 of these amazing temples in India. Besides the ancient structures, it was fascinating to watch remote villagers also making the same pilgrimage. I think I averaged about 1,000 photos a day, and I still have only processed about 20% of them.

A Pilgrimage

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-01-05 12:29:22
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/640
• Aperture4
• ISO100
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias

On a helicopter flight, we flew out over where the Dart River empties into the Wakatipu lake in Glenorchy. I don’t know about you, but I’m mesmerized by the patterns these deltas make. I’d love to see a time-lapse over the past 50,000 years of how it has changed. I wonder if there is a computer simulation out there that shows it.

The Dart River Delta

Photo Information

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• Date Taken2016-03-30 05:55:38
• CameraH5D
• Camera MakeHasselblad
• Exposure Time1/30
• Aperture16
• ISO100
• Focal Length35.0 mm
• Flash
• Exposure ProgramAperture-priority AE
• Exposure Bias