A few shots from Peru

[Richard D]

A Shipibo woman sewing


Joy


A Bora grandmother and grandchild


Maestro Shaman don Solon


Some HDR fun


More HDR

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Those last two are like an acid trip...

Not that I would know, of course. :)

Of these, I think the first one is my favorite.

[Richard D]

4. Now you know my secret!

Well, no acid here, but some pretty amazing plant medicines.

[Mira]

2. OH Richard! And how did you do the last two?

Thank you first for the detailed account of where you are and why, which you gave in the thread that talks about your contest submission. You are now officially one of my heroes and muses. You are doing what I would also like to do, and I wish I were a man to do it, so it would be less dangerous because I would be doing the out of the way stuff for sure.

Phenomenal portraits, to get them without the people objecting, and obviously co-operating, was a feat. (I will never forget Campesino's child BTW)

The Peru I know did not look like the area you are in, I have had the good fortune to go up the "Hiram Bingham Expressway" (the switchbacked road) up to Machu Picchu. And the train through the country side along the Urubamba from Cusco. I was so scared going up, I walked down through the jungle.
I loved my Peruvian adventures.
I read they discovered the highest waterfall in the world in Peru, at least that's what I remember, but it is a 5 day trek by mule through the jungle to get there.

I'm thrilled to get to see your photos from there, and I'm so glad I asked for and got more details.
Carry on for both of us.

[Richard D]

3. Thank you!

Yes, the Amazon basin is quite different than the mountains. I really love it here, well, sort of. I could do without the mosquitoes and the heat can sometimes seem like it'll kill.

I've met a lot of women traveling alone here. Some go way off the beaten path. Seems like it's a fairly safe country with a few exceptions. From here I'm going to Caral and then to Huaraz, the Switzerland of Peru. Close to there is Chavin, probably the oldest civilization in Peru, perhaps in the world. Hoping to spend a few days hiking in the Andes as well, though I too have a fear of heights that makes some it it beyond challenging.

As to how? Well, I could tell you, but I'd have to pluck out your eyeballs afterwards . . . Just joking. It's 5 frame HDR, compositied in Photomatrix Pro. Then I mess with saturation and vibrance controls till they are exactly what I want to see.

And the portraits? Most people I shoot are really happy to have a camera stuck in their faces as long as I ask. Especially when I show them the shot after. Kids are totally cool with it, but I always ask adults first. Smiles, respect, and an open heart go a long way! When possible I go to a local print shop and make a copy for the person as well. Not possible in the small villages but quite easy in Iquitos. One of the restaurant owners is going to put the acid shot up in his restaurant, so if you ever come down here go upstairs at the Yellow Rose and you'll see a 20x30 of it. Nice!

[Mira]

5. WOW - I thank you again and am with you in spirit. N/T

[Tindalos]

6. These are great

I really like your portraits and the HDR shots are really cool. Is that hard to do? Thank you for your explanation of how you came to be in Peru in the other thread, and wow! I'd love to do something like that one day.

[Richard D]

7. Thanks

The HDR isn't that difficult. I do five shots 1 stop apart, 2 over exposed, 2 underexposed, and one correct exposure. I do it hand held on auto, so a rock steady hand or tripod is important. Aperture has to be consistent so exposure variations are from shutter speed.

Then I use photomatrix pro to do the HDR. I've got a fast computer and it still takes a couple minutes to run a shot, so a lot is being done. Once that is done I tweek it as much as I can in photomatrix, then do a few more things in Lightroom - cropping, playing around with saturation, vibrance, etc.

It's a bit tricky as the difference between really good and tacky isn't that far apart.

[hippywife]

8. OMG!

How could that picture of the grandma and her grandchild violate the terms of photobucket. And who but a whack-job would have reported it as such?

Praise Jesus and hide the National Geographics!

Sorry someone did that, Richard. :hug:

[Richard D]

10. I can't friggin believe that

Jeeze, like it was hard core porn or something. That is the way these people dress. At least when they are being native. I'm glad I didn't post any pics of the kids. Probably would have gotten arrested for that. Frickin weird.

Anyway, here is is again:

[alfredo]

9. the clouds look great using those filters. I think RetineX can do something

similar.