#seeminglee

This is an HDR time-lapse of a Shing Mun River (城門河) during sunset in Hong Kong. It was shot from the vantage point of the Banyan Bridge (翠榕橋) which runs parallel to the river which reaches most of Shatin (沙田). # Black and white vs Color The video first shows what the HDR footage looks like in color, which highlights the change in hues during sunset. Then it shows a side-by-side comparison when processed in black and white. And finally, it shows the footage when separately processed in black and white. In the B+W rendition, you would see that the intention — which is the clouds in the sky and its reflection from the river — is much more pronounced when the color information is removed. # Workflow As I wrote previously [1], I originally had not intended it to be an HDR time-lapse, but since I erroneously left the AEB (auto-exposure bracketing) on before starting the timer, I ended up with 3 exposures spanning -3 to +3 every 5 seconds. The way I processed it is as such: 1. Import RAW files into Lightroom, such that they would be serialised (renamed) the way I need them to. 2. Create an HDR processing preset using Photomatix Pro using one of the image stack. 3. Batch-process the whole folder of images using the preset set in step 2 and output to 16-bit TIF and 32-bit HDR files. 4. Import those 16-bit TIFs into Lightroom, and create DNGs for each of the tone mapped HDR images. 5. In LRTimelapse, setup keyframes from the DNGs (LRT only works on DNG or CR2 and not TIFs) 6. Processed keyframes in Lightroom: one set for color, one set for B+W) 7. Batch-process DNGs using LRT again. 8. Export 1080p JPGs from Lightroom for each frame. 9. Assembled image sequences inside After Effects. The workflow is not really very complex — but mostly I was just waiting for the computer to crunch numbers to process all these images. After all this, you get 8 seconds of footage, which was also one of the reasons why I decided to output both the color and black and white versions so there would be a slightly longer time to watch it through. # Soundtrack: Memoirs (Cinematic Version) by Rameses B Once again, I salute talented musicians who graciously published their music under Creative Commons (CCBY) such that I can focus on working on the visuals. Soundtrack has always been the bottleneck for most of my footage. http://sml8.it/16jaaRw # Notes 1. 如上以下 As above, so below / 香港沙田城門河之寧 Hong Kong Shatin Shing Mun River Serenity (BW HDR) / SML.20130807.6D.25123-24-25.HDR.BW: http://sml8.it/16MEFxF # SML Data + Date: 2013-08-07 (recorded) 2013-08-14 (processed) + Camera: Canon EOS 6D + Lens: Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM + Accessories: Canon TC-80N3, Manfrotto tripod, Manfrotto head + Workflow: Lightroom 5, LRTimelapse 3, Photomatix Pro 4, After Effects CC, Ableton Live Suite 8 + Video: 1920x1080 (1080p), 24fps, Progressive + Location: 香港沙田城門河 Shing Mun River, Shatin, Hong Kong + Photographer: See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography + Soundtrack: Rameses B: Memoirs (Cinematic Version) / SoundCloud CCBY + Media Production: SML Universe + License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CCBY) + Copyright: 2013 See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Universe Limited + Series: 寧 Serenity + Serial: SML.20130807.6D.25087-SML.20130807.6D.25677-HDR-PPTM-TL # Media Licensing Creative Commons (CCBY) See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography / SML Universe Limited 如上以下 As above, so below / 香港沙田城門河 之寧 Hong Kong Shatin Shing Mun River Serenity (HDR Timelapse) / SML.20130807.6D.25087-SML.20130807.6D.25677-HDR-PPTM-TL / #寧 #Serenity #SMLSerenity #HDR #SMLHDR #Timelapse #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #山水 #landscape #自然 #Nature #cloudscape #clouds #video

This presentation briefly goes through the steps of how I processed a high dynamic range image of a cloudscape during stormy season in Hong Kong. High dynamic range images or HDR, is the process of combining multiple low dynamic range captures into a single image, when a single capture does not afford the necessary range for what is intended. Three captures were made for the making of the final image. All three images share the same ISO, the same aperture value, and the same focal length. They differ in shutter speed, and the result is shown here, with one normal exposure (0EV), one 3 stops down (-3EV) and one 3 stops up (+3EV). The image on the left was exposed for the overall intent: the clouds and the reflection on the sea. The image in center was exposed for the highlights, which provides some tonal details in the sunlight in this case. And the image on the right is exposed for the shadow areas, where the buildings on the horizon are now correctly exposed, and you can see the patterns on the water surface. After importing my RAW captures into Lightroom, I have exported them to merge to HDR via Photoshop. I used to use Photomatix for this but lately I have been using Photoshop because it was easier for my workflow. The important bits to note here is that you should be focusing on extracting details from the captures, and not trying to create the final image. By keeping everything in 16-bit color space we can manipulate the image further once we have all our materials together. Most strange looking HDR images found on the web is a result of people exporting to JPEGs after this. But this image was not what I had in mind when I looked at the landscape, so let’s work on this further. To further reveal details in the shadow, I created a curve which targets only the shadow area. Shown here in the layer blending options you can see that I have targeted the curve adjustment to only affect a graduated area. If I do not do this, the sunlight would have been over-exposed again. Also note that I am using the Lab color mode inside Photoshop. This allows me to work with the luminance, or lightness, separated from the color a/b channels. After I am satisfied with the shadow overall contrast, I work with the overall luminance contrast for the overall image. Obviously the curve shown here is specific to this image. Now I created a layer mask with a basic gradient fill so I can use the curve to adjust the tonal contrast for the sky. Then I do the same for the water area. Note that at this point this image is very similar to by 0EV capture—no surprises there. This was what I saw when I photographed this photo. I do HDR not for effect, but just so that I can have some details on the shadow area. At this point you see that really there is not much color to this scene. In fact, they stand to distract the overall image, so I removed it. Here since I have been working in Lab mode I just quickly removed the color channels or just removed the color saturation. If I work with images filled with color I usually would use the channel mixer in RGB mode or use the black and white tweaking modules inside Lightroom. But as you can see there is not much color in this image to start with so I can simply just remove the color saturation. After importing back into Lightroom, I tweak things further as I feel that I can still get some more details in the shadow area. If I were inside Photoshop I would do a image-wide shadows/highlights tweak but since Lightroom version 4 there is this new Clarity parameter which works very well in manipulating local contrast so I used it. And that’s it. But remember, every single image is different. This is not a recipes. There are no rules. Now go have some fun! Cheers.

A city never sleeps because inside which lives humans which never stops going somewhere. This time-lapse video shows the pulse of a city through the rush hour traffic in Central in Hong Kong one gloomy evening. For the soundtrack I had wanted something repetitive and Philip Glass came to mind. I had originally written something but thought that the video works best with something by Glass. To avoid licensing issues (mostly because I publish everything via CCBY), I found a MIDI file performed by Bertrand Robion on the web [1] and mixed it with some piano samples. # Notes 1. http://sml8.it/18r4KCp # SML Data + Date: 2013-07-17 (recorded) 2013-07-20 (processed) + Camera: Canon EOS 6D + Lens: Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM + Accessories: Canon TC-80N3, Manfrotto tripod, Manfrotto head + Workflow: Lightroom 5, LRTimelapse 2, After Effects CC, Ableton Live Suite 8 + Video: 1920x1080 (1080p), 24fps, Progressive + Location: 香港中環 Central, Hong Kong + Photographer: See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography + Soundtrack: Philip Glass: Metamorphosis 1 by Bertrand Robion (solo piano) mixed by SML Music + Media Production: SML Universe + License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CCBY) + Copyright: 2013 See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Universe Limited + Series: 人流 Human Logistics + Serial: SML.20130717.6D.20604-SML.20130717.6D.21490-TL # Media Licensing Creative Commons (CCBY) See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography / SML Music / SML Universe Limited 香港中環 Hong Kong Central / 人流 Human Logistics 延時攝影 Time Lapse Photography / SML.20130717.6D.20604-SML.20130717.6D.21490-TL / #人流 #HumanLogistics #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLMusic #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #延時 #TimeLapse #PhilipGlass #BertrandRobion #piano #中環 #Central #Urban #city #people

I did not begin to appreciate the magic of cloudscapes until I started working with time-lapse photography. The clouds during sunset in Hong Kong’s typhoon season is most incredible, and combined with sunset the color fidelity is second to none. The time-lapse which I have shot in the past were output directly from camera without much processing, mainly as I did not see it possible to process each RAW capture by hand to create a video. However, a friend on Instagram recommended that I checked out LRTimelapse, which allows me to set a few shots in the RAW captures as keyframes and then batch it over the entire sequence. With this new tool in hand, I am able to process each capture to my standards and then sequenced it together inside Premiere Pro. The title of this sequence is by my auntie Rita Lee in Hong Kong. The soundtrack is found on SoundCloud on tracks licensed via Creative Commons. This video could not have been made without all the fantastic creative resources available. Once again, CC rocks! # Soundtrack Alrus Cathleen and Alrus - Cloud Kingdom (ft. Laura Conway) http://sml8.it/12RW8mQ # SML Data + Date: 2013-07-06 (recorded) 2013-07-08 (processed) + Camera: Canon EOS 6D + Lens:Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM + Accessories: Canon TC-80N3, Manfrotto tripod, Manfrotto head + Workflow: Lightroom 5, LRTimelapse 2, Premiere Pro CC + Video: 1920x1080 (1080p), 24fps, Progressive + Location: SML Universe Limited, Vista Paradiso, Ma On Shan, Hong Kong, China + Subject:Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Science Park, Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong + Photographer: See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography + Chinese Title (提字): Rita Lee + Soundtrack: Cathleen and Alrus - Cloud Kingdom (ft. Laura Conway) by Alrus (SoundCloud CCBY) + Media Production: SML Universe + License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CCBY) + Copyright: 2013 See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Universe Limited + Series: 寧 Serenity + Serial: SML.20130706.6D.18062-SML.20130706.6D.18889-TL # Media Licensing Creative Commons (CCBY) See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography / SML Universe Limited 風起雲湧 變幻萬千 Everchanging Cloudscape / 寧 Serenity 延時攝影 Time Lapse Photography / SML.20130706.6D.18062-SML.20130706.6D.18889-TL / #寧 #Serenity #SMLSerenity #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #山水 #landscape #自然 #Nature #山 #mountains #日落 #sunset #延時 #TimeLapse #Alrus

“门 (Gate)” http://sml8.it/17VriKX #HK # 香港公共屋邨建築中文簡體字形 Hong Kong Public Housing Estate Architecture Simplified Chinese Typographic Forms: In 2005, a site-specific installation called “The Gates” by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude (aka Christo and Jeanne-Claud) was seen at Central Park in New York City [1]. This was not an art installation—just a pathway at a public housing development in Hong Kong. But its resemblance is uncanny. The Chinese character 门 came to mind, which is the simplified version of the character 門 — and it means literally the “gate” or the “door”, thus giving new meaning to both the high art and this everyday object. The yellow stripe paint serves the function of alerting the elderly. I quite like it. Form follows function. # Notes 1. http://sml8.it/11vzyTd “门 (Gate)” / 香港公共屋邨建築中文簡體字形 Hong Kong Public Housing Estate Architecture Simplified Chinese Typographic Forms / SML.20130512.6D.05734 / #建築 #建筑 #architecture #形 #Forms #SMLForms #中文字形 #ZhTypography #中文 #typography #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #城市 #Urban #馬鞍山 #MaOnShan #FormFollowsFunction http://sml8.it/17VriKZ

“央” http://sml8.it/16bxbW3 #HK #PolyU # 香港理工大學與人流建築中文字形 I dread it when people ask me what I photograph, because I don’t really photograph anything particular that is deemed interesting to normal humans. This is Hong Chong Road (康莊道), a road next to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel (海底隧道) in Hung Hom (紅磡). Far in the background is Hotel ICON (唯港薈), which is the teaching and research hotel built for The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM 酒店及旅遊業管理學院) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) [1]. I photograph this because I like how the lines lead the eye through the frame. This is for my 中文字形 Chinese Typographic Forms series, where I find Chinese characters in a frame after noting that the concept of 形 Forms is not readily appreciated by the Chinese audience but they can relate to Chinese characters. # SML Translate: 央 + noun: center, middle. + verb: beg. (I know, Chinese is weird like that) “央” / 香港理工大學與人流建築中文字形 Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK PolyU) and Human Logistics Architecture Chinese Typographic Forms (ZhTypography) / SML.20130425.6D.02966 / #形 #Forms #SMLForms #人流 #HumanLogistics #中文字形 #ZhTypography #中文 #typography #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #城市 #Urban #理工大學 #建築 #建筑 #architecture http://sml8.it/Zfcv8f

“中” http://sml8.it/12CtEMk #HK # 香港體育建築中文字形 Through simple form compositions one can truly observe the brilliance of diversity. This is the stadium lights at a sports ground near me. It is shot for personal stock use. These lights are quite big. At the base is a platform for workers to climb onto. The four ladders allow light engineers to climb and change the direction of each light individually. This is shot for my 中文字形 Chinese Typographic Forms series where I find Chinese characters in everyday life objects. # SML Translate 中 can means a lot of things: + preposition: in, during, among, within + adjuctive: medium, centra + noun: middle, midway It is also the name of the country 中國 China. “中” / 香港體育建築中文字形 Hong Kong Sports Architecture Chinese Typographic Forms / SML.20130421.6D.02038 / #體育 #体育 #Sports #形 #Forms #SMLForms #中文字形 #ZhTypography #中文 #typography #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #photography #城市 #Urban #Lights #simplicity #geometry #diversity http://sml8.it/10KFMya

As promised, here’s the video of the guy see earlier in the stream breaking bricks with bare hands, seen at the 11th Hong Kong Wushu International Championship (HKWSJ) 第11屆香港國際武術節. Crazyisgood! # Soundtrack Written quickly using loops and synths to keep you going. # SML Data + Series: 體育 Sports, 男 Men, Crazyisgood + Camera: Canon EOS M + Lens: Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM + Video: H264 MP4, 1920x1080, 25fps, Progressive + Audio: AAC, 320 kbps, 48 kHz, Stereo + Length: 56 sec + Color: Color + Location: 中國香港馬鞍山體育館 Ma On Shan Sports Centre, Hong Kong, China + License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CCBY) + Date: 2013-04-07 (recorded) 2013-04-08 (published) + Photographer: See-ming Lee 李思明, SML Photography + Soundtrack: SML Music + Media Production: SML Universe + Copyright: 2013 See-ming Lee 李思明, SML Universe Limited + Serial: SML.20130407.EOSM.03794 # SML 1080p HD Simulcast + SML Flickr: http://sml8.it/Y7Jgni # Media Licensing Creative Commons (CCBY) See-ming Lee 李思明 / SML Photography / SML Music / SML Universe Limited “功夫技高破磚術 Brick-breaking Kungfu Martial Arts” / 第11屆香港國際武術節 The 11th Hong Kong Wushu International Championship (HKWSJ) / 男運動員 Men in Sports / SML.20130407.EOSM.03794.1080p25 / #新聞攝影 #Photojournalism #體育 #Sports #男 #Men #SMLMen #CreativeCommons #CCBY #SMLPhotography #SMLUniverse #SMLProjects #Crazyisgood / #中國 #中国 #China #香港 #HongKong #攝影 #摄影 #武術 #Wushu #MartialArts #Kungfu