Sunrise, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Sharm El Sheikh is a beautiful resort town near the southern end of the Sinai peninsula in Egypt.  It's also considered one of the best diving and snorkeling destinations in the world.  Sadly, events have caused a severe downturn in tourist visits to Sharm and other Egyptian resorts.  Only now is it returning to normal.

Beauty with Butterfly Wings

A composite image from 3 different images.  Images are either purchased or free downloads.

Scene at Sharm El Sheikh

Palm tree in front of one of the residential buildings at the Sonesta resort, Sharm El Sheikh Egypt.

A basic HDR image. Starting with 1 original, I created 2 additional exposures, then blended them using Photomatix. Plus being awake early enough to capture this image.

Interesting tidbit. When you think of Egypt, you think of Africa. But the Sinai peninsula, where Sharm El Sheikh is located, is actually a part of Asia. So I have yet to make it to Africa. Soon. Soon.

Beam Up My Lighthouse Scotty

Just having a bit of fun with my photo of the Chincoteague LIghthouse in VA, USA. Secured a Photoshop Action that, while technically not a "beam me up" effect, when used in a certain way would certainly look like something right out of Star Trek.

Oh Photoshop, is there anything you can't do?

Okhotnyy Ryad Blvd, Moscow

Moscow, Russia. Red Building, center left is the State Historical Museum. On the right is the Kremlin complex. 

 This was taken on my Galaxy Note 4, since it's low light performance blows my Canon 400D out of the water. Not surprising. The Canon is a 2006 model, the Galaxy is a 2014 model.

A Midsummer's Day Dreamscape

Taken at the Kiev Flower Show, quite a few summers ago. Processed using my "Break the Rules" HDR process. Additional touches via Topaz plugins with additional sharpening added.

Old Wooden Church - A composite - How I did it.

Old Wooden Church - A composite.

The main element of this composite is the church, a photo of mine. The original had the church against a very uniform grey background.

So obviously, if this photo was to mean anything, that grey background would have to go. I repositioned the church, moving it to the right edge. Also removed a number of nearby distractions.I replaced that with a sky background featuring a sunset.

Better, but not yet good enough. I then added the clouds, which was not actually an image of clouds, but a textured pattern that when dropped in looked like clouds.

As a final step, I added a border and the birds. The birds are not an image, but were painted in using Photoshop.

Oh, and here's the photo that started all this...  

Colorful Mosaic, Kiev

Seen on Lesi Ukrainky Blvd in Kiev. There are numerous similar mosaics on buildings on this street. There are numerous others in untold locations throughout the city. These date from Soviet times.