New Zealand and the magic of Photoshop CS5

These are two pictures I "took" in New Zealand. The lower one is a composite of some 30 or so pictures that I took from atop a mountain in Queenstown. The upper one is a filled-in version that I made using the new version of photoshop. Anything that doesn't appear in the bottom was generated by a computer, working with a bit of help from me, in under 45 minutes. Notable pieces include nearly the entire bottom 15% of the photo and the top 5%. Its not perfect, and zooming in enough (on the super-high-resolution versions I have on my computer but can't publish due to their size) reveals repeating textures and some incongruous jumps between areas. I also modified the lighting and the hue just a tad.

Convoluted Rock

I took this in New Zealand while walking amongst some damp rocks. I like the way that the rocks lead one's eye around the photo, and hint at a sort of fractal complexity, I can imagine the rocks continuing deep down in this manner, though I know that they don't (because in real life I looked!).

Prague Bridge

Some minor lighting changes were done on this image, and it has been "warmified" by Picasa. We had to climb quite high up in a guard tower to get this angle.

Prague at Night

This would be my favorite shot of all time. I say would because upon zooming in you'll find it to be slightly blurred, not enough to ruin the shot but enough to make it not quite as crisp as I want. I took this shot nearly 20 times but the lighting just wasn't good (for a fast shutter speed, its excellent lighting for a photo) and it was difficult to hold the camera still in the midst of a moving croud.

Flower Garden in Budapest

I've altered the lighting and saturation very slightly, but otherwise this shot is unaltered. I like the angle, though I would have preferred to take the shot so that the symmetry was more apparent. Unfortunately I would have had to be floating about 20 feet in the air to do that.

New Zealand Half-Tree

Taken two years ago in New Zealand, this photo has been edited very slightly (mostly lighting). I like the contrast between the tree, almost shining, and the small amount of green left on it.

New Zealand lake and mountains

Perhaps my favorite photo that I've ever taken, ever, this was taken, surprisingly enough, using my camera's "auto" setting. While one might point to the rather obtrusive wooden pole sticking up on the left as a flaw, I've found it lends the photo a sense of perspective; it gives one an idea of how far away everything else is. This isn't just speculation; I took nearly identical photos in nearly the same spot, just trying to keep that pole out of the shot, and each one of them lacks a sense of depth.