HDR Photography in Putrajaya

A moment ago I discovered some photos of buildings in Putrajaya of which I used exposure bracketing in order to create HDR (high dynamic range) images out of them. Since I did not seem to have done anything with the photos, I might have forgotten or neglected to process them into HDR and as a result they just sat there as stagnant space-wasters in my external hard drive. A re-exploration led to the discovery of these photos, so I decided to spend some time working on making a HDR image out of one set of these bracketed exposure photos.

A bit of tinkering in Luminance HDR and Adobe Photoshop led to the creation of the image above by merging three different exposures of the same picture. The original unmerged photos are below.

Exposure bracketing and HDR merging allows for details to be shown in more areas of the photos. As you can see from the original photos, underexposing helps bring out the details in the clouds while overexposing  reveals the details of the building in the shade. Since we can't get all these details from a single shot, HDR merging helps us combine these different exposures into a single HDR image.

I am by no means a professional nor an expert on HDR, so I am not sure whether the HDR photo that I created is an example of a good or bad HDR. What do you think?

The Lone Mushroom

It was a few weeks ago during a family day in Putrajaya that I stumbled upon this peculiar lone mushroom on the ground.



There were no other mushrooms within visual distance.

For a mushroom to be growing here solo, there could be several possibilities: a) One single spore managed to be carried by the wind all the way to this place while the rest were carried elsewhere, b) Neighboring mushrooms were already picked or disposed of, c) The rest of the spores did not manage to grow into a mushroom except this one.

Whatever backstory that the mushroom must have had, it managed to tell me one thing: Life goes on, even when you have to face it all alone.

But, indeed, as a Muslim, I need not fear facing the harsh dealings of this world all alone, for I know when everything else turn their backs on me, I can always turn to Allah for guidance.

I believe in the power of prayers. I have had several answered, both instantly and eventually. And for this I am thankful.

And I believe there are hidden blessings in every thing that most of the time escape our senses and our thoughts.

The lone mushroom did not escape me. It captured me and managed to make me think, and that in itself is another blessing.

(More photos added) The Judicial Affairs Division Building

This is the building for the Judicial Affairs Division, Prime Minister's Department Malaysia in Putrajaya. I went walking about Precinct 3 of Putrajaya on a Sunday afternoon, so there was almost nobody in sight --- Putrajaya is the administrative capital of the country, so all government workers are at home or away for the weekend.

I wanted to go up to the roof of this building, because I feel like the top of this building would provide me with a better view of the Sultan Mizan Mosque right in front of it. But, as with most government buildings, access to non-patron areas of the building are restricted, especially on a non-working day, so I went home disappointed.

EDIT: Here is the picture of the Sultan Mizan Mosque that I managed to take. I am not satisfied with the angle and point of view here. I still am convinced that the best point of view would be from the top of the Judicial Affairs Division building.



EDIT 2: More photos of the Judicial Affairs Division building added.



I like the tree/plant-based motifs on the windows and underneath the arches. I don't know why, but they somehow remind me of Lord of the Rings. Weird, huh?



I do realize that I might need a wider lens for these building shots. I might consider getting a wide converter for starters. That depends on my financial situation, as usual.

Hope you liked the photos!