50 shades of Amsterdam during and after HiveFest
The headline is not only a reference to the liberal sex culture in Amsterdam but also to the collection of these pictures that ended up versatile in style. I hadn't taken much pictures for a while, but I'm glad I did during and after HiveFest in Amsterdam, because the editing process was a fun one and I ended up with many different styles of pictures from monochrome to scenery to details. Weirdly enough, I like the editing more than the photographing itself. Just need to get myself take the pictures first so I have something to edit, haha.
The very first thing you realize when coming to Amsterdam is that the city is dominated by bicycles. They're everywhere and the roads are prioritized for them.
I've never witnessed a bicycle accident, yet being in Amsterdam, I witnessed twice a bicycler crashing onto a passenger. The other of those included a domino where the bicycler crashed onto another bicycle after hitting the passenger. It's crazy. Stay out of the bicycle lanes.
A peculiar thing with the bicycle lanes, is that you can ride them with a scooter, and with these one-seat mini-cars. @jeffjagoe had a hillarious commentary about them: "-- what kind of a car is that? You can basically kick them over --".
While editing these pictures, I discovered few nice tricks from Darktable editing software. The picture above has the object in forefront with the light source behind it. This setup leaves the object on the forefront underexposed and dark. You can just rise the exposure of shadows on "shadows and highlights" setting, but with such setup, it leaves the edges of the object with a dark halo. But somehow by tinkering I realized that changing the softening filter from gaussian to bilateral, I got rid of the halo. I have no idea what it technically does, but I got rid of the dark halo by doing this. My mind was blown a little when I realized this is possible to do.
Another trick I discovered was with the "color contrast" setting. With the picture above and many others, my problem was that the red colors were too saturated compared to other colors. There are other settings to do this, but I noticed that with color contrast I got the smoothest result to reduce red saturation so that they don't sting out of the picture but blend in nicely.
Amsterdam has a distinct look with its architecture, wonky buildings, canals, coffee shops and red light districts. Interestingly, parts of it reminds me of something like London, at least what I've seen on tv, never been there myself.
I really like how decorative the city looks. Details like old style streetlamps really add to the aesthetics. They really should build beautiful buildings like this today, too.
I mostly crop my pictures with the standard 4:3 ration, but sometimes I want that cinematic feel for a picture and I go with 16:9. The picture below might be my favorite and the setting was such that I knew right at the spot when photographing that this is good stuff; the woman with the cigarette was the cherry on top.
Nice..
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Yeah figured. Free HIVE smells like a scam.
Exactly. I guess you figured, but also so new users dont see it and click :D
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You really got some excellent shots! Glad you got to have fun for Hivefest in more ways than one.
Thanks, castleberry. Was definitely fun in many ways.
I don't know a lot about Photography, but these are some amazing shots
Thanks!
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I'm amazed by the way how you captured Amsterdam, Celestal. I mean, I'm a Dutch guy, and whenever I go to Amsterdam everything seems so "normal" that I don't really think about what to photograph (the many bicycles for example), quite refreshing to look at your photographs. I'm glad you brought your camera with you man!
Thanks man, means a lot coming from you!
Yeah, it makes me wonder what seems normal for me with Helsinki and the things I don't notice because of it.
It really is thanks to you because I didn't even think about it until you suggested it.
I loved those little cars - saw some on the ferries!
They seem like a niche product only for Amsterdam. Haven't seen anything like that anywhere else at least.
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Great pictures and insights of this beautiful city dude! Glad me met - next time we should have a chat :D see you at the next hive fest!
Thanks!
Man, so many people and I think I was bit rusty to talk to new people, haha.
We all have been after this long time to get rusty ;)
Amazing photos (especially the one with the micro-car, and that with the Zuidekerk and the clouds). Thank you for offering us this guided tour :)
No biggie, glad you liked them :)
It is a very photogenic city. You did well to get some pictures when it wasn't raining during Hivefest. Hope you had a good time there.
Yeah it definitely is.
Managed to get some good shots by being at the right spot at the right time with sun.
It is so funny to see, even though we are in Amsterdam a lot, when I look at these snaps it feels like a different city than when I am there. Dont know what that is. but the cool thing of taking pics is that you take a second to really take in the surroundings..
And biking dangerous? nehhh, pedestrians are ;)
Maybe the pedestrians need to wear the helmets too instead of bikers, haha.
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there is a lot of sun in your photos, i am not even sure were we there at the same time 😂
nice photos, and some interesting things to test out with editing.
Haha, yeah a lot of the pictures were taken after the HiveFest when there was more sun.
You took some very nice pictures. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. I would love to visit it.
Thank you! It's a place worth visiting if you get a chance.
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Wow. Thanks for bringing us to Amsterdam ✨🫰
You're welcome :)
Im always fascinated at European architectures and looking at your photos reminds me of one of james bond movies - old yet sophisticated.
I don't think myself as an architect guy, but when I see buildings that have been crafted with thought, I do appreciate it.
Wow, so much great pictures. I mean I've heard about Amsterdam a lot and I've surely seen it on Television, but this is just wow 😳
The pictures make me feel like I'm right there. That last picture feels like something out of the scene of a movie. What a wonderful blog😂
Thank you! It is a photogenic city.
Yeah, that's what I was aiming for with editing.
Well it was really 😃
Wow, so much great pictures. I mean I've heard about Amsterdam a lot and I've surely seen it on Television, but this is just wow 😳
The pictures make me feel like I'm right there. That last picture feels like something out of the scene of a movie. What a wonderful blog😂