Hidden in the mountains of the West Kootenays in British Columbia lies the Valley of the Ghosts – a once rough but vibrant cluster of prosperous settlements – which has now mostly vanished. Kasia and I recently travelled to this forgotten area to search and photograph what is left of this magnificent piece of history.
Over the next few weeks we will publish numerous photographs along with bits of information about this place. We went there equipped with two favourite cameras, Fuji X-Pro1 with XF 14, 35 & 60mm lenses and Fuji X100s.
We have a lot of material we will show you soon but here are some hints of what is to come.
All images were processed with Iridient Developer 2.1 and Lightroom 4. Iridient Developer is new software, which supports the X-Trans files really well (the best demosaic so far?). We will share more about this in the upcoming posts.
and some B&W images…
© Olaf Sztaba Photography. All rights reserved.
A friend sent me a link to your blog for your review of Iridient Developer. I was pleasantly surprised to see a photo from my home town (Greenwood, last photo above) included in your images from Sandon. Even though I grew up in the West Kootenays, I’ve never been to Sandon; now I guess I’ll have to check it out next time I get back to BC.
Hey,
Nice photos but they look like HDR. Are they? Or have you used any particular DRI enhancement? Since you used Irridient, I guess that pics had been taken in RAW mode. Is there a chance that you the same photos SOOC?
Cheers,
Michal
Michal,
Strong blacks & shadows – this is not HDR or DRI! In fact, I am not big fan of this technique and have never used it. I prescribe to the “keep it simple” philosophy. All you need is great light, strong composition and interesting subject.
But you are right! Photos processed in Irridient Developer have their own unique (almost 3D) look.
Also, please note that JPEGs are also processed (in-camera) files!
Thanks for visiting.
Olaf
guys I love your work the feeling for light and how it interacts with the landscape is so well imaged and the B and W shots are classic Richard
Richard,
Thank you for your kind comments.
Olaf
Fascinating place. You have captured great colour and texture.
I am very curious about Iridient Developer, and especially how you incorporate it into a Lightroom workflow. I look forward to your posts on this.
Thanks again for sharing your photographs. Love them.
Stephen,
Thank you for visiting. We just started working with Iridient Developer and we need more time to know the software better. I will try to share some thoughts shortly.
All the best,
Olaf
Very nice colour!
Fantastic images, wonderful compositions.
Thank you for your kind words.
Olaf
Outstanding work. Which images were shot with the X100s?
James,
Train wheels and the window photo. Thanks for visiting.
Olaf
very nice as usual
thanks
Fantastic set of images. We have lots of “hidden treasure” also and it is really cool uncovering or discovering them.
Thank you for your comment. Many places to discover, so little time (:
Olaf