Burnside Bliss
My brother is visiting for Christmas, so we tried to set out time to go shoot. With the family and all, the only real time we could go was at night. I had tried to shoot the Burnside Bridge wit the sign in the distance before. My good friend Eric Gail was up once, but my images just were not quite right. I set out with Mark Straite to shoot it again. We had a good night, it was clear, but damn cold. It was below freezing when we captured this image. You can't tell but if you listen hard you can hear our knees knocking. The benefit of shooting it at this time of year is the red nose on the White Stag Portland sign. This is many layers, some for the sky, some for the dark parts of the bridge, others for the sign. Let me know what you think.
From Night Images
Early morning Griffith Observatory
This is another frame from the shoot we did at sunrise. This image is a composite of several images, some at night, some in the day. I was going for a very certain look, I wanted the observatory to jump off the screen, but I also wanted lights in the background form the night images. The Observatory is actually a panorama stitched from 6 images shot with my 600 during the day, the goal was as much detail as I could get. The morning really, the sun was just barley up.
From Night Images
Urban Waterfall
This image is of the Ira Keller Fountain in Downtown Portland, shot in the blue hour. The previous image of the fountain did not quite show the context for the fountain. Having the high rise behind the fountain is a stark reminder that this is indeed a very urban waterfall. This is five frames, blended in photoshop with luminosity masks. I am still getting used to those, but I think I am getting the hang of them.
From Night Images
Winchester Mystery House, Halloween
I have some friends, in fact most of my friends, who are in the theme park business. Photography in theme parks actually. That's where I got my start. For a spell I did, and sometimes still do, green screen event photography. My friend, Ray, asked me to come train his team at his photo operation at the Winchester Mystery House. It came with a perk, access to the house off hours. The management team wanted all my images for themselves as well, that's fine. Small price to pay to spend time inside what some argue is the most haunted house in the US, alone, after hours. My brother and I, Mark, planned out several places to shot inside and outside the house. We spent two nights there, up til about 3am both nights. We spent a lot of time light painting inside, and some time outside just trying to get angles most could not. This is one of those. I actually saw the image I wanted, only one problem, the reflection was only in the fountain if I was also in the fountain. Ok, off came the shoes and in the fountain I went. The real challenge was the grounds lighting. They light this place up like Christmas (I guess that analogy does not work at Halloween). To make it harder, the lights were all different temperatures, so getting an even color cast on the house was impossible. We tried gelling the lights, but we could not reach them. In the end it came out OK though, here hidden from all the exposed bulbs. I will probably post some of the light painting images too, but for now, here is the outside of this fantastic haunted victorian. Let me know what you think. Happy Halloween!! See Marks images here- www.flickr.com/photos/121412925@N05
From Night Images
Griffith and LA Downtown at sunrise
This is another frame form the shoot we did at sunrise. This image is a composite of several images, some at night, some in the day. I was going for a very certain look, I wanted the observatory to jump off the screen, but I also wanted lights in the background form the night images. The Observatory is actually a panorama stitched from 6 images shoot with my 600 during the day, the goal was as much detail as I could get. The morning really, the sun was just barley up.
From Night Images
Colorado Street Bridge (Suicide Bridge)
Growing up in Southern California there are a few landmarks you just know, because you can see them from the freeway and they catch your eye every time. One such feature is the famous Colorado Street Bridge, also called the Suicide Bridge. Since its construction over 100 people have meet their demise off the edge. In a way, its a sad place for that reason, but it certainly has a beauty that is hard to deny. The challenge is where to shoot it from. I was not on a 'shoot' this night, I was goofing off with the family. My professional photog brother, the gifted Mark Straite and I are planning to visit to try to do a more formal shoot soon.
From Night Images
The Lady and the Hudson
From Night Images
Standing in the Hudson
I posted a panorama shot from this location previously, along the great Jersey shores, of the Statue of Liberty juxtaposed against the NYC skyline. She was a little hard to see though in that image. She was small. This image, shot the same night, gets you a lot closer.
The location is magical in its view, but hard to shoot. We were out on a very, very industrial pier/ jetty thing (quite sure there is a more technical name for it), standing on breakwater rocks along the shore of the Hudson. True to form, the place was as dirty as you may expect an industrial Jersey shore on the Hudson to be. After all, I recall Will Smith saying in the movie Hitch, after his jet ski stalled, that he probably sucked a diaper into the motor. Well, it was like that here. Step cautiously. The water was calm that night, so we had that going for us, no splashes. The real issue was the angle. You can't see Lady Liberty's face. So we walked down, further, further, until we could not go any further. Still, just her armpit, like she was doing a deodorant commercial. So we are now standing at the end of the breakwater. I was hoping for just one fraction of additional view, and hoping my waterproof shoes would do their job. I actually ventured out into the Hudson. Brave? Foolish? Not real deep or anything, but certainly far enough to get very wet feet.
So I thought the title for the image was fitting, because I could hear Lady Liberty saying, "If I can stand in this river, so can you!" I could have just been hearing voices from the toxic shock caused by standing in the Hudson. Don't know.
You do end up seeing a bit of her nose, so that's a win. I also got her against the Empire State Building this way, that's a HUGE win! So I got an extra few toes out of the deal, but an image that I am proud of. Enjoy!From Night Images
Mr. and Mrs. New York
If Lady Liberty could marry any building in New York, it would defiantly be the Empire State. Perhaps the Chrysler Building, but probably the Empire State.
Ok, yes, I have posted an image like this already, true. But I came away with so many good images that night that I could just not pick which ones I wanted to share with all of you. So here is yet another one. This one was closer, and rather than playing off the water, it just smacks you in the face with the juxtaposition between everyone's favorite state, and the structures behind her. This image is hard to believe when you think abut far Lady Liberty is from the Empire State. That's not lower Manhattan, that's mid-town! There is 5.5 miles between Lady Liberty and her husband there; but it looks 2 feet away. That's zoom compression if I have ever seen it.
One last thing, no photoshop tricks here, just a good old-fashioned zoom lens.From Night Images
New York Sunset
I knew heading into my New York trip that I wanted at least one skyline shot from up high. I think Rockefeller Center gives the best options. You can be outside, no glass, you can get the Empire State Building into the image (you can't do that if you shoot from on top of the Empire State Building), and from the top deck, there are these great ledges- large concrete ledges. This is key because it lets you use a table top tripod, you can't bring a full size tripod. So no glass AND a good ledge? Perfect!
I expected this place to be crowded at dusk, but I was not ready for the quality of people up there. Quality you say? See, I can always wait my turn, but what I did not anticipate is the throngs of 20-somethings that just parked themselves on that magical ledge and did not move. They were not taking pictures, in fact, they were not even looking at the view! They were all just staring at their phones. They take a selfie, post it, and then stay there in the golden spot while they read the comments. Huh? Can't you step away from the ledge to read the comments? I should note, none of these people seem to be New Yorkers.
So for us real photographers (yes, I went there) this is a real issue. See, its not about waiting, its about the fleeting light. The blue hour was fading, and these barley-adults were robing us of our light. I only get one shot at this, so it was time to don the Black-Friday, eat-or-be-eaten attitude. So I got a good running start and bum-rushed a few of them, knocking them over the ledge. Oh the delight I took in their screams as they fell.
Ok, maybe I did not push anyone off the building, but I did have to start elbowing and some biting might have happened. Had to. Share the ledge man!
I shot a panorama from up there too, but I really was looking forward to the fisheye look. I wanted the bent horizon. A slow blended panorama is coming soon.
Let me know what you think.newyorknew yorkdowntownnightlightsdarkfishfisheye
From Night Images
Los Angeles at night
I am not one for skylines, but my brother loves them. I was visiting my brother in LA and I wanted to go shoot something. Normally I drag him to Joshua Tree to shoot, but I wanted to shoot something he liked. I had read about this location, but I also read that it was a fairly dangerous place. So we called in Mike Hathaway, our long-time photo co-conspirator. Strength in numbers you know, plus, we love hanging out with Mike. This is the Park Row Drive bridge that crosses over the 101 Freeway. The bridge itself is beautiful, but you can't get it in with this view. So here you are on the actual bridge. You won't be there alone, its popular with photographers. After what we read we expected to be in a rough neighborhood. We feared the worst. However, the location was not that bad. If you approach from the south and not the north, it seems less dangerous. We felt very safe, though there were certainly some shifty folks skulking about as we were soaking in this view. The bridge is actually just a residential road and not used that much. This means it does not shake all that much on long exposures, though I did have some images that night show signs of camera shake. A quick thank you to Josh Rose for making it so easy to find this location. He explains that if you enter 603–623 Park Row Dr into google maps it pops right up. You can see his article here- medium.com/@joshrose/5-epic-instagram-worthy-photography-.... Let me know what you think. I went with a wide image to create a strong leading line, but it was a hard call because the tighter images I shot were great too.