Monday, June 22, 2009

Where is this? (the lion tamer edition)

(click photo to enlarge)
I was almost done here when I heard a group of dogs. I thought they must be near by. Wrong! they were coming around the shack straight toward me. I pulled my camera off the tripod just in time to use the as a defense mechanism. Legs fully wide and extended I kept it between me and the pretty mean looking canines. Think of a lion tamer with a chair and a whip. The tripod made a good substitute for chair, but the camera did not make for a good whip. Ohh, and I have to remember to bring more appropriate shoes next time.

Either way I think I might use this place in the future to take some dramatic portraits. Where is this at?

Friday, June 19, 2009

Yosemite Falls


There is definitely more to see than mirror lake in Yosemite. Here is my view of Yosemite falls in HDR. Yosemite was at its peak waterfall season. That means more water on the falls for possibly better photos. In many instances it also meant there was plenty of water dispersing and splashing at a wide radius. To take this photo I had to get close enough to get my self and the camera somewhat wet, but I had to get that red log on the frame. So.... there you go.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Free photography lessons

Do you own or want to buy one of those new Digital SLR (single lens reflex) cameras, but don't know much on how to use it? Sure you can set it to everything automatic and get a picture out of it, but a point and shoot camera can do that too. There is much more to a DSLR than that. If you are confused about aperture, shutter speed, white balance, the histogram, color space, file format etc etc etc.... Then I can help clarify some of that. If you want to know about technique or how to get a certain type of shot? then I can help too.

I have a plan to provide free information in a very laid back format. Simple non-classroom like. More like just a chat or conversation, but with all the information to help you get better photos. Meeting at a different public places with one or two people at a time. All you need is a small note pad and maybe your camera, but it is not necessary (even the notepad is optional, like I said laid back learning environment). We can also talk photoshop, camera raw and HDR images. Interested in knowing about how they retouch (over-retouch) those magazine cover portraits. We can talk about that too.

The lessons will have to stay local with in the central valley. Mostly between Visalia and Fresno. Where to meet: coffee or tea houses, small restaurants. Anything that gives us a relaxed place to seat and maybe something to drink. Lastly the lessons are FREE. Free is always better so take advantage of it. (of course you can always buy me a tea or a coffe, but that is not necessary ).

If you or someone you know is interested, contact me via email or just comment on this post

floresisra@yahoo.com

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Lombard St San Francisco


San Francisco happens to be one of my favorite cities. I set out to shoot one of the many lesser known attractions (compared to the Golden Gate for example) Lombard St. Known as the crookedest road in the world. This one block section of the street contains 8 sharp turns. This road gets photographed everyday, so I wanted to approach the shoot differently. I intended to capture the scene from a unique perspective. Taking the typical shot will just yield "blah" results.

I decided to approach it at night and from the top (instead of the more common bottom). The top view had a couple advantages and one huge disadvantage. The shot was planned to be a long exposure. Long enough to capture the rear lights of cars driving down it, making them just streaks of light. This was an only possible from the top, since it is a one way street. The top view also gave me a lesser explored perspective. On the other hand most of the visual interest of the street gets lost because of the angle of view. How to approach that?

My only option was to gain height. I started by climbing on a 4ft tall cement post at the very top. Indeed it was better, but not good enough (not nearly good enough). First reaction was to look for something higher. I quickly found that there really wasn't much. Except for the actual houses. I found a small garden outside a window on a second floor. I climbed up to it and set my camera. This was probably consider trespassing since I was on the actual property (don't try this at home kids, or don't get caught). The view was much better. I took some shots, but wasn't completely satisfied. After some more looking around a better location was found, but guess what? In order to gain height I would have to clim again. This time it was a thick wall right next to another window. This one was even closer to me. The blinds were closed so I took a chance. I couldn't miss the shot. I convinced my self to climb it and hope that no-one opened the blinds or the window. I climbed up and set up my tripod on a 12 inch section of the wall (many times much narrower that the optimal space for my tripod, but it would have to do). I was standing inches from the window. I don't even want to know what the owner would of done if they opened it and saw me there. Never the less, I proceeded. I managed to balance my self and the camera with out falling on to the cement or dropping the camera. Finally I could have my shot.

Each exposure took 30 seconds. After what it seem like an eternity, I was happy with outcome.

If you have any comments, please leave below.