February 7, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Radiant River Crossing

I went into the city this morning to shoot one thing that didn’t quite work out. I walked around a bit and found something that did. I always shoot the Ft. Pitt Bridge from the same angle, but this time I liked the way that the sun was illuminating the upriver side. I really loved the reflection and wanted to accentuate it as much as possible, so I threw on my neutral density filter and did a long exposure (30s). I really like how dark the image is in general with the lightest parts being the bridge.

Radiant River Crossing
Radiant River Crossing

February 6, 2016

Picture A Day Project, Uncategorized

Rachel And The Glowing Willow

While scouting a location for a future shot, I saw this scene across the Allegheny. I scrambled to find a good angle to frame it up before the light disappeared. I’m sure that the motorists on the 10th st. bypass were somewhat concerned to see a gentleman in a peacoat crouched down and photographing through a break in a fence. It is an amusing by-product of my process to sometimes entertain and concern others.

Rachel And The Glowing Willow
Rachel And The Glowing Willow

February 3, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Falls And Rock Walls

Waterfalls and long exposures are one of my favorite combinations. One of the amazing things about photography, for me, is that you can show so many things that humans can’t witness firsthand. You can capture a tiny fraction of a second to stop a droplet of water in midair or collect the light of a scene over the course of minutes and show a movement that is not visible through our natural vision. Over the years I’ve taught myself to see the possibilities of a scene in these different ways. When I compose or visualize a shot, I think of how it may look in different shutter speeds. Capturing waterfalls, in my mind, pushes me towards the long exposure to enhance the sense of flow. Water turns into a soft mist and elements that do not move are steady and sharp. I’m especially happy with the way my eye moves throughout this frame. This is one occurrence of getting the exact shot I envisioned before leaving the house.

Falls And Rock Walls
Falls And Rock Walls

February 2, 2016

Picture A Day Project

A Pause In The Forest

I’ve had the desire to do a nature-y pseudo portrait based on this idea for a while. Originally I was after a large tree in a field, open sky, backlighting of the tree and a touch of frontlighting on the model. This shot was part exercise for my wife and I, part realizing this image. I’m really happy with how it came out. The backlighting managed to light a fair number of trees and not halo too much and the frontlighting (thanks to a 10° honeycomb) didn’t spill over too much to the surrounding area. I’m really happy with the decision to do a long (15s) exposure here with the flashes popping off at the end to pull in the orange bits of sky in the top left.

A Pause In The Forest
A Pause In The Forest

February 1, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Liberty At Sunset

I went into the city with the dual purpose of catching a golden hour shot and returning a light to a fellow photographer. I got what I thought was going to be THE shot for the day, but after I dropped off the light, I was tempted to visit another spot to see what light was left in the sky. I’m not often fond of this angle due to the way that the Liberty Bridge blocks the PPG building and has the single green sign standing out in the center, but for some reason, it all balanced itself out. The division between water and sky by the bridge, and the light blue in the top left light orange in the bottom right made it work.

Liberty At Sunset
Liberty At Sunset

January 30, 2016

Picture A Day Project

The Crystal

I’ve been wanting to take a shot of my crystal for a long time, but never got around to it until now. Coming off an epic week of travel photography, I didn’t want to leave the house. This was a perfect opportunity to fulfill my picture a day and stay home. This simple setup involved a piece of glass suspended between 2 chairs, a black backdrop underneath, and some underlighting. I especially like the little bit of rainbow color in the center, only visible at one specific angle.

The Crystal
The Crystal

January 29, 2016

Picture A Day Project

Nifty Fifties

Here’s some insight into the way my (photographic) brain works. While driving along an interstate, I catch, out of the corner of my eye, a shipyard filled with old Navy boats. 1.5 seconds later, I’m (safely) crossing 3 lanes for the exit. We happened upon this spot and not even a closed (unstable) sidewalk over the water could keep us out. I framed this shot up and wanted a long-ish exposure to bring out the movement in the sky. The reflections and the resulting tone of the image are my favorite qualities of this image. Special thanks to the security guard, Mike (maybe) for being so cool with escorting us off of the unstable sidewalk after we got our shots.

Nifty Fifties
Nifty Fifties