All The Pretty Tops
I love this church on Pittsburgh’s South Side. I was really pleased that the snow squall blocked out everything beyond the buildings downtown.
February 10, 2016
Tag Archives: Picture a Day 2016
February 9, 2016
Once Upon A Snowy Night
This image is the result of a concept that ended up surpassing my expectations due to a slight change in location. I scouted the area that I shot this image in the middle of January. I had to wait until a snowy evening to make it happen. I wanted large snowflakes that would be illuminated by the backlighting. My wonderful wife agreed to be my model and the weather finally cooperated to make it a reality. On the way back to the original spot, we passed by this bridge. I saw the snow on the branches. I hesitated to suggest that we try that spot in addition to the original location, which was ~100 yards or so farther along the trail. Fortunately, Adriana is a good sport, even as cold as it was. We shot in the original spot and then hit the bridge on the way back. I set up the lights and did a test shot. I was blown away with how perfect it was.
February 8, 2016
Tension At Twilight
I accompanied Adriana to the barn tonight to fix our Houdini horse, Ilex’s gate. After a little MacGyvering a solution, I looked up to see the sky was a wonderful blue overhead and a pale yellow at the horizon. In a frantic attempt to find something to frame it, I decided on these high tension wires. The fun of framing this is that lining things up to be “straight” with a 14mm ultrawide lens is quite the challenge. It is slightly off, but I’m satisfied with the result.
February 7, 2016
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.
February 6, 2016
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.
February 5, 2016
Roots From Above
You may be asking yourself, “Is that photo upside down?”. It is not. That is precisely the view one gets when you lay on your back with your head towards the tree’s trunk and stare up into a beautifully cloudy blue sky.
February 4, 2016
Down, Down, Down
I have been wanting to get this shot since I happened upon it years ago. I saw a lot of other photographer’s pictures of it, but I saw none like the way I envisioned it in my head. I’m very happy to add this to my catalog and cross yet another item off of my photographic bucket list.
February 3, 2016
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.
February 2, 2016
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.
February 1, 2016
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.
