Leake Street
An amazing graffiti tunnel in central London…
Such an amazing spot in central London! I love to shoot graffiti, it’s just something I love. When I am in London, I always take a quick detour near the London Eye and pop over to Leake Street to fire away. It’s constantly changing - it’s a public graffiti area, after all - and there is some really amazing urban art here. Well worth a stop if you are nearby!
That glorious graffiti in London
Leake Street in London is home to some of the city's best graffiti, so of course I went to shoot that!
Leake Street in London is a sight to behold! Well, if you like graffiti, that is.
As you know from being a longtime reader - wait, you ARE a longtime reader, right? - I absolutely love to seek out the best graffiti when I travel. It's a thing. Of course I go see the "big, important stuff" and also seek out lesser known spots to photograph. And all that stuff is great. But I get really fired up about graffiti.
I don't know where this started, or even why I like it so much, but for years on my travels I have sought out graffiti. I guess I can appreciate that someone is able to craft their art and put it on public display in a big, obvious way. And I like that it's fleeting in nature. This stuff changes all the time.
But I guess it's really that I just like art, and self-expression, and the temporary nature of it all. So when in London, Leake Street is where I get my fix. This is a short, 5 minute walk from the London Eye, so you're not really even going out of your way. And yes it's totally safe. I have been here during the day and at night, and apart form people walking by and some artists at work, it's never busy. And the art is pretty darn spectacular too.
Making music in Prague
A musician plays his guitar and sings in front of the graffiti wall in Prague...
Just a quick snap from the graffiti wall in Prague. This area is fun and interesting, and it's really close to the Charles Bridge. Tourists are standing around with spray paint and musicians are singing tunes. It's a nice little spot to stop and chill for a bit!
Somewhere along Melrose Avenue
Some cool graffiti I found along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles...
Just some cool graffiti I came across while wandering along Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles...
Greetings from Austin
The famous "Greetings from Austin" mural done a little differently in post...
A different take on this iconic Austin spot!
I love experimenting with Luminar, as you can read about here. It's a lot of fun and I always come up with something new and creative when I sit down and try new things. This is the iconic and often-photographed mural in South Austin. I love this spot even though it is literally everywhere - t-shirts, coasters, you name it.
But it's a lovely piece, and I have shot it many times (and will again I am sure). This time though I applied a light texture and did some "vintage" style edits to it. It's a little different, but that's half the fun of photography.
Street art in Florence
I found myself on a quest while in Florence, Italy - a quest to capture as much of the work by street artist "Blub" as I could find. I discovered 16 works by the artist, so here they are. They all feature either a famous work of art or a famous person (real or imagined), each fitted with a swimming mask. It's a fun diversion from all that other art in the city!
I found myself on a quest while in Florence - looking for street art by someone named "Blub". This is WAY better than Pokemon Go.
I'm a fan of street art (some call it graffiti, or urban art, or a million other things) and find myself photographing it just about everywhere I go. It's always interesting and beautiful. When I was in Florence, I found myself on a bit of a quest, chasing works by the artist known as "Blub".
You see, we spent over a week there, and while the town is amazingly beautiful and full of possibly the best art in the world, you can get "art fatigue" as they call it. You see so many historic and famous works that after a while your brain just wants to melt. Or you need a beer. Or gelato. Yeah, gelato. Florence has the best gelato.
Anyhoo, as I walked around the town I started spotting these works in all sorts of places. Generally they were pictures drawn of a famous person (William Shakespeare, or Santa Claus), or a famous work of art (Mona Lisa), all with a swimming mask on their face. Something about it just got me interested, so I took a photo the first time I saw one.
Then, I saw another one, and another one, and so on. The quest had begun. I ended up capturing the 16 photos you will find here today. And FYI these were all shot with my iPhone. It's always with me, and especially for a quick snap it's hard to beat. And these aren't great shots, just quick snaps of something interesting. I wasn't trying to create art here - it's already art, anyway - but rather just a quick capture of cool street art.
Sadly, in some cases someone had marked on these, or torn them, or otherwise defaced them. I hate when people do that. This is still art and should be treated that way in my opinion. Enjoy it with your eyes, take a photo, and leave it alone people!
So if you find yourself taking a trip to Florence, take a break from the famous art and go on a hunt of a different sort, chasing these also beautiful and interesting works of art, scattered on street corners and tucked away little spots all over the city. It's quite fun and a great diversion from the art browsing you will do in places like The Uffizi.
I sent one of these pics to some friends and told them I was chasing these all over the city, and they said it was like some "high brow" version of Pokemon Go. I don't play that game, but I get the reference and definitely got addicted to this quickly! And it was way more interesting to me.
By the way, I found this artist's Instagram page if you want to follow their work. You can find that right here: https://www.instagram.com/lartesanuotare/
Click any image to embiggen...
Grunge, London style
Today I share an image from a most interesting spot in lovely London - a grungy graffiti tunnel. It's not your normal London destination, but it's one of my personal favorites, and I share some thoughts on why I love this stuff so much.
I'm a fan of graffiti and grunge, so when I'm in London, I visit the Leake Street graffiti tunnel.
I'm not sure why I like this stuff - after all, it's not like people are lining up to buy prints of places like this, or license it for their website, or anything like that. So it's not "business-related", so to speak. But there's a certain joy that comes from photographing and processing this type of image.
Some of it is probably because, in my opinion, this stuff just looks so cool in HDR (and I love me some HDR). And some of it is because I do honestly consider graffiti just another form of art, and therefore I like to capture it. Plus, it's different each time I visit, so it's always new.
I guess though it's because I know that I am free to do whatever I feel like doing to these images, in terms of processing choices, because it's just another form of self-expression. I don't have to worry about "over-cooking" the HDR and turning off a potential customer, and I don't have to worry about presenting something realistic, or at least mostly believable.
I can just push the sliders any way I want to, and let my imagination wander, because who cares? It's all about having fun, and that's a real joy, my friends.
San Francisco graffiti
I love graffiti - it's often interesting, beautiful and well-crafted! In today's post, I share some of the wonderful urban art I found in San Francisco - check it out!
There is some seriously awesome graffiti in the City by the Bay!
If you have been here to the blog before, then you know I have an affinity for graffiti. I love it. In my opinion, it's just another form of art, and some of these pieces are just amazing. Seriously, these artists are simply incredible. On one of my trips out to SFO, I made it a point to get out and grab some shots of the fabulous graffiti there - and there's quite a bit. Although I found some of it in Chinatown, most of this was captured in the Mission District in a place known as Clarion Alley.
As the name implies, it's simply an alley, but it's completely full of graffiti from one end to the other. It's great. I wandered up and down the alley a couple of times that afternoon, as I was enjoying the art as well as photographing it!
If you have some free time one day in San Francisco, be sure and head over here and check out this amazing graffiti - it's both interesting and really fun! Enjoy this selection of carefully curated graffiti! :-)
Shooting sunset on Burnet Road
I love signs and graffiti - and sunset, 'natch! - and caught all 3 on a recent outing here in Austin. It's great to travel and shoot in various spots around the world, but it's also great to shoot interesting things near home. It's easier to get there, too LOL!
Austin has some pretty great spots, if you know where to look!
Hey Cupcake started as a food trailer, but now has a store on Burnet Road. And yes the cupcakes are delicious!
I have always been intrigued by this sign, and just happened to arrive during a wonderful sunset!
A few weeks back, I had a couple of nights at home by myself (well, me and the dog, that is) and so I did what anyone would do in that situation: I went out to shoot a bunch! (What, that's not what you would do?) ;-)
I have a long list of spots here in Austin that I want to shoot (and a very popular list here on the blog of spots that I have already shot), and so I took advantage of that free time to get out and check a few things off my list. You see, when I am driving somewhere in Austin, inevitably I pass something that I think would make a cool photo, and I make a mental note to tell myself to make an actual note of it, so I can remember to go back and shoot it.
I have to write it down, or I will never remember it. Signs of age, I guess.
The Little Longhorn Saloon has been on Burnet Road for as long as I can remember. I've never been inside.
Upper Crust Bakery, another long-time spot
How great is the sign at Lucy's Fried Chicken?
Tiny Pies - never eaten there, but sure sounds good!
So when I am at a stoplight or parked, I grab the iPhone, open up my "Things to shoot in Austin" note, and type it in. I've been doing this for years, and it works great. The note is always with me, and when I shoot it I get the pleasure of erasing it from my list. Well, it's a pleasure to me, but then again I love scratching things off lists. Makes me feel like I accomplished something.
So this list mostly just grows, but every now and then I get out while I am home and fire away at some of these things. It's pretty awesome to shoot in your hometown. It may sound stupid to say that, but I travel frequently and while that can be fun too, it's nice to just be in a reasonably familiar spot, yet still shooting at stuff that you find interesting.
I've never been in Top Drawer Thrift, but it's a cool storefront right? maybe I should go there and look for antique cameras.
Top Notch Burgers is famous for being in the movie Dazed and Confused, which included local celeb Matthew McConaughey. I have never seen him here.
Top Notch runs their own movie nights now, shown on a wall via a projector. They set up plastic chairs in the parking lot.
And by the way, I also make notes in my phone of spots I want to shoot in other cities that I have plans to visit. I do a lot of research before I go on a trip, so when I get there I already have a plan. There's nothing worse than being somewhere new and exciting, and not having any idea what to go shoot. Figure it out before you go, so you don't waste your time when you are there.
Anyways, back to the Austin stuff.
One area of town that is quite fun is along Burnet Road. It used to be mostly older and almost run-down retail stores, but it's a pretty decent part of town, it's somewhat close to the city center, and it's becoming more and more popular. Over the last few years it's really started to get popular. Cool new stuff is getting built (but not big name chains - mostly local cool stuff, as far as I can tell, which is great because we want to Keep Austin Weird) and it has the added benefit of being a short drive from my house. So I popped over there a couple of times and fired away at neon signs and some of the stores that I thought just looked cool, which I love to do. Something about signs and interesting storefronts just gets to me.
And a stunning sunset and blue hour never hurts. :-)
Upper Crust Bakery - love that sign!! Ain't it cool??!
just stepped a little to the left after that last shot
Then of course I drove around to a few more spots and fired away at some store murals and graffiti, which are basically the same thing except that one is intended for the spot and the other one isn't. :-)
Anyways, it was a very productive week in terms of taking photos and checking things off my list - two things that get me pretty excited! Thanks for having a look!
Oh and by the way, I just converted over to Lightroom CC and it's amazing. I will have more to say about that transition soon. If you weren't aware, I have used Aperture for the last several years, and since Apple killed that product I had to move. About a year ago, I wrote this post right after Apple announced they were ceasing development of Aperture. A year later, I finally got something done - and got to check another thing off my list LOL!
I have no idea who did this, but it's freakin' amazing.
I Love Video (I Heart Video, maybe?) is on Airport Blvd and I just had to run by here for a couple of shots.
the aztec king of tamales, I guess?
Also shot at I Love Video on Airport Blvd.
Glasgow graffiti
Do you enjoy good graffiti as much as I do? Well then you will like what I have for you today! I went out in search of interesting graffiti on my recent trip to Glasgow, and came back with some cool stuff - have a look!
There is some wonderful urban art in Glasgow!
On my recent trip over to Glasgow, Scotland, I made sure to hit all the sights that I always like to hit in any town: churches, museums, train stations - that sort of thing. But I also carved out a little time to look for graffiti. I do love shooting that stuff!
It turns out there are at least a couple of urban artists there who have created some fabulous works of art. The two names I could find (and credit some of these works to) are Rogue One and Smug. If you look closely at them, you can find their "signature" hidden in the art (Rogue One in the license plate of the cab; Smug on the necklace of the girl).
I also found a couple of other spots that had some graffiti on it, but haven't gotten to those pics yet, so you will see more of this cool stuff another time.
I searched online for interesting graffiti, and lucky for me it turns out that some of this was only a 5 minute walk from my hotel! So of course as soon as I figured that out, I ran out and started the hunt! That's the beauty of staying in the center of a city when you travel - all the good stuff is usually pretty close by.
Some of this isn't really "urban art" so much as it is a series of murals that decorate one of the buildings at the University of Strathclyde, which is right in the city center. But I went ahead and included them here, as it sort of fits the theme.
Just a quick post today. Lots of great stuff happening and will be sharing more of that soon. Thanks for stopping by today!
Graffiti Down Under
Some of the best graffiti that I have ever seen is in Sydney, Australia. Wow, there was some cool stuff there! I spent half a day wandering just a small section of town and came home with a LOT of photos of this urban art. Today's post is a small sample of what I saw - hope you enjoy this stuff like I do!
I can't help it - I am always looking for cool graffiti!
I went to lively and lovely Sydney, Australia back in October, and it was a great trip. It was my first time there, and apart from a couple of "big things" like the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, I wasn't exactly sure what else I was going to shoot.
So, I created a list of all the great spots that I hunted down prior to my trip and shot while I was there. I wanted to make sure I shot everything I possibly could, because I never know if or when I will return. Plus, it's a VERY long way so why not get the most out of the trip?
One thing I always Google before going to a new city is graffiti. It seems you can find it in most towns, and I actually love it. It's just another form of art, in my opinion. And what I continually found reference to online was a part of Sydney known as Newtown. Everything I read mentioned this area, so I went looking.
I struck gold.
I wandered the main thoroughfare in that part of town, and then started wandering off into the side streets, alleys, and even a park. I found so much that today's post is really just a small sample of some of the cool pieces. There was literally a TON of it there.
So you are likely to see another post here one day showcasing more of it - when I find the time to process those shots. Hope you enjoy the graffiti, and hope you have a great day out there!
(click any photo to enlarge)
A place I call home
I love living here in Austin - it's a great town for living, and a great town for photography. These 10 photos are a small sample of the great stuff you can find to shoot here. Have a look!
I travel a lot, but am always happy to return home to Austin!
I have lived in Austin for a long time, and it's home to me. As the saying goes, I wasn't born here, but I got here as fast as I could! And that's quite true. After high school in San Antonio, I came up here to attend the University of Texas, and though I left for a few years, I found my way back.
Now that I am into photography, I spend a lot of time seeking out cool and interesting things to shoot here, and Austin has a bunch of them. In fact, I made a list here on the blog of what I consider the best places to take photos in Austin. I'll keep adding to it as I find more (and I am always looking!).
So when I have free time, I ramble around town looking for new things to shoot - or old things to shoot again - and share them here for your enjoyment (and mine - I love doing this stuff).
And that brings me to today's post. This isn't a themed post like a lot of mine are. These photos are not specific to a certain part of town, or a certain subject, or even a certain style. They are just a jumbled up, mixed bag of what Austin has to offer...and I love them.
It's a fun town. You should come down here and shoot sometime! Thanks for listening!
(click any image to embiggen)
More Austin graffiti
I just can't help myself - I love graffiti!
This is another shot from the lovely and awesome graffiti wall over at Castle Hill in Austin. I have shot there several times, and shared some pics here too, so this isn't exactly new. But, being a fan of graffiti, it's a quick and easy way for me to get my fix! ;-)
The thing that is great about shooting here consistently is that the graffiti changes. Each time I go, the graffiti is different. That's a bit of a shame really, as the art there is so incredible that I hate to see it get painted over, but it's also great to see new work. Plus, this is a place dedicated to just this purpose, so it's better than the alternative.
Anyways, it's great fun and it's definitely on the list of places to shoot when you are in Austin!
Exploring Chinatown with my iPhone
Do you ever take a trip and use ONLY your iPhone?
I have done that at times, but not because I don't want to lug my full-frame NIkon around. I've done it when I think there is absolutely no time for me to shoot on a trip, so I leave my big ole boy at home. It sucks, but it happens.
Last week is a perfect example of this. I work for a company based in San Francisco, and we had our annual kickoff last week, which is another way of saying that my days and night were all full. But being who I am (and needing a little break one day!!) I slipped out for a little walk late one afternoon, and since we were in Union Square, I decided to head over to Chinatown for a little while.
If you haven't been, Chinatown is very interesting and a great place to walk around. I have shot there once before, early one morning a year or so ago, and found it to be quite beautiful and interesting. I hope to get back with my Nikon on a future trip. So I wandered around the back streets and alleys, which I highly recommend doing, and also along the main drag, and took quite a few iPhone shots.
These are all single exposure iPhone pics (as opposed to shooting with ProHDR, which takes two exposures and combines them), and all are adjusted with Snapseed. Snapseed is by far my favorite iPhoneography app, and you can see my quick review of it here. I plan to write more about that later. :-)
So, enjoy the pics and let me know if you have any questions!
God Bless Johnny Cash
An iPhone tour of the Johnny Cash mural in Nashville, TN
(click on any image to enlarge)
Ok, first things first: I’m not a fan of country music. Ok, good, I got that out of the way early. But I will say that despite that admission, there are plenty of things I love about Nashville, TN (which is famous for its country music stars and venues), and I do recognize some of the better-known country songs. Not many, but a few.
I know a couple of tunes by Johnny Cash. Who doesn’t know “I walk the line” or “Ring of Fire”? Willie Nelson has a jingle or two that I remember. I’m partial to “On the road again”. There’s even a David Allan Coe song that I love, and it’s even on my iPhone. But country music as a genre? Not for me. I am more of a heavy metal rocker. What can I say? I love rock music, and grew up on it. We all know that we still love what we loved as teenagers, right?
I’m not sayin’ that country music is bad, it’s just not my thing. I completely understand if you are not into heavy metal. I could crank up some Ozzie and love it, but you might want to strangle me if I did. Differences are good, right? It makes the world a more colorful place.
Anyways, Nashville is a great town and I love to shoot there, despite the music. It’s really a photogenic city, but unfortunately some of my trips there are without my camera. I simply have too much work to do and too little free time, or the trip is really short (I’ve had two 1 night trips there in the last couple of months - both without my Nikon).
So in those situations, I go with the next-best thing: my iPhone. It’s always with me, and it does a damn fine job, most of the time. If you have been here before, you probably already know that I love that thing. And if you follow my Facebook page or Flickr stream, you have seen my iPhone posts - probably more often than you want to. But I can’t help myself - I love to shoot and share, a lot. I even wrote a little article about that once.
So on my last trip to beautiful Nashville, I came across this entire wall mural dedicated to Johnny Cash. And I didn’t have my Nikon, with my favorite thing attached to it: my wide angle lens. Poor me. I may have cried for a few minutes, but hopefully nobody saw me.
Thus, I did what I always do anyways: I shot away with my iPhone. And here are the shots. This mural has been there for over 10 years now, and is 150 feet long and 12 feet high. It’s pretty impressive! Plus, let’s face it: Johnny Cash is one cool dude. Or, was.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed these photos, and thanks for stopping by!