Split-toning a Dublin sunrise
One fine morning in Dublin, I was out and about and happened upon a beautiful sunrise. I share those photos today, and talk a little about split-toning and HDR as well. Enjoy the pics and if you get a chance to visit Dublin, take it! It's a beautiful city.
I'm continuing to experiment with split-toning in Lightroom and really liking it! Have you tried it yet?
As I mentioned here a couple of previous times, I have started playing around with split toning in Lightroom, and I've come a good ways in understanding how and when to use it (though honestly, each application is different). It's a very simple yet powerful tool and I highly recommend you give it a whirl on some images, at least just for fun. You never know what you might learn, or what result you may get in the image (and I am working up a blog post about how I use it, along with my thoughts on it, and that will go live on Thursday, so come back and check it out!).
So that's what I did today...I tried a little split-toning and liked the results quite a bit!
I caught this beautiful sunrise one morning in Dublin, Ireland on my last trip there. It's always worth getting up and heading out early no matter where you are, but I find it especially productive in Europe. These tourist areas are always crowded, except at sunrise - so that's when I prefer to start my shooting.
The sunrise was pretty to start with, but split-toning gave me a little extra "oomph" in these images and really made them pop. If nothing else, it added a little extra drama to the already beautiful light.
All of these were shot with my old camera, the Olympus OMD EM-1, and shot with the Panasonic/Leica 15mm f/1.7 prime lens attached. While I have since sold all my Olympus gear and moved over to Sony, I did not wait long to pick up a comparable prime lens for the Sony camera. I am now using the Sony 28mm f/2 prime lens, and really loving it. You can see my recent review of it here. Let me know if you have any questions!
And in case you were wondering, all of these images are just single exposures - no HDR. While I still love HDR, I am only using that technique when I feel it will really help the image, or where it's just sorely needed. Especially with my Sony camera, I can capture so much in a single exposure that there isn't always a need to use HDR. Plus, I don't always want the light to be perfectly and evenly distributed (which is what I generally think of as the main benefit of HDR). In today's photos, I intentionally left deep shadows, which in my opinion helped the image, and there's nothing wrong with leaving a little to the imagination, right?
Sunrise on Barton Springs Road
Barton Springs Road in Austin is a little gem, with a few interesting little spots to photograph. Oh yeah, and right around the corner is our natural spring pool, too - another jewel in the crown, so to speak. Check out these recent sunrise photos and enjoy!
Another fun and funky area of Austin!
Uncle Billy's Brewery - a place i need to visit during business hours! you can see a glimpse of sunrise in the distance.
looking the other way down the street where blue hour is still in full force!
I've been out shooting in Austin a LOT lately. Some of this is due to me getting into my new Sony camera system, and thus wanting to try it out in all sorts of different ways. Some of this is due to a photo project I am working on, which I will share in great detail later (hopefully in January, if I can get it finished!). And some of it is just that I love this town and there is a lot to shoot here!
Barton Springs Road is a little spot downtown that has a few restaurants on it. Really, it's not a whole lot more than that. It's not a big deal, really, but I love the area. It's just a nice little spot with a few cool things to point the camera at. I love shooting interesting signs and architecture, and have wanted to get down here with a camera for a long time now.
I finally did so one recent morning.
chuy's is my favorite tex-mex restaurant in austin - so tasty! don't forget to get the creamy jalapeno sauce!
fajitas, enchilada and tacos, oh my!
Shooting sunrise is probably my favorite time to be out with the camera, the only issue being that it requires getting up pretty early. :-) Luckily this time of year sunrise is a bit later than say in the summer, when it seems to be light WAY too early. I sleep in during summer - I'm not crazy. Well, generally speaking at least. ;-)
So I hopped out of bed, eager to get started and to make sure I was in the right place during blue hour (which I also love, and which is BEFORE sunrise, aarrgghh). At that time of day, I have about a 15 minute drive downtown, which is not much, especially compared to rush hour. Man, that time of day is terrible these days (one of the challenges of the growth that Austin has experienced). It can take an hour to get downtown at rush hour - time you can't get back.
Anyways, I made it in plenty of time to fire away happily at the spots you see here today. One of the key reasons I love sunrise so much is that you generally get a place all to yourself, which is what I prefer when shooting cityscapes. They are just better that way, in my opinion. Of course the soft light of blue hour and sunrise is great, too - especially on a chilly winter morning like I had on this day. It was pretty awesome. Plus, you can park ANYWHERE before dawn - everything is wide open. It makes it easy to park, jump out and grab a few shots, hop back in and drive a little more, then do it all over again. Some of these were 5 minute stops for that very reason.
Austin java, both restaurant and coffee shop - and a really cool old truck out front!
The other thing I did was head over to Barton Springs Pool after grabbing shots of the restaurants and bars that I wanted to get. Barton Springs Pool is a natural spring-fed pool just a very short drive away. It maintains a constant temperature of 68 degrees year-round. It feels great in the summer, considering how hot it gets here. But this is December, and there were still people swimming in it! That's crazy to me, but to each his own. I guess 68 might feel warm considering the air is about 45 or so. Luckily I caught a wonderful sunrise in the distance, and the mist coming off the water was just icing on the cake! This was a shot I have been wanting for years now, literally. I'm glad to have finally gotten it, and with a beautiful sunrise that just makes the wait worthwhile.
sunrise at barton springs pool - you see the swimmer out there working hard? I loved the mist in this shot.
another view of barton springs pool at sunrise with mist rising into the air!
the sign outside the pool - I got excited when the sky started turning pink and ran inside for shots of the pool!
philosopher's rock outside of barton springs pool - a nice tribute to friendship and conversation.
Well I guess that about sums up the morning I had downtown recently. Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them! Thanks for stopping by today!
Sunrise in Boston
Boston is a beautiful town, and is great to photograph during sunrise. You can wander around all the best spots and have them to yourself, which makes them even more enjoyable in my book! Here is a collection of shots from a recent trip to that fair city.
I had a pretty good start that morning!
Back in late August, I spent a couple of days in Boston, which is a great place to visit. While I was mostly tied up with work, I did get out one evening for some shooting with Bob Lussier, and then again one morning for this sunrise session. The trip worked out pretty well. I'm always glad to get in at least one sunrise somewhere. It's a refreshing start to a day, even if it starts a bit early.
So I left the hotel and wandered around Fan Pier and deeper into the city center, walking by Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall without any interruptions. That's the best part about sunrise - you generally get to enjoy things in the quiet stillness of the start of a day, alone. That may make me sound like a loner (and I am a bit of an introvert these days) but really it's about getting in some shots without a horde of tourists getting in my way. It's just my preference.
This was also the last trip I took with my Olympus camera. As I have mentioned here a couple of times, I have recently switched over to the Sony A7II and am absolutely in love with it. No disrespect to Olympus, which makes a fine camera - but I just can't believe the capability of this Sony camera. It's really been a good move for me.
As a result of the move to Sony, I have been shooting a lot (here at home and on the road) and sharing a lot of new pics taken with my Sony. But as you can imagine, I still have a MONSTER backlog of photos taken over the last few years which still need to get outta Lightroom and onto the blog! So, I've been in a bit of hibernation mode lately, processing a lot of shots and getting them onto Flickr and into the portfolio. More coming!
Anyways, here are a few shots from my morning wanderings in Boston that morning. Hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed walking around and firing them!
Avenue B Grocery
This is Avenue B Grocery, which is a really cool old grocery store tucked away on a quiet street in Austin. It's like walking back into the 1950's or something. Here are 5 pics I caught at sunrise one morning last Fall.
This is a very cool, old-fashioned grocery store hidden away in Austin! Ain't it cute? ;-)
I first read about (and saw pictures of) this little grocery store a couple of years ago when it was on the cover of a local Austin magazine. When I first glanced at it, I thought it was from somewhere else - it literally looks to me like it's from a small town somewhere. Maybe somewhere outside of Austin.
But no, this is right here in central Austin, tucked away in the Hyde Park area of town on Avenue B. I had no idea, but knew I needed to get out and photograph this thing. Finally, I made it happen. And truthfully, that was almost exactly one year ago that I went out and shot it. Yeah, I have been a little busy I guess, but better late than never!
I actually do that a lot - that is, take photos of something and process them much later. I can't possibly process all my photos when I take them as there are just too many. And then travels happen, and I forget about things, and a year later you get to see them. LOL
Anyways, it's a great little spot. As I tend to do, I arrived at sunrise so that I could capture the scene without the distraction of people walking by, or dining there for lunch, or whatever. Nothing wrong with that sort of picture, but I prefer to focus on the place itself and to capture it empty. So I got up early and drove over there.
While I was setting up, the gentleman that owns it arrived and we chatted a bit. He was kind enough to turn on the lights, which I think added to the scene quite a bit. He also gave me a little tour of the inside, which is quaint and feels like you walked into a place in the 1950's, although he asked that I not take photos inside, which of course I respected.
All in all, a pretty good way to start a day!
And for the curious, these are all 3 exposure HDR photos that I took with my Olympus OMD EM-1 (because it was a year ago - I am shooting with Sony now) and merged into HDR in Photomatix. Then I applied some filters in Color Efex Pro and final touch-up occurred in Lightroom. And voila, here you go!
Putting Sony to the test in Austin
Austin has so much to shoot, and I am back on the trail of capturing it! I am also out getting more familiar with my new Sony A7II and share some thoughts about it in today's post. Read on and enjoy!
Still working on getting super familiar with my Sony A7II - and it's great! Oh and I share some thoughts on what I love about this camera so far!
As I mentioned here a while back, I recently changed out all my gear and bought into the Sony family, choosing the A7II full frame mirrorless camera and a few lenses. So far it's been great (and of course I don't expect that to change). I'm really loving it.
So I have been trying to spend some time out shooting here at home in Austin, which sadly is more rare than you would think. In the last couple of years, I have only been out to shoot here a handful of times. I am working to correct that, because there is a lot to shoot here. I am also working on an Austin-specific photo project, which I hope to reveal here in the next couple of months. So that's driving me a bit, too.
Anyways, I've been out with the Sony and it's been wonderful. I love shooting around here!
I have been trying all sorts of different types of shots, with all my lenses, and in various conditions. That's the only way to really test it out, in my opinion. You have to experiment a lot and shoot in all sorts of conditions. And I believe you really should be familiar with your gear before you take it off on a trip somewhere. Funny thing though, I didn't do that. I bought this right before I went to Norway and Scotland, but thankfully I didn't have any issues. I brought the manual with me on that trip just in case. :-) I was a little nervous since I had no time to prepare!
A few things I am absolutely loving about this camera system, and some comments on other things:
* The level of detail it captures is stunning, thanks to the wonderful full frame sensor. Having shot with a micro four-thirds for the last year and a half, I can immediately see a difference. The sensor on this camera is nearly 4x larger than the M4/3 sensor, so that obviously comes into play. That is not intended to disparage the Olympus, which is a great camera that I loved to shoot with, but it is a fact.
* The dynamic range of each photo is also mind-boggling. I had heard great things about it, but wow I am impressed! And to clarify, I have the A7II which is the 24 megapixel version - I understand that the A7RII (42 mega pixel) is even crazier! I just didn't need that many MP so I opted for this model (and it's quite a bit less expensive too). The difference in price was enough to cover the cost of a lens.
* Based on the two items I just listed, I believe I will find myself using a single frame fairly often instead of merging 3 frames into an HDR. Just a guess. As I wrote last week, I am loving getting back into HDR, but I don't want or need to process in HDR for every photo. It's not always needed.
* I had read online complaints about the menu system not making any sense, but I have no idea what those folks are talking about. It makes sense to me - it's pretty clear. Yes, you always have to learn the menu whenever you get new gear (especially if you are switching brands), so that should not be news to anyone. I have had to learn it, since I came from Olympus, but it ain't hard, people.
* The 5 axis in-body image stabilization is a big help. While I normally shoot on a tripod, I did fire a few of these handheld and I must admit that having the IBIS is a big help, especially if you are bracketing! And admittedly, I am fairly twitchy anyways so IBIS helps.
* The lenses are great. I have the 16-35 wide angle, the 24-70 mid-range zoom, and the 28mm prime. This was another area of complaint that I read about. People said "there aren't enough lenses". That's crap. There are plenty of lenses in the Sony family, and more coming all the time. Besides, I am not the type of photographer that will have a huge assortment of lenses - I generally shoot with the same things on each outing, and am happy with it. The 3 lenses I have are basically the same as what I had on my Olympus, and the same as what I had on my Nikon full frame before that. And you can always get an adapter to attach your Nikon or Canon lenses.
* The lenses aren't f/2.8 or something like that. This is true. The 16-35 and 24-70 are both f/4. This is a non-issue for me, because I am normally shooting on a tripod and since I prefer to shoot cityscapes and landscapes, I am often at f/9 or thereabouts. I can see this *might* be an issue for some folks, but it isn't for me. Also, the 28mm prime that I picked up is f/2.0 so that is my fun, fast, on-the-go lens for low light and handheld stuff. It works great.
* The file isn't fully RAW - it's compressed. Again, this is a non-issue - though it is true. And I admit that I was a little worried about this, since I read SO MUCH about it online. Having shot thousands of photos already in many different conditions, I have yet to see any issues with the files. They contain plenty of info for me to work with. And besides, Sony recently announced (and released) an update to allow for full uncompressed RAW files on the A7RII. I suspect that other cameras in the family will get this update too.
Ok Jim, back to the photos!
So today's post is a collection of various shots from around Austin. These were all taken a few weekends ago, over the course of a couple of days, while I rambled about town with a list of things to shoot. That list of mine is still growing, but I am at least now ticking a few things off of it. I made almost no progress last year, but that's changed lately!
And yes, several of these were taken at sunrise, which explains why there aren't a bunch of tourists or partygoers in my shots - still my favorite time of day to shoot! And it's doubly helpful when you are shooting downtown, because at sunrise you can actually get a parking spot!
Enjoy this little tour of Austin and let me know if you have any questions!
Up early in Copenhagen
Today I share 5 HDR photos that I captured one fine morning in Copenhagen, Denmark. It's a beauty of a town and at sunrise it's even more photogenic than normal! Enjoy these shots of Nyhavn, the historic harbor front district in Copenhagen!
Do you get up early to shoot when you travel? You should!
I know, I know - it's hard to get up in the morning. It's dark outside, and you are all comfy in your bed, and you stayed up too late last night anyways. Well, that's what caffeine is for. It gets you peppy and then you can go conquer some photo sites!
I make a habit of getting up and shooting sunrise whenever I am on the road. Not every sunrise, mind you - I do need some sleep. But I love wandering the streets of some town by myself in the wee hours, before the hustle and bustle of daily life kicks in. It's pretty amazing.
And I usually find that I have things mostly to myself, which is the main reason I get up. I'm a bit of an introvert by nature, and being able to wander high-traffic spots without the distraction (or nuisance) of a lot of tourists makes for better photos and a nice, quiet start to the day.
So back in March when I was in Copenhagen, I got up a couple of times to shoot sunrise there. It's a beautiful city any time of day, but being able to wander around today's location at sunrise is just fabulous. Believe me, this places gets really crowded later, especially at night!
And speaking of today's location, this is Nyhavn, their historic harbor and waterfront dining/entertainment district. It's wicked cool here, in my opinion, and super photogenic. I make a point to stay in a nearby hotel, just so that I can get here easily in the mornings. It's worth it!
Today's pics are all 3 exposure HDRs that were merged in Photomatix and then additional filters were applied in Color Efex Pro, with final touch-up in Lightroom.
Another fabulous sunrise in Dublin
I love to shoot in Dublin, Ireland - it's a beautiful town. But my favorite thing to do there is wander the streets at sunrise. It's empty and more beautiful when you have it all to yourself. And if you get a stunning sunrise? Well that's just a bonus!
I just realized that my last 3 blog posts were all about sunset - so how about a sunrise? :-)
the ha'penny bridge looking all awesome at sunrise over the river liffey
Like all photographers, I prefer to shoot at the edges of the day - those moments when the light is soft and buttery, and the world just looks and feels like a quiet, peaceful place. Sunrise, sunset, blue hour, golden hour - those are the times we all prefer to be out shooting, and that's what we often aim for. While I will happily shoot any time of day, I do prefer the soft edges for all the obvious reasons.
On my last visit to Dublin - which is a GREAT city to visit, by the way - I got up for sunrise shooting at least once (I always get in at least one sunrise there) and headed out. The thing is, you can never tell what is going to happen - it's a total crapshoot. It's a risk, and you have to get up early to take it.
the temple bar is both that bar on the corner, and the name of the district it sits in - and it's usually super crowded. But at sunrise it's empty!
When you want to shoot sunset, you can look at the sky and see what's happening, which will usually give you some idea at to whether it could be great or not. But sunrise? No way, you are asleep and it's totally dark out. You literally have NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. You are just hoping, wishing and praying that you are rewarded for getting up early. And sometimes I have gotten up only to find it raining, and then I cannot go back to sleep.
But Luckily, I was rewarded on this morning.
I wandered around in The Temple Bar District and had it all to myself. That alone is worth the price of getting up, in my book. Being able to walk around a usually crowded tourist area and get clean shots of places? I'll take that every time, thank you very much. Then again, I tend to be a bit introverted so solitude is my friend.
So yep sunset is pretty awesome (though it can be impossible to shoot in places like this that are crowded that time of day), but don't ignore the opportunity to get up early and shoot a sunrise. You might just get some keepers!
And if you want to see my list of the best places to shoot in Dublin, you can find that here.
another view of the ha'penny bridge
a view down the river liffey during sunrise
Catching up with Copenhagen
Today's post is all about Copenhagen, that lovely Danish city. So much awesomeness there, especially around their historic harborfront area known as Nyhavn. Take a peek and if you ever get to Copenhagen, be sure and spend some time shooting at Nyhavn - you'll be glad you did!
Update: I am back from my crazy summer family adventure, and it was great! We have been home about a week now, and I am catching up on a lot of things. I have a seriously huge backlog of photos and stuff to share, and I am working to get some things together. More of that is coming real soon. In the meantime, I am also catching you all up on a trip I took to Copenhagen earlier this year. I was able to process this batch of pics recently and thought you might enjoy them!
Ah, fair Copenhagen, you are quite lovely!
I have been to Copenhagen 3 times now, and I love it. It's really a beautiful city. I hope I get the chance to return again some day. One of my favorite things to do there - and really, it's my favorite thing to do in any city - is to get up early and go shoot around sunrise while the rest of the city sleeps. I'm always rewarded with no crowds and a lot of solitude and quiet. It's pretty fabulous.
So today's photos are a collection of images I shot on a solo photo walk one morning. Mostly it's centered around their historic harbor entertainment area known as Nyhavn, with a few odds and ends thrown in - just stuff that caught my eye (though I admit, I am easily distracted LOL). I'm just drawn to that spot in Copenhagen, day or night. I think I shot it 5 or 6 different times in the week that I was there. Anyways, enjoy the pics and thanks for stopping by!
Morning at Nyhavn
On my recent trip to Copenhagen, I got up early one morning to head over to Nyhavn, their historic harbor front entertainment area. It's quite beautiful, and I fired a lot of photos. I made a concerted effort to shoot it differently than I have in previous trips, and I think I succeeded. Take a look at these 12 photos and let me know what you think!
Some sunrise goodness from my favorite spot in Copenhagen
I am strategic in terms of my hotel choices. I always pick lodging near the things I want to spend time shooting. That way, when I get up early for sunrise, it's just a short walk until I can start firing away. I can also stay in bed a little longer, which is nice. Or if I end the day shooting there, it's a short walk home at night.
I have (accidentally) done the opposite at times, and have seen the fabulous sunrise light disappear while I try to get into position. Don't ever do that - you will be doubly frustrated. First that you missed the light, and second that you even got up in the first place! Ha, or maybe the other way around.
So when in Copenhagen, my hotel of choice is right down the street from Nyhavn, their historic harborfront entertainment area. It's such a beautiful spot and I find it endlessly interesting. The colorful buildings, the historic ships at port - it just feels like you stepped back in time a little bit. And in some ways, you have.
On my recent weeklong stay there, I made sure at least once to get up and shoot sunrise, and as is often the case, it was well worth it. I frequently advocate shooting at sunrise. The light is generally great, but at least as importantly (and perhaps more so), all the tourists are still in bed. That gives me the opportunity to enjoy a normally busy place in near silence. It's awesome. Believe me, I also shot here after hours (during sunset and blue hour) and it is very busy. Still beautiful, but very busy. It is an entertainment area after all, so that's expected. It's also one of the most popular spots in Copenhagen (and for good reason, I might add).
So on one morning, I made the short stroll over here and fired all the shots you see here today (plus a bunch of others too that I still need to process). It was quiet and there were just a few people out, which is why I got up early to shoot it. In fact, I went back another morning to shoot it again. Yeah, I guess I have a thing for Nyhavn - a bit of an addiction, if you will.
In fact, I shot at Nyhavn 4 or 5 times while I was there. I was back there for sunset and blue hour another evening, and even spent my last night in Copenhagen wandering here and shooting through sunset and blue hour, even though it had been raining. I don't mind the rain, since it provides a bit of interest and really accentuates reflected light. So this is a long way of saying that I have quite a few more photos from Nyhavn to share with you.
However, on this trip (as I mentioned in my last post), I tried very hard to do things differently. I spent several years roaming different cities across the globe and firing away with my wide-angle lens. Now that I have converted to mirrorless, I find that I am shooting much differently. I'm rarely even using the wide-angle lens I have for my Olympus OMD EM-1 camera. I shot so many wide-angle photos at Nyhavn on previous trips (and admittedly, need to process a bunch still from those trips!) that I just didn't want to do that again. I wanted to come home with photos that were more than just repeats of shots I had taken last time.
So I tried hard to capture the scenes in a different way on this trip. I tried to capture some of the little details that I encountered, and tried to focus in on some small things too. I did none of this in years past, so even taking a few is a small victory. But on this trip I found that I was doing this more and more. While I will still shoot somewhat wide these days, I also spend more time shooting much closer in and focusing on the little things.
It's a refreshing change, actually. I'm having a great time doing it, and having a great time processing and sharing the pics too. I hope you enjoy viewing all these photos. Thanks for stopping by today!
Sunrise in Abiquiu
I absolutely love to get up and shoot the sunrise, and even if it isn't that great, I always feel good getting some creative time first thing in the morning. But on a recent trip to New Mexico, I planned to sleep in, but I guess Mother Nature had a different idea, because I woke up in time to shoot an absolutely amazing and colorful sunrise. Here are 12 photos that will give you a good sense of just how beautiful it was!
Wow - I got some color that morning!
I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I was in Abiquiu, NM with the family for a Spring Break trip during the middle of March. It was a great trip and we had an awesome time there. But I also mentioned that on the first morning there, I caught a great sunrise, and I promised to get the pics up here as soon as I could.
Well, here they are!
That first morning, I woke up somewhat early and there seemed to be so much light coming into the house that I just assumed I had slept in late and everyone else was up and had the lights on.
Wrong.
You see, the house has a full wall of windows across the back, giving you a view over the distant lake and mountains - it's all quite beautiful. And the light from this fabulous sunrise was literally pouring into the living room and illuminating everything. The entire house was awash in light. It was incredible to witness.
So once I was able to wake up somewhat - and look out through the windows to see this sunrise - I literally grabbed the camera, threw on some clothes (it was 35 or 40 degrees each morning) and ran out the back door to stand there and shoot. And smile. You have to smile when you get this stuff, right?
The interesting thing about this sunrise was that it just lasted and lasted and lasted. At first, I was frantically shooting because wonderful light is usually so fleeting. Normally it feels like you have about 10-15 good minutes to get your shots, then the show is over. But after a while, I could see this one was going to take it's time (fine by me!) and that I could slow down, catch my breath, and just enjoy it.
Well, enjoy it I did my friends!
I must have been outside for about an hour, shooting, staring and just enjoying this wonderful light show that Mother Nature graced me with. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed standing there taking it all in!
And just to let you know, I barely even touched these photos in post. I made some slight contrast adjustments primarily, and that was it. The color was just so intense!
Mornings in Denver
Here's a baker's dozen pics from one of my trips to Denver. I got up early and caught a magical sunrise, which made it all worthwhile. And by the way, these pics are from 5 years ago. Why am I sharing them now? Well, there are a couple of reasons, so click on in and have a read!
Here's a collection of photos from a morning in Denver (and some thoughts on why I am just now sharing photos that were taken almost 5 years ago)
I really like Denver. It’s a beautiful city. I am sure some folks think of it as a place to fly into before heading up into the mountains, but I don’t think of it that way. It’s a destination unto itself. Obviously I take a lot of photos of cities, because that’s where my travels take me, and so I have really come to appreciate what each city has to offer.
Now I love shooting landscapes as much as anyone. In fact, I think if you ask 100 photographers what they like to shoot, you would probably hear “landscape” most of the time. Probably almost all of the time. It’s just what people think of first...including me.
But shooting in cities really gives you a lot more variety.
There is just so much to see and shoot in any city - they are all a veritable photographic goldmine. Given the time, I would shoot even more cities than I have already. I like it that much. I’m getting kind of fired up just thinking about it!
Thomas Hawk has an ongoing project to shoot the 100 largest American cities. The work he produces from these trips is fabulous, varied, and interesting. It’s quite an inspiration to me, and is a great example of finding interesting subjects among the “everyday stuff”, looking way beyond just landscapes.
(But of course, given the chance, I will shoot landscapes to my hearts content!)
In cities you have the typical cityscape and skyline stuff of course, which are among my favorite things to point the camera at. But you can also shoot individual architectural elements and details in buildings and other structures, signs, graffiti, street scenes, museums, train stations, cafes (I’m thinking of Europe here), and of course street photography (something I have really never tried). Heck, you could even shoot food, though I don’t do that, and that “feels” more like an Instagram sort of thing to me. :-)
So yeah - lots of stuff to shoot in cities...and it’s all great!
My travels have taken me to Denver twice - not nearly enough, though I have been able to get out and shoot there on each trip, and I really liked it. I hope to return. There is plenty more for me to do there, and a couple of my photography friends are there too.
I must admit though that I have not been to the Mile High City recently - in fact, these pics are from all the way back in July 2010 (my last trip there was in Oct 2012). So you may wonder why, nearly 5 years later, I am getting around to posting them now? I have shot so much since then, in so many different places. Shouldn’t I publish the more recent stuff?
There are a couple of reasons, actually.
I stated back at the beginning of this year that one thing I am going to focus on in 2015 is to increase the volume of what I create. In other words, I am going to publish more work.
So while that does mean getting out and taking new photos (which I have been doing quite a bit, and have several big trips coming up), it also means getting in the archives and processing many shots that have never been touched - and there are a LOT of them. What good are they just sitting in my library? No one can see them there. It’s like they don’t exist.
I have a library of over 130,000 images, but only had about 2275 images that were published/shared on Flickr (where I keep a copy of everything) as of the start of January. That’s just a rounding error. I’ve got a lot to do!
And while there are plenty in there that are junk and won’t ever be shared (we all take a lot of crappy photos), and some of that volume is due to bracketing multiple exposures to create an HDR - there are still plenty more that are worth getting out there. I have made it my mission to get a LOT more published. As of right now, my Flickr stream is over 2650 photos, so I am making good progress thus far in 2015! that's nearly 400 photos added this year!
So that’s reason #1 for publishing older shots that haven’t yet been released into the wild - my plan for the year is to up the volume, and there is a lot of untapped volume in the archives.
But all of that also ties in with my recent post entitled “old photos, new results”, wherein I discovered the joy of going back to previously overlooked shots and processing them with the skills I have acquired since the last time I saw them. So much has changed in the last few years in terms of my style, my capabilities, and the capability of the various software programs that I use.
Many of today’s shots were just sitting there in my library, untouched, because I passed over them in favor of others that were easier to process or that better caught my eye, or I gave them a try and couldn’t get them processed to my liking, either through lack of effort, lack of time, or more likely, lack of skill.
So that’s the other reason - there really are some diamonds in the rough. When you come back and look at your older RAW files - but you bring your new skills and vision with you - you quickly realize how you can take something you didn’t like years ago and turn it into something you do like today.
So don’t hesitate to dive into the old stuff - you may quickly find that you can produce some really nice new stuff out of it!
Well, I guess that’s about it for today. I appreciate you following along on this creative journey with me - I’m having a hell of a good time with it. And of course, I hope you enjoy these “old” photos from Denver. My two trips to Denver have resulted in about 1000 photos in total, so that’s another way of saying you will probably see another post like this one someday. :-)
And in case you are curious, every single photo today is a single exposure - no HDR on any of these. Things really do change, huh?
And last thing - have you ever heard me say how great it is to get up and shoot sunrise? I obviously had some great light that morning - well worth the early rise!
Sunrise in Montpellier
It's always hard to get up early for anything - even if it's something you love, like shooting sunrise. But then again, you can't shoot sunrise any other time of day except morning, so an early rise is sort of a requirement. So I did just that when I was in Montpellier, France a while back - and it was well worth it! And it was an amazing sunrise!
Sometimes I get rewarded for getting up early!
I really enjoy getting up early to shoot the sunrise. I try and do that at least once on all my trips, especially in Europe. I have a major thing for European cities and streets, and being able to shoot them in the early morning hours - without anyone else around - is a purely joyful experience for me. I just get fired up about the whole thing. The caffeine helps. :-)
Now there are many times that I get shut out - meaning the light is terrible, or it's raining, or something like that. But you didn't come here to read about that, did you? :-)
I was in France back in November, and spent the first part of the trip down in the beautiful southern city of Montpellier. I rather liked the city. The core downtown area that I stayed in and photographed was very walkable - and not too large - and I found a lot of things that I wanted to shoot. And I shot the hell out of them!
One morning I got up early and headed out, while it was still deep into blue hour. When it's still dark out, it's pretty hard to tell what kind of sunrise you are going to get. There were some visible clouds, so I was hopeful. But honestly, it can go either way. It could fizzle into some gray nothingness, or it could explode into a fiery display of nature's brilliance.
Clearly, I got the fiery display.
So here's a collection of shots from that morning. Some were obviously taken while it was still dark, before Nature got all fired up for me. Of course most are from that wonderful sky that was literally on fire. I took those in or near the Place de la Comedie, which is sort of like their historic town square. My hotel was right on the edge of it - which was a perfect location for exploring the town. I literally walked out the hotel door, and in about 50 paces was in the square. Great location!
this is their opera house - quite stunning!
I have plenty more to share from Montpellier - including a couple of sunsets that were just as incredible as this sunrise. I just need to find some time to process them! But of course, I will find the time, because as I wrote in this blog post, I have some serious goals for this year!
Thanks for clicking by today!
i couldn't resist turning this one into a painting, using topaz impression.
once again, this one just wanted to be made into a painting.
A morning in Luckenbach, Texas
Good old Luckenbach, TX - a tiny little spot in the Texas hill country, famous for being in a country song. And in my opinion, a great little spot to take some photos - here's 10 photos to prove it!
I went to Luckenbach, TX...
I am guessing that you will have that song stuck in your head for a while now. Sorry about that. Well, maybe I shouldn't be sorry, because it's a good song. Maybe I just got something terrible out of your head, like "All About That Bass" or pretty much anything by Taylor Swift. But I digress. You didn't come here to see what music I like, or not.
So, how about some pictures? Ok, sure, here you go.
I grabbed all these one morning in Luckenbach, TX while I was with the family staying nearby in Fredericksburg. I always wanted to see this place, and when I got there, I was glad I made the effort to get up for sunrise. It's a pretty cool little place. And by little, I mean teeney-tiny. It's about 9 acres large. That's the whole town.
So these photos, that's pretty much the whole thing. I spent about an hour here, mostly because it was early and I guess I was moving slow. But I wanted to enjoy it, since you never know when you might return, and I always hate to miss a shot.
And by the way, sunrise is a great time to shoot here, because you can have the place all to yourself, as you can probably tell from the photos. The only living things I saw were a few chickens and 2 cats. Pretty good start to a day!
(click any photo to view in a lightbox)
Skulking about SoCo at dawn
SoCo (short for South Congress) is a funky little spot in downtown Austin, and I love to go shoot there. You never know what you might get, but I'm pretty sure you can count on it being interesting. Hop on in and have a look! It's 9 HDR photos from a recent sunrise shoot there.
There's just something about shooting in the pre-dawn hours...
As you know by now, I really really really love getting up early and getting out to shoot at dawn, or preferably before dawn. That half hour or so before sunrise, when blue hour arrives, is just magical. That time of day is a gift. It seems like you are the only person in the world, and it's fabulous. I am never disappointed with an early wakeup for something like that.
So when I travel, I try and take advantage of my location and I get up early and go exploring. There is nothing quite like walking some fabulous city with no one to get in your shots. But I make an effort to do this at home too, after clearing it with the family of course. Not everyone in the house likes to get up early. :-)
And so on a fairly recent morning, I did just that. I arose and headed downtown to an area just south of the river. Technically, it's called South Congress Avenue, but everyone here calls it SoCo nowadays. In some ways that part of town is the source of the "Keep Austin Weird" vibe, or in other words, it's a fun place to go take photos.
There are myriad food trailers and lots of interesting and funky stores, all of which are great to shoot. There are a few restaurants too, and even a couple of hotels. It's all quite fun and entertaining, even without a camera (though I recommend one!).
So I wandered and shot, wandered and shot, and talked to a couple of homeless folks who passed me by. I do tend to watch my back a little closer when it's dark outside, but that's just the Boy Scout in me being prepared. I've never had an incident, and don't expect to.
I feel safe here. It's my hometown, and I love it.
And I have been adding a lot to my SmugMug site lately, which you can find here. The Austin gallery there is by far the largest, topping out at 150 photos now. More to come!
Wandering the streets of Dublin
Do you ever get out and shoot at sunrise? You should! Especially when in a touristy area of a city, sunrise is great to shoot because all the tourists are still asleep. It's quiet and awesome.
Dublin is one of my favorite cities to travel to - it's just got so much personality.
I have said here many times that I love Dublin, and you will probably hear that a lot in the future. It's true - it's just a great little city. There's a lot to see, a lot to do, and of course my favorite - lots to photograph! (Oh, and the Guinness is tasty!)
One thing I really recommend when traveling is to get up early and wander the streets at sunrise. In my experience, that's the best time to get out and shoot, especially in busy, touristy cities.
Normally I stay in a hotel near the main things I want to photograph, and then get up early and head out. It's not always easy to get up, but when I am done, I always think that it was well worth it. All the tourists are usually sleeping in, and you frequently have the streets all to yourself.
So here's a few from one morning in Dublin while I was out and about, doing my thing. See any tourists? Me neither. :-)