Two weeks with the Sony RX1

rx1_front

I’m in love. I just finished my review of the Sony RX1 and wow am I impressed. This small mirror-less camera has a full frame CMOS sensor and produces what I think are DSLR quality images.

Some call it a poor man’s Leica. I call it a “must” for any DSLR shooter that wants the small size of a mirror-less camera but without any sacrifice in image quality. Either way, if you are in the market for a small camera you should give my RX1 review a read.

Posted at 5am on 2/19/13 | no comments; | Filed Under: Gear | read on

Mavericks Invitational 2012/2013

Once a year some of the best surfers from all over the world are invited to Half Moon Bay, California to compete in the Mavericks Invitational surf competition. Popularized by local surfer Jeff Clark, Mavericks (which is just 20 minutes south of San Francisco and 1/2 mile offshore from Pillar Point Harbor) is home to massive waves that reach up to 60 feet and explode with such ferocity that they can be recorded on the Richter scale. If that’s not enough, icy cold water and a shallow bottom make Mavericks one of the most treacherous, and thus alluring, big wave riding locations.

Most of the photographs of Mavericks are taken from boats, but I wanted to take portraits of the men and women who were ready to take on the most difficult waves in the world.

Posted at 5am on 1/21/13 | no comments; | Filed Under: Assignments, Editorial, Portraits | read on

Best of 2012

Another year. Wow, where did the time go? It seems just like yesterday that I was in Yosemite shooting Half Dome at dawn on New Years day. This year was action-packed, filled with great new images, projects and friends. Here’s a quick recap of some of 2012′s highlights and a look at my favorite images from the year.

In Startup Land

This year I made a commitment to spend time each week photographing life here in Silicon Valley. This local perspective took on a life of it’s own throughout the year and resulted in the launch of my local photo blog In Startup Land.

Winning Photo Of The Year

Another noteworthy moment in 2012 was winning first place “Photo of the Year” from Digital Photo Pro Magazine for one of my images of the giant Post-it memorial to Steve Jobs erected just days after his death in 2011. Thanks Digital Photo Pro Magazine!

Remembrance by Peter Adams.

Visitors come to view the Post-it note memorial to Steve Jobs that was erected at the Apple retail store just block’s from the Jobs residence in Palo Alto, California. In the days following Job’s death, visitors would leave thousands of hand written notes which would eventually cover the entire facade of the store. image details »

WordPress For Photographers

I also published my first eBook this year! WordPress for Photographers has been well received and I’m happy to report that the book has already helped hundreds of photographers learn how to use WordPress to build kick-ass photography websites. There is now a great WordPress for Photographers community on Google+ as well! Look for more eBooks this year.

WordPress For Photographers

My Favorite images From 2012

Last but not least, here are my top 10 images from 2012. (Click the photo to see it larger or to buy prints)

Davenport Stack by Copyright Peter Adams. All rights reserved. Photo may not be used or distributed in any way without prior writen approval..

A sea stack at sunset off the shore of Davenport, California. image details »

Yosemite Valley View by Peter Adams.

Reflections on the Merced River in Yosemite National Park. image details »

Fairy Holes by Copyright Peter Adams. All rights reserved. Photo may not be used or distributed in any way without prior writen approval..

Fairies hard at work deep in the forest somewhere in Northern California. image details »

Shores of Infinity by Copyright Peter Adams. All rights reserved. Photo may not be used or distributed in any way without prior writen approval..

Sunset on a rocky shore in Northern California. image details »

Porthole by Peter Adams.

Fish stop to look out a window as they swim through the giant kelp forest at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. image details »

Dave Navarro / Jane's Addiction by Peter Adams.

Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction performing at BFD 2012 held on June 2nd, 2012 atthe Shoreline Amphitheater. image details »

Spirit Of The Mountain Lion by Peter Adams.

A Native American dancer wears a moutain lion headdress at the Stanford Powwow held on May 11th, 2012. image details »

The Kiss of Death by Peter Adams.

Two young women with painted skeleton faces kiss at the How Weird Street Faire held in San Francisco on May 13th, 2012. image details »

Blue Faced by .

A young woman covered in blue powder sticks out her tongue at the Holi Festival of Colors held at Stanford University. image details »

Up, Up, and Away by Peter Adams.

A young woman prepares for take-off at the 3rd annual Super Hero Street Faire on September 22nd, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The event was held at the Islais Creek Promenade and provides a platfrom to honor extraordinary people in the community and their contribution to culture, music and the arts. image details »

I’d like to thank everyone for your continued support, encouragement, likes, and shares throughout the year. I hope you enjoyed the images.

Stay tuned for exciting new images and projects in 2013.

See you in the New Year!

- Peter

Posted at 7pm on 12/31/12 | no comments; | Filed Under: Uncategorized | read on

Winning ‘Photo Of The Year’

Remembrance by Peter Adams.

Visitors come to view the Post-in note memorial to Steve Jobs that was erected at the Apple retail store just block's from the Jobs residence in Palo Alto, California. In the days following Job's death, visitors would leave thousands of hand written notes which would eventually cover the entire facade of the store. image details »

Every year I debate whether or not to enter images into various photo contests. I usually decide against it, but last year something told me to submit a few photos to Digital Photo Pro Magazine’s “Photo of The Year” contest. Last month, it was an exciting surprise to receive an email from the magazine informing me that above image had won first place!

You can see the winning images in the July issue of the magazine as well as on the Digital Photo Pro web site.

I shot this image as part of a series called “Notes for Steve” which documented the Post-it Note memorial to Steve Jobs that was erected at the Apple store just blocks from his Palo Alto home in the days following his death. Hundreds of people came to this store day and night to leave their notes of remembrance–many of which were truly touching. You can see the full series of photos here.

And finally, I want to say thank you to the judges at Digital Photo Pro and to everyone else that encouraged me to do this series of images. Winning a contest like this, while both humbling and exciting, is a rare event. More often it’s the support, encouragement, and appreciation from those around you that keeps you moving forward as a photographer.

Posted at 6am on 6/29/12 | no comments; | Filed Under: Editorial | read on

WordPress For Photographers e-Book

I’m excited to announce the availability of my new ebook: A Guide To WordPress for Photographers: How to build and manage your photography website using WordPress.

The idea for this book came to me after years of talking to photographers about how to best utilize WordPress—the most popular (free) open source website publishing software. I would often get comments like, “Wow, I didn’t know WordPress could do that!” or “I don’t need to pay for that??”… and so I decided to write a guide to help photographers and designers learn how to get the most out of WordPress.

Consider this ebook your in-depth guide to using WordPress. It provides step-by-step tutorials for setting up a WordPress website and integrating photography. People already familiar with WordPress will also find this book helpful as I’ve included lots of advanced material such as: how to optimize search, integration with social networks, and using meta-data from images files (or Adobe Lightroom) to organize and manage photos. Just take a look around my website to see the principles of this book in action.

The fine folks over at Flatbooks.com are publishing the book. Go here to buy the book or view the table of contents and sample pages.

If you know of any photographers, designers or developers who might find this book of interest, please share a link to this post on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Google+. All shares are greatly appreciated!

And finally, thanks to my wife Nyla, my beta readers, Trey Ratcliff, Curtis Simmons, J. Griffin Stewart and Luke Lakatosh for all their help with making this book a reality.

Here is the book’s offical synopsis:

This in-depth guide to using WordPress provides all the information needed to setup a professional website for your photography or take your existing site to the next level. A cohesive and well-designed website is the single most important way to showcase and promote your photography online, and thanks to WordPress, building one doesn’t have to break the bank. While there are numerous WordPress resources on the web, none are written by a photographer for photographers. This book was specifically designed to maximize website usability for potential customers and help you avoid time consuming mistakes. Step-by-step guides will teach you everything about setting up WordPress, choosing a theme/design for your website, and adding content. Also included are advanced techniques for working with image galleries, importing image meta-data, optimizing image search, and a whole lot more!

Posted at 1am on 5/30/12 | no comments; | Filed Under: WordPress | read on

Finding The Moments

The Kiss of Death by Peter Adams.

Two young women with painted skeleton faces kiss at the How Weird Street Faire held in San Francisco on May 13th, 2012. image details »

If you are a reader of my local photo blog In Startup Land then you have probably been seeing photos from some of the more interesting events that I photograph here in Silicon Valley.

I like to photograph large events because there are always so many great photo opportunities. But let’s face it, shooting a big event can be overwhelming.

Between the scheduled programming/activities, venue, and attendees there are often multiple photo opportunities happening at at the same time. In order to avoid becoming paralyzed by everything happening around you, I’ve found it essential to a develop plan for shooting the event before I show up. A game plan might be a very detailed shot list that requires prior scouting of the location or it might just sketch out the types of shots you want to capture. Either way works depending on the event.

Stanford Powwow held on May 11th, 2012. by Peter Adams.

The Grand Entry procession at the 2012 Stanford Pow-wow. image details »

I find that without a plan it’s just too easy to fall into the trap of trying to shoot everything. This usually results in very few strong images because you are stretched so thin photographically. Another helpful tool is to plan out the types of photos not to shoot (i.e. no posed groups, etc.). The “no-shoot” part of the plan helps you further tune out the visual noise and tune into moments you are really looking for.

Dancing Days by Peter Adams.

How Weird Street festival held in San Francisco on May 13th, 2012. image details »

Blue Faced by .

A young woman covered in blue powder sticks her young out at a Holi Festival of Colors held at Stanford University. image details »

So the next time you need to photograph an event, try developing a game plan before you show up. I guarantee that it will make covering the event more enjoyable and productive.

To see more on my event work head on over to In Startup Land.

Posted at 7pm on 5/23/12 | no comments; | Filed Under: Editorial, Events | read on

Starting The New Year In Yosemite

Half Dome by Peter Adams.

The sun illuminates a stand of pine trees at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. image details »

2012 is already shaping up to be a busy year. We rang in the new year up at Yosemite National Park photographing along side of Trey Ratcliff, Thomas Hawk, Robert Scoble, Scott Jarvie, and a bunch of other photographers for a small Google+ photo walk.

Oddly, there is no snow in Yosemite right now. All the roads are open and the folks at the lodge told me that there hasn’t been this little snow for 136 years. So new years day we were all up before dawn shooting the first light of the new year at Glacier Point.

Shooting Star by Peter Adams.

A shooting star passes near Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. image details »

It was great to spend time with everyone and see the photos that came out of the trip. I was lucky enough to even managed to capture a shooting star with Robert and Scott one morning.

Valley View by Peter Adams.

Golden light hits the Merced river and El Capitan as seen from Valley View in Yosemite National Park. image details »

Can’t wait to get back up there when it finally starts to snow. You can view all of my Yosemite photos over in my Yosemite Gallery.

Posted at 1am on 1/12/12 | no comments; | Filed Under: Places | read on

Playing With Fire

Spinning Fire by Copyright Peter Adams Photography.

A fire spinner twirls her flame at a performance in Santa Cruz, California. image details »

Some people like to perform by playing an instrument, singing or dancing, but it turns out that a whole bunch of people like to spin fire. At least that’s what I discovered down in Santa Cruz, where a group of performers regularly meet at the lighthouse to spin fire for themselves and the crowd that assembles.

Fire Hoop by Copyright Peter Adams Photography.

A performer balances a flaming hoola-hoop with her feet. image details »

Some spin flaming staffs, while others perform with chains, balls, and even hoola hoops that are lit on fire. Talking with some of the performers I leaned that the gathering has been happening regularly for a while now. Some of the performers are professional jugglers while others are talented students at nearby UCSC.

I’m not sure how one learns this craft but it takes playing with fire to a whole new level for me.

Posted at 9pm on 12/1/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Assignments, Places | read on

RightsCon 2011

Mitchell Baker by Peter Adams.

Mitchell Baker, Chair at Mozilla. image details »

I had the opportunity to photograph the Silicon Valley Human Rights Conference (RightsCon for short) last week. It was a two day conference that brought together Silicon Valley companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google with human rights advocates from around the world.

Michael Posner by Peter Adams.

Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State. image details »

Speakers included Mitchell Baker from Mozilla and Assistant Secretary of State, Michael Posner and Robert Scoble among others. You can see more of the photos over at In Startup Land.

Posted at 5am on 11/7/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Events | read on

Westside Smitty

Westside Smitty by Peter Adams.

Westside Smitty plays in front of a gift shop in Hannapepe on the west side of Kauai. image details »

I was roaming the streets of Hanapepe on the west side of Kauai and caught a bit of Westside Smitty.

Smitty plays Hanapepe’s friday evening “art night” belting out a mix of good old rock and blues. It must have been a slow night that friday because Smitty was really good.

Shot this just as he hit the chorus to Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”.

Posted at 6am on 9/24/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Portraits | read on

Hanalei

Taro Fields by Copyright Peter Adams. All Rights reserved..

Dawn and rain meet taro fields in Hanalei on the north shore of Kauai. image details »

Tucked away on the north shore of Kauai is the town of Hanalei. Home to an eclectic mix of surfers, farmers, and the occasional celebrity, Hanalei is unlike any other town I’ve visited on Kauai. It’s the kind of place where one minute you’re stuck waiting for a taro farmer to pull their tractor across the road and the next you’re waiting in line next to Ben Stiller or Piece Brosnan for your morning cup of coffee.

Hanalei Bay by Peter Adams.

Morning clouds pass over the mountains that meet Hanalei Bay on the north shore of Kauai, Hawaii. image details »

Voted America’s best beach in 2009, Hanalei’s two mile crescent shaped shoreline is met by towering emerald-green mountains and iridescent seas. The largest bay on Kauai, Hanalei is also a popular surf spot on the north shore. On any given day, you’re likely to see thirty to forty surfers catching waves near where Hanalei river meets the bay. A few hundred feet away, is the historic 340 foot pier, originally constructed in 1892. The pier is also a popular gathering spot, often lined with fishermen and children (who are all too eager ignore the “no jumping” signs).

Flip by Peter Adams.

A row boat prepares to launch from Hanalei Bay on Kauai's north shore. image details »

If you are headed to the north shore, be sure to carve out some time to spend in Hanalei.

Posted at 5am on 9/18/11 | no comments; | Tags: | Filed Under: Places | read on

Banyan Tree

Mother Nature by Copyright Peter Adams. All Rights reserved..

Sometimes it’s the happy accidents that lead you to the shot. Nyla and I were exploring the beaches of Princeville when I noticed dramatic clouds moving in over Kauai’s Bali Hai peaks. I didn’t have a good vantage point from which to shoot, so we followed the shoreline in hope of scooting around a small forest of trees that were blocking the view.

That’s when we ran into this magnificent banyan tree growing right there on the sandy shore. The tree was enormous with long limbs and equally long exposed root system. (The only other giant banyan on Kauai, that I know about, is locked up in the Allerton botanical garden, where they don’t allow tripods.) Needless to say, we stopped and took a bunch of photos.

That evening we looked at the shots and both loved how the late afternoon light was shining through the branches and leaves. The next day, we decided to go back to see if we could make a photo that captured the enormity and power of the tree by showing the roots cradling Nyla.

I knew that the tree would be in heavy shade, so I setup two strobes (both Elinchrom Ranger Quadras) to light the scene. The first strobe was far off to camera right shooting into a Paul Buff 64″ PLM. The PLM is a giant umbrella with a diffusion cloth that produces a nice, wide, even fill light which I used to light most of the tree.

The second strobe was used to avoid Nyla getting lost in the intricate details of the tree’s bark. It was placed high to camera left and fitted with a 30 degree grid so that it only added more contrast to the area she was curled into. We also brought along some bright flowers to call more attention to the foreground. You can see the lighting setup in this shot snapped from my iPhone.

kauai.treelighting by .

The keys to this shot were the broad fill light (without it the detail in the tree would have been flat, dark and muddy) and my incredible model who managed to hold her poses even while the mosquitos and ants were biting her.

Posted at 6pm on 9/14/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Editorial, Places | read on

Na Pali Coast

Na Pali Grove by Copyright Peter Adams. All Rights reserved..

A grove of trees along the Na Pali coast in Kauai, Hawaii. image details »

The northwest side of Kauai is home to the island’s Na Pali Coast. Na Pali (which means “the cliffs” in Hawaiian) is a 16 mile stretch of coastline made up of sharp spires and staggering cliffs that rise as high as 4,000 feet above the ocean.

There are three ways to see and photograph Na Pali: by hiking the famous (and treacherous) Kalalau trail, by helicopter, or by boat.

I’ve shot the Na Pali from a helicopter twice, and had mixed luck on the Kalalau trail. So this time, I opted for the boat ride.

A boat tour of the Na Pali takes 4-5 hours, but provides an whale’s-eye view of the many sea caves, valleys and waterfalls that are difficult to access by helicopter.

Unfortunately the downside of viewing Na Pali by boat is that the surf can be rough and unpredictable. After reading warnings on various websites from drenched passengers, I opted to leave my medium format gear behind and shoot with a Canon G9 – which did a pretty good job for a compact camera.

Posted at 7am on 9/13/11 | no comments; | Tags: | Filed Under: Places | read on

Back from Kauai

Waist Deep by Peter Adams.

A woman stands waist deep in the coral reef off the coast of Kauai. image details »

Just got back from a magical trip to Kauai and am now knee deep into editing the photos.

Stay tuned as there’s lots more to come…

Posted at 7am on 9/12/11 | no comments; | Tags: | Filed Under: Places | read on

Stanford & San Francisco Photo Walks

I’d never been on a photo walk before, but when I saw on Google+ that Thomas Hawk and Trey Ratcliff were (respectively) organizing walks,  I knew it was going to be a busy week. Photo walks seemed like an easy way to meet other photographers and learn some new perspectives, so I was eager to give it a go…

How to Shoot 100 183 Photographers

Trey Ratcliff Photo Walk by Peter Adams.

Group photo of the photographers present for the Trey Ratcliff photo walk at Stanford University. image details »

For Trey Ratcliff’s walk at Stanford University in Palo Alto, it was rumored that there would be over a hundred photographers, so I pinged Trey and offered to setup a few lights for a quick group portrait. Shooting/lighting large group shots is tricky, and generally, painful… a large group of photographers who are anxious to go on a walk with Trey was slightly masochistic. So a little advance planning was in order.

Earlier in the day, I scouted for a good location on campus and found a spot, half-way up a flight of steps, where I could shoot the group from above. I was assuming there’d be at least a hundred people and that I could arrange them into seven or eight rows (of 10-15 people), enabling me to shoot downward with my 80mm lens to compress the shot.

I also arrived about forty minutes before the group arrived to set up the lights. I needed a wide spray of light, so I chose four Elinchrom Ranger Quadras with bare heads and wide reflectors. The Quadra heads are bare bulbs that, when combined with wide reflectors, give you a nice, wide spill. The trick is getting them high enough to light the back of the crowd, which is why I put two of them on extended C stands and placed them far to camera right and left. The other two lights were placed closer in (one light on either side of the stairs) and used to light the front and middle of the group.

Around this time, a few people began to trickle in… and then some more… and more… Once Trey was finished outlining the evening plan, I asked everyone to press forward into a tight group for the shot. That’s when I got my first clear view of just how big the group really was. After counting more than 13 rows of people, I decided it was time for “plan B” which consisted of switching out the 80mm for the 35mm lens, cranking up the power on the outer two Quadras, and dialing in ISO 400 for more light on the back rows.

Six frames later, everyone was on their way.

Below are some of my favorite shots from both walks. I highly recommend joining a photo walk if you ever have the chance!

The Stanford Walk

Door to Knowledge by Peter Adams.

A student on their compuer outside a lecture hall at Stanford University. image details »

J. Henry Meyer Library by Peter Adams.

The sun sets on the J. Henry Meyer Memorial Library at Stanford University. image details »

The SF Walk

Bay Bridge by Peter Adams.

San Francisco Bay Bridge and port of Oakland at sunset. image details »

Bay Pier Walkers by Peter Adams.

Walkers take a twilight stroll along a pier at the San Francisco waterfront. image details »

Time Signature by Peter Adams.

Richard Deutsch's Time Signature sculpture in Foundry Square, San Francisco. image details »

Posted at 6pm on 8/14/11 | no comments; | Tags: , , , , | Filed Under: Places, Portraits, Technique | read on

Fresh Fruits & Vegetables

Shopping the Farmers Market by Peter Adams.

Shoppers pick through the fruits and vegetables at a local farmers market. image details »

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been trolling local farmers markets searching for fruits and vegetables – yes, I know there are crates of the stuff to be found at such places – but, in particular, I was on the hunt for cool details and patterns for a series of photos that would showcase the beauty of food grown by local farmers.

Silicon Valley is blessed with year round access to local organic farms that bring their gorgeous, fresh veggies to markets up and down the peninsula nearly every day of the week. I don’t think that local farmers don’t get the press they deserve for the work that goes into growing, harvesting, and marketing organic produce. These photos are my way of helping to encourage more people shop for their food locally.

As for the photos, I had my best luck photographing the Palo Alto and Mountain View markets. For me, the key to shooting at farmers markets is to be respectful. That means you can’t roll in with a bunch of lights or block people from shopping while you setup and take your shot. I stay mobile and try to be quick by shooting handheld in natural light. I find cloudy days to be the best, as there are less people to contend with and generally better (softer) light. Also, it helps when farmers set up tents made of  thin white tarp material. Those tents are like giant soft boxes diffusing the harsh sun overhead. This creates a nice, even spread of light for photographing produce.

Here are the photos:

Fruits & Vegetables (click thumbnails to see larger images)


Potatos by Peter Adams.

String Beans by Peter Adams.

Heirloom Tomatos by Peter Adams.

Chinese Bitter Mellon by Peter Adams.

Yams and Beans by Peter Adams.

Cherry Tomatos by Peter Adams.

Indian Karela Bitter Gourd by Peter Adams.

Red Potatos by Peter Adams.

Pepper Swarm by Peter Adams.

Onions by Peter Adams.

Cucumbers by Peter Adams.

Garlick by Peter Adams.

Bok Choy by Peter Adams.

Peaches by Peter Adams.

Berries by Peter Adams.

Yellow Peaches by Peter Adams.

Split Plum by Peter Adams.

Strawberries by Peter Adams.

Plums by Peter Adams.

Posted at 5pm on 8/1/11 | no comments; | Tags: , , | Filed Under: Assignments | read on

Boulder

I had a chance to visit with family in and around Boulder Colorado over the fourth of July holiday. Boulder, which is about 40 minutes outside of Denver, reminds me a lot of Palo Alto in that it’s a very progressive city, has a strong university (CU at Boulder) community, and is just minutes away from incredible outdoor activities and nature.

One of the unique things about Boulder is that it’s located right where the Rockies meet the Great Plains. You can see this pretty clearly from this shot that I took near the top of Mt. Sanitas which overlooks downtown Boulder and the University.

Boulder Colorado by Peter Adams

Boulder Colorado image details »

The weather can change quickly as you get further up into the mountains. I shot this rain storm just as it began to develop near Sugarloaf Mountain which is seven miles outside of Boulder. One minute it was blazing hot sun and the next it was pouring rain. I got about a dozen frames of the clouds as they rolled in before they were on top of us.

Rocky Mountain Rain

Rocky Mountain Rain image details »

For the fourth of July we joined 30,000 other people at CU’s Folsom stadium to watch the fireworks. The stadium was packed but we managed to get seats near the 50 yard line where I set up my tripod to shoot the show. Click the images to see larger versions.

Fireworks by Peter Adams Fireworks by Peter Adams Fireworks by Peter Adams Fireworks by Peter Adams Fireworks by Peter Adams

Every year these firework shows get more and more sophisticated with their computer controlled choreography. The Boulder show was no exception launching 4,600 fireworks in under 40 minutes.

Quite the show for quite the town.

Posted at 3am on 7/11/11 | no comments; | Tags: | Filed Under: Places | read on

Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies image details »

The Painted Ladies are located at the bottom of Alamo park which sits on the top of one of San Francisco’s many hills. These famous victorian row houses have been photographed many times (and make a cameo during the opening of the 80′s TV sitcom Full House.) I’ve seen many daytime shots of these Ladies where the sun really pops the colors of the houses, but also washes out the city rising up behind them. Likewise, there are shots at night with a vibrant city backdrop, but the street lights wash out the color of the houses.

Knowing this, I set out to capture the Ladies at dusk during those few minutes when the ambient light in the foreground and background are balanced. When preparing for the shot, I had to scout the location and then set-up before the sun began to drop. I got to the park two hours early and was reminded of Mark Twain’s infamous quip: “The coldest winter I ever saw was the summer I spent in San Francisco.” The truth is no one really knows who coined this phrase, but if you’ve ever been to San Francisco in the summer you know it’s the truth. Driving up to the city from the peninsula, the temperature will customarily drop a full ten to fifteen degrees. I was ready for that. What I wasn’t ready for was an additional 15 degree drop caused by the wind whipping through Alamo Park. My hands were numb by the time the sun set.

Shooting at dusk is a bit frantic as you’re racing against time to find the right exposure before the light disappears. I like to use a 3 or 4 stop graduated neutral density filter in these situations to help balance the foreground and background exposures. Typically, I’ll just hand hold the filter in place so I can easily adjust the level of graduation as the light changes. Hand holding doesn’t usually introduce camera shake, but between the wind and my numb hands that filter was all over the place.

Despite the shake, I managed to get a few sharp shots of the magic moment just after the lights in the office buildings flicked on, but before the florescent street lights (and car lights) washed out the color of the Ladies.

Posted at 5pm on 6/30/11 | no comments; | Tags: , , , , | Filed Under: Places | read on

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan image details »

I’ve been to Las Vegas a number of times over the years, but the place has never clicked with me. I last about two days before I feel the need to get the heck out of there. Maybe it’s because nothing is the genuine article in Vegas (even most of the trees are plastic). Or maybe it’s the quiet desperation I see on many of the faces.

Despite all this, I keep finding reasons to go back. This time it was to visit Death Valley and see friends.  Our Vegas luck started with a comp for a suite at the new Cosmopolitan – which is like a New York boutique hotel on steroids. You only need to see the three story chandelier in the lobby and casino floor to see what I mean. The entire hotel does a great job of masking the tacky side of Vegas with a vintage elegance.

I shot this just on the casino floor hand-holding my Phase One DF. I tend to shoot medium format like 35mm, just snapping away like it’s a Nikon DSLR. This time I cranked up the ISO to 400 to get the depth of field I wanted. Higher ISO is more of a problem for medium format cameras than for DSLRs due to the large sensor size. My digital back does pretty well at ISO 400, but I still wound up finishing the image in Photoshop after playing with a combo of noise reduction tools in Capture One and Topaz DeNoise 5.

Posted at 8pm on 6/24/11 | no comments; | Tags: , | Filed Under: Uncategorized | read on

New Hope Forest

Just catching up now on editing some photos from a quick trip we made to New Hope Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. These are two of my favorites.

Posted at 5am on 6/20/11 | no comments; | Filed Under: Uncategorized | read on

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