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14
Jan 2011

Discovery’s Last Voyage

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Up close and personal.

I learned a very important lesson on this shoot. It turns out it’s extremely difficult to hold a camera still while giggling like a schoolgirl.

Seriously, I’m not known for getting overly excited but this time, well, lets just say I released my inner geek. There was something about rolling up to the pad and being this close to the Space Shuttle that tore the lid off the whole ‘quiet and composed’ thing.

So with rampant giggling fits and letting my geek flag fly, I set up for a series of shots to document (in HDR) Space Shuttle Discovery’s final time on the launch pad.

Daily Banana – Discovery’s Last Voyage

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HDR
Filed Under: Before & After, Cape Canaveral, Florida, HDR Photography, NASA, Travel, United States
13
Jan 2011

Singing In The Rain

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Soggy Deception.

Who’s crazy enough to venture out at night in the pouring rain, lugging expensive, not so waterproof gear, shooting long exposure HDRs? This Guy!

I can’t say that I was excited about it but I didn’t want to scrap a whole night of shooting because of a little rain. Besides, I had an umbrella and a plan. A tricky part was setting up all the gear while keeping it (and myself) as dry as possible. Perhaps the trickiest part though, was convincing my wife to hold the umbrella over me while I set up and took shots.

Who’s the crazy one now? Still me? Considering that I talked my wife into venturing out on a 4 hour walk, at night, in the pouring rain with promises of adventure and intrigue… Well, lets just say that holding an umbrella over my head wasn’t part of the initial sales pitch. What’s love without a little bit of deception now and again? It’s perfectly healthy right? (Don’t answer that)

Instead, check out the sweet reflections on the ground and the rain streaks in the sky. Is it a complicated endeavor to shoot in these conditions? Yes. Is it worth it sometimes? Absolutely! Besides, your wife will forgive you… eventually.

Daily Banana – Singing In The Rain

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HDR
Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, HDR Photography, Italy, Night Photography, Travel, Venice
12
Jan 2011

Tunnel Vision

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Coherent is a relative term.

If I told you that this tunnel is in Rome would you believe me? For that matter, do you ever believe anything I say? Does anyone? Ever?

I had already spent a whole night traversing the dark Roman streets before I saw this. Something about the lighting attracted me. Sure, I was tired and It was like 4am but I was still mildly coherent. Coherent enough to set up my tripod in the middle of the street shortly before almost getting run over by a flurry of 34 or so motor bikes. (And here I was thinking that nothing could keep me awake at 4am. Sheesh…)

So, please note that this shot is taken from the safety of the sidewalk with a much more coherent, sober (and thankfully still alive) mind.

Daily Banana – Tunnel Vision

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HDR
Filed Under: Before & After, HDR Photography, Italy, Night Photography, Rome, Travel
11
Jan 2011

Ancient Skylight

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Warped Perspective

I found this one day on the walk in Siena. I really dig the warped perspective created by using the Nikon 14-24 lens.

I also dig being that annoying American guy running up and down the street with a giant camera, an equally gigantic lens, waiving said camera around while wearing board shorts and flip flops, singing the words to some obnoxious song, “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard,” while texting messages on the iphone, updating a Facebook profile, tweeting, and all the while chewing on a slice of pizza.

And how exactly do I eat pizza and shoot pictures at the same time? Well, “I can teach you but I’d have to charge.”

Keep in mind that this post will be filed under the category, “longest run on sentence possible.”

Also, to clarify, please don’t be that annoying American Guy.

Daily Banana – Ancient Skylight

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HDR
Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, HDR Photography, Italy, Siena, Travel
10
Jan 2011

Thou Shalt Not Pass

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Night light is right:

I love Rome. When I’m there, I’m happy. When I’m not there, I think about going. When I leave Rome, I still smell like it… (Seriously, It’s kinda dirty but that’s just part of the charm).

On this visit to Rome, I decided to primarily shoot at night. The idea was spawned by a combination of my daytime work schedule & a strong desire to improve my night time HDR photography techniques.

Now, most of the time I’m a sucker for the golden hours, those few fleeting moments at the birth and death of the day. Though beautiful results are almost guaranteed, the time limit for shooting sucks. If you miss it, well, lets just say that I hope you have another day or two to try again.

Night photography on the other hand has no time constraints. You can pretty much wander the lonely streets until your hearts content. Or at least until your legs give out and your brain shuts down from lack of sleep. There are also far less people around to get in the way. Couple the lack of people with the longer exposure times and you might as well be photographing a ghost town.

Daily Banana – Thou Shalt Not Pass

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HDR
Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, HDR Photography, Italy, Night Photography, Rome, Travel
09
Jan 2011

Vertigo-go

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Mental punch in the face

Simply stepping back to look up has always been one of my greatest mental reset buttons. It may seem simple but for me, it works like a charm.

Sometimes as artists we get stuck in certain modes of thought. It’s sort of like writers block and all disciplines of art have an equivalent type of creative block. Like a painter staring at a blank canvas or a dancer that has lost their rhythm, we as photographers can get stuck not being able to compose a shot.

A while back I was reading the sponsored athlete bio pages on lasportiva.com. (La Sportiva is a top name in Rock Climbing and they make some really good gear). Anyway, there were a bunch of questions from La Sportiva, one being, “What do you do to mentally fortify yourself before climbing a difficult route?”

As you can imagine, the answers were all mostly about “meditating” or “aligning with nature” or “getting pumped by listening to loud tunes” — all pretty run of the mill kinda stuff. But just as I was about to close the page, I noticed one guy’s awesome answer. He said, “I like to punch myself in the face!” Now that’s an idea!

Like I said, everyone has their own method but think of my “look up” method as a good mental punch in the face. Just with slightly less blood…

What do you guys use as a Mental Punch In The Face?

Daily Banana – Vertigo-go

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HDR
Filed Under: Architecture, Before & After, HDR Photography, Italy, Tips & Wisdom, Travel, Venice