A Visit to Seaholm, a Majestic Downtown Power Plant
Seaholm Power Plant Generator Room – Austin, Texas
Driving into downtown Austin on Cesar Chavez Street (first street) from the west, it’s hard not to miss the large power plant by the river. It’s a solid concrete structure and an under utilized landmark. Non-operational since 1989, it has never generated any power during the 20 years that I have lived in Austin. It does have a bright red sign that adorns the side and some blue accents above the entrances — the only signs of life at this deteriorating urban structure. Photographs I’ve seen of the inside have only increased my curiosity of what is hidden within its aging walls. Recently, I’ve had a wonderful opportunity to take a look inside and photograph its interior for a few hours. This opportunity came about as a result of photographing the Holly Street Power Plant a couple of months earlier. A friend of mine, Therese, with connections to the city heard about my trip to the Holly Plant. After showing my Holly Street blog entry and expressing a desire to have a similar access to Seaholm, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Gloria who works for the City of Austin. Gloria was kind enough to allow myself and a few photographer friends access to Seaholm and even took time out of her weekend to open up the place. What follows are some photographs and impressions of this grand concrete structure.
Architecturally, the differences between Holly Street and Seaholm are significant. Holly is a newer more utilitarian facility made primarily of metal. It appears functional like a warehouse or factory and does not have architectural flourishes. It is extensively surrounded by a maze of metal superstructures and pipes that look complex. It reminds me of a densely packed machine with its guts exposed. The generator rooms is barely visible with all the plumbing that surrounds and feeds the beast. The Seaholm Power plant is clearly from a different era, though surprisingly only built 10 years before the start of the Holly plant in 1960. Externally, it looks like a solid art deco office building with giant smoke stacks connected at its rear. A bank windows in the front and side clearly adorn the main building which is the major focal point of the facility. Much of its complexity is hidden somewhere as if care was taken to make a power plant as beautiful as it can be without losing its function. Walking inside the main generator room is like entering a huge temple — a temple to industry and to the modern world. It was clearly built to impress with its towering concrete walls and ceiling and ample clerestory windows. While the outside is nicely designed, the inside is what really shines in my book, as you can see from the photograph above.
The color palate at Seaholm is more muted than at Holly which has a red-painted floor. However, Seaholm’s concrete creates some excellent texture, further enhanced with my use of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. As usual, I leave my HDR processing on the light side, opting in this case to enhance texture and detail and not dynamic range. I softened some shadows but chose to retain enough to keep an interplay between light and dark. For readers unfamiliar with HDR, it is a photographic process were multiple images at different brightness levels are taken and later combined with software to form a single image. I usually use 3 photographs for my HDR but recently have experimented with combining more images, especially in scenes with a large amount of dynamic range.
Photographically, much of the grander remains, though we were slightly disappointed that the main generators have been removed. Holly street was interesting to photograph since the generators and control panels are still in place. It looks as though it was just closed one day and all the power plant equipment was kept in place. Seaholm is different. The city has planned for years to redevelop this property. Much of the large industrial components have been removed long ago. What remains is the impressive concrete shell that some day will be, hopefully, repurposed for some modern function. In fact, Seaholm has been used for parties during the SXSW events and other large gatherings. While my goal at Holly was to document its machinery and plumbing before being torn down, my focus at Seaholm was to celebrate the architecture and photograph its bones before redevelopment commences. The unexpected treasure at Seaholm is the dark underbelly below the main floor. We’ll start the tour on the main level, which I call the generator room. The photograph at the top was taken far end of this room. We entered the building at other end, near the wall with the bank of windows. You can see the giant openings surrounded by safety rails which once housed the generators. These openings lead to an underground world a couple of levels deep, which we will explore later in the blog.
Seaholm Windows
We entered the building near the bank of windows on the east wall. It was a little after 10am when we started the photo tour and I caught the sun streaming in from the east. With and the band of clerestory windows near the ceiling, the windows throughout the building, the space was pleasantly bright. Unlike the Holly Street Plant, Seaholm has a light and airy feel. I really like the ceiling detail of this building and the grooved channels on the ceiling adds a nice pattern that leads the eye through the building.
Click here to see all my images from the Seaholm Power Plant. You can also click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
Ceiling Detail
The Mechanical Side
The mechanical wall, for lack of a better term, is really simple and clean in this building. You can see the grey stairs and repeating metal structures on the left side. I don’t know if a lot of piping and mechanical structures were removed along with the generators but the place has a really simple and organized feel.
Crossing the Concrete Canyon
Go down a flight of stairs and you enter the concrete canyons that once housed the generators. This metal catwalk spanned some nicely textured concrete pillars. I used HDR to enhance the concrete a bit more than usual. I really like the worn texture and though most people might think of concrete as a cold and impersonal material, when enhanced in this way, I think it takes on a bit of a patina and has the feel of weathered wood. The area is well-lit from above but you begin to see the dark recesses that surround the two level below the main floor. The image below is from the lowest level which I’ve brightened a bit. I was attracted to the light and shadows cast from the concrete pillars with the light that is filtering down two levels. I imagine this space was quite a bit darker when the generators were in place.
The Light From Above
Port hole
Here is another image of the same area framed but through a round port-hole. As you can see the wall has some great details and strange insulation or building materials sandwiched within the concrete layers. The foreground wall was quite dark and the HDR techniques really brought out the details of the wall will preserving the view though the circular opening. I think this is an excellent use of this technique and I believe this is an image that would not be possible without using HDR. The last photograph from down below is the stair case with the red glow. Located on the south-east corner, I saw this reddish glow from the other side. In a mostly monochromatic building, this color really stood out and got my curiosity going. It turned out that the neat color was created by light coming down the stairwell bounced off the red colored floor.
Red Glow
Unlike Holly, where the place was dead silent, Seaholm still had life. There was a persistent hum heard through the building. The lower levels with its many dark rooms, long expanses of graffiti covered walls and strange concrete structures looked like something out of a first person shooter video game. I wasn’t sure if a zombie or alien would pop up from behind the wall. The place really wasn’t scary, at least in the daytime but the lower levels did have an interesting feel to them. I wrote in my Holly blog post that I felt a zen stillness there. Seaholm was more of a study in contrasts. The main level seems like a temple to industry filled with light. The lower level seemed more like a post-apocalyptic bunker, with its massive concrete walls that resembled a bomb shelter.
Going back to the light, I walked up to the second floor that overlooks the generator room. These areas look like they used to be offices. On the south-east corner, there was a light filled space with a view of the new downtown skyline. In the image below, I was able to frame the new 360 condominiums with is the second tallest building in Austin. I like the contrast between the old, roughly textured walls with the light, airily and tall building outside. A contrast between the past and the future? Finally, before ending this photo tour, here are some photographs from the outside of the power plant. The backside of the power plant has several smoke stacks with some associated machinery. Almost none of the metal superstructures that surrounds the Holly plant exists here at Seaholm. A solid concrete path along the roof makes for a nice leading line to the Austin skyline.
A Window on the Future
The Proud Stack
Seaholm Roof
Main Entrance
The front of the plant has two similar door ways with the a bold sign that reads City of Austin Power. The final photo shows the potential of this place and while there is some urban decay, the structure remains strong and ready for redevelopment. I am looking forward to see how it all turns out. There are some ambitious plans for retail spaces, condos and hotels on the property. A new central library is going to be built right next door with roads and pedestrian walkways that will connect the future Seaholm site with the library and the rest of the downtown. Time will tell if these were just grand plans on paper or the bold continuation of Austin’s downtown renaissance.
My Thought Process
Image 1: This first photograph gives a nice overview of the grand central space. It was taken from the westside looking east towards the wall of lights. You can see the large opening in the floor that once housed the generators.
Image 2: As we started shooting Seaholm, the sunlight streamed in through the large bank of windows on the east. I wanted to document the “hugeness” of the space and the neat layout of the windows. I also wanted capture the sun rays streaming into the space. HDR really helps in this kind of shot since the dynamic range is so broad. I was able to record the rays of light, the details in the sky as well the interior space in a single photograph.
Image 3: I really love this ceiling. The grooves that run from front to back really pulls my eye down the building. I also like the repeating patterns of the pillars, roof supports and windows. I purposely created an interesting wide-angle distortion by angling the lens upward.
Image 4: As I moved towards the back of the building, the shadows increased. I like that bright distant window and the shadows that are creeping around the staircase and pillars.
Image 5: This catwalk is located one level below the main level. I like the leading lines of the catwalk and the large concrete hole that surrounds the space. I increased the texture and color to emphasize the character on the concrete walls.
Image 6: At the lowest level, the light comes in filtered through the various holes and between the walls and pillars. There is a balance between light and shadow which I wanted to capture. However, I think the shadows are more important here and that is ultimately what makes this image interesting.
Image 7: I found this hole in the wall and love the contrast between the wall texture and the view within the opening. The circle was used to frame the scene but the highly textured frame itself is also interesting. Again, HDR was used to its fullest in this photograph — a scene in which a conventional photograph would not be able to render as effectively.
Image 8: This photograph is all about the red glow. However, I also like the color contrast of the light coming from above the stairs and the purplish color in the room to the right. I attempted the balance the stairs on the right with the pillars on the left.
Image 9: I shot a different downtown view through these windows but as I shifted my position, the 360 Condos came into the frame. I decided to simplify the exterior by centering the building in the window. I’m also attracted to the texture of these walls and the light which is bouncing around in the room.
Image 10: I wanted to capture the smokestack and some of the exterior machinery at the back of the plant. The super wide-angle distorts the lines towards the center, which I think, makes it look even taller.
Image 11: The roof of Seaholm has some great view of downtown Austin. I used the concrete walkway to create leading lines toward the skyline.
Image 12: This photograph is the only one in which I did not use HDR. I increased texture to create a feel similar to the other photographs.
[Note: Make sure to click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took these photographs with the Canon 7D in RAW with the Sigma 10-20mm lens. I used a tripod for maximum stability and ease of HDR processing. I used Photomatix for HDR creation, Pixelmator for layer blending and Aperture 3 for final sharpening, vignetting and burning and dodging effects.
Images 1,3,4,5,6,10,11: f13, 3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 2: f13, 4 exposures, -4,-2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 7: f8, 4 exposures, -4,-2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 160 at 10mm
Image 8: f9, 5 exposures, -4,-2, 0, +2,+4 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 9: f13, 3 exposures, -2 2/3,-2/3, 0, +1 1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 12: f8, 3 exposures, 1/320sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
HDR is a Process, Not a Specific Look
Control Room #1 by atmtx
The Control Room by Van Sutherland
HDR, High Dynamic Range, photography has especially been popular these last several years. It tends to be a polarizing photography topic or technique that either people seem to like or dislike. Making broad generalizations, I find traditional photographers tend not to like it as much while the general public seems to enjoy it more. The point I wanted to make in this blog post is that HDR, while some equate it with a particular look, it really a process or technique. Some maybe surprised to learn that there isn’t one style or look to HDR but there are many variations. HDR photography is the technique of combining multiple images, usually 3 or more photographs taken at different exposures into a single blended image. This is usually done is post-processing though there are some new cameras and even the iPhone that creates HDRs in camera. How these images get combined is part of the skill and artistry and like anything else there are good example and not so good example of this photography technique.
If you have followed my blog or looked at my gallery, you probably know that I use HDR in a bunch of my photographs. While my HDR blending technique has changed a bit over these last couple of years, in general, I tend to have a light touch. I go for a more natural look that does not have super bright colors or heavy textures. This, of course, is my choice. Some choose to dial-up the HDR process to create an image that looks more fanciful. Neither style is correct or incorrect. This is Art after all and it really is up to the artist to execute in the style that they like. The people can decide what artistic execution they personally like better.
I recently went on a tour of the old Holly Street Power Plant, that I wrote about here. One of my fellow HDR photographer friends, Van Sutherland, and I ended up in the control room and shot the photographs above at the same time. He was standing next to me on my left. Although the angle and framing are slightly different, the lighting conditions where identical — it was very dark. I love how, given almost identical conditions, we came up with very different photographs. Much of the difference is due to the HDR processing. This shows how HDR is not a specific look but really a process that people can use to create a look they have in their head. Van does some spectacular HDR photography and I’ve long admired his work. You can see more examples of his work here, on his blog. He has honed his technique over the years to come up with his style. I have also developed a different style over the years. Two styles, very different, both HDR. So if you are already using HDR techniques yourself or want to get into it, I would encourage you to develop your own style. Remember, HDR is merely a process, a way to develop your own look. People who think all HDR looks the same may have not seen the variety that is out there.
A different kind of model shoot, wide with wild color
Michelle and 8, Doorway on 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Last Sunday, Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs fame, organized a massive photowalk during the 2011 SXSW conference here in Austin. Trey is most famous for being an HDR photographer and has a large following. The SXSW photowalk drew over 200 people and we all got together at the famous Driskill Hotel before descending on downtown Austin. My mind was firmly locked into doing wide angle HDR photographs. So with my Sigma 10-20 lens and tripod in hand, I was ready to both help by being one of the photo coaches as well as capturing a few shots along the way. I mainly viewed this event as a way to meet and catch up with friends. Well, quite unexpectedly, a few models also showed up at the event. The problem was I didn’t have any of my typical equipment for optimally shooting models. At around 9pm, after a fun and successful photowalk and capturing a few nice urban wide-angles, I was ready to head home. A photograph friend, Jason St. Peter, came up and asked if a few of the remaining photographers wanted to do a model shoot along the bars and nightlife around 6th street. I decided to tag along, not expecting to get any good shots, but to have some fun. I tried my best with the equipment I had and was pleasantly surprised with what I captured.
A wide-angle lens is not what I usually think of using to do portraits. I like to get in close with my Canon 70-200 or get a shallow DOF with the Canon 85mm f1.8, my two go to lenses for portraits. The Sigma 10-20 works great for landscapes and urban architecture, but portraits? Also, the Sigma starts at f4, so it does not work very well in darker conditions and the lighting on 6th street at night is non-optimal. Of course having a flash, on camera or off camera would also have worked buy alas, my flash was also removed from my camera bag to lighten the load before my urban landscape photography with Trey. Well, you make do with what you have and I decided to shoot the models with the wide-angle on tripod. Super wide-angle lenses create a lot of distortion near the edges and even beautiful models can be rendered into freaks of nature, if you don’t be careful. I made sure to place the models, particularly their faces towards the center of the frame where the distortions will be reduced. I cranked up the ISO to 1600 to keep of a balance of decent quality and faster shutter speeds. The Canon 7D, which I was using, is capable of much higher ISOs but I knew I could use ISO 1600 and get nice clean shots without applying additional noise reduction in post processing. Shutter speeds varied from 1/4 second to 1/40 so a tripod definitely helped. I also told the models to hold still as much as possible.
The photographs turned out to be more interesting and better than I expected. I expected more motion blur and lower quality. The wide-angle gave an entirely different look that somehow seems to fit into this urban night scene. While I believe they are not the type of portrait photographs a model will use on a portfolio, I think it makes for a neat, alternative look that breaks out of the typical portrait feel. The ambient colors, the blue of the bar or the yellow of the outside doorway also make for some jarring colors. But for me it all seems to work. I will still use my standby portrait lenses for the serious portrait sessions but what that night has taught me is that it’s good to experiment. It’s good to hit limitations and work around them. It’s good to do something different because sometimes it opens one’s eyes to new possibilities. So maybe I will carry around that wide-angle lens on my next portrait shoot because you never know.
Click here to see all my portraits. You can also click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
8 with Biker on 6th Street
After we left the Driskill Hotel, we found these bikes less than a block away. One of the bikers was more than happy to pose with Model 8 — as she likes to be called. This was shot on tripod at 1/6 of a second so I’m happy it came out as sharp as it is. Jason has a wireless flash setup but I just shot with ambient light. Next we headed to the Bat Bar a few doors down. Jason was leading the charge and he was not shy about asking permission to photograph the models on stage with the band. They seem to get into the photoshoot thing and I got some nice rocking scenes. With the band members and models moving on stage, I dropped the exposure down a stop to get the shutter up a bit to 1/40 of a second. I probably should have done that on the previous photo but did not think about it at the time.
Michelle and 8 at Bat Bar, 6th Street
Down 6th street a bit more and on the other side, the blue glow of the Pure Ultra Lounge beckoned us. Several of us photographers along with the models walked towards the back booths and did some shooting in the moody blue light. The night was still early and the place was still uncrowded. We moved around a bit and we also took some photographs at the glowing bar. The last location of the night was actually the first image posted at the top. As we backtracked towards the Driskill and our cars, we noticed this yellow doorway. After some shots around the doorway, we called it a night. The night was still young and the models were off to a party. I, however, headed home — satisfied — getting a bunch of urban landscapes as well as urban portraits.
8 and Michelle at Pure Ultra Lounge, 6th Street
8 and Michelle at Pure Ultra Lounge, 6th Street
Michelle at Pure Ultra Lounge, 6th Street
My Thought Process
Image 1: I took a bunch of photos as varying distances but I like this one where I show the light on top and the models tucked away in the recess. The distortion from the super wide-angle make them look even smaller and tucked tightly in the door way. The walls look longer and more tilted which, I think, adds some drama to the image. Since the models are in the middle of the frame, they are not adversely affected by wide angle distortion.
Image 2: Again the model and biker were place in the center of the frame. The distortion makes Model 8′s long legs look even longer. However, I think her pose and the leg distortion adds some neat elements to the image. I also love the biker’s expression, he seemed to be enjoying the photo shoot.
Image 3: I had some doubts that the scene onstage would come out but I was pleasantly surprised. The models and band members were moving around and with the dark bar lighting, I figured they would all turn out to be a blurry mess. As mentioned above, I did lower the exposure 1 stop which worked well exposure wise but also doubled the shutter speed to 1/40 of second. While there were some blurry images, I took enough photos that I had a choice of several sharp photos.
Image 4 – 6 : These were all shot at the Pure Ultra Lounge. The blue light was neat but a bit spooky. Nevertheless, I think they look neat. The lighting was also very dim but here I told the models to stay steady so unlike the scene on stage, these were a bit easier to capture.
[Note: Make sure to click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took these photographs with the Canon 7D in RAW with the Sigma 10-20mm lens. The camera was used on a tripod for maximum stability under slow shutter conditions Minimal post-processing done with Aperture 3, mainly selective sharpening and some brightening and adding a vignette.
Image 1: f4, 1/8 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Image 2: f4, 1/6 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Image 3: f4, 1/40 sec, -1 exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Image 4: f4, 1/15 sec, -2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Image 5: f4, 1/4 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Image 6: f4, 1/15 sec, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 10mm
Photo Memories of the Holly Street Power Plant
Holly Power Plant, Generators – Austin, Texas
Last week, 6 photographers and I had a rare opportunity to photograph the Holly Street Power Plant. My friend Michael Connell organized this photo opportunity with Austin Energy after an incident that he details here on his blog. The 570 megawatt Plant is located in a residential neighborhood in the east side of town, close to the downtown central business district. It has been operational since the 1960s, primarily using natural gas, and was a significant power source for Austin. Years of controversy and neighborhood opposition finally closed down the plant in 2007 and it is slated for demolition sometime this year. Notwithstanding its tumultuous history, I felt that this was a chance to document a major facility before it is torn down. I’m not a photojournalist, per say, but I felt a bit like one as I spent 2 hours capturing images from both the inside and outside of the facility. Two representatives from Austin Energy, Carlos Cordova and Bobby Gosey were gracious hosts and tour guides. They gave us the history and ins and out of the place and more importantly they were there to keep us safe. Ironically, there is no longer any power at the power plant. There was no electricity to for the lights so all the photographs you see on this post were taken in natural light.
We started our tour in the main generator room. This is the largest and most impressive room and I spend a good part of my time documenting this area. The group split up and while some climbed the exterior catwalks to the top levels of the plant, I decided to stay lower down. I photographed parts of the catwalks and stairs in the exterior skeleton but my interest in architecture pulled me back to the central core. Also, I don’t mind a bit of hight but I definitely did not feel comfortable climbing higher, to the top. With only a hand full of photographers in such as large facility, I felt like, at times, I had the place to myself. There was enough things to see that everyone appeared to focus on their own interest in photography. Some liked closeups of old dials and gauges, others like the rusted pipes and distortion. I had my super-wide lens and wanted to mainly capture the sweeping grandness of the place. There was a zen like silence and stillness to the once noisy plant. Combined with 5 years of dust, dirt and bird droppings, the place was a strange combination of the industrial and urban decay. My goal was the capture the enormity of the place, the neat industrial lines and the stillness that now permeates this once bustling place.
HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography was perfect for the Holly Power Plant and 5 of the 7 photographers on this tour are HDR aficionados. Without any electricity and man-made lighting, it was very dark in places. Long exposures on tripods along with multiple exposures works well for these situations. With HDR, the photographer captures 3 or more images at varying exposures and latter blends these images together with software. It does a great job capturing the range of light that is just not possible with standard photography. HDR also enhances textures so that dust and rust of the plant is accentuated and works well with feel of urban decay. So with tripod in hand, we set out to record bits of the old Holly Power Plant. What you see on this post is my look at this place. I will also add links at the bottom to the other photographers that were part of this most unusual photowalk.
It’s clear that after working 27 years at the Holly Street Plant, Bobby has mixed emotions. I hope these photographs will serve as a reminder of the place he knows well and will disappear in the not to distant future. My thanks to MIke for arranging this event and to the representatives of Austin Energy, Carlos and Bobby in particular, who were both friendly and professional. I feel honored and lucky to be able to preserve a slice of history.
Click here to see all my images from the Holly Street Power Plant. You can also click on each of the photos to see a larger version.
GE Generator
Holly Power Plant, Interior
Westinghouse
Generator Door
Control Panel
I started out photographing the main generator room. The photo as the top of the blog gives you an idea of the size of the place. The next 5 photos above are my attempts to capture the bits of the room that I found interesting. The supports on the walls and ceilings created great lines that, I thinks works well with the photographs. After my first pass in this room, I climb the stairs to the second level where the control room is located. The first photo in this post is the view from right outside the control room.
The control room was extremely dark. All of the light you see came from the band of windows that you see in the photograph. I mentioned to a fellow photographer that this room and the entire facility itself looks one of those old abandoned Soviet era installations. It’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to an old soviet style industrial complex.
Control Room #1
Exit a side door from the control room and you are outside in the superstructure of the plant. The next 3 photos are from this area. There are series of metal catwalks, stairs and an incredible array of valves, pipes and odd technical looking structures. I shot this level and went up another level. This area is probably about 40 or so feet from the ground. The exterior structure went considerably higher and Bobby enthusiastically leading a group of photographer up higher. Not being a fan of heights with open metal catwalks in particular, I decided to stay a bit longer in this area before returning inside.
I took a bunch more photographs of this place and may post more of them in a future, in a part 2.
Pipes
Corrosives
Catwalk
My Thought Process
Image 1: I wanted to capture a bird’s eye view of the entire generator room. This is about 2/3 the length of the room and was take just out side the control room on the second level catwalk.
Images 2 – 6: All of the scenes were taken in the generator room. In my intro, I mentioned how quiet the place was. The zen stillness put me in a mood to create simple images of this room. A lone control panel, A generator with an open door and a large blank wall. The HDR help me to capture the details and control the light in this enormous room. I really liked the leading lines created by the ceiling beams. I think they add lots of texture and interest to the photos.
Image 7: The control room was the most challenging to take. The room was extremely dark — much darker that the image would suggest. The only source of light were the front windows. I did a three exposure HDR but even at 30 seconds the image still came out dark. I did a 4th exposure in bulb mode where I kept the shutter open for 84 seconds. I later used this bulb exposure as part of the HDR. There is a bit of a ghostly feel to the room with the interesting light. Overall, I’m happy with the way this long exposure HDR came out.
Image 8 – 10 : I generally tend to do mildly processed HDRs but I do make exceptions based on the subject. These 3 photos were processed more aggressively than usual to emphasize the texture. The outside catwalk area was full of rusty old structures and shiny pipes. I knew HDR would make the old things look older and the shiny things look shinier. I think the HDR adds more of the industrial feel to these images. The last image, “Catwalk”, was an experiment where I used 6 photographs to create the HDR instead of my usual 3. I’m not sure if it helped but using additional images in a HDR at times makes the blending easier. These situations with pipes and background sky is always a challenge for HDR processing. Halos or bright areas around the structures near the clouds often results when creating HDRs. I did my best to get ride of these effects and I’m mostly satisfied with the results.
[Note: Make sure to click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took these photographs with the Canon 7D in RAW with the Sigma 10-20mm lens. The camera was used on a tripod for maximum stability and ease of HDR processing. I used Photomatix for HDR creation, Pixelmator for layer blending and Aperture 3 for finally sharpening, vignetting and burning and dodging effects.
Images 1,2,3,5,6,8,9: f13, 3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 4: f13, 2.5 secs, 0 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 7: f13, 4 exposures, -2, 0, +2 exposure compensation and 84 sec bulb exposure, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 10: f13, 6 exposures, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Photographs from my Photowalk mates
Here are some photographs taken by the other photographers that were part of this Holly Power Plant photo event.
Michael Connell on Flickr.
Michael Tuuk image 1 and image 2 on Flickr.
Van Sutherland Image 1 and image 2 from Exile Imaging. Van and I shot the control room at the same time. I love how two people can take almost an identical view of the same place and end up with two very different photographs. There is so much creativity and style differences with HDR processing. Compare Van’s processing with mine. Some people believe that there is only one kind of HDR processing. Obviously this is not true.
Dave Wilson image 1 and image 2 and image 3 on Dave Wilson Photography.
Here is Alex Suarez’s blog post with photographs from the event. Alex while knowledgeable in HDR, generally does not use the technique too often. Looks like he made an exception.
And Finally –tradewinds•> image 1 and image 2 on Flickr. As you can tell Tony has a very different style and does not do any HDR photography.
Hot Reds and Blue Neon at the Lucky Lounge
Lucky Lounge – Austin, Texas
If you have read some of my previous blog entries, you probably know that I go on frequent photowalks to downtown Austin. Luckily Austin has enough of a downtown core to have fun places to photograph, both inside and out. Our photowalk group also ends up in a lot of bars and clubs — not necessarily to drink but to take photographs. These establishments try their best to have an interesting and a unique atmosphere to attract guests and that usually means neat interior decor. They can get their look with cool lights, bright colors or unique architecture. There are many bars on the east side of Congress Avenue in and around 6th street, but there are also places worth visiting on the west side of town. The Lucky Lounge is located on west 5th Street on the north end of the warehouse district. Its been around for a while and has some great colors inside. Here is a quick visual tour.
The circular blue lights are in the front window right on 5th street. They contrast nicely with the interior which is primarily red. The image at the top of the post is the view from the front looking back into the main bar area. I try to travel light when going to these spots and not call attention to myself — a perfect use of my Sony NEX-5 and a small tripod, for maximum quality. I took these images before Christmas so the holiday lights give an extra sparkle to the already rich environment.
Lucky Lounge’s Window Neon
Lucky Lounge Bar
Lucky Lounge Stairs
My Thought Process
Image 1: Towards the front of the bar, there is a nice shiny red wall with a convenient small shelf, probably to use as a drink holder. It was the perfect place to set up my NEX-5 on a table top tripod. Catching the warm reds and reflections off the wall was my goal here. I used the candle in the foreground for a bit of interest and a source of additional reflections off the wall. The shelf and reflected light act as leading lines into the bar, which I believe pulls the viewer into the scene.
Image 2: The blue circular neon lights are a fun design element. The cool blue towards the front of the bar is a stark contrast to the hot red towards the back. The blue neon was the primary subject but I wanted to have a hint on the blue lit pool table as a foreground element. It also was a convenient to place my tripod camera combo directly on the table.
Image 3:The Lucky Lounge has a raised area right behind the bar where you can take in the place. It’s a fun place to people watch and see the action at the bar from an atypical vantage point. I wanted to catch the scene and get some motion blur of the crowds as they mingled. I used the red candle again in this shot to add interest and balance out the composition.
Image 4: The bar also has a small 2nd floor loft. This is the stairs looking down from the loft area. I liked the angles of the metal handrails as well as the dark shadows blending into the intense red lighting.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took these photographs with the Sony NEX-5 in RAW with the 16mm prime lens. I minimally post processed them using Aperture 3, sharpening, decreasing highlights and brightening the shadows.
Image 1: f8, 6 secs, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 2: f7.1, .8 sec, +2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 3: f10, 6 secs, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 4: f2.8, .6 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Color, Reflections and Drinks at the Soho Lounge
Bright Bar Lights – Austin, Texas
A few photographer friends and I get together every so often to go on photowalks. We pick a spot in Austin and we go around as a loosely knit group to find something interesting to photograph. These photowalks are part social and part photography. We enjoy each other’s company, share ideas and take photographs for a few hours. East 6th street in downtown Austin is one of the areas we frequent. It’s the best known entertainment district in Austin with 50+ bars, clubs and restaurants in a 7 block stretch between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35. It’s a great place for street photography and capturing the color and lights at night. I must admit thought that when we go to 6th street, we tend to do more socializing than photography. Still, we have a great time and my goal is to get several good shots per night.
The Soho Lounge is currently our favorite bar on 6th street. It occupies a prime area one block from the famous Driskill Hotel. The 6th street area has a bit of a split personality. Earlier in the evening, even on the weekends, many of the bars are not very crowded. They compete vigorously for business and have lower drink prices. Later at night, when all the college kids arrive, the area is packed, they close the street to vehicular traffic and the drink prices go up. This schedule works well for us older photographers. We get there just after dinner time. We get to shoot around the area when it is not packed and have a couple of inexpensive drinks. In the last few outings, the Soho Lounge had one dollar mixed well drinks until 11pm. Perfect! A bunch of us photographers get to shoot the colorful interior and socialize before the place is packed with the younger patrons.
Recently, I’ve been experimenting more with catching reflections of light and color off of various surfaces. One of my usual photowalk friends, Tony, has certainly been an influence. You can see is work on Flickr, where he goes by the name –tradewinds•>. Though his style and mine are different, there are elements of his style that I have incorporated into my images. These light reflections are part of it. I find that bars make nice subjects since they tend to have interesting decorations and lighting. Most tend to be dark and moody which only enhances the color and reflections. Here are a smattering of images from the Soho Lounge taken on a couple of different outings.
Reflections from the Bar – Austin, Texas
Multicolor Reflections, Soho Lounge – Austin, Texas
6th Street Bars – Austin, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: I took this photograph at the bar just before Christmas, hence the festive lights. I loved the glow of the holiday lighting as well as the reds and blue of the bar. I made sure to catch the reflections of these lights and their colors. The Sony NEX-5 was shot directly placed on the bar without using a tripod. The lower position gave me the best reflections.
Image 2: I liked the curve of the table and again the reflections bouncing off the surface. The empty dark area between the table and the bar, I believe, nicely adds to the image. I believe I took this one with a table top tripod. When trying to catch reflections, make sure to raise or lower your camera from the reflecting surface to get the greatest effect. The best angle and height of the camera will be different with every scene. Hand holding in this low light is either difficult or degrades the photograph since you need to use a higher ISO. I like to use a small tripod so that I can take the photo at ISO 200, which is the lowest ISO on the Sony.
Image 3: I caught a really nice red, blue and yellow light reflection off a black counter at the back of the bar. I focused on the surface and reflections which left the distant lights softly out of focus. I also tried focusing on the lights and had the reflections out of focus but that version did not work as well. I’ve noticed that the best focus point varies on the scene and your taste. Try taking the photograph both ways to see which you like better. I used a small aperture to make sure I get the entire counter in focus. At this close distance, a larger aperture will focus on a very shallow depth of field and I would have missed part of the counter’s texture. I also think the shadows and the negative space enhances this photograph.
Image 4: Finally, I included a shot from the outside of the bar. You can see the Soho Lounge sign completes with all the other bars for attention — there are a lot of bars on 6th street! I took this with a table top tripod place on the sidewalk, again to get the best quality and an interesting angle. If you follow my blog, you will noticed that I’ve used this lower vantage point quite a bit.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took these photographs with the Sony NEX-5 in RAW with the 16mm prime lens. I minimally post processed them using Aperture 3, sharpening, brightening and increasing color saturation.
Image 1: f8, 6 secs, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 2: f2.8, .5 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 3: f10, 8 secs, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Image 4: f6.3, .8 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Finding Artistry in a Rare Austin Snow
Snow Tracks #1 – Austin, Texas
We had a rare Austin snow event today. You can’t really call it a snow storm since it was only about an inch of snow. However, this is Austin, Texas and an inch of the white stuff can shut down the city. To the great joy of my kids, school was cancelled. I didn’t get any more sleep than a regular day, the kids where hankering to get out and play. I broke out the Canon 7D and decided to take some snow scenes of the house. Then when all the neighborhood kids started running around, I got some action shots of the impromptu snow battles. After everything settled down and the kids finished their first round of play, I decide to create a bit more artistic snow images. The sun was finally out and the snow was starting to disappear so I did a quick walk around the neighborhood to see what I can find.
I’ve blogged a lot about my Sony NEX-5 recently that it was nice to break out my “big” camera. It was fun using several lenses this morning. I started with the Sigma 10-20mm super wide-angle to capture the snow scenes around the house on tripod. It was dark and I did 1 minute long bulb exposures to capture the ambient light reflecting off the snow. Then I switched to the 35mm f2 to get some portraits of my kids in the snow, it was still early in the morning and I needed a fast lens with a big aperture. I used the 18-135 zoom to capture the kids and the dogs running around in the street. Finally I turned to my 50mm f1.4 to stimulate my artistic, creative side. Its been a while since I used this lens and the shallow depth of field was something I have missed while using the NEX-5.
I didn’t have a plan. I just walked around for about 30 minutes to see if I can capture some images of the neighborhood snow. It didn’t shoot much. Some images worked, others didn’t. The 3 presented on this blog post are my favorite artistic snow scenes. I converted them to black and white to, arguably enhance their artistic feel. I hope you like them.
Lone Tree – Austin, Texas
Snow Tracks #2 – Austin, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: You can tell the snow is thin and the tire tracks left these dark patterns against the asphalt. I liked the pattern of the tire tracks with the texture of ice and snow. It was hard to find a clean set of tracks since several cars and people have already passed through these streets. I found this branching design that seemed like it would work. I cropped the left side to eliminate some distractions and the black and white conversion further simplified and unified the image. It all about the texture and pattern. There was minimal post processing. Just some sharpening, some brightening the mid-tones and the crop.
Image 2: Down a the community park, I wanted to capture a broader scene of snow and nature. The park which is usually picturesque had some temporary construction fencing that prevented me from getting the sweeping vistas. I settled for this scene of trees. I liked the little mound of snow and the bark texture of the foreground tree. Unfortunately there is a lot of distractions from all the branches that surrounds this wooded area. I used post processing to burn (darken) and future blur the background trees to make them less distracting. The main tree was also dodged (brightened) to make it stand out. I cropped the left side to simply the composition. All post processing was done in Aperture 3.
Image 3: This image represents another kind of track, created by a child, and not a car. I think the image is interesting but my least favorite out of the 3 images. I probably should have found a bolder foot step imprint. Showing a path of steps might also work but it is certainly cliché. What makes this a bit different, perhaps, is the bits of grass in black that really stands outs against the white. I think there is a bit of softness and delicacy in this photograph compared to the first two. It may, however, arguably lack a strong focal point. A bit of an experiment, something different for me. I used a healing brush to reduce some of the distracting darker spots in the snow. The image was sharpened, the definition increased and a vignette was added.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
I took the photographs in RAW with the Canon 7D with the 50mm f1.4 lens. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I used the black and white conversion built into the Aperture to create these photographs. Post processing varies but is described above.
Image 1: f2.2, 1/2500 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Image 2: f2.2, 1/1250 sec, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Image 3: f2.2, 1/3200 sec, +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
A Magical Black and White from the Ordinary
Congress Avenue Light Streaks – Austin, Texas
Magical? Maybe, maybe not. I guess it’s up to you to decide, however, this photograph more than any other so far has convinced me of the merits of black and white photography. I am not going to abandon color for a pure monochrome existence but I’m enjoying the simplicity of this form of photography. The original image was a throwaway. Something I took, experimented with and almost rejected. I took several frames in the same spot and this one was the best, nevertheless, the image in color did not look compelling enough for me. Not good enough to use as my daily post on Flickr. On a whim, I did a black and white conversion. It looked promising. I did some more post-processing tweaks and I came up with something I liked. Feedback from this Flickr post was encouraging — many people also seem to like the image. I know the Flickr community has the nicest people and they tend to say nice things in general but there seemed to be more interest than usual for this image. That got me thinking. Why do I and some others like this photograph so much?
I analyzed the photograph more than usual. Why do I like the black and white version, while I was about to throw away the color image? Take a look at the original below — the same composition and framing, of course. The main problem with it in hindsight is that it is too busy — too colorful. There are white, yellow and red light streaks that dominate the picture. There is the blue sky and the yellow street lights — the bright street light in the top left corner is particularly distracting. Beyond the colors, there are all the details that in buildings, the windows, the parked cars that just seems to add noise and confusion to the frame. Now, take a look at the black and white version, again. With the lack of color, all the confusing lights blend together into a consistent white which greatly simplifies the photograph. The building details are also diminished as well as the other elements on the street. With this simplification, other elements become more noticeable. I particularly enjoy the light reflecting off the street and the street texture that it uncovers. The buildings become somewhat more abstract with varying geometric shapes that act as a background to the white light streaks. The entire character of the photograph has changed from a jumbled image of color to one of light, shadow, texture and geometric shapes. That’s why I think its works better in black and white.
Of course the photograph is far from perfect. I can think of several things that can improve this image. If the photograph was even simpler, it might be even more eye-catching. The branches on the left are distracting. The cars on the street add to the clutter underneath the light streak. And while the building details are diminished, I wonder how it would look if most or all the details were erased. Would having black geometric silhouettes make the image better? It may appear more abstract. Maybe that would be better or maybe just different.
What do you think?
Click on the images to see a larger version.
The Original out of the Camera
My Thought Process
I took several photographs from the same area. I moved my camera slightly to try to get the best composition. I wanted the light streaks and the street to act as leading lines that would direct the eye down into the photograph. I waned to highlight the tall building and make sure there was sort of a balance between the buildings and the trees on the left. The tall building called the Austonian is a luxury condominium and is the tallest structure in Austin. It has become the newest landmark and I wanted to prominently showcase it in my photograph.
Long exposure light trails are easy to do with a tripod. I usually use the camera’s self-timer to reduce camera shake even when using a tripod. Just pressing the shutter can introduce some shake. A two second delay with the self-timer ensures a clean shot. The exposure was only 8 seconds long which means I had to time when the traffic would pass through my frame. I wanted to get long light streaks and between the self timer and the speed of the traffic, there is a bit of guessing and re-tries required to get a decent light streak. The shape of the light streak itself is all luck — it all depends on the type of vehicle that passes through. From this low angle, it’s nice to get different size vehicles to create a more elaborate light pattern. The relatively uniform hight of cars makes a pure car based light streak boring. Luckily, in this photograph, a truck passed by which added the thin lines above the primary thick lines.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
The photograph was taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 with the 16mm kit lens. The photograph was post processed using Aperture 3 and I used built-in black and white conversion adjustment. The sharpness and definition were increased and I added a vignette and slightly increased contrast to add more shadow around the edges.
Image 1 & 2: f16, 8 secs, +1 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Color vs. Black and White, a Change in Emphasis
Single Flower – Austin, Texas
Single Flower in Black and White- Austin, Texas
Last Thursday, after an Austin SMUG (sponsored by SmugMug) photography lecture, I spent some time making photographs. The monthly lecture takes place as the AT&T Executive Conference Center on the University of Texas campus. The facility is part hotel and part lecture halls and is decorated in an upscale, tasteful corporate look. I had my trusty Sony NEX-5 and I wanted to capture some of the details of this place. Near the front desk there were some small round tables each with a single flower. I like the simplicity and I attempted to capture the zen minimalism of the design.
Each table was spot lit which warmly highlighted the pink flower and amber vase while the surrounding area was relatively dark. I framed the flower so that the background would remain dark and the light would fall off just beyond the flower. I was satisfied with the image I created and posted it to Flickr a couple of days ago. I really liked the warm color and how the pink of the flower and the amber glass seem to almost blend together to form a single complete object. Then today, just on a whim, I converted this image to black and white. The character of the photograph changed of course, but I still liked the image, but for different reasons. The bright white of the flower now decouples it from the supporting container, which now mostly blends into the background. The emphasis shifts from the warmth of the flower and vase to the geometric shape of the now almost levitating flower. I also think the mood of the images shifts from warmth and harmony to one of starkness where the flower becomes the star and everything else takes on a supporting role. Interesting that just the removal of color changes the image so much — at least for me and my interpretation. Perhaps, I’m over-analyzing the photographs but I’m taken by the difference an absence of color can create.
This little exercise also taught me that I should play more with black and white. I am generally attracted to color when creating my photographs but maybe experimenting with black and white, even in post processing, will train my brain to look at more shapes. I’ve attempted to incorporate more shadows and negative space into my exposures. Seeing beyond color and looking for shapes, I believe, can ultimately help strengthen my overall images whether they have color or not.
So which image do you like better?
Make sure to click on the photograph to see a larger version.
My Thought Process
Image 1: As I mentioned above, I was initially attracted by the color and warmth of the flower, vase and the setting. I wanted to emphasize the simplicity of the table centerpiece so I wanted to exclude all details from the background. When framing, I shifted my position to make sure I did not get any lights and reflections in the background. I also reduced the exposure to show more details of the flower and to make sure that the background will be as dark as possible. I like how the light on the table goes a bit past the flower and then drops off into total darkness while the well-lit flower nicely contrasts against the black. I also made sure the flower was not dead center in the frame. I used a small table top tripod to ensure maximum sharpness and highest quality. The tripod allowed me to shoot at ISO 200 at 1/10 of a second.
Image 2: This image was created totally in post processing using Aperture 3′s black and white setting.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
The photograph was taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 with the 18-55mm kit lens. Both photographs were post processed using Aperture 3. I used the black and white conversion built into the Aperture to create the second photograph. The sharpness and brightness were increased on both and the color saturation and vibrancy was increased on image 1.
Image 1: f4.5, 1/10 sec, -1 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
Image 1: f4.5, 1/10 sec, -1 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
Canon 7D, When Large Cameras are an Advantage
2010 Santa Pub Crawl – Austin, Texas
With all the recent blog posts and photographs from my Sony NEX-5, it may seem like I don’t use my Canon 7D anymore. Untrue. I still use and appreciate my large DSLR. While it’s true that I’ve used the NEX-5 a bit more since its new and fun, there is certainly a place in my tool chest for my large and powerful camera. I’ve been on two downtown photowalks recently and I took both my Canon 7D and the NEX-5 cameras. I use them for different purposes and generally I can switch between them adequately. The Sony is the camera I have fun with and shoot in a less structured, possibly more creative way. The Canon is my more serious, faster, higher quality camera. Because of its larger size and design, I believe my photographs are a bit more structured, less free-form with the larger 7D.
There are clear, obvious times I use my 7D. When I want to take high quality portraits, I have really nice lenses to do this. When I take my fast action sports shots, the 7D is clearly superior to the NEX-5. And finally, my “serious” landscapes, cityscapes and HDRs are still done on my 7D. The auto-bracketting works better for HDR and I have the nice Sigma 10-20mm lens to get a super-wide photograph. But I recently realized that there is another area were the 7D excels over say a smaller camera such as the NEX-5 and its only slightly related to image quality. About a week and half ago, I went downtown about an hour or so early, before the scheduled photowalk rendezvous time, to take some photographs of the Santa pub crawl. 2010 is the second annual Austin Santa pub crawl where a large group of people drink on 6th street dressed in Santa and other Christmas garb. I headed downtown with my gear in tow to hopefully get some fun Santa shots. The photographs on this page were taken on the same night as the images on my previous blog post, Street Photography with the Sony NEX-5. While I opined in that blog post that for street photography, a small camera such as a NEX-5, is a perfect candid picture-taking device, I would argue that the Canon 7D is a better camera for these Santa Pub images. Why is this? Well its all a matter of perception. For street photography, you want a small un-intrusive camera to blend in. I would argue that in these social settings, a big camera has the benefit of looking professional.
So I had my 7D, which is a fairly large DSLR — not quite as big as a Canon 1D or a Nikon D3 but it certainly looks more substantial than an smaller Canon Rebel series. I also had my 430EX external flash attached with an extra softbox mounted to the flash head. Altogether, the camera and attachments looked pretty big and “professional” to the partying Santas. After I got over my initial shyness, I found that many people were really open to having their photographs taken. In fact, many people posed in large groups and requested to have their photographs taken with this professional setup. If I used my Sony NEX-5, I think the dynamic will be quite different. I’m sure they will still be alright with having their picture taken but I’m not sure if they would come up and explicitly request a photograph. Of course this is all perception since I’m equally professional or non-professional with either camera. However its good to know that at certain events, having that big camera is a plus. I also experienced a similar situation when I shot at some music venues during the big SXSW (South by Southwest) music event that happens in Austin every March. Moving beyond people’s perception, there were certainly nice advantages of using a 7D over my NEX-5 for these kind of events. I have a powerful external flash that would run rings around the tiny accessory flash that comes with the NEX. I also have a faster focusing and overall faster camera to fire off many shots as I like in these social gatherings.
[View the rest of my candid photographs]
My Thought Process
There is not a lot of artistic merit to these photographs. They are candid event photographs that you find at wedding receptions and other dark, social situations. I’m happy with my softbox flash attachment. I think that its softened the direct flash shot a bit. Certainly off camera flash with a large softbox or umbrella would be nicer but I’m generally satisfied with what I got from this simple on camera flash setup.
Image 1 is, I believe, the most photographically interesting image because of the shallower depth of field (DOF). I brought my small 35mm f2 lens so that I could do shallow DOF flash photographs. These usually only work with single person portraits since the shallow DOF can only sharply focus on one person at a time. Having a group image with only one person in focus usually does not work too well. I like how in this first image, the face is in sharp focus and the rest of the body falls out of focus. I purposely stood on a chair to get this top down point of view.
Images 3 and 4 used a large aperture for a group shot but this worked since I was farther away from the subjects. The large aperture allowed me to use lower ISOs increase image quality. I did not use the softbox for image 4, so I dialed down the flash compensation to get a less harsh look.
Images 2 and 5 were taken indoors and close to the group of people so the aperture size was decreased. The ISO was bumped up high to get a faster shutter speed in a darker indoor location.
For group shots, I think a zoom lens with image stabilization will work a lot better. Generally, when I go to take event type photos, I use a lens with image stabilization which allows me to decrease the aperture size without increasing the ISO as much. This maximizes image quality. Since this Santa pub crawl was a fun, non-serious event, I decided to play around with a different lens. Make sure to click on an image to see a larger view.
Image Details
All of the photographs were taken in RAW with the Canon 7D with the 35mm f2 lens.. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I used an external flash with a soft box attached which might have slightly softened the direct flash.
Image 1: f2.5, 1/50 sec, -1 2/3 exposure compensation, +2/3 flash compensation, ISO 1600
Image 2: f5.6, 1/10 sec, -1 2/3 exposure compensation, +1/3 flash compensation, ISO 2500
Image 3: f2, 1/100 sec, -1 2/3 exposure compensation, +1/3 flash compensation, ISO 1600
Image 4: f2, 1/20 sec, -1 exposure compensation, -1 flash compensation, ISO 800
Image 5: f3.5, 1/25 sec, -2 exposure compensation, +1/3 flash compensation, ISO 2000
Street Photography with the Sony NEX-5
Two ATMs, 6th Street – Austin, Texas
One of the things that intrigued me about the Sony NEX-5 is the potential for street photography. Its compact size, the flip-up screen, high ISO capability and high image quality where all positives for a street shooting camera. Being the smallest and fastest lens, 16mm pancake lens is the obvious choice out of the currently available Sony E-mount lenses (Sony has 3 lens as of this writing). However, it is still not an ideal lens since the 16mm is very wide, the f2.8 aperture is not fast as it could be and the lens does not have image stabilization. Given these trade-offs, how would the NEX-5 work as a street photography camera, especially at night? I recently took it down to Austin’s 6th street entertainment district on a photowalk to find out.
I must admit, I have not been using the 16mm much with my new camera. The 18-55mm kit lens was getting all the action but for street shooting at night, the f3.5 – f5.6 aperture range makes it a bit slow. With its multitude of bars and night clubs and with an active street life, 6th street is a great place to do some people shooting. Because of its compact size, the Sony NEX-5 almost looks like a point and shoot. Even so, some of my photowalk buddies have commented how large the lens looks on the camera, despite using the smaller 16mm lens. On the street, I think it’s still small enough that it blends in and the average person would not suspect anything about the camera’s class leading performance. I initially found the 16mm (24mm equivalent considering the 1.5 crop factor) view challenging to use. You need to get in close enough to emphasize a main subject but get too close and people look distorted, especially towards the edges of the frame. For people, I like a range anywhere from 2 feet to about 8 feet. That is the challenge with this lens, even at 8 feet you are quite close to your subject, especially if it’s someone you don’t know. What makes this whole thing work is the fact the camera is small enough that it does not call attention to itself. Also with the flip-up LCD screen, you can shoot the camera chest or waist-high instead of putting it up to your face. This allows you to get closer. With an SLR, having big camera at face level attracts attention so photographers use longer lenses to stay further from their subjects. The NEX allows for a different style of shooting that works surprisingly well. A lot better than I thought. I’ve done street shooting with my Canon 7D with either a 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4 or 85mm f1.8. With these lenses, I could stay back a lot further, certainly more than 8 feet away, however, getting candid images is still a challenge. I believe the real key is the flip-up screen that allows free-form shooting. I would love to see Sony create a 40mm to 50mm equivalent lens with a large aperture (from f1.4 to f2), that would make the NEX a spectacular street camera. Even with the current 16mm lens, in many ways I find the NEX-5 superior to my 7D in street shooting. It can only improve from here.
The other concern I had with the 16mm lens is its lack of image stabilization. On 6th street, I had the ISO set at 800 – 3200. Even at f2.8, my shutter speed falls under 1/30 of a second at times. Image stabilization will still be very useful even with this lens. Since the lens is wide, a 1/30 second shutter should generally be adequate for a steady shot. However, shooting away from the face at arm’s length is not the most stable of poses. What really works well for me is adapting a small tripod to use as a brace against my body. I attach the camera, position the head so its is perpendicular to the tripod’s legs (bent at a 90 degree angle) and steady the tripod’s legs against my chest or hip. I use the LCD flipped up so that I can look down and compose my shot. In this configuration, I’ve successfully taken images as slow as 1/10 of a second. With such a slow shutter speed, often you get motion blur from the subject but at times I consider this a plus since a nicely done motion blur can add some interest to an image. There are many different mini-tripods and I’m sure many will work fine. I use a particularly solid Manfrotto 709B desk top tripod that I really enjoy.
The future of street photography with the Sony NEX-5 is looking very promising. Already with the 16mm f2.8 and my tripod trick, I’ve been able to take some decent night images. If Sony were to expand its lens collection with a normal view (40mm – 60mm), large aperture lens, it might become the ultimate camera for street photography. Make sure to click on the images to see a larger view.
[View the rest of my street photography]
Surprised on 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Women on the Corner, 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Mysterious Hand, 6th Street – Austin, Texas
Waiting on 7th Street – Austin, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: As I walked down the street, I noticed the symmetry of the two glowing ATM signs and the two people standing in front of them. I quickly framed the image with the subjects in the middle to emphasize the symmetry. I originally did a black and white conversion but decided I like the color version more especially with the glowing green neon signs.
Image 2: I was walking down the street and quickly shot this image. I captured an interesting, surprised look on the man by luck. The combination of his expression and the motion blur of the woman attracts me to this photograph.
Image 3: I notice these women hanging around on the corner texting and talk on her phone. Because of the wide-angle distortion, I generally try to capture people towards the middle of the frame. This is the only image out of this post that I added noise reduction with Topaz DeNoise. The darker exposure on this ISO 3200 made the noise more noticeable than in image 1, which as also taken at ISO 3200.
Image 4: These people were in line to get into a bar on 6th street. I really didn’t notice the hand when I took the photograph but I like how the hand just floats there while is owner is not in view. There is a bit of motion blur in this image but I like the colors and for me it nicely captures the feel of 6th street.
Image 5: The cold front was blowing in and this woman was bundled up waiting to cross the street. I like the lines on the street and the skyline in the background. To me it has the feel of an urban, night image.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
All of the photographs were taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 with the 16mm kit lens. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I used the black and white conversion built into the Aperture to create these photographs. The sharpness and brightness were increased and a slight vignette was added to darken the edges on images 1,2 and 4.
Image 1: f2.8, 1/30 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 3200 at 16mm
Image 2: f2.8, 1/25 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 800 at 16mm
Image 3: f2.8, 1/25 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 3200 at 16mm
Image 4: f2.8, 1/15 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 16mm
Image 5: f2.8, 1/30 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 16mm
Other Sony NEX-5 blog posts
Here are some other posts I made about the Sony NEX-5.
Is the DSLR’s Domination Coming to an End?
Sony NEX-5 High ISO Performance
The Perfect Small Camera Bag for the Sony NEX-5
Sony NEX-5: A New Angle on Photography
In Search of an EVIL Camera
When to Create Silhouettes Instead of HDRs
360 Bridge Silhouette – Austin, Texas
At first glance silhouettes and HDR (High Dynamic Range) photographs do not seem to have much in common. Silhouettes tend to have less dynamic range, so much so that part of the image appears black with no detail. HDRs, however, have higher apparent dynamic range since 3 or more images at different exposures are blended together. These blended photographs show lots of detail throughout the entire range — the dark areas are brightened while the brighter areas are toned down. But I would argue that deciding between creating a silhouette and a HDR are indeed related. Both techniques can be used to create interesting images under similar conditions where there is a wide range from bright areas to dark shadows. While HDRs may have a striking look, silhouettes, if done correctly can be equally compelling though with a more subtle, subdued look.
When I started out in urban landscapes, I was guilty of looking at every landscape photograph as an opportunity to do a HDR. High Dynamic Range photography is currently popular and I certainly have been influenced by this bright, colorful and detail enhancing technique. Over time, my HDR processing has gotten more and more subtle and I’ve started to move away from always using it. My goal now, even though I may not always achieve it, is to create interesting photographs, not to apply a predetermined technique. It’s this evolution in my photography that started my experimentation with silhouettes.
So when do I consider doing a silhouette? Many times it’s in similar conditions as when I consider doing an HDR — when there is a lot of dynamic range in the scene, so much so that one exposure can not adequately capture the entire light range. With HDRs I often think about enhancing detail and texture. With silhouettes, I look for great looking shapes that would look fantastic even if its details and texture are omitted. Concentrate on the outline of subject that you want to silhouette. It has to be distinctive or interesting enough to stand on its own. The background is also important. A cool background with a lot of color or texture can also add to the composition. However, it should be uncluttered so not to overpower the silhouette.
A silhouette is also a powerful vehicle to add abstractness to an image. A silhouette of a person, for example, makes that person abstract or generic. You don’t see any details so your imagination takes over and your mind can insert anyone into that image. You may even imagine that it is yourself in that scene. So a silhouette adds mystery and tickles the imagination. I believe an HDR has the opposite effect of making the scene visually “more real”. The odd thing is, sometimes your imagination can create a scene that is more real than a visually rich image. That is why a book may seem more detailed and rich than a movie. So if you want to insert a bit of mystery and possibly engage the viewer’s brain, a silhouette maybe a technique to consider.
Creating silhouettes are easy as long as the scene has enough dynamic range. Just set the exposure compensation down on the camera. This has the benefit of darkening the blacks of the silhouette as well as bring out the rich color and details of the background. On my photographs on this page, I’ve dialed down the exposure compensation anywhere from – 1 2/3 to -2 stops. Your exposure compensation will vary. Just make sure to look at the exposure of the background to see that is does not get too dark. You can click on the photographs to see a larger version.
Mission San Juan Silhouette – San Antonio, Texas
Trees Silhouette at Sunset – Austin, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: As I was waiting to take 4th of July firework photos from this famous bridge in Austin, I noticed the beautiful sunset. I also liked the curved shape of the bridge supports. I framed this image several different ways, changing where the arch of the bridge cuts through the frame. I also played with different exposures to get the silhouette I wanted. Without the colorful skies, the image would not look as compelling however a photograph with just the sky will lack focus and interest. I also believe that having detail in the steel structure would take away from the simplicity and shape of the bridge.
Image 2: Mission San Juan is the smallest and least impressive mission out of the 5 missions of San Antonio. The shape of the bell tower is the most notable feature of the church. Given the direction of the sun, I decided to capture a silhouette of the church façade. I purposely aligned the start of the roof line at the bottom left corner. I used the sun and clouds to balance the frame against the church silhouette. Lowering my exposure 2 stops allowed me to shoot directly into the sun and still capture the sun’s rays and the cloud details. I also tinted the sky bluish-purple to add some abstract interest. It’s a different type of image for me but I like the way it turned out.
Image 3: This image is an observation I made while I was leaving the office. The blue hour sky with the glow on the horizon looked great. I used the trees to add some foreground interest. The principle used here is very similar to image 1. Instead of the bridge support I used the tree details to add interest against the colorful sky.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
All of the photographs were post processed using Aperture 3. Saturation, brightness and sharpness was increased for image 1. I used the black and white conversion and monochrome tinting to change the sky in the mission photograph. The third image received minimal changes with just some sharpening.
Image 1: Canon 7D, f13, 1/13 sec, -2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 2: Canon 7D, f13, 1/1600 sec, -2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 20mm
Image 3: Sony NEX-5, f3.5, 1/80 sec, -1 2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 16mm
Sony NEX-5 High ISO Performance
Man Behind the Curtain – Austin, Texas
About two weeks ago, I went down to the University of Texas at Austin to attend a photography lecture. Four published Texas photographers presented their take on “Living in Texas”. While the lectures were interesting and informative, I also used it as an opportunity to test out the Sony NEX-5 that I recently purchased. Whenever I get a new tool such as a camera or lens, I tend to use it quite a bit to get a feel for it. I find out what I like and dislike about the product. I try to find what it does well and no so well so that I can see how it fits into my arsenal of photography tools. Inspired by a blog post by Steve Huff called Sony NEX-5 and 16mm at ISO 6400 on the Light Rail!, I also wanted to do some high ISO candid photographs with my NEX-5.
I’ve been impressed with what the Sony can do at high ISOs. It compares favorably with the quality of my Canon 7D. I have not done test photographs comparing the two cameras in the same scene at the same ISO, so my comments here are based more on the feel I get shooting the images. Sometimes I think the Canon does a better job but at other times the Sony seems better. I find that much of the noise in high ISO photographs are dependent upon the exposure and colors in the photograph. A high ISO image of a bright scene is usually going to look better than a photographs with a lot of shadows. The main take away for me is that the performance of the 7D and NEX-5 are similar enough that I don’t give a clear advantage to either camera. This in itself is the great thing about the Sony. It’s such a small camera but gives really great high ISO quality. This is not entirely surprising since the Sony and Canon both have image sensors that are about the same size. Actually with a 1.5 crop factor the Sony senor is a tad larger than the Canon that has a 1.6 crop factor.
The images were converted to black and white in post processing, for several reasons. First, regardless of the general quality, at ISO 3200 to 6400, the images are still going to be noisy. I figured the black and white along with the digital noise will give a more of a film look. I also have a growing appreciation for black and white and given the candid subjects, it feels more like an old-time documentary photograph. I’m sure I was also influenced by Steve Huff’s images in his blog which also showcased his photos originally in black and white. Unlike Steve though, I used the 18 – 55mm kit lens with my NEX instead of the 16mm lens. Be sure to click on the images to see a larger version.
[View my other candid photographs]
Audience, Watching – Austin, Texas
The Photography Lecture – Austin, Texas
Guarding the Door – Austin, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: This gentleman was setting up the Keynote (Apple’s version of PowerPoint) presentations for the lecturing photographers. The only light in the room was the projector displaying the photographs and this lamp that is right by the MacBook Pro laptop. I noticed him peaking around the corner during the presentation and I thought it would make an interesting photograph. This was taken at ISO 6400. I used Topaz DeNoise version 5 to reduce a bit of the noise in this image.
Image 2: I took several audience photos but this one is my favorite. I liked how the light from the projection screen highlighted the facial details of the man with the glasses. Also his glasses and haircut seems to have a retro quality that give this image more of a timeless feel. Also taken at ISO 6400 and noise reduced with Topaz DeNoise.
Image 3: I wanted to capture one of the photography lecturers. Here I decided to frame the speaker between two audience members. The kit lens gave a bit of a shallow depth of field so that I can focus on the lecturer and keep the audience members somewhat out of focus. This photograph was take at ISO 3200 without any further noise reduction. This was cropped into a 4 x 5 format to eliminate some distractions on the left side.
Image 4: This University of Texas student was keeping the door open to an adjoining room that contained after lecture refreshments. I framed this scene with her slightly off-center. I like how the other people in the frame, in front of her and behind her, seems to have a layering effect on the image. I think the motion blur of the other people adds to this effect. I would like this photograph even more if the others in the frame were even more motion blurred — this would highlight my intended subject even more. This was taken at ISO 1600 with no additional noise reduction.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
All of the photographs were taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 with the 18 – 55mm kit lens. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I used the black and white conversion built into the Aperture to create these photographs. The sharpness and brightness were increased and a slight vignette was added to darken the edges.
Image 1: f5, 1/40 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 6400 at 46mm
Image 2: f5.6, 1/5 sec, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 6400 at 55mm
Image 3: f4, 1/40 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 3200 at 18mm
Image 4: f3.5, 1/40 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 18mm
Other Sony NEX-5 blog posts
Here are some other posts I made about the Sony NEX-5.
Is the DSLR’s Domination Coming to an End?
Street Photography with the Sony NEX-5
Sony NEX-5 High ISO Performance
Sony NEX-5: A New Angle on Photography
In Search of an EVIL Camera
Emphasizing Texture with Black and White
Mission Concepcion Hallway – San Antonio, Texas
On a recent photo trip down to San Antonio, I was marveling at some old stone churches. The missions of San Antonio are well-known in this area and I always wanted to visit all five. Previously I had visited two of the five. The most famous being the Alamo, which I have been to many times. I’ve also seen the largest and grandest of the missions a couple of years ago on an Elementary School field trip which I chaperoned. This time, I wanted to do some serious architectural photography at four of the missions, which I described in my previous post called, A Photo Excursion to the San Antonio Missions. What is great about all of these structures are their rough, frontier architecture. Back in the 1730s when these missions were built, Texas was the northern boundary of the Spanish Colony in North America. Unlike Europe where they already had very large and polished churches and cathedrals, these frontier missions were rustic and primitive. I’ve discovered black and white photography can really add an interesting twist to these mission photographs.
While most people have taken color photographs for a while, especially with digital, there are some really nice artistic reasons why you might consider black and white photography. I am no expert in black and white — I have only dabbled with it from time to time. I mainly experiment with it to see if I create a more interesting image. Experts see in black and white, I usually don’t. On this trip to San Antonio, however, I was particularly pleased with the look of these old missions in black and white. Black and white photography emphasizes form, shape and texture. Since there is no color to “get in the way” the eye is directed to the shapes and textures of objects. Since these buildings have such wonderful stone textures, I thought it would be effective to emphasize such textures by removing the color. The great thing about digital is that you can take the photographs in color and then covert them to black and white in post processing. This is usually the preferred method since, even if you were originally intended to take b&w photos, post processing software allow you to add virtual filters to change the black and white tones, increase or decrease contrast and change sharpness and the level of texture. Some specialized software such as Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro even allow you to simulate your favorite film grain. For these photographs, I used Aperture 3 without Nik software to create my images.
Here is a sample of several black and white mission photographs. I think they have a very different feel from color photographs. Like the previous post, I took these images with two different cameras, my Canon 7D and the Sony NEX-5. Also, like the pervious post, the look and feel of the images from both cameras are the same — I don’t think you can tell which image was shot with a particular camera. As always, you can click on an image on my blog to see a larger version.
[View all of my images from the San Antonio Missions]
Side View of Mission Concepcion – San Antonio, Texas
Mission San Jose through Arch – San Antonio, Texas
Mission Concepcion Courtyard Detail – San Antonio, Texas
My Thought Process
Image 1: For wide-angle photographs, I usually like to have some interest in the foreground. The wider the angle, the larger the distortion that makes the front to back of the photograph seem longer. This was shot at 18mm (27mm at 35mm equivalent) so while it is not super-wide, the image still looked more powerful with the texture of the floor visible up front. To do this, I used my mini-tripod on my Sony NEX-5 camera and placed it very close to the floor. I also love how the light is spilling in from the archways to the right and emphasizing the texture of this rustic hallway.
Image 2: In this side view of Mission Concepcion, I was drawn to the wall texture (again) as well as that wonderful weathered door. I attempted to balance the wall and the towers on the right with the palm tree on the left. The sky was mostly overcast with splotches of light blue showing through. The sky lacked definition and was a distraction. By making this image black and white, I simplified the sky to a pure white, while emphasizing the wall and door textures. I also love how sharp and defined the palm tree looks. This was taken with my Canon 7D.
Image 3: This is one of my favorites. I used the arch to frame Mission San Jose. This was taken at the end of the day and from this angle, the sky was washed out especially on the left side. I could have used HDR techniques but I opted not to for this image with my Sony NEX-5 (I did end up doing a HDR with my Canon 7D however, I might show this in a future post). In addition, the exposure was bit dark (a mistake on my part since I had the exposure compensation dialed down). With post processing I was able to lighten the image and eliminate the bland sky by turning this image into black and white. I find that with B&W images, you can change exposures more aggressively and not effect the end product. In this case, I got the benefit of better exposure, less distracting skies and great stone textures by turning this image in a black and white.
Image 4: This is another image taken with the NEX-5. The low angle might have been a give-away. I used much of the same reasoning as image 1 to add texture and interest in the foreground by keeping the camera low. I think the low angle also makes the tower and walls a bit more imposing. The black and white worked here for a couple of reasons. Again, it emphasized the floor and wall textures but it also gave more definition to the clouds.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
All of the photographs were taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 and the Canon 7D. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I used the black and white conversion built into the Aperture to create these photographs. The sharpness and definition were increased and a slight vignette was added to darken the edges.
Image 1: Sony NEX-5, f10, 1/10 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
Image 2: Canon 7D, f13, 1/30 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 20mm
Image 3: Sony NEX-5, f16, 1/80 sec, -2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
Image 4: Sony NEX-5, f13, 1/160 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
A Photo Excursion to the San Antonio Missions
Mission San Jose and Canon 7D – San Antonio, Texas
This past Monday, I had the day off so I decided to go on a photography excursion to the San Antonio Missions. I figured that a weekday would be less crowded and it would be easier to take photographs. My friend Steven, also an avid photographer, joined me on the 1 1/2 hour drive down south from Austin. We arrived at our first destination around 10am and as hoped, the crowds were sparse so we enjoyed a nice leisurely day of photography. There are 5 missions in San Antonio of which the Alamo is the most famous and they are all run by the US National Park Service. We opted to bypass the Alamo and go directly to the less well-known missions. The Alamo is, I believe, the most visited site in Texas so it’s always very crowded and they do not allow any interior photography. First stop, Mission Concepcion, the closest mission to Austin after the Alamo.
I brought two cameras with me on this trip. The Canon 7D, my primary camera, had the Sigma 10-20mm super wide-angle lens mounted. I also brought my brand new Sony NEX-5 with the 18-55mm kit lens – nice and light, 2 cameras with only two lenses. The NEX-5 is so small, it’s about the size and weight of some of my Canon lenses. The great thing about having two cameras is that I don’t have to change any lenses in the field. It’s both quicker and easier to capture images and reduced the chance of getting dust into the camera. My general plan was to do my high-resolution, wide-angle photographs with my 7D and do a bit more free form stuff with the NEX-5. I was also planning to do some HDR photography with both cameras to see how they compare. For this reason, I actually brought two tripods. My tripod unit I use on my 7D as well as a tiny table-top tripod for the Sony.
I just finished processing all the photos from the trip and I’ve added a small sample from both cameras. I took loads of photographs and I’m pleased with the images that I have created. One thing I discovered, I can’t tell the difference between photographs I took with the 7D and the NEX-5. I found that I needed to go into my Aperture 3 library’s EXIF information to see which camera I used. Sure the 7D has higher resolution and more detail and the colors are a bit different however, after I post-process the images and view them in my library, they look about the same. This is great news since I effectively have a small second camera when I do my “serious” architecture and landscape photographs. I purchased the Sony primarily as my family camera, its nice to know that I can use it for so much more.
So here is a smattering of images I took that day. Try to guess which one was taken with the Canon or Sony. The first one, at the top, is an easy one to guess. As always, you can click on an image on my blog to see a larger version. The answers are at the very bottom of this blog post.
[View all of my images from the San Antonio Missions]
Interior Curves of Mission Concepcion – San Antonio, Texas
Mission Concepcion Towers – San Antonio, Texas
Mission Espada Entrance Detail – San Antonio, Texas
Arches of Mission San Jose – San Antonio, Texas
My Thought Process
I wanted to use both cameras to capture the many details of these old historic sites. There are so many rich details in these old structures that it was very enjoyable to make images. I wanted to capture the texture of the of the exterior stonework as well as the peaceful interiors. I also attempted to change my vantage point to add some variety to my images.
Image 1: The golden, evening light was perfect, casting its warm glow on Mission San Jose. I was taking photos with my 7D and thought it would be fun for the blog to include a behind the scenes look at my usual setup. Nothing too exciting but it nice to have context once in a while. My tripod, pictured above, is a carbon fiber Induro C014 with a Manfrotto 484RC2 head. The combined weight of both the tripod and head is just a touch over 3 pounds. It’s very light and I bring it almost everywhere with me. This setup is steady enough for my wide-angle lens but its is not robust enough to shoot long exposures with my Canon 70-200 F4. It works great for me right now since I wanted maximum portability and light weight. Photograph taken with my NEX-5.
Image 2: The interior of Mission Concepcion was beautiful and subdued. It was elegant and not gaudy. I wanted to capture the wonderful curves of the arches and dome. It might have been easy to guess that this was taken with my Canon 7D with a super-wide lens. A super-wide lens adds distortions that stretches the depth of the image. It emphasizes the curves and increases the dramatic look.
Image 3: The towers of Mission Concepcion were isolated using a longer zoom. I used the Sony NEX-5 to zoom in and reduce the visual clutter of the surrounding walls and trees. A wide-angle would give an entirely different look that I believe would not work as well in this case. I wanted to capture the two towers and the dome. I think it has an old world, almost European feel.
Image 4: The entrance of Mission Espada was my favorite. Its small, intimate scale along with the ornate shape and stone details were fantastic. I wanted to balance the simple cross with the doorway. Though this photograph could have been taken with either camera, it was taken with the Canon 7D.
Image 5: The arches of San Jose is my favorite part of this mission. It’s located on the backside of the church. We were there at the perfect time towards the end of the day with the golden light. I wanted to capture the repeating elements, the arches and the shadows. The lower point of view, I think, adds some more interest to this photograph. This is an HDR image taken with the Sony NEX-5. I used my small table-top tripod to take 3 photos with -2, 0 and +2 stop exposures. Unfortunately, since the Sony does not do a 2 stop bracket (it only does 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop), I manually adjusted the exposure after each shot.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
All of the photographs were taken in RAW with the Sony NEX-5 and the Canon 7D. There were post processed using Aperture 3. I mainly added sharpness, increased color saturation and changed the white balance. The HDR was created using my standard process of using Photomatix for image blending, Pixelmator for layer blending and Aperture 3 for final adjustments.
Image 1: Sony NEX-5, f4, 1/500 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 23mm
Image 2: Canon 7D, f13, 6 secs, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 3: Sony NEX-5, f13, 1/250 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 35mm
Image 4: Canon 7D, f13, 1/20 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 20mm
Image 5: Sony NEX-5, f11, 3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 18mm
San Antonio Airfest – The B-52 Bomber
B-52 Bomber – Airfest, San Antonio, Texas
Last Sunday, I headed down to San Antonio’s Lackland Airforce Base for the 2010 Airfest with a couple of photography friends. We started at 7:30 from Austin and got to the Air Force base early — early enough that I had some time to take some images of the planes on display before the air show started. From the start, I wanted to take two type of photographs. Of course I wanted to get action shots of the airshow itself and for this purpose I brought my Canon 70-200 F4 IS lens. I also wanted to take wide-angle images of the various aircraft with my Sigma 10-20 lens. I also brought a tripod for when I wanted to do some HDRs of the stationary planes.
This is the first time I attended an air show and I had a great time. I was told that as air shows goes this is a pretty large one. San Antonio is a big military city and they have these airshows every year, however, they alternate between two air bases, Lackland and Randolf. While there were planes of various sizes and vintages, I was draw to this beast of a plane displayed above. It’s the old B-52 bomber. While it’s not the newest technology in the US air fleet, what it lacked in futuristic styling, it made up it with its physical size. An Air Force officer mentioned that its wingspan was wider than its overall length. The image above was my attempt at capturing this huge aircraft.
I was also drawn to the engines on the B-52. The had a slender shape and nicely integrated into the wing. Instead of being on some huge pods that hung off the wing, these engines looked comparably sleek on this large plane. Here I have two views of the engines — from the font and the rear. I used the distortion of the wide-angle to make them larger and more dramatic. Wide-angle lenses makes the distance from front to back larger than normal so these engine look even more stretched out.
The first two image were taken as single RAW images. After looking at my histogram, the dynamic range was not too large so I figured a simple RAW file will give me enough range. No need to do a time-consuming HDR image, blending multiple exposure together, if I don’t need it. Also doing HDR images with cloudless skies can be very challenging. The HDR process tends to create halos, discolored white areas, around objects which, in my opinion, makes the image less desirable. As part of my normal HDR processing, I blend in one ore more of the original image into the final HDR image to get rid of any of these halo effects. These are more difficult to clean when there is an even blue, cloudless sky. For this reason, I happily do straight forward single RAW image, when I can.
In the 3rd image, the photo of the engine from the rear, I wasn’t so lucky. Because of the different light direction, there was increased dynamic range. A single RAW file would not be able to capture the entire range of detail. Therefore, I opted to do an HDR. Also I knew that an HDR will greatly enhance the shine of richness of the metallic finish that was visible from this angle. The clear blue skies made processing more of a challenge but I did my best to clean any obvious halos around the engine.
[View all of my images of the Air Show]
My Thought Process
I wanted to capture the enormity of the B-52 bomber. I also purposely used the distorting properties of a super wide-angle lens to make it seem even larger. In the first image, the front of the fuselage looks even longer and the wings seem to be pushed back even further away. The engines seem larger and longer also with this lens. The rear view of the engine has less wide-angle distortion since I zoomed in. In this case, I emphasized the engine detail, rather than its size. I wanted to capture the neat curvy details. My ultimate goal was to capture aspects of the plane that looks a bit different from the norm.
[Note: Click on the images for a larger version]
Image Details
The images were taken with a Canon 7D with the Sigma 10-20mm lens on a tripod. The first 2 images are single exposure RAWs which were processed with Aperture 3. I increased the color saturation, sharpened the image, lightened shadows and recovered some highlights. The 3rd image is a HDR image. My standard HDR software process includes Photomatix to merge the 3 images, Pixelmator to blend parts of the original image to the HDR image. And as a final step, I use Aperture 3 to sharpen and add color saturation.
Image 1: f13, 1/100 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 2: f13, 1/50 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 10mm
Image 3: f13, 3 exposures, -2, 0, +2 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 20mm
Celesta Harvey, Miss Rodeo Texas 2010
Celesta Harvey at the Texas Photo Festival – Smithville, TX
This past Sunday, I went to the 2nd Annual Texas Photo Festival in Smithville, TX. for nice relaxing afternoon of photography. I mentioned on my previous post about my first visit to the Texas Photo Festival. I had a great time last year and was looking forward to going again. This year, the festival had a special guest, the 2010 Miss Rodeo Texas, Celesta Harvey, who patiently posed as one of the many models in this small Texas town. Celesta was hard to miss with her bright red jacket and bright white smile. While the other models were people from around town, there was no mistaking Miss Rodeo Texas with her color coordinated outfit — even down to her white stetson hat with red trim.
How strange it must have felt for Celesta to have several dozen people, many with large cameras and long lens, taking pictures of her. While I’m sure she’s been at the center of attention, especially with her Miss Rodeo competition win. it’s a different thing to pose in front of photographers. Miss Harvey did a wonderful job and after some direction from the seasoned portrait photographers, she was a natural. The portrait session started around 2pm, so the harsh mid-day sun was tough even with some scrims setup to soften the light. I was equipped with my Canon 7D with my new favorite 70-200 F4 IS lens along with an external Canon flash. While I may not have the largest camera/lens combo in “photographer equipment arms race” (you know these photo festivals are a great place for photographers to show off their gear) I was happy with my setup. My gear was nice enough to get the images that I wanted without being too big and heavy to carry around.
Towards the end of the day, when most of the other photographers had either left or attended a Photoshop seminar, I was able to take my best photographs. By this time, the sun was softer and lower in the sky. There were more open shaded areas where I could get nicer images of Celesta. The temperature was a bit cooler and by this time and after hours of practice, Celesta was more relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera. Or perhaps she was just too tired to worry about posing as a model and her true self came shining through.
Celesta told me she is going to Las Vegas next to complete in the national Miss Rodeo competition. I wish her the best of luck to win the national title for herself and for the great State of Texas.
[View all of my portraits of Celesta Harvey]
My Thought Process
All of my portraits were done with one lens, the 70 – 200 F4 IS. This is a great lens and works wonderfully for portraits. Also, it’s not too heavy to carry around for many hours. Canon also makes F2.8 version of this lens, which are also very nice but they are significantly heavier. While I previously used the 85mm 1.8 Lens for portraits, this new zoom lens will probably be my new default portrait lens, especially places with decent light.
As you can see from my portraits, I have a tendency to get in really close to my subjects. I like tight shots and I rarely do full body portraits. I’m sure having such a long zoom is part of the reason but I’ve noticed with even shorter lens, I seem to prefer getting right up to people in my portraits. Only when I want to show the person in their environmental context do I back up to show more of the scene. For regular portraits, having a long zoom is great since facial features are flattened out and the backgrounds become nicely blurred. The person becomes the center of attention and background fades away.
Using some fill flash in these conditions can be very useful for several of reasons. If there is any harsh sun, the flash can be used to fill in some of the darker shadows. If the background is really bright, you can drop the exposure to darken the background while using the flash to add more light to the foreground. Finally, the flash adds some nice sparkle to the eyes by adding catch lights. Off camera flash is certainly preferable however all of Celesta’s images were done with flash directly on the camera’s hot shoe.
[Note: Click on the image for a larger version]
Image Details
The image was taken with a Canon 7D with the Canon EF 70 – 200 F4 IS lens. I also had a Canon 430EX flash directly on the camera’s hot shoe. The image above as well as all of Celesta’s images in the gallery were taken as 18MP JPEGs. I used Aperture to sharpen, add slight vignettes and warm up the image. I also used the brush feature in Aperture to add additional saturation and skin smoothing to just the face.
The image above was taken at f4, 1/320 sec , no exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 100mm. Fill flash was used with 0EV compensation.
A Small Town Photo Festival in Smithville, Texas
These photographs were taken at the 2009 Texas Photo Festival that took place a little more than a year ago in the small town of Smithville, Texas — about an hour south-east of Austin. 2009 was the inaugural year and I’m happy to say the event is on again in 2010, this coming Sunday on October 10th. Here is the website to this year’s photo festival. I had a wonderful time last year and I am also planning to go again this year. The Texas Photo Festival is organized by Doug Box and Randy Kerr, Austin area photographers specializing mainly in portraits. For this reason, the event has ample opportunity to take many portraits of different people in various settings. Last year, the event had various “sets” created outside for environmental portraits as well as an interior studio with lights and a backdrop. The sets included a marching band, cheerleaders, high school seniors, fire/rescue people, basically a mixture of everyday folk in a small town. From the website description, this year’s event also looks similar though some of the sets are different from last year.
If you are not interest in portraits, there are opportunities for other types of photography. At the event last year, I took many portraits but I also took HDR photographs of this neat old Texas town. Smithville is a place that is trying very hard to market its small town charms to artists, photographers and movie producers. A couple of movies have been film there and events including this Photo Festival are used to draw artists to the town. There are many old-style brick buildings with a lot of character — perfect material for HDR landscapes and architecture. I’m saving some of these architecture images for a future blog post but if you glance at my Flickr stream back in October 2009, you will see some of these images.
So if you are in the area and would like a fun afternoon of photography, you may want to head over to Smithville this Sunday. I’ll be there taking portraits and HDRs — a strange but satisfying combination.
My Thought Process
For these portraits, I used one of my favorite portrait lenses — the 85mm f1.8. I like the image quality of the lens and the large aperture allows me to blur out the background to reduce distractions.
Image 1: With the cheerleader, I didn’t shoot the image wide open (with the largest aperture) since I wanted to show the marching band in the background. I have enough blur to soften the background but still give enough context to the image.
Image 2: Hillary, the young woman in the purple top was shot with a larger aperture. Not completely wide open again, since I wanted her entire body to be in focus. At this distance, if I used f1.8, the maximum aperture, only part of her face will be in focus which is not the effect I was going for. This image was shot by a doorway, under a covered porch. The natural light worked well and in fact looked better than the studio lighting setup that they had in this building.
Image 3: Mr Davis is a long time resident of Smithville and was a wonderful person to photograph. You can tell that he has great character and facial features. I shot this with pretty much the same goal as my portrait of Hillary. Have a large enough aperture to blur the background but keep the entire person in focus.
Image Details
NOTE: You can click on the photographs to see a larger version.
The images were taken with a Canon 20D with the Canon 85 mm F1.8 lens. All 3 images were taken as 8MP JPEGs.
All of the images were sharpened a bit, added a slight vignette, slightly increased color saturation and brightened the mid-tones some using levels. I used Aperture 3 software to make these adjustments.
Image 1: f4.5, 1/500 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 85mm
Image 2 (L): f2.8, 1/320 sec , +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 800 at 85mm
Image 3 (R): f3.5, 1/1000 sec , +1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 200 at 85mm
A Yankee’s View of Texas
Spurs, Alamo Plaza – San Antonio, Texas
I once heard that a Yankee is anyone that lives north of you. Don’t know if this definition is true, but I certainly fit the more traditional definition of a Yankee — someone who comes from the North-East part of the United States. Not exactly New England but slightly south from New York. I now live in Austin, Texas. Have done so for almost 20 years now. That means I’ve now lived in Austin longer than I lived in New York. I still remember the pre-conceived visual images I had of Texas before I moved here. I think it’s common and I heard people living in other parts of the country and other parts of the world having similar views of Texas. So what are they? Well cowboys, guns, desert, cactus and tumbleweeds. Three weeks ago I went on a photowalk organized by Kirk Tuck in San Antonio. I’ve written a few blog posts about this event. What I noticed in my street photography, after the fact, is how my stereotypes of Texas came through loud and clear –even after 20 years in Texas. I’ve selected the 4 images that most fit my old notions of Texas that were taken at the photowalk. Do these fit your ideas of Texas?
[Click on the images to see a larger version]
Now to be clear, Texas is a modern, mostly urban state where most people live in generic American suburbs. Some would argue that Austin is not like the rest of Texas and while that maybe true, the typical stereotypes of Texas really don’t fit, at least anymore.
1. You don’t see many cowboys, except when you go to state fairs. And I’m told that many of these people dressed up as cowboys really aren’t cowboys. It more like a Halloween costume people put on to feel like they are cowboys. Big, huge, shiny buckles usually get in the way of real cowboy work so real cowboys don’t wear them. Since I’m a city slicker from New York, I’ll take their word for it. You also see a lot of big, shiny pickup trucks, but again these are not really working trucks that cowboys use.
2. While law enforcement certainly has guns, you don’t see regular people on the street packing heat. People are allowed to carry concealed weapons with a permit but you don’t see grandmas with 6 shooters out on the street.
3. In West Texas, which I have yet to visit, I’m told they have wide open desert with cactus and maybe tumbleweeds. In Central Texas where Austin and San Antonio are located, the landscape is quite different. Texas actually has very diverse landforms with, hills, mountains, beaches, forests, swaps as well as desert. When I first got to Austin, I was surprised how green it can be. We do have prickly pear cactus in this area but not the tall and skinny cactus depicted in cartoons. Those are Saguaro cactus which are found more in Arizona.
So enjoy the photos posted here on this blog entry but they are not the images of modern Texas. Just my stereotypes of Texas taken from my Yankee brain.
Stack of Hats, El Mercado – San Antonio, Texas
Pistol – San Antonio, Texas
Collection of Cacti – San Antonio, Texas
My Thought Process
I mentioned above that I didn’t consciously go out and take stereotypical images of Texas. I shot whatever I thought was interesting. I was in street shooting mode on this photowalk and I had only one lens, a 50mm F1.4 on my Canon 7D.
Image 1 and 3: Both the image of the spurs and the pistol were closeups of a costume worn by the same person. There was a hispanic cultural event that was taking place in front of the Alamo. This person was dressed up as an old Texas Ranger (sheriff). While I shot a more traditional portrait of the gentlemen, I really like the details of his outfit. I got up close to his boots and pistol and shot with a larger aperture to get a shallow DOF. I wanted the object to be in sharp focus but have the rest of the image be nicely out of focus.
Image 2: The stack of hats were being sold in front of a store in the El Mercado section of downtown San Antonio. El Mercado is a Mexican Marketplace with a great selection of mostly Mexican food and goods. I shot these hats from several different angles. I wanted to get the large stack of hats by themselves without any distractions of the other items that were being sold.
Image 4: The potted cacti was arranged in front of a store in La Villita, an artist community in downtown San Antonio. Again I used a large aperture to get just the tops of the cacti in focus. I thought it would be interesting to have the rest of the cacti out of focus. I think having multiple cacti fade out of focus makes the image a bit more interesting.
Image Details
The images were taken with a Canon 7D with the Canon 50mm f1.4 lens. All Images were taken as 18MP JPEGs. I used Apple’s Aperture 3 program to sharpen and add vignettes to all the photographs. I also added extra color saturation to the pistol and the cacti images.
Image 1: f1.8, 1/640 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Image 2: f1.6, 1/6400 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Image 3: f1.8, 1/640 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Image 4: f12.5, 1/320 sec, -1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
[View my entire San Antonio Street Photography Gallery]
Related Posts – selected by me
These are some other posts I made about this photowalk to San Antonio
Following Kirk Tuck to San Antonio
Overcoming the Fear of Photo Rejection
Brightening Your Subject to Direct the Eye
Following Kirk Tuck to San Antonio
Hats and Boots in San Antonio
This past Saturday, I had a neat opportunity to go shooting with a photographer that I admire. Kirk Tuck, an Austin based commercial and portrait photographer, was leading what he called an anti-workshop in San Antonio. He was going to have a casual downtown photowalk with some instructions and suggestions on street photography. I’ve followed Kirk’s Visual Science Lab blog for a while and wanted to get in on the fun. San Antonio is about 80 miles south of Austin and is worlds apart. It’s an older city with a richly detailed downtown with a strong Hispanic heritage. My Photographer friend Mike was nice enough to drive as we started our carpool at 6:35am from Austin. Kirk’s gathering was meeting at the world-famous Alamo at 8:30am. A good group of about 30 people gathered as Kirk started his talk. We started our photo tour around the Alamo as we wandered through the downtown streets of San Antonio, guided by suggestions and a map from Kirk. We met at Mi Tierra restaurant at 10:30 from some brunch and we ate again at 5:30 at another Mexican restaurant before going back to Austin. In the spirt of Kirk’s photowalk, I only brought one lens, my 50mm f1.4 lens, with me on this trip. The 50 is a bit long on a cropped frame camera but I still think it can work nicely for street shooting–especially as it gets dark.
[View my entire San Antonio Street Photography Gallery]
My Thought Process
On the plaza, in front of the Alamo, there was a Hispanic cultural event. There were people dressed in some old Texas Ranger outfits and other historic garb. The photograph above was taken of two girls that we set to dance at the cultural event. As I took photographs of the girls, I notice how they both held their hats in a similar way. They were both wearing beautiful matching dresses with wonderful detail. I decide to get down low and get an image of their hats, outfit and boots. I wasn’t concerned about getting their entire outfit. Just enough to give a flavor of the dresses and their culture. The stonework also nicely complements the outfit and though you can’t tell, the wall behind the girls is of the Alamo. I usually shoot my 50mm close to wide open (as large an aperture as possible, low F number) but I closed the aperture down a bit so that both girls will be in focus.
Image Details
The images was taken with a Canon 7D with a 50 mm f1.4 lens as a 18MP JPEG. Post processing in Apple’s Aperture 3 program included some sharpening, adding a slight vignette and increasing color saturation.
Taken at: f4, 1/1000 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100 at 50mm
Abstract Agaves of SoCo
Abstract Agave 1
In the SoCo (South Congress) area of Austin, located just south of downtown, there are newly created trendy stores and restaurants. What was once, not too long ago, a seedy area has been reborn into a designer and family friendly destination. I’ve been there several times on photowalks with my photography friends. Instead of the typical plants, the sidewalk plantings, especially near Motel San José, are these wonderful agaves. Agaves are succulents from Mexico, also found in Texas and the southwest.
There are many forms of Agaves but they all tend to be very spiny and have a strong architectural quality. The grey-green color on some varieties look very simple and strongly defined which, I believe, nicely compliment modern architecture.
All 3 images were taken on the same day back in early April. I’ve taken Agave images before but this time, I wanted to do closeups and get an abstract feel. I used my 35mm f2.0 lens and wanted to get a nice shallow DOF. This was one of my first outings with my new (at the time) Canon 7D. I was very pleased with the sharpness of the images over my previous cameras. I’m wondering if the newer autofocus system on the 7D does a better job at fine and precise focusing. With this new camera, I have found a new-found appreciation for the old 35mm F2 lens.
Abstract Agave 2
Abstract Agave 3
My Thought Process
Image 1: I really like the grey-green of this agave. I wanted to focus on the texture near the purple-ish spines and have them run diagonally through the image.
Image 2: I shot this image looking down into the plant. I focused on the red spines and with a large aperture, I wanted a shallow DOF that would blur the image as it went deep into the leaf.
Image 3: This image was also taken looking down into the plant. The white edges and lines are the attraction here and I wanted to create a nice pattern of lines on a field of green. I decreased the aperture a bit so that more of the lines will be in focus.
Image Details
The 3 images were taken with a Canon 7D and Canon 35mm f2.0 prime lens. Taken as a 8MP JPEG.
Post processing in Apple’s Aperture 3 program included some sharpening, added some color saturation and a slight vignette, and creating the square crop.
Image 1: f2, 1/320 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100, 35mm
Image 2: f2, 1/60 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100, 35mm
Image 3: f3.2, 1/60 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100, 35mm
Austin Fashion Week 2010
Austin Fashion Week – Bollywood Nights – Backstage
All this week, Austin is having its 2nd annual Austin Fashion Week. The fashion week is a series of events hosted mainly at salons, stores and clubs throughout Austin. They showcase, clothing designers, makeup artists, models and even photographers. I decided to go downtown on Monday to several of the events to see if I could get some interesting portraits and candids. I also went to several fashion week events last year and had a great time. The venues are typically dark with fast paced movement so I find it a fun challenge to get decent images under these conditions. I ended up attending 4 events that evening, though I spent the bulk of the time at two of the larger fashion shows. All of these events were on the west side of town so it was quick and easy to get to them by car. Luckily because it was a Monday, parking was easier to find.
The first large event I attended was the “Bollywood Nights” event at the Jose Luis Salon. The whole thing was themed around Bollywood, which is an informal term used for the Indian Film Industry. They had Indian Hors d’œuvres, Bollywood music and the western (non-Indian) models in sari inspired clothing. The salon was a nicely sized, upscale with a long stage setup with VIP seating. On stage, they had two chairs setup at either end where the models would get their hair styled very quickly up on stage. The hair styling lasted 5 – 10 minutes so It was neat to see these people transformed very quickly. During the event there must have been around 5 pairs of models with these quick on stage hair transformation so that were ample opportunity to shoot. [View my entire Austin Fashion Week Gallery]
All along the stage, wherever there was room, about 15 or so photographers jockeyed for position to grab their shots. Some had professional gear with remote triggers and large off camera lights. Others seemed like me, amateur photographers taking images for fun or as a side business. Of course the audience also had their point and shoot cameras. With all the flashes going off and photographers running around, it was kind of fun. It felt like a small-scale version of what some of the larger fashion shows must be like on New York, Milan or Paris.
Austin Fashion Week – Bollywood Nights – Runway
I find it a challenge to decide which lenses to bring to these events. You don’t know what the venues look like, or where you will be positioned and the what the lighting conditions are like. I decided to bring 3 lenses, my general purpose 18-135 zoom, a 50mm f1.4 prime and an 85mm f1.8 prime. I wanted to have the fast prime lenses with me for the darker conditions. The zoom along with my external flash gave me the flexibility to frame without moving around.
The image right above (2nd image on this page) was taken with the 18-135 lens. The ceiling was relatively low and white, so I was able to bounce my flash off the ceiling. While the salon was decently lit, I still shot at ISO 1600 and with the bounce flash. The zoom range was nice though I tended to shoot wider with this lens to get a feel of the stage and the crowds. The exposures were a bit dark at times and I wasn’t too thrilled with the look of the closeups. I decided to switch to my 85mm f/1.8 prime lens. The 85mm is one of my favorites for portraits. With its large aperture it is great for lower light conditions. As long as I can zoom with my feet, it works wonderfully. Luckily there was enough space to move around a bit to frame the shots. The lighting was mostly even so shooting on manual exposure mode was not too difficult. Images with and without flash looked about the same by the stage however when I went to the backstage area, I needed the extra light from the bounce flash. I got some of my favorite images backstage, away from the crowds, including the 1st image at the top of the page.
Austin Fashion Week – Hair Affair Fashion Show – Runway
The second large event was a completely different environment from the first. It was held in the warehouse district in downtown Austin in a night club. It was young, very crowded with loud dance music. While the first salon was upscale with an older audience, this dance club was understandably young and energetic. The room was very large with really high black ceilings–I wont be able to bounce the flash off the ceiling here! Given how dark and large the room was, I would have to hit the models directly with flash, which usually does not make great photographs. I took a few shots with my 18-135 and direct flash but was not too excited by the results. I decide to use my 50mm f1.4 prime with and without flash to see if I can get more exciting images. I was on manual exposure again to ensure I have a decent shutter speed. Because the lighting conditions changed so much here, it was a real challenge to get a good exposure. I started out with a higher ISO but lowered it after deciding to add a small bit of direct flash. It took a bit of fussing around, but I got an exposure that worked most of the time. I was constantly looking at the histograms and highlight alert warning to make sure I remained in the ball park. Since I shot so many images, I used JPEG to save space. I didn’t have the latitude of RAW to make post processing exposure adjustments. The show itself was more like a traditional fashion show with the model strutting down the stage one by one. Each model sporting an increasing elaborate and strange hairdo.
The 3rd image on this page, taken at the Phoenix Austin night club maybe my favorite of the night. It has a lot of shadows but I think the right amount of light to give a nice feel of the place. You can see the details of the model and make out the photographers in the crowds. The bright light on the right side is actually a flash from another photographer. A bit of luck that, I believe, makes the image even more interesting. The last image was taken at the end of the show when all the models came up on stage. The various level of lighting on the model’s faces was interesting to me, including the backlighting effects.
Austin Fashion Week – Hair Affair Fashion Show – Curtain Call
My Thought Process
Image 1: After shooting at the runway for a while, I wanted to get out of the crowed and find a different angle. I made it back near the “backstage” area and shot the models waiting around. This image maybe my favorite from the Bollywood event.
Image 2: The wide-angle gives a nice view of the audience and the stage. I waited for the models to be close to each other and facing backward towards the photographers.
Image 3: While the Phoenix Austin night club was a challenging place to shoot, I’m happy with the way the images came out. This one is my favorite of the night and I think has a more artistic and moody feel. Lots of shadows and the right amount of highlights made for a more mysterious image.
Image 4: The backlit hair and different light levels makes this similar in feel to image 3. I like the models’ expression as they take their final “curtain call” at the end of the show.
Image Details
The images were taken with a Canon 7D as 18MP JPEGs.
Additional post processing in Apple’s Aperture 3 program included some sharpening, color correction and increased color saturation. I lightened some of the images, especially from the night club.
Image 1: f1.8, 1/200 sec,-1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 85mm with bounce flash
Image 2: f3.5, 1/200 sec, -1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1600 at 18mm with bounce flash
Image 3: f1.8, 1/160 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 320 at 50mm, no flash
Image 4: f1.4, 1/125 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 500 at 50mm, no flash
Finding Patterns and Geometry in Downtown Austin
Ornate vs. Simple
I recently did a blog post on finding architectural abstracts in downtown Austin. This post, in many ways, is a continuation on the same theme. While the blog post mentioned above talked about small architectural details, this post looks at the buildings as a whole. I have an interest in architecture and since the architects work hard to make interesting designs, I try to find neat patterns and contrasts in these building facades.
These images were taken on a downtown photowalk where I usually try to take only a minimal amount of gear. All three of these images were taken with a small 35mm F2 prime (non-zoom) lens. Some people say, that using a non-zooming lens helps to improve photography composition skills. Not sure if this is true for everyone but it does seem to help me see details. As mentioned in a previous post, bringing only one small lens has the added benefit of allowing me to travel light. The 35mm lens on my Canon 7D is equivalent to 56mm in 35mm equivalents. This allows for a field of view similar to the normal human vision.
The first image is a study in texture contrast and also architectural contrast. The two buildings probably are separated with 100 years of development. Which do you like better, the old and grand or the new and towering? The next image is of the W Hotel Construction with an adjoining parking structure. The building on the left is an apartment building that is not part of the W Construction. The last image is of the 360 Condos at sunset. The golden color is from the setting sun and with some added color saturation. This condo building is currently the second tallest structure in Austin.
Some more building facades.
Condo Geometry
Gold and Blue
My Thought Process
Image 1: I liked the detailed façade of this old building. It had a stately feel and a nice human scale, not towering over people like the new skyscrapers. The new building pictured in the background is across the street. I thought the two buildings would contrast nicely not only in photographic texture but also a nice contrast in architecture.
Image 2: I was drawn to the silver metallic look and the geometric square and rectangular shape of the building and windows. The image actually combines 3 different buildings. It was put on a tilt to add interest. The silver and blue façade nicely matched the blue skies.
Image 3: This image was a study in color contrast between the blues of the window and sky and the golden light of sunset. I also liked how the windows and terraces formed a nice repeating pattern.
Image Details
The 3 images were taken with a Canon 7D and Canon 35mm f2.0 prime lens. Taken as a 8MP JPEG.
Post processing in Apple’s Aperture 3 program included some sharpening, added some color saturation and a slight vignette, and creating the square crop.
Image 1: f3.2, 1/640 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100
Image 2: f10, 1/80 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100
Image 3: f2, 1/1000 sec, no exposure compensation, ISO 100
Why Austin is Cool – Big Circle Tx
Big Circle Tx at 121 Bar, Austin, TX
A couple of weeks ago, I was on a photowalk with several friends (the same night I took this image of the Congress Avenue Bridge). As we walked north on Brazos street in downtown Austin around 10:30 at night, I noticed a bar with a live music performance by an open window. Thinking that it might be a neat photo opportunity, we started to take photographs through this open window. Just then a guy came out of the bar and headed straight for us. I was expecting him to say no photographs but was pleasantly surprised. He encouraged the four of us to come inside and shoot the band.
121 Bar Location
The 121 Bar was small but nicely sized to host the group of 5 musicians. There was a fun, lively group of people dancing and swinging to the folk-rock music. It turned out there there were several other people with cameras and some video gear recording the performance. The band that was playing is called Big Circle Tx and they sounded great. Check out their myspace page if you like to hear a sample of their music and find out more about the band. As I enjoyed the music and shot the photographs, I was thinking how cool it is to be in Austin. To actually be invited to take photographs, instead of being denied access.
I had my 50mm F1.4 lens on my camera from the street shooting I was doing just before I entered the bar. This lens has a very large maximum aperture (lens opening) so its a great lens to use in low light areas. I shot a few images and focused on the lead singer, Carol Turner. The lens allowed me to blur the other band members while I can have Carol in sharp focus. The image below is one of my favorites. The lead singer, who is the subject of my photograph, stands out since she is in sharp focus. We still get the context of the image with the out of focus band members but there is less ambiguity as to the intended subject.
Lead Singer, Carol Turner
I also had my super wide-angle Sigma 10-20 lens with me, that I typically use for my urban landscapes. I wanted to get a low and wide shot of the entire band and stage with the wide-angle. I was hoping to create a dramatic image from this low vantage point. The first image on this post is an example of the image I captured with this technique. For these wide images, I put the camera on a tripod, low and close to the floor. I next thought it might be neat to do a wide-angle with some motion blur of the band during their performance. I dropped the ISO down to 800 to slow down the shutter and get the side benefit of getting a higher quality image. The image below is my favorite motion blur image shot at a slow 1/5 of a second shutter speed. It usually takes me several tries get the right amount of blur but I’m happy with the way this one came out. Motion blur shots can be interesting since, I believe, they give a nice sense of movement. Too much blur and you no longer see the subjects so you need the “right amount” as judged by the photographer to get the intended effect. The camera also needs to be on a tripod or steady surface to keep most of details in sharp focus while you have the other details with the motion blur. In this case, you can see that the stage and background are sharp but the band members have that blur effect.
Big Circle Tx with Motion Blur
Finally, after enough wide-angle images, I switched back to my 50mm lens and did some closeups of the lead singer. As usually the case in these bars, the light was dim so I had to crank up the sensitivity on my camera (increased the ISO value) to get decently sharp images. Since my wide-angle does not have a large aperture, I needed to really increase the ISO setting quite high to get the images I wanted (between ISO 2500 to 3200). Once I switched back to the 50mm, I brought my ISO down to a decent 1250. I also hand held my images that I took with the 50mm lens so it allows me the free-form flexibility to move around to get the framing I liked. Tripods are nice for stability but tend to be a pain in the neck when you want to move around quickly.
Close Up on Carol Turner
I was only at the bar for about 20 minutes. The band was wrapping up and I need to get home at a reasonable time on this Wednesday night photowalk. It was a great way to finish up an enjoyable photography evening. I have more photographs from Big Circle Tx in my Performances Gallery on my Portfolio. I have much larger images on my portfolio page and if you are interested, you can even purchase prints and or downloads of Big Circle Tx.
My Thought Process
Image 1: I wanted to get a nice sharp wide angle of the band and stage. I stayed low on the floor and shot upward on a tripod.
Image 2: The 50mm with a large aperture setting allowed my to do selective focus on the lead singer. I wanted to show the other band members but have them out of focus.
Image 3: I wanted to get a sense of movement so I purposely slowed down the shutter to get some motion blur. I could have slowed the shutter but decreasing the aperture size but I wanted to get a higher quality image so I lowered the ISO value instead.
Image 4: The lead singer showed some great expression during her performance. I wanted to do a closeup and hopefully get a nice energetic expression.
Image Details
The images were taken with a Canon 7D with both the Canon 50mm 1.4 and the Sigma 10-20mm. Images were taken at 18MP in RAW and JPEG.
Post processing in Apple’s Aperture 3 program included some sharpening. Also applied additional noise reduction on the RAW images using Topaz Denoise 5.0
Image 1: f4.5, 1/25 sec, -2/3 expose compensation, ISO 3200 at 11mm
Image 2: f1.4, 1/200 sec, -1/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1250 at 50mm
Image 3: f4.5, 1/5 sec, -2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 800 at 10mm
Image 4: f1.6, 1/250 sec, -2/3 exposure compensation, ISO 1250 at 50mm
