Night photography from the front door in San Antonio
The first stop on a recent trip to Texas that was purely for leisure (no photo work!) was to San Antonio. The Airbbnb was actually walking distance to the Alamodome, which is also where I first really tested out the new Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master lens I had just received a few days before. This is the kind of photography I used to do quite often when I lived in Tokyo, because architecture to photograph at night was like here, just a short walk outside my own front door. The Alamodome was totally deserted this evening, but fortunately, someone left the lights on. I was super impressed with the performance of the new 24mm lens, which was good, because it was the only lens I brought on the Texas trip!
Thanks to Jessica’s curiosity about the curious and the website Atlas Obscura, on a recent weekend trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico, we drove up a picturesque road to the United World College, checked in at the visitor’s center, and were handed a key card to The Dwan Light Sanctuary. This is a peaceful temple of sorts that uses architecture and prism widows to create a visual interior landscape of geometric design. I found it quite the unique space as my eye was drawn to both the architecture of the building itself, and the scattered light falling on its walls. This is a hidden gem of tranquility deep in northern New Mexico.
I used to get to make architecture photos a lot, actually, when teaching DSLR photography lessons in Florida. I would meet my students in downtown St. Petersburg or Tampa where there are both tall office buildings and fancy skyscraper condos too. So i found myself in downtown ABQ last Friday evening and realized, I have not seen a view like this before so pointed my Nikon with 50mm lens on up toward this interesting building.
I had the pleasure and creative challenge of photographing the beautiful Inn of the Anasazi in historic downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. Each room, each space was full of architectural features, design touches, and soft light. The challenge was capturing that existing atmosphere with the right additional off camera lighting to show off the room or space such that is shows well in a photo, but maintains the tranquil and warm feel I had standing there. From the library, to the wine cellar, to the lobby, all throughout this inn I kept finding more and more incredible rooms to photograph using the flambient technique. Thank you very much to the staff of the Inn of the Anasazi for making this long shoot go very smoothly!
I have explored many haikyo (abandoned places) around the world, but I have never photographed an event in one before! Likewise, if you have been to the Rail Yards Market before, maybe you have never seen the Rail Yards of Albuquerque quite like this either! Inside the massive hangar, even seating for 180 people looks small. That is what I discovered photographing the 2018 TapIntoABQ event for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
Kiki and I suddenly left Florida one Saturday night in early November. I had long been wanting to do it, but with such things sometimes they just happen all of a sudden due to the sudden rising of circumstances. We did have a destination though when setting out -- Iowa. To get there it brought us through a few U.S. landmarks that I had never been to before. One of them was Gateway Arch in St. Louis. This will be the first post in a series called Westward Bound.
Using a long exposure and converting to black & white to create a nature and architecture shot
I am often teaching 1-on-1 photography lessons in downtown St. Petersburg and have personally photographed almost everything there is around that area. For my students, this is good because I can show them all my favorite spots. For me to make an image of some interest for an oft photographed place, sometimes I need to spice up the image. So for the above shot I went off axis, used a long exposure to blow out the sky, and then finally converted it to black & white using an infrared filter. I also tried to combine nature and archicture in one image. These are all photograpy tips to try for when you are at a place you have photographed a lot before, but still want to try and come away with something new.
Let me know what you do to spice up photos of places you have shot in many times before.
