Party in the Streets

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/3.5 at 1/6
ISO 200

This is another shot I got one night during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The city was in the middle of a nonstop party that lasted the full length of the games.

After shooting at Robson Square I made my way to Granville Street where these guys were entertaining passersby. I put my SB600 on my camera and set it to TTL.

My camera was in manual mode set to a slow shutter speed. My goal was to capture the movement of the crowd and the musicians. The flash froze the subject but the slow shutter speed allowed some blur.

Olympic Evening at Robson Square

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Tamron 10 - 24
f/4.5 at 0.4 seconds
ISO 100

Every night at 9:30 during the 2010 Winter Games there has been a small fireworks and laser light show. I thought I better try to shoot it at least once before the end of the games.

It was pretty crowded that night. I am glad I got there early to claim a location to shoot from. I shot in manual mode. The pictures with fireworks were not the best of the bunch. I do like this shot snapped just after a few bursts of fire. I like the coloured lights but wish I had just a little more light on the spectators in the foreground.

Flames and Flare

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/5.6 at 1/8
ISO 100

I wanted to get a shot of the Olympic Cauldron so I headed downtown today on my bike dragging all of my camera gear. I get there and the place is packed with people all trying to get the same picture.

Until late this week you couldn't even get a picture because the flame was behind a fence and the fence was covered so you couldn't see through it. After a lot of complaints VANOC removed the cover from the fence and cut a six slit along a section about 30 feet long.

The slit was quite high and I had to put my tripod at full extension including the goose neck. At that height I had to be on my tiptoes to even see through the viewfinder. People were bumping into me and in turn my tripod constantly. I remained at the fence hogging a spot for at least a half hour.

As I was shooting I noticed I was getting lens flare. I used Photoshop to lessen the effect but it can still be seen. I am not sure what I could have done to eliminate the flare. I had no option to change my point of view. I did find through bracketing that the flare was most obvious when the lens was wide open and less severe when I closed it down. Anybody have any advice on how I could have controlled it better?

Wait For the Right Moment

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/6.3 at 1/200
ISO 200

This bobsled was put downtown near the Art Gallery for people to pose in and take pictures during the Olympic games. Most people were doing the typical look at the camera and smile thing.

I took a few shots but no one had done anything interesting. I watched and patiently waited. Then after doing the usual pose for their parents and just before these young boys exited the sled, they did this pose for a second or two. Luckily I was looking through the lens and was able to snap a shot.

Once again I used a flash mounted on a bracket with a 1/2 CTO gel to warm the light slightly. Without the fill-flash the faces of the kids would not have been as well lit. The flash is subtle to the point where many people will not notice it.

Chinese New Year Celebration

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/13 at 1/80
ISO 200

I went out last Sunday to take pictures of things related to the Olympic games that are going on right now. It also happened to be the day when there was a celebration for the Chinese New Year (year of the tiger). I was a little late and the parade had already ended but there was still lots of people hanging around and music being played.

I had my camera on a strap around my neck. I had my flash connected to it via an SC17 cable and mounted on a bracket with a Lumiquest ProMax mini softbox. The nice thing about a set up like this that although it is bulky, most people look at you and assume you are a professional photographer and don't mind you taking their picture. This is just one of many photos of people I got that day.

Harry Winston Jerome

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/8 at 0.3
ISO 2oo

I went down to Stanley Park to try to get pictures of the Olympic Ring lights located on a barge in the harbor. I have passed by this statue of Harry Jerome many times but have never taken any pictures. He was a celebrated Olympian which made it fitting for me to get a picture given the theme of the day.

I put my camera on a tripod and set the self timer to ten seconds. I used my SB 600 speedlight off-camera. I would trip the shutter to start the timer then position myself with the flash to camera right. The built-in flash on my D200 controlled the SB 600 telling it when to fire. I am very pleased with the results.

Happening Behind

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/13 at 1/2500
ISO 200

The sky was not really this color. In fact, it was pale almost white. However, I wanted it to appear like there was a sunset happening behind these trees. To do this I simply adjusted the white balance to 9000 kelvin and set the tint to +148 on the slider in Camera Raw. I'm not sure if it is convincing or not. What do you think?

Sun and Wire

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/14 at 1/200
ISO 100

What does the sun and this hydro tower have in common? They both are involved in the transmission of energy. I like including the sun in my photographs. Sometimes I include it simply because it's there. In this case I included it because it has a connection to the theme of this photograph, energy.

The Birds

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/5.6 at 1/100
ISO 200

I took this shot about 20 minutes after the picture from the previous posting. The sun had gone down and all the orange in the sky was reduced to blue. I decided to continued on with the silhouette technique.

The area that I found myself in has a large population of crows that were settling in for the evening. I wanted to capture large masses of them but could not find a good vantage point. I decided to focus in on another hydro pole and a small grouping.

The main elements in this photo are line and shape. The lines draw the viewers attention to the birds and the shapes are all recognizable.

Untitled

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/8 at 1/250
ISO 200

Not sure what title to give this photograph. I was driving home from PoCo around 5:00 pm and the sky started to look interesting. I got off the highway and parked the car as soon as I could.

Unfortunately there wasn't much of interest around to use as a foreground subject so these trees and hydro pole had to do. There was nothing complicated about the exposure. I metered for the sky which reduced the foreground subjects to a silhouette.

The lesson here might be to always have your camera close at hand. You never know when you will encounter something interesting. After I took this shot, I took a few more pictures near by as well all of which I wouldn't have taken if I didn't have my gear in the trunk of the car.

Car Light Trails 2

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/4.5 at 1/4
f/18 at 15 seconds
ISO 400

This was taken from the same overpass as the image in the previous posting but I am facing east instead of west. At a glance this photo looks pretty much the same as the previous one in terms of the technique.

The difference between the two photos is that the first one is a straightforward single shot long exposure while this one is a two-shot multiple exposure. I can't remember the order but I think I did the first exposure at 1/4 of a second to try to capture the actual cars not just their light trails.

Although you can see them if you look close, they are not as visible as I had hoped. Then I opened the shutter a second time for about 15 seconds to produce the long trails of light. I am definitely happy with the final results. I love the deep blue colour of the early evening sky.

Once again I think this is a successful experiment that I should play with a little more.

Car Light Trails 1

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/22 at 15 seconds
ISO 100

I thought I would continue with some night photography. On my way home tonight I got off the highway and made my way to an overpass. Luckily this one had a sidewalk so it was OK for me to be there with my tripod and camera gear.

I shot this on Auto white balance but in post I switched it to tungsten. I was in manual exposure mode and I closed the lens down to get as long an exposure as possible. For this shot the shutter was open for a full 15 seconds which allowed many cars to pass and leave their mark in the photograph.

This shot was pretty straightforward. Tomorrow I will present another where I did something a little different.

Two Years Ago Today

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/11 at 6 seconds
ISO 100

This is my first attempt at using layer masks in Photoshop. The photo on the left was taken tonight while the photo on the right of the same scene was taken exactly two years ago.

Although I did not do a great job at matching the two photos the idea of doing a sort of time lapse composite like this is interesting. If I had used the same lens and stood in exactly the same spot it would have been easier to line up the two pictures.

The two photos wouldn't need to be taken two years apart either. They could simply be contrasting seasons, day versus night , or sunshine and stormy weather.

Lurking in the Shadows

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 24 - 105
f/4.5 at 2 seconds
ISO 100

This shot was taken a couple of nights ago. I have taken pictures of these metal sculptures in daylight but this was the first time tried to do it at night. I chose to use a speedlight off-camera on a stand to my right. I was not that satisfied with the picture. It was missing something. I got a little crazy and started using the self-timer and put myself into the picture. I still didn't like it so I got the idea to stand in front of the flash but not in the frame. This produced the picture above.

Night Light

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 24 - 105
f/5.6 at 8 seconds
ISO 100

I went out last night after dinner to take a some pictures. It was a nice night, calm and dry. I ended up at Science World. I thought I might see the Olympic Ring lights on a barge but I couldn't see them. I did get this view that I thought was worth a shot or two.

Although you can change the white balance on a digital camera, in a scene like this with a mix of different types of light what do you set your white balance for? Tungsten, Florescent?

I decided to throw an FLD filter on the lens to balance for florescent light and leave the WB on automatic. This produced a very warm rendition of the scene that was rich in browns. I then decided to change the white balance in post to tungsten and that cooled things down to produce photo I included above which is much more true to life.

Physical Graffiti

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/8 1/90
ISO 100

Nothing technical to talk about here here. Being that this is a generally flat surface my f8 aperture should have been enough to get me the details and ISO 100 gets me the least amount of digital noise.

I have stated before that I seem to have an interest in graffiti. I also seem to have an interest in doors. I don't think I am the only photographer who has a fascination for this subject matter. However, each of our motivations may be different. It may require a little reflection to understand mine.

Summer Night Crowd

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/5.6 at 1/15
ISO 400

Once again to me this does not look like a photograph. I used similar camera settings to the last photograph that I posted but it produced much different results.

I liked this photo enough to submit it in Photo Life's annual contest.

Zombie Walk

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 18 - 70
f/5.6 at 1/16
ISO 400

Sometimes pictures happen by accident or at least almost by accident. I was walking through the CNE one evening and thought I would shoot some slow shutter speed, hand held shots as I went.

I upped my ISO to 400 so that the exposures wouldn't be too long. Some of the shots still came out too blurry. This one on the other hand is not. But the blur in this picture has given it a quality different from photograph where you freeze the action. It almost appears like a painting and not a photograph.

I especially like the two people in the foreground on the left. If you have been reading my blog at all you already know that this painterly quality pleases me.

Portrait Location Search

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Tamron 10 - 24
f/8 at 1/125
ISO 100

I took this picture simply as a record of a possible location for future shooting. I was lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny winter day. I specifically went to this location to decide whether it had possibilities for a photo shoot. My conclusion is YES.

The building behind me is abandoned. The door is locked with a rusty chain and padlock. As you can see from the leaves on the steps, no one goes into this rather large and beautiful building anymore. I got there just in time to get some interesting light and snapped a couple of pics before the sun disappeared from the pillars in the background.

There is another large building on this property that is not used anymore either. However, when I passed by it today it was surrounded by film-crew trucks. Obviously I am not the only person who recognizes the photogenic qualities this place has to offer. They are luckier than me however because they have access inside the buildings. I don't. I will keep this place a secret for now.

Forklift Fotography

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Nikon 28 - 105
f/4 at 0.3s
ISO 100

This shot was a little tricky. I wanted to shoot something where I work. It is a warehouse environment with only florescent lighting.

I decided I wanted an action shot with me on the forklift. I used gaffer's tape to fix a tripod to the top of the cage that protects the driver and I used a Manfrotto clamp to mount my SB-600 to the mast.

I set the WB to florescent and I put a green gel on the flash. I shot in manual mode and chose a slow shutter speed to get some blur in the background. The self timer was set at 5 seconds. I would trigger the timer then start driving and five seconds later the shutter would release and I would have a shot.

Then I put a 3/4 CTO warming gel on the flash as well. My hope was that the green gel would correct for the florescent ambient light and the CTO gel would add some warmth to me the subject of the shot. I don't think it worked as I had hoped. In fact my skin tone is rather pale.

However, I did get the blur in the background that I wanted.