Thursday, February 28, 2008

Under the Overpass

San Diego’s roadways…


A simple shoot on a photowalk I went on recently revealed to me a few things I should take into account before I go on a shoot of this nature… Low-light shooting is hard enough when you are at a place where you don’t have any firm footing, you are worried about dropping a lens you just switched out, and you have to deal with on-coming traffic! This is easily something I wouldn't advise anyone to do to get a good angle – no matter how buttery the composition is…

Bus winking

| The Winking Bus | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I sat there trying to capture some long dof-friendly shots and traffic blows right by me at what had to be a million miles an hour or something… I QUICKLY jumped back behind the “safety” of the rail guard – but in my defense – I was standing on a legal sidewalk... I just don't think it is a good idea to have your face stuffed in a viewfinder while traffic is blowing by you five feet from your back…

Street Light

| Public Utilities Port | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I am a natural light enthusiast – which proves to be a challenge when you are shooting nearly a half an hour after sunset… At any rate…I like what the last shot and the next shot caught…

Under the Bridge Parking Lot

| Post Sunset Parking Lot | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

Capturing that was difficult to do with my kit 18-70 3.5 glass, but I still believe that my work with the simple equipment will lead me to a more rich experience WHEN I do pick up the right body and all the appropriate glass for every situation…

Under the Bridge

| Under the Overpass | Old Town | San Diego, CA |

I struggled for a while with this last picture in color… and then I finally hit myself in the head and said – there are a ton of different lighting tones in it – go back to your roots fool! I flipped the switch and it appeared almost exactly how I wanted it… okay, maybe the foreground is suffering from a bit of over exposure, but I like it…I could have set up the tripod, bracketed, and then blended with photoshop… and we can talk for days about all the technical rules that I break, but hey, at the end of the day – the question really is – did you capture what you wanted to capture? My photographic goal in the shot - less is more, simple is best, flaws are actually character in disguise, and go with what you got…

6 comments:

Unknown said...

When did you take these?

Daniel Galang Photography said...

just took em on the day before they were posted.. just did a quick shoot - wanted to give some things a try...

Hella Modes! said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Heidi said...

awesome. when will you be coming the the yay to do my photoshoot? =) and bring my roomie with you! i miss you both.

afs said...

Daniel, hi! Thank you so much for your kind words! You're a pretty fabulous photog, yourself! :) I LOVE the bus photo! headlight starbursts are HARD! (i always end up getting mine by pure accident :) )

What kind of photography do you like best? Photojournalistic?

Daniel Galang Photography said...

Thanks Amanda! the starburst in that shot is though my prime lens - i think it happens when i bump the aperture down to something small (i think this one was f5.6 on a 50mm f1.4 prime) but i could be totally wrong - hey, i would be lying if i told you i planned the whole thing! sometimes those serendipitous moments are the best..