This blog provides a resource to record what I learn about photography as I practice and read about it.
Should my tastes in photography align with those of other photographers? Apparently, no. Here are my 3 most favorited photos on 500px.com:
Why does everyone love night shots? I would not consider these my "best" photos by any measure other than that they might be the most visually appealing night shots I have taken.
Here is an example of a photo I tend to favor. And the best part is that I didn't edit it! That's rare.
There is no connection. Paris is not at all like Crater Lake in Oregon. Although, both places do contain a deeply pure concentration of substance. At Crater Lake, that substance is water. In Paris, it's [food, elitism, French].
My connection is vacation. I visited Paris from April 29 to May 8 and Crater Lake (and Ashland, OR) this past Memorial Day weekend.
Of course there is no perfect photo. But if my experience with 500px.com is any indication, the steps to make one might read something like this:
Optional tweaks are to:
Making these tweaks have produced my most popular photos on 500px.com and taken formerly so-so shots to saturated stardom!
That said, now that I see the pattern, I'm bored. My most popular photo, of a turbine engine in a field in downtown Prattville, AL, feels, if you will, kind of like eating cotton candy or Jelly Belly's because the levels of HDR-like Clarity and Vibrance/Saturation leave a saccharine taste in my mouth. Looking at it feels like eating a piece of chocolate that has just more sugar than it needs, preventing me from enjoying the delicious cocoa. I'm obviously hungry, but the point remains that this formula, while great fun implementing, is old hat to me now and I can't wait to try out some new tweaks!
Living close to a big city like San Francisco provides with so many creative possibilities for photographers. From its distinctive architecture to its constant tourist activity, one will never lack for visual inspiration.
I have lived in the Bay Area since late 2002 but have only been taking advantage of San Francisco's visual wonders since 2008, with the iPhone 3G. Now I take at least a photo a week, just because it's really hard to miss the opportunities that hit you without warning as you, for example, go out for lunch.
Below is a link to some of the photos of San Francisco I have taken more recently with Nikon cameras. I started with a Nikon 1 J1 and then got a D5100. As you can see, I tend to snap photos of architecture and people. I try not to bother anyone, though, which is hard because people can be so interesting!
