As I was walking with my friend Elijah in San Diego, I decided to stop in the middle of the street and take a picture of the on coming traffic. At night, the car lights can add an additional dimension to the scene and in this shot it gives you a sense that they are coming at you (technically they were) but in reality I was safe because of the light.
As my skills as a photographer have improved, I find my self looking at the world around me differently. For example, this weekend I was in Chicago for a street photography workshop given by Steve Huff. We were all standing at Crown Fountain in Millennium Park taking pictures and this couple were having their pictures taken by a professional photographer. As I stood and watched, I looked down and liked the reflection of the couple, photographer and background. Therefore, instead of taking a picture the couple I decided to focus on the reflection.
Often, photographers are attempting to find symmetry or patterns within their environment that would be eye catching. This picture is a great example.
I was standing in the airport waiting to get on one of the trains and noticed the adjacent train sitting there. I noticed the ceiling tiles, train doors, windows, floor tiles, and even the trash can all had a similar linear pattern. I felt this would be a great place to focus on the train and hope that a subject would walk through. Fortunately, I got lucky. This man carrying a piece of paper walked right where I wanted him. I love that I caught him in mid stride because his front leg, back foot, upper torso, and paper all became symmetric with the environment. By focusing on the train, I was able to blur the subject so the viewer could get a sense of motion.
This past week I’ve been in San Diego teaching. It’s always enjoying going to this meeting because I get the opportunity to assist in teaching future surgical podiatrists. Unlike some conferences I go to, where many of the participants are there to get their CME’s (continuing medical education), these participants (residents) are eager to learn and try to grasp as much information we can give to them. I also enjoy seeing colleagues of mine who are some of the best foot and ankle surgeons in the country.
Unfortunately, even though I get to travel for these meetings I typically don’t get much time to explore, thus there are not many picture opportunities. Fortunately, last year when flying to San Diego I happen to sit next to an airline pilot, Elijah Nicolas. He and I have very similar interests and I think we spent the entire 3 hours trying to one up each other in our knowledge of technology related stuff. Since then, we have kept in contact and I had the opportunity to meet up with him for dinner last night and a quick tour of some of the popular places in downtown San Diego. Elijah has a blog,elijahnicolas.com, if you have time please visit it. Thanks Elijah for a great time and good luck in your triathlon today.
Elijah drove me to Balboa Park to see if I could find any interesting picture opportunities. The area is very cultural and has many beautiful buildings and museums, hopefully I can return some day. As we were walking towards a large fountain in the park, a couple just happened to be standing there and both decided to show their affection for one another. It immediately made me think of my wife and daughter who I haven’t seen for 4 days. I can’t wait to get home and show both of them affection. Here is a picture of that “moment” I was speaking of.
I thought today I would show a before and after picture taken in Chicago using Nik Software Silver Efex Pro 2 for post processing. All my pictures that become black and white are processed through Silver Efex Pro. I’ve been using it since the first version. The second version is far better because it has more control sliders and has “U point” technology. “U point” is unique to Nik Software programs because it allows you to edit only certain parts or colors of your picture instead of making global changes. I highly recommend the software if you are going to be making black and white pictures.
This picture was taken with my M9. I was hoping to get a since of motion with the car. I was able to get this by making sure the rest of the scene was in focus. The initial color picture is boring, changing to black and white and adding some vignetting makes it much more interesting.
As I mentioned yesterday, I really enjoyed the Leica Akademie workshop and also meeting with the participants. Here are a few more pics taken during the workshop. The first one I was trying to focus in on the gal sitting but I think what makes the picture is actually the 3 people all trying to take pictures. The second pic was taken while waiting to cross the street. I usually wouldn’t find this interesting but I like how the crowd of people are so content in looking in different directions. The last pic was taken of a guy near our hotel street corner who was attempting to entertain the crowd with his multiple musical abilities.
This past Saturday I participated in the Leica Akademie M9 Shooting Experience Chicago. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve never met any other Leica users with the exception of speaking to Steve Huff, of Steve Huff Photo (the online Leica guru!). Simply put, the experience was wonderful and could not have expected a better instructor, Leica representative, and professional photographer to guide us through the workshop. What made the meeting even more pleasurable was interacting with the other participants.
Before the workshop started, I ran into Steve Huff of Steve Huff Photo. I frequent his site daily and have spoke to him via email a few times and felt he was a terrific guy and after meeting him, it confirmed it. He reviews many Leica products and other cameras, mostly rangefinders and micro 4/3’s. He does a phenomenal job and I have to give him credit for guiding me towards Leica.
The workshop started out by meeting the Leica representative Matt Butzow and the instructor Tom Smith. Next, Matt allowed us to pick a Leica lens to borrow (I wanted to get my hand on the noctilux but unfortunately someone got to it before me).
Next, Tom Smith spent the remaining morning going through the ins and outs of the Leica M9 system. All I can say is that I learned a tremendous amount and if you are new to Leica or rangefinders in general this is a must do class!
After lunch, Carlos Javier Ortiz presented on his work as a photojournalist and showed many of his ongoing projects. Some of these projects are listed on his website. He also showed us a current project that him and other photojournalist around the country are participating in. The project is called “Facing Change” (I don’t consider it politically motivated) and you can see pictures from the project here.
Next we went out and shot for about an hour. Like most participants I followed Tom around and he showed us his perspective in street photography and also taught us some invaluable camera tips.
Last, we came back and Tom showed us his typical workflow when downloading pics from his computer and uploading to Lightroom. I found this info useful, but I have to admit I’m a die hard Apple guy and use Aperture 3.0.
As stated above, I found the workshop a great learning experience and 100% worth the cost. I’ve heard rumor of maybe a 3 day Leica course in the future in Chicago, I will definitely be there.
If you are interested in Leica Akademie you can see upcoming events here.
P.S. I mentioned that we did go out and shoot for a while. Here are a few pics I took (more in the next few days) and you can go to Michael Sullivans flickr page to see pics he took (another Leica shooter at the course, great guy).
We drove up to Chicago this weekend for a short 3 day vacation and for me to participate in the Leica Akademie M9 Shooting Experience. I’ll post my thoughts and some pictures from the event in a few days.
We’re staying at the Allerton Hotel. So far it’s been good. It’s an old hotel but the rooms are very nice. Here is a pic of Lyla and mommy resting on the bed after a long day of traveling and shopping.
Sunrises and sunsets are always amazing to watch. The surrounding environment is calm, the sky undergoes multiple changes in color, and the rush of daily life has either not begun or has ended.
When I was in the Outer Banks taking pictures of the Avon Pier I witnessed one of those moments. As the sun began to rise, it cast an orange glow in the sky. I was able to line the shot just center and below the pier. I didn’t realize until later that there were two birds posing for the pic.
The Leica M9 is not only known for its great color pics, it’s probably better known for its black and white images. I have to admit, the M9 does a phenomenal job of creating black and white pics. It’s hard to describe what it is but the M9 just has that extra touch when creating these type of images. I don’t routinely shoot in black and white while using the camera. I shoot in raw (uncompressed picture format) and then edit it with Niks Software Silver Efex Pro 2. If you like monochrome images, this is the software to purchase. I have owned just the aperture plugin and now own the Photoshop CS5 plugin and prefer having the Photoshop plugin because it just makes a new layer instead of altering the original pic like it does in Aperture.
Soon after purchasing my black M9 (I have not moved on to the M9-P) I traveled to Cleveland for a conference and on my way home I stopped and shot a few pics. This pic, originally in color was edited in Silver Efex Pro 2. Let me know what you think?
