Morning Cityscape – Seattle

20. October 2012 · Comments Off on Morning Cityscape – Seattle · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , , ,

So I have quite a lot on at the moment, I’m taking a picture a day (that takes a load of time), we have just gone through a re-org at work and I have loads to do there, and for some ridiculously stupid reason I decided to do a photography course at Bellevue College.  I have no idea why I signed up for this and this morning I really regretted it!

Why this morning? Because I had to be in Alki, West Seattle at 7am on a Saturday!  Which meant I needed to get up at 6am, seriously sad news.  So why did I have to be there?  Well the course is called “Shoot to Show” and is all about shooting images that you can then frame and show and sell.  We had to pick a theme for our images, and decided on “Beginning or End of day”.  So this morning we all arrived in West Seattle to photograph a sun rise.

Anyway I got there around 6:40 and this was one of the first shots I took.  The sun hadn’t really come up yet, so the city was all lite up and looked really great across the water.  The lights from the city were reflected across the water and the sky was  almost black.  So I set up the tripod and too some pictures.

This picture was a 30 second exposure, so long that the sky looked light blue.  I took a few shots at the waters edge and the images looked great, but I really wanted some foreground interest.  So I stepped back from the water and set up behind a bench and took the image below.  I really liked the end result, the bench looked great and you can even see some grass under the bench.  And then in the distance you have the beautiful city of Seattle.  Pretty cool.

As Lisa and Abi have now decorated the house, Carter and Master Chief are now playing with all the Halloween “stuff”, tonight it’s Boo!

Carillon Point – Kirkland

17. October 2012 · Comments Off on Carillon Point – Kirkland · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , , ,

One of the “problems” of taking a picture a day is that if you work for a living (like I do) you tend to take pictures at the same time each day – after work.  And when summer is over and the sun goes down around 6pm, all your pictures become sunset or night time shots.  Now this is not really a major issue as this time of night is considered by most photographers as the “Golden Hour”.

The Golden Hour is said to be the best time of the day for pictures outside.  Really the golden hour is usually thought of  as the hour before sunset or the hour after sunrise.  (Although many believe it’s the hour that straddles both).  So what’s special about this time of day?  Well the sun is very low in the sky and casts long soft shadows on people and buildings.  Also the sky takes on a colored (sometimes red) hue which many people find attractive.  Sometimes if the weather’s not that nice the clouds become more dramatic.

Tonights picture is a great example of this.  I shot the image at Carillon Point in Kirkland as the sun was going down.  Earlier in the day the clouds were pretty flat and boring, but once the sun was low in the sky the clouds took on a much more interesting look.  Luckily when I set up the tripod for this image nobody was around (that usually never happens) so I didn’t have to take anyone out in Photoshop.

If I had taken this picture 30 minutes earlier or later I wouldn’t have got the same shot at all, so it shows that hour is kind-a special.  So as the nights are starting earlier these days, you should expect a lot more pictures like this.

Today the guys wanted to play on some halloween decorations.

New York – Las Vegas

07. October 2012 · Comments Off on New York – Las Vegas · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

This is my last, very last, I have no more, image from Las Vegas, promise!  We were out shooting the strip late at night (the only time to take pictures in Las Vegas) and we arrived at the New York New York hotel.  This is the one with the replica Statue of Liberty outside and the roller coster on the roof.  As per usual in Vegas the traffic was terrible, as was the foot traffic, people everywhere.  So I decided to shoot up a little – above all the hussel and bussel.

Obviously the Statue is the most impressive thing outside the hotel but the warm lighting hitting the buildings give the statue a nice back drop.

I took this image from across the road using my tripod and caught the statue and buildings pretty well.  We did walk in the hotel (very briefly) and walked though a fake Coney Island amusement park selling New York Pizza and corn dogs with loads of people dressed up in bizarre outfits.  Needless to say we got out of there pretty quick.  I’ve been to New York a few times and don’t remember anything like that!

My only regret is when I did go to New York, I wasn’t into photography so didn’t capture the fantastic views there.  I’d love to go back with my camera for a few days, I’d get some great images.  Maybe next year.

Lisa is really into the craft thing right now and wanted a a new desk for her craft room.  So we went to Ikea to get one.  When we got home the Halo guys insisted in helping build the desk.

Monte Carlo – Las Vegas

25. September 2012 · Comments Off on Monte Carlo – Las Vegas · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

I thought tonight we’d go back to Las Vegas for another shot from the strip.  This time it’s the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino.

We were walking down the strip and came to the front of the Monte Carlo and they had this great fountain at the front and everything was beautifully lit.  However there were loads of people working past or coming down the stairs of the hotel.  So I decided to do something “sneaky”.

I set the camera up on a tripod and just stood there for 5 minutes taking LOADs of pictures.  I’d wait until the stairs on the right were empty and take a shot, then wait until the sidewalk to my left was clear and take a shot.  Eventually I captured enough pictures where I had overall bits of the entire image with nobody in it.

Then when I got home I started selecting different “bits” from different images and blended them all in together to create one image that has no people.

This is actually pretty easy to do in Photoshop so while it sounds complex it’s really not.  Having a tripod made it even easier as I didn’t have to line up the images.

I picked this composition so you see the Monte Carlo name at the top of the hotel tower on the right which makes sure you know what you are looking at.  I tried shooting a little further to the right but too many posters were in shot (I still have some here in the bottom left) and it didn’t help the picture.

Anyway the end result is pretty cool.  I love the fountain (that’s what caught my eye in the beginning) and the statues in each recess around the front of the hotel all lit up look great too.

Carter and Red helped Master Chief build a little glass house tonight.  I think they are running out of ideas for their daily picture – I know I am!

Paris – Las Vegas

21. September 2012 · Comments Off on Paris – Las Vegas · Categories: Image a Day · Tags: , ,

Tonight I thought I’d post another hotel from Las Vegas.  This time it’s Paris.  Now I should remind everyone before I write this that I am British (yes I’m American too, but I was born and brought up in England).  So it shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone who’s reading this that I’m not a big fan of France.  Yes I love their wine and cheese and am quite jealous of their lovely weather, but that’s about it.

I’ve visited France many times and can honestly say it’s not my favorite place.  To some extent most French people (from my experience) are not huge fans of the Brits, so the “love to hate” relationship is mutual.  I won’t bore you with all the history details (that doesn’t go back as far as you’d think) but it is what it is.

So what better place for an English guy to enjoy the Eiffel Tower and French Cuisine that Las Vegas!  I mean it’s perfect.  Enjoy some great restaurants and still feel good about myself in the morning.

This picture was taken one night from outside the Bellagio, which is across the road from Paris.  The hotel looked amazing with the Eiffel Tower and big balloon and the gold lights on the hotel.  There was a lot of traffic so I had to shoot above the cars but I don’t think it hurt the image.  So while I’m not going back to Paris France, I might well stay here.

Carter paired his Windows Phone with a Jawbone Bluetooth speaker and then got down to some cool tunes!

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