Geometric Getty

Besides being an architectural masterpiece, The Getty Research Institute is the perfect place to practice your your geometric photography skills. What am I talking about? I'm talking about clean lines and simplicity that generally lead to better photos. In other words, think of your photos more in terms of graphic design, with a few clean shapes, solid colors or smooth gradients.

John Shaw goes on a bit about this near the end of his Landscape Photography book when talking about the Palouse region of Washington. The book may be out of print now, but its lessons on composition still apply. It also has one of the best explanations of exposure (i.e. what "stops" are) that I've ever read.

Anyway, back to the Getty. Absolutely go there, enjoy the architecture, and start thinking of your photos more in terms of clean, abstract graphic designs.

My shots here were mostly taken with the 5D and 50/1.8, but you really don't need anything more than a point-and-shoot to take advantage of the amazing architecture. I feel like these photos only scratch the surface of possibilities at The Getty.











Happy shooting!

The Joshua Tree

Before leaving for Los Angeles, I was trying to pre-visualize some of the shots I wanted out of the trip. Joshua Tree National Park was one of our planned destinations, so naturally U2's The Joshua Tree came to mind. The funny part is, I never actually looked at the album cover for inspiration. I just sort of assumed it looked something like the shot above. I came home, processed the image, and posted it on facebook and flickr. At some point it dawned on me that I still hadn't actually seen the album. Much to my surprise, it looked absolutely nothing like the shot above, nor did any of the other album art. Perhaps this is a technique I should try more often. Pick a song or album and shoot my vision of the cover, then compare the two afterward.

This next shot is one of my other favorites from the trip. I didn't quite pre-visualize this one as clearly as The Joshua Tree, but I did know that I wanted to try capturing the sheer open spaces and big sky out there. I had forgotten just how many planes fly over Joshua Tree though. Normally this would annoy me if I was trying to get a clean, natural landscape, but in this case, it worked out just right, adding an interesting contrast between the natural whispy clouds, and the distinct contrail lines. As usual, I had my ideal general purpose lens mounted, the 24-105/4 IS. Part of me wonders if 17mm would have been better, but shooting that wide may have made the distant landscape a little too, well, distant. Personally, this shot also reminds me of the classic game, Missile Command, after all the cities have been destroyed. I prefer not to think of Joshua Tree National Park as a post-apocalyptic wasteland though. It's quite the opposite, full of life and wonder.



Here's to another great trip!

Another wave of photos

I've been pretty bad about posting lately, so here comes another wave of photos, this time from the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. I walked in with nothing but the 5D and, more importantly, the 50/1.8. The thrifty fifty saved the day in those dark aquariums. The only problem is that it makes me want the 50/1.4 even more. Hmm. Anyway, enjoy!

You are what you schlep

I've recently been inspired by Jason Travis's Persona series that was commissioned by The Atlantan. The basic concept is that "you are what you schlep." Pretty simple, but amazingly insightful. On top of that, Jason takes some pretty cool portraits. As I currently only have myself to profile (and I don't feel like taking a self-portrait tonight), I decided to go more in the direction of The Items We Carry flickr group. What I find particularly interesting about these photos is that, while they answer many questions about a person, they seem to inspire even more curiosity. Why should a person suddenly seem much more interesting simply because they've emptied their pockets for the world to see? The human nature of curiosity is a powerful thing.

Aftermath at Night

The snow had ceased and the sky had cleared. The sun came out briefly, just in time to exuberantly set. I took a brief trek to the subway station with my Canon G9 to survey the aftermath. The streets of Baltimore were truly surreal; eerily silent compared to the standard bustle. The usual visual queues of the street were also gone. There was no sidewalk or street, crosswalk or curb, just snow with the tracks of previous transients. I decided to return for my 5D and 17-40/4:











By the way, I'm so glad my car was in a parking garage for all this. I can't even imagine shoveling snow for four hours just to get my car out. What a bunch of %$#^%$.