Wonderful Colfax

About a mile from the house has to be the most colorful street in Denver. Otto Schulze and I headed out yesterday to get some shots and the trip definitely had some interesting moments. From sipping a Guiness on the patio of The Snug while some kid who was still up from the night before was trying to convince me to shoot an underground fashion show to the liquor store owner who demanded I let him see my camera after I snapped a shot inside his store, there was never a dull moment. Ok, I'll admit photographing the inside of a liquor store on Colfax is probably against someone's rules but in my defense there were no signs stating I couldn't do it.

The above photo makes me laugh. One of the things that really pisses me off is when people cross Colfax in the middle of the street. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to run out into the middle of the road to capture this image.

Here is a link if you'd like to see a shot Otto got: http://twitpic.com/7rj6x1



Film not seen in six years!

Ok, so I'll admit it. I still have some film sitting in my fridge from when I shot film exclusively. I picked these up about a week ago from the processing shop and was surprised to see that they still had image on them considering I shot this in Taiwan in October of 2005. It did take a little adjustment to bring back some contrast and blacks. Other than that, I didn't do much at all. I miss that about film, the whole "anti-instant gratification thing." Enjoy!

Greg Harris Vibe Quintet

These are some shots I did a while back of a group called Greg Harris Vibe Quintet. I have been out twice to photograph these guys but the lighting is always a bitch, which actually makes it a bit of a fun challenge. My buddy Ido plays percussion, making it a bit more fun to shoot when you know someone in the band. But in all honesty, I really like shooting the lead guy Greg. He is easy to photograph and reminds me of a young Tom Waits. Not so much in his sound, but just his look.

If you want to check out some of their music, you can do it here:  Vibe Quintet

Taos

I find something very comical about a caffeinated man skateboarding down the middle of the street early in the morning with his accordion. Just not sure what it is.

Cyclocross

So, I got up a few weeks ago to shoot a race finally. It is tougher than it looks. One, it was cold as hell and I wasn't dressed for the occasion. Second, they move fast and I wanted to shoot mostly with 30mm which made be have to be pretty close to the action to fill the frame. The whole time I was waiting for someone to fly off the course and hit me but luckily it never happened. I plan on getting to a few more races this fall. It was a good time.

Cyclocross!

Ok, this photo has nothing to do with cyclocross but is actually a picture of my neighbor Mickey who seems to have super lungs. Yes, I believe the rule Vizzini forgot to mention during the discussion over iocane powder was, "Never get involved in a conversation with Mickey when participating in a cardio intense sport."

Back to the photo. It falls somewhere between environmental portraiture and a straight up candid. Mickey was running behind and my buddies Chris, Nick and myself were waiting for him at Green Mountain to go for a bike ride. When he pulled into the parking lot and opened his door I snapped this photo. I love the expression on his face of, "Ok, there's a camera in my face. Should I smile or just keep doing what I'm doing?" I got the photo right at the moment where he hadn't decided yet.

So, where does cyclocross come in? Mickey joined a cyclocross team and I plan on doing a series of cyclocross photos this fall. I'm sure some of the photos will make it to the blog so stay tuned.

9/11 Final NYC Post

This shot was taken in the financial district of NYC. We walked around Wall Street in the rain and then back up to the World Trade Center. I had taken a photo of the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks a few months after it happened. I wanted to go back and take a picture that would show how much progress has been made since then. As I was photographing the half finished building I thought I really didn't just want to capture an image of the building but also of those who are around it daily. I squatted down, pointed the camera up towards the building and snapped this photo when the two gentlemen walked into the frame.

NYC Post IV

Here are a few more shots from NYC:

NYC Post III

     Technically speaking, neither of these photos are great in my opinion but there is one thing about them I find very interesting and that is the difference in color tone in the exposure. I was walking up 6th Ave at 50th St and as I looked up, Radio City Music Hall looked very monochrome. For a place that is usually very colorful, I found it eerily creepy like I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. This is where I snapped the first picture.
     When I made it up to 51st St, I turned back around and snapped the second picture which turned out to be extremely colorful for being taken in a rainstorm. The time between these two photos was about one minute. The only adjustments made post production was a very slight adjustment in contrast and a slight adjustment in exposure.

NYC Post II

This shot was taken while coming back from The Bedford in Brooklyn. We transferred from the L to the 6 but then something went terribly wrong. While trying to get back to the 33rd St. Station the train started going back the other way. Apparently, not all of the trains continue straight on late at night. While "sweating like sardines in a flop house fraternity" waiting for the 6 train going uptown I was able to snap this photo. Typical, "I'm tired, where the fuck is the train?" type of picture. All this while I'm three sheets to the wind.

NYC Post I

Ahhhh....I love this city, especially when it comes to street shooting. I bought my first SLR (yes young people, there was no "D") about a year before my first trip to NYC. It was quite an experience walking around the city setting up a tripod and trying to capture long exposures of traffic lights. Since then, I'd like to think I have learned a lot, so here I am back with camera in hand.

The great thing about NYC is the fact that half the time when you shoot people, it is so busy that the subjects usually don't notice they are being photographed. When they do catch you, they hardly seem to care. It is one thing that I miss about living in a big city. Try standing ten feet in front of a stranger and taking a picture of them in Denver. First of all, they will notice you. Second, they probably won't be happy about it. It makes shooting here much more pleasurable.

Here are a few images I shot in my first 24 hours here. More to follow, I'm sure.

Impromptu Environmental Portraiture II

A followup to the previous post.

Impromptu Environmental Portraiture

Last Friday I was leaving work and stopped to get gas at the 7-11 on the corner of 10th Ave & Federal Blvd here in Denver. It was rush hour and a lot of people (myself included) use the gas station as a shortcut to get onto Federal. This particular day I was out of gas and actually needed to make a purchase. When I pulled into the station and parked at the pump, I noticed this kid pumping gas into an old Volkswagen Bug that seemed to be turned into a bit of a roadster. While I was getting my fuel I knew I couldn't let this shot pass me by. I walked over to the kid and asked if he would mind me taking his picture. He gave me a strange look but ultimately said he didn't care. I think he was expecting me to pull out my cell phone but I walked back over to the car and grabbed my SLR. I stepped back a few feet and had to work fast as I was impeding the traffic trying to shortcut through. I snapped two photos, stepped in and snapped another. Three in all and it was over. I got his email address so I could let him know how it turned out and I was on my way.

The reason I call it impromptu environmental portraiture, rather than street photography or candid, is because I took the time to ask him if I could shoot the photo. Doing true street photograhy I would never bother to ask, I would just try to blend in but I was very afraid that he would be finished pumping gas before I could get the photo done.

Mt. Rainier

My neighbor just got back from Seattle and was talking about how great the city was to go and shoot in the morning hours. As I have posted before on this blog, it is a city I really enjoy shooting in. This is a shot of Mt. Rainier in a purple haze in the early morning. Seattle has to be one of the best state side cities I have traveled to. It is beautiful, clean and has a very grown up feel to it unlike a lot of cities that have the feel of a college town. I think I need to get back. Maybe a weekend in October?

Another Shot of Amsterdam

Here are two other photos I shot in Amsterdam when I visited last year. Amsterdam is a fun city to shoot in. The canals throughout the city reflect the light nicely and you can always find different angles to shoot the city from the many bridges over the canals. These particular shots were taken near the city center just south of the train station in the previous post.

Amsterdam Central Railway Station

This is a shot I took one morning while out with Khammany looking for breakfast. It was very hazy and the sun was backlighting this shot beautifully. I took quite a few photos of different people walking by but decided the shots of the cyclist were the best. I went back the following morning to do it again but the lighting had changed and it just wasn't the same. That's one thing about lighting and street photoraphy. It will never be the same twice.

San Francisco

Last year over 4th of July weekend we took a trip to San Francisco. I went out one morning and walked around for a couple of hours shooting street scenes. This by far was one of my favorites because the silhouettes of the buildings make it uniquely San Francisco.

Seattle A.M.

This is another shot I took while I was in Seattle, the same morning as the Beecher's Cheese photo that I posted a couple of posts back. I like shooting in the dark hours and capturing the people while in movement. It is something I have done since buying my first SLR and taking a trip to NYC back in 2002. It is something I plan on doing more of when I get to NYC in September.

Denver, Near Union Station

This is a shot I took one morning before work a couple of weeks ago. It was captured near Union Station in downtown Denver. I have got to get out more and shoot in the mornings. Getting your ass out of bed to go shoot is a bit like a writer overcoming writer's block. Once you do it, you realize it isn't that tough and it is absolutely rewarding.

Bridges Over The Danube

These are two shots I took in Budapest last March. The one that is horizontal was taken in the A.M. hours. It is of Chain Bridge with the Hungarian Parliament building behind it. The other, Liberty Bridge, was taken in the P.M. hours on the first night we arrived. At the top are statues of Turul, a bird from Hungarian mythology.

Khammany at Staminee De Garre

In Brugge there is a tiny alley way that leads to one of the greatest bars in the world. I was told about it by my good friend, and fellow lover of all things coming from fermented malted barley, Chris Vejnovich. If you have the chance to stop in (which I made sure we did every night we were there) be sure to have the house Tripel.

One afternoon after being caught in the rain, I captured this photo of Khammany in the alley way leading to the bar. It is a great example of how candid shots can make the best portraits.

Black & White or Color

This is where I begin to sometimes have trouble. Back in the days of film, you shot either color or black & white. You had to remember what type of film you had loaded and attempt to see through the viewfinder in either color or monochrome. In 2011, I try to have an idea of what I want the image to look like before I shoot, but ultimately I get to pick in the processing stage of the photo.

I really like this photo, shot in downtown Denver, because of the true contrast in tones and the contrast of the tiny, nimble Porsche and the massive, sluggish eighteen wheeler. The only problem is I really can't decide between the monochrome and the color image.

Beecher's Cheese

I shot this photo in the Fish Market in Seattle. I thought I woke up at 6:00 AM to go out and shoot but it was actually 5:00 because I failed to remember to change my watch to Pacific Time. I set my tripod up to get a shot of this building when a man approached me and asked me a question. It was cold out and I thought he asked, "Do you know where I can get some love?" He had actually asked, "Do you know where I can get some gloves?" When I said I don't know, he walked away and then turned around for a split second and looked at me. That's when I captured this image. I love it because of the subject being blurry and underexposed in the dark of the streets. It makes him seem mysterious.

Snow V

This photo has a bit of a story to it. I was in a photography club and we had an assignment titled “Snow.” The problem was, it hadn’t snowed for quite some time and the deadline was quickly approaching. Finally, I woke up to a blizzard and as I was walking through the park towards the light-rail station I thought, “this would be a good place to return to for the snow picture.”

So, that evening I went back to the park to shoot this picture. I set up the camera on a tripod and during the long exposure I would pop a flash off camera to the right to highlight the tree. While I was doing this there were some men in the alley to the right of the frame doing whatever it is grown men do in the alley in the dark of the night. I didn’t notice them until one of them started yelling at me asking me if I was a cop. I began to quickly pack up and head out of the park as he followed me. Not wanting to confront him in a dark park, I walked faster and faster until I got around the block and he had stopped following me.

Just as I made my way down my street and across the alley by my house, I slipped on the ice and shattered the lens on my camera. Not all was a loss though. I got a beautiful photo out of it.

First Digital Image

This is the first digital image I have uploaded to this blog, although I have been shooting digital for quite a few years now. This image is both fitting and timely. Timely, because it was taken two weeks ago while my wife and I spent the weekend in K.C. with my brother and his wife. Fitting because if you scroll back far enough through the blog, you will find one of the first pictures I took with an SLR was of Dustin smoking on my balcony.