Category: Photography – Nikon D600

Categories
Black and White Photography Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California Street Photography

Shooting Reflections along the Embarcadero in San Francisco

On Edge - San Francisco - 2013

My friend Chris Gulker taught me late in his life to pay attention to light and shadows. It’s a way of seeing – being focused on the contrasts we see. Another thing I’ve learned to pay attention to are puddles – as they open another window on a subject. Often with an unusual perspective.

After we got back from Cuba, Doug Kaye and I headed to Embarcadero Center in San Francisco for another photo walk. This has become one of our favorite venues – so much great light, angles, people, and other delightful stuff.

As we were getting started this particular morning, we headed out southeast of the Ferry Building and started noticing the puddles along the way. Ah, reflections!

While Doug was capturing this shot – shooting with an Olympus OM-D, I captured him.

Categories
Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Stages Street Photography

New Header Image: Happy New Year in Havana

Happy New Year - Havana - 2013

Every few months, I try to mix things up a bit here by changing the header image at the top of my blog. You can see the history of those images on this page – dating all the way back to January 2004.

For this latest update, I chose one of my favorites images from my recent trip to Cuba – one titled “Happy New Year” because of the words written on the wall just above the sidewalk. While out in the central Havana neighborhood on a Sunday in January, my photo buddy Doug Kaye happened to notice the writing and the scene behind. We stood on the opposite side of the street – treating the venue as a “stage” – and waited for the world to walk by.

Categories
iPad Nikon Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Travel

Crafting an iPad Wallpaper – On South Beach

Easy Rider - Miami Beach - 2013

There’s something about some photos that just grab you. When Doug Kaye and I were exploring South Pointe Park and the beach heading north from there in late January 2013, we came across this bicycle, probably one of the local rentals, hitched up to a post right on the beach. Wow. You start thinking that it’s one of those special moments – where it doesn’t get better than this. So, you take the shot.

As I was looking back at this image today, I thought that it might be a good candidate for an iPad wallpaper – for my lock screen. Seeing it brings me back to that lovely morning – just walking up the beach, a peaceful easy feeling indeed.

So, I decided to try making it into an iPad wallpaper image for my lock screen. I pulled it into a 2048×2048 square image at 264 dpi (for iPad’s with a Retina Display) in Photoshop CS6. I adjust the image placement for the rotation that the iPad does between portrait and landscape – brought down the highlights a bit and then tucked in my contact information.

Here’s a generic version of the result:

Bike at the Beach-iPad Wallpaper-generic

I made a similar image a few years ago – which has been my iPad’s lock screen image from then until today.

Categories
Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Street Photography Travel

A Peaceful Easy Feeling – On the Beach in Miami Beach

Easy Rider - Miami Beach - 2013

Before we headed to Havana for our amazing visit there a month ago, we went into Miami a day early – shooting South Beach late at night and again the next morning.

But before getting to South Beach that Tuesday morning, we went to South Pointe Park – and walked around the point along the beach. It was a beautiful morning – one of those amazing days in the middle of winter where you realize why some folks really like living in Miami – and you’re envious!

Along the way, we captured some beach scenes – including this one above of a bicycle hitched up to a post.

And, below, another shot – of my photo buddy Doug Kaye as we were shooting each other on the beach!

Doug Kaye - Miami Beach - 2013

Categories
Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Street Photography Travel

There’s a Blue Cadillac in Havana…

Blue Cadillac - Havana - 2013

Here’s another image from that very special Sunday morning in Havana a few weeks ago.

We were out in the Central Havana neighborhood when a bit of light drizzle started falling. Not enough to get any of us particular wet – but enough to wet down the streets and make for some nice reflections and saturation – and some beautiful diffuse, soft light.

This image was post-processed using a touch to Topaz Simplify 4 and few of our Lab color tricks to brighten up the colors just a bit.

Categories
Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Street Photography Topaz Travel

Pink – Havana – 2013

Pink - Havana - 2013

This was a lucky shot – two pink cars with a pink building in the background – in Central Havana a few weeks ago! Shot with my Nikon D600 and adjusted in Photoshop CS6 using Topaz Simplify, Lab color, and some contrast/sharpening tricks.

Categories
Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Photoshop Topaz Travel

Fun with Topaz Simplify – Cuban Honor Guard in Havana

Honor Guard #2 - Havana - 2013

This is one of my favorite shots from Havana. As Doug Kaye and I toured the Museum of the Revolution with the rest of our group, some ceremonial music started playing and I peeked out the window to see this honor guard marching across the street. I loved the sun angle and their shadows.

In this version, I did a quick pass through Topaz Simplify 4 – using one of the black and white presets – and then brought it back as into Photoshop using a Luminance blend mode. A beautiful example of how Simplify works its magic!

You can see the original here.

Categories
Cuba Photography Photography - Nikon D600 Street Photography Tripod

Visit Cuba!

Auténtica Cuba - Havana - 2013

One of the unique things about Cuba is the lack of advertising.

When you’re out on the street, there just aren’t any billboards, signs, etc. No Coca-Cola signs, no big billboards, none of that kind of thing. Once in a while you’ll see a propaganda message – but otherwise there’s none of the usual media we’re used to seeing plastered everywhere.

While walking Central Havana, we came up on this billboard – an unusual sight in Havana.

Categories
Black and White Cuba Monochrome Photography Nik Software Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 Travel

Magic Man at the Tropicana in Havana

Magic Man - Tropicana Club Havana - 2013

Here’s another image from our evening out in Havana at the Tropicana Club. This was near the end of the floor show – shot with my Nikon D600 and the Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 prime lens, ISO 3200, 1/250 at f/4. Post-processed using Nik’s Silver Efex Pro 2 and a number of other tweaks in Photoshop CS6.

Categories
Black and White Monochrome Photography Photography Photography - Black & White Photography - Nikon D600 San Francisco/California Street Photography

Appreciating the Magical Reflections in San Francisco

Reflections - San Francisco - 2013

One of the best times to go out shooting pictures is right after it’s rained.

Rain adds saturation to colors – and the rain also leaves behind these magical looking glasses called puddles.

For me, photography is all about this kind of magic – those special elements that come together at a venue and surprise us with a new point of view. Puddles bring reflections – and reflections bring magical ways of seeing.

Being out on a morning after the rain is one of the best times for a photographer. You just have to be open to it – open to seeing it, right there, on the ground before you. Mostly, you need to get lower – to fill out the reflection, to combine the upper (real) and lower (reflection) portions of the image into the right balance.

This image is from a recent photo walk with Doug Kaye at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center – one of our favorite venues. It was shot with my Nikon D600 and tweaked in Photoshop CS6 using Nik Color Efex Pro 4 (Detail Enhanced and Pro Contrast), Topaz Simply 4 (Black and White II present – mostly in the reflection half of the image) and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2 where the final tweaking was done – adding midtone structure and the color.

I thought about taking out that patch of fog in the upper right – but, somehow, it works for me just to leave it alone as a point of interest. Actually, for me that patch of fog is part of the magic!