lights Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Just Enough Focus

November 8, 2018November 8, 2018

Colors on Deck

The Symphony of the Seas has a bold color palette. There are vibrant, saturated colors in outdoor spaces and stairwells; so if you’re sensitive to that type of thing, you might need to wear sunglasses, even at night.

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Colors on Deck — Nighttime view of the deck of Symphony of the Seas

It’s a lot of fun, and I enjoy the tapestry of hues hitting my retinas at each turn. Don’t get me wrong; it’s not gaudy, rather a tasteful sampling of one-of-a-kind art, murals, and tiles. In my photography, I’m a reformed over-saturation addict. The colors on board this ship are a real temptation for me.

main gallery

I’ve desaturated the colors in this image. The original is so loud it looks fake. Anyway, I even considered a monochrome version. But, this is a post about colors so the monochrome version will have to wait.

November 6, 2018November 6, 2018

Evening in the Park

The other night we hung out in a tree-lined park with outdoor cafes and listened to live music by candlelight. And to top it off, we were a thousand miles from land.

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Evening in the Park — The scene at night in the Central Park neighborhood on board Symphony of the Seas

The Symphony of the Seas has six neighborhoods, and Central Park is my favorite. There are upscale restaurants with outdoor seating. At one end is Vintages, a wine bar where somehow, I end up at least once a day. In the afternoon, there might be one or two patrons, and you can sit at an outdoor table, and watch folks stroll by.

more night photography from the gallery

There are way too many choices; neighborhoods, restaurants, nightclubs, sports, shopping, and bars. Speaking of which; there are at least sixteen different bars, and I had a plan to try each one. I’m only halfway through, and it’s not looking like I’ll hit the goal. But rest assured, it’s not for lack of trying.

October 10, 2018October 9, 2018

Sarasota Reflections

When there is no breeze, the water on Sarasota Bay turns to glass. I was fortunate enough to show up one night two years ago when the conditions were just right.

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Sarasota Reflections — Apartment buildings overlook Sarasota Bay, as seen from Island Park.

Everyone likes the views from Island Park which is why folks come here to walk and take photos. I’m particularly fond of the perspective it provides for nighttime cityscapes across the water.

Walking the Dogs

To be honest, “Dogs” should be singular, there is only one dog. This image is a fun creation from a night in Central Park. To make this, I stood on an overpass and snapped several pictures as a couple, and their dog walked below. Then, in post-processing, I blended the images to create multiple copies of the people and dog.

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Walking the Dogs — Multiple blended exposures of a couple walking their dog in Central Park

There are endless opportunities for composition in Central Park, particularly at night. Low light is my preference anyway so for me it’s especially fun. The park is so big that I decided to rent a bike to cover more ground. It was a little awkward because I had a tripod hanging out of the basket as I rode. I get torn between the desire to cover a lot of ground and slowing down to focus on a small area. But either is okay; there are times for both.

Time Travel

To be honest, I don’t remember taking this photo. No matter how many images I make, I usually remember each one. Pictures to me are memory boosters, I only have to look, and I’m transported back in time: I’ll have a recollection, however vague, of that moment. But for whatever reason, this one escapes me.

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Time Travel — A picture I took down a random street in Barcelona’s gothic quarter

I was shooting with a wide open aperture and high ISO so that I could snap photos as I saw them. I was a little like a snap-happy tourist. I’ll call it street photography but, I was having fun, so maybe a bit of each.

see the European gallery

Barcelona is one of those places where the architecture steals the show. The architecture is old, and it belies the fantastic amount of history in these walls. To me the street lamps have an 18th century feel to them, and perhaps some of them are that old. When they finally invent the time machine, I’ll be coming back here to take a few more photos to see if it looks the same. Hopefully, I won’t change history while I’m at it.

July 17, 2018

Manhattan Vignettes

Here is a series of shots I took last year when in NYC. I walked to Times Square late at night in the pouring rain. While that may not sound fun, it’s an excellent time to do street photography. The combination of lights, reflections, and umbrellas create scenes that are fun to watch, in a people-watching kind of way.

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Manhattan Vignettes 1 — Crossing the street in a downpour

Manhattan Vignettes 2 — Kissing in the rain

Manhattan Vignettes 3 — Not enough umbrellas

Manhattan Vignettes 5 — A lot going on in this scene

Manhattan Vignettes 6 — I wish you called a cab

Manhattan Vignettes 7 — Where is our Uber?

Because of the rain and the late hour, there were far fewer people out than usual. If you’ve ever been to Times Square then you know that’s rare. It meant I was able to capture little vignettes without too many distractions. Each of these photos tells a different story from that evening. It is up to you the viewer to imagine what that story is.

street photography gallery

As the name of the series suggests, I’ve employed a vignette technique to each of these images to draw attention to the people. The setting, while electric, is only that, a setting. Each story is as different as the people that inhabit them.

June 18, 2018

So Many Stories

I’ve heard it said that eventually, everyone passes through Times Square. There’s no way to describe it unless you’ve been there; it’s electric.

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So Many Stories — The stories we tell with pictures are a form of virtual reality

Last week I was talking about telling stories with simple images at the beach, but this is an example of a subject that’s the polar opposite of serenity and sunsets. Regardless of the scene, success comes about by framing an image in a way that allows the viewer to enter it and muse about what is going on.

more urban exploration in the gallery

If you want to tell stories with your photos, it doesn’t matter what the scene is. It could be a beach, a farm, a city or anything in-between. I find that having a sense of depth draws us into the scene. We start at items close up and then wander around establishing distance and placement. It happens so fast we don’t notice, but crafting scenes are what makes photography so enjoyable. It’s a subtle version of virtual reality based on immersion. If we are, even for an instant, immersed in a photo, then we’ve experienced a form of virtual reality. Stories when told by a picture or a book, have always been a way to experience a different reality.

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018

Hot Summer Nights

Last year I was in New York City on the hottest three days of the year. It was unbelievably hot and the only thing to do at night was to walk around Times Square in the pouring rain.

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Hot Summer Nights — A hot and steamy night in the rain at Times Square

I should be used to the heat from Florida, but it was no easier. Nevertheless, the rain and lights created fantastic photo opportunities that are entirely different than those I get back home. A nice effect is how the rainwater creates a reflective sheen on the pavement.

more street photography from the gallery

Taking photos at night in a city is a matter of experimentation. With a camera, we have several choices to make. A wide aperture combined with a high ISO allows a type of street photography without a tripod. However, with a tripod, we can take longer exposures if we want to capture light trails. In this case, I just wanted to capture images of the scene without special effects. For me, the most exciting thing was watching people out having fun in the rain; which by the way, was what I was doing also.

May 30, 2018

View From Cambie Street Bridge

The geodesic dome on the right is the Telus World of Science. I took this photo while standing on the Cambie Street Bridge in Vancouver. I’ve made different shots over the years, here is one from roughly the same angle and here is another.

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View From Cambie Street Bridge — A view of the Telus Science World at the end of False Creek in Vancouver

To Vancouverites, this is a typical scene; in fact, the sight is just part of the scenery. That’s true of anything we see day-in-day-out. But when I come back after being away, walking across the bridge at night is one of my favorite past times.

In fact, you can walk all over Vancouver; you don’t need a car. I rarely rent one when I’m here unless I’m traveling outside the city. Mostly I take the Skytrain which you can see in this picture.

Dancing Dining Cocktails

A while back I met a friend for dinner here at Citywalk in Orlando. It was on a Monday and one of the slowest days of the year. The ordinarily crowded scene was utterly empty. It’s not often you get that here.

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Dancing Dining Cocktails — Citywalk in Orlando’s Universal Studios theme park

I didn’t go to take pictures, but I brought my camera anyway. I captured this as I was heading back to the car. It was a one picture trip.

more night photos from the gallery

I’m attracted to the neon signs because it reminds of the work of Thomas Hawk, he has an extensive collection of neon signs on Flickr. However, this being Universal Studios it is a little more contrived. Tom’s work is authentic Americana along the highways and thoroughfares of the country. In any case, if it wasn’t for his work, I might not have thought to take this. The influence I get from photographers like Thomas Hawk is essential to me.