umbrella Archives - Page 2 of 2

October 24, 2017

As Luck Would Have It

As luck would have it I ended up in New York on the hottest three days of summer. It was stifling during the day and muggy late into the evening. When it started to rain I headed down to Times Square to take some photos. Despite the crazy weather some people still showed up to see the sights. It was an amazing experience to be there in those conditions because there was so much to photograph.

Daily Image

I have an idea in my mind to capture people in crowded places. It seems I’m always traveling to places that are heavily populated. So rather than try to pretend people are not there I look for ways to make the crowds part of the composition.

I enjoy this idea because it allows me to examine things in a different light. The images are studies of crowds and crowded places. A natural inclination for landscape photography is to not include people but with urban exploration it has a different set of rules.

more new york photos

Maybe I see aspects of myself in the faces of crowds. Regardless, it’s why I call these types of images studies, because from them, I have something to learn.

September 22, 2017

It Was a Miracle

The day I was in Rome it rained for the first time in over five months. It was a miracle for at least two reasons; the region desperately needed the precipitation and I desperately needed to take pictures of people in the rain. If you read the blog you know street photos in the rain are high on my list. People carrying umbrellas, reflections, sheen of the pavement and actions of people trying to avoid the rain all combine to make for interesting studies.

Daily Image

Of course being in Rome is a bonus too because people are likely to be dressed in interesting ways like these three nuns. I have no idea who they were or where they were going but it doesn’t matter, they made the scene. In fact when I saw them I was across the street I ran through traffic in the rain to capture them as turned into this alley. I get a little carried away, but that’s part of the fun of capturing these types of images.

more photos with rain

It’s exciting for me because where I live people don’t walk around in the rain. But small towns in Florida and big cities in Europe are two different things and it’s no use drawing comparisons. When I was in New York City it rained as well and I spent hours in it taking pictures. My camera is not waterproof, but I carry a plastic bag with a hole in the back so that the camera stays dry while I shoot. It’s entirely low-tech but it works. If I could only manage to keep my shoes as dry then that would be a miracle.

August 4, 2017

Walking Down Broadway

This is a shot that I had a lot of fun making. I went walking down Broadway late at night in the pouring rain. Shooting street scenes in the city is fun enough, but add the lights reflecting on rain slicked streets and it takes it to a whole new level. And of course, being New York, there are always people out walking regardless of the weather.

Daily Image

I was a block from Times Square and there were lights everywhere. The colors of this scene were so vivid it almost looked unreal. At the time it seemed normal, but that’s what happens when you’re in the middle of the city, wild lights everywhere start to seem normal.

I had my camera covered with plastic and I was wearing a rain poncho. I must have been quite the site, but then maybe not. What could look more normal than someone with a camera in Times Square? I wasn’t the only one; I saw one or two others looking for cool shots as well. Rain seems to bring out the photographers, at least the ones that are visiting.

more street images

I was out for a couple of hours and people kept emptying out of bars and walking around looking for places to eat. That was me back in my twenties. Now I’m content just to take pictures of people doing what I used to do. In a way I think that’s kind of funny.

January 3, 2017January 3, 2017

Bikes, Umbrellas and Canals

If I had to sum up my impressions of Amsterdam in three words I would say bikes, umbrellas and canals. There were a lot of each. To take it a step further, operating a bike shop here is steady employment. As well, I think that selling umbrellas might also be big business.

Daily Image

I stood on an adjacent bridge taking photos of people as they crossed this bridge. This scene typifies the central canal district and is repeated hundreds of times from one bridge to the next.

Because I was carrying a camera I didn’t have an umbrella, otherwise it’s a good idea to have one. It got me thinking that umbrellas haven’t changed much in a hundred years, they still look and operate the same.

travel related gallery

Lo and behold, a few weeks later I started seeing ads on TV about new type of inverted umbrella. Without going into all the details I think it’s an amazing idea and the only thing I can’t figure out is why nobody invented / inverted it years ago. My wife was so impressed she bought four and gave them away as gifts. So here is a tip, someone needs to open up an inverted umbrella stand in Amsterdam, I think it will be license to print money.

November 16, 2016November 16, 2016

In the Rain

This is a random shot I made in Amsterdam while walking around in the rain. It got me thinking about some general differences between the European and North American people.

In northern climates there’s no avoiding the rain. What strikes me is the commitment of europeans to using bikes. It’s one thing to ride a bike on a sunny day, but cold and rainy weather is another thing. I’d rather not ride in the rain, in North America its too dangerous and we don’t have many bike lanes.

Daily Image

In the Rain — In the rain riding a bike in Amsterdam

Not so here in Amsterdam; there are as many bike lanes as roads and people are committed to this as a primary mode of transport, even in the cold and rain.

While I was walking around in near freezing weather I wore mittens and a scarf, yet I saw people riding without gloves and sometimes more than a little skin exposed. So using bikes here is a commitment beyond just fair weather riding. That’s not something that even occurred to me until I saw it for myself.

I suppose that because so many europeans use bikes, riding in the cold is normal. I think we North Americans can learn from that. It’s not so bad when if we just get on board with the idea.

The other thing that struck me was that folks here are in good shape. They’re burning calories not only from riding but by staying warm. Of course our bodies use energy just to maintain body heat when its cold.

favorite images

Anyway, this is a long winded post about people and bikes. Not sure why I got off on such a tangent. I guess I was impressed by europeans and their preferred mode of transport. From that one little thing you can learn something about a people and their culture. I think we could use a dash of that here in North America. That’s my 2 cents on the subject.

May 8, 2016May 8, 2016

Shooting in the Rain

I took this last January and as usual it was raining in Vancouver. Even so I spent most of the day outdoors taking pictures. The scenes, energy and images are so different from my home in Florida, I easily get carried away and forget the time. When I finally got back to the hotel both me and my camera were soaked. When I tried to dry it off it didn’t want to work. I should have known better. I laid it on the desk, changed into some dry clothes and went for dinner. By the time I got back the camera was fine. But I made a mental note that if I ever see a nice camera rain cover I should pick it up. I just did from Peak Designs so here’s the link in case your interested.

We get rain here in Florida also, but it’s not the same by any stretch. In the summer we get crazy tropical thunderstorms and the lightening gets a little scary. Basically you don’t want to be outside when lighting is in the air, yet it creates all kinds of other artistic opportunities.

More images from the street photography gallery

Rain is good for photography, if you take the time to look you’ll see all kinds of unique compositions. For street photography the rain puts everyone a little off center and so they are carrying umbrellas or running for cover. If you’re doing landscape photography then it means the clouds will be full of drama. Either way rain is good for photography yet maybe not so much for cameras. My advice is to get a shell to save your camera so you can worry less about the equipment and concentrate more on the scenes in front of you.

February 4, 2016

Post Holiday Colors

The Pacific Centre in Vancouver seems to be into the post holiday colors with a vengeance. There’s an enclosed bridge that goes over the street and it was all lit up in red. Add to that the reflections from the wet street and city lights and its too much for me to pass on. It looked like holiday lights but that was weeks before. I stood in the middle of traffic waiting for someone to cross the setting. Eventually someone did but by that time my camera and I were completely soaked. The things I do for a shot.

This was at the end of a mega-walk day, over 25000 steps according to my watch. But I was stoked nonetheless. By the time I got back to the hotel my camera started complaining and doing a funny things, I’m sure because it was so wet. I laid it down on the desk and went for dinner and by the time I got back it was fine. I suspect perhaps some moisture on the hot shoe. All in all I was pretty impressed that the SonyA7RII put up with the abuse I put it through this day.

I took a lot of photos from this spot, some I intentionally blurred. However this one was not blurred, I added the zoom effect in post production. I did that using both Photoshop and MacPhun Focus 2 Pro. For me the image is all about color and energy. The idea I had I’m my mind when I took this was a cacophony of colors all blurred together. The motion represents the energy of the city. This is just one of the many faces of Vancouver city life.

January 17, 2016

Urbex Rain Day

Saturday was an urbex rain day. Meaning that it was raining and I did a little urban exploration. I would say that pretty much every day is a rain day in Vancouver, but it’s that’s just how it is. For me it’s a perfect excuse to get out and shoot rainy scenes, totally awesome.

I live on the East Coast and I try to stay in that time zone when I travel west. The advantage is I wake up super early and that helps me get a good start on the day. When I come to Vancouver that means photography in the morning. So by the time the sun rises, which by the way it never does, I’ve already been out for a couple of hours. Bonus. The downside of course is I turn into a pumpkin at about seven in the evening. So as long as I do fun stuff in the morning or day, I’m good.

In this case the morning was rainy and as I said, totally awesome. Something about people with umbrellas makes for an interesting picture. I don’t really know what it is but I find it cool. We have umbrellas where I live, but people don’t walk where I live. They walk from the parking lot to the store, that’s most of it. So there are no busy streets with people dressed up carrying umbrellas. So anyway, I got a tonne of umbrella shots, maybe too many but I’ll worry about that later. For now, this is the first of my urbex umbrella shots.