Night Photography Assignment 5: Around Town

So I appear to still be in a funk this week. I'm not too happy with this weeks shots as I was stretching to come up with an assignment. On the way home from Monday night's class at the Manhattan Beach pier, I pulled into a parking lot and shot the Chase Bank across the street. I have passed this bank many times and have always said, "I should take a photo of that bank. It's really neat looking." So I decided to take the shot. I probably should have spent more time setting it up but I was driving home so I didn't want to take too much time. I didn't use my tripod and simply set the camera on a low wall. It's a cool building and I like the photo. Fast-forward to Sunday night. I have no idea what to shoot for my assignment but force myself to do something. I decide to take shots of people in coffee shops, a la Edward Hopper's "Nighthawks." Only problem is, nothing is open up here after 8:00 PM (thanks daylight savings time! :-p - it would have been dark last week at 7:00!). So I decided to shoot lit up store fronts. There is even another Chase Bank up here! (A really neat one with a mosaic mural by Millard Sheets.) Now I have an assignment. Unfortunately, I spent most of the evening shooting with some gunk on my lens, which I ultimately rubbed off at the last location of the night. Below are my better photos which feel sadly uninspiring this week...
5 second exposure, f/22, 50mm, ISO 100
10 second exposure, f/22, 23mm, ISO 100
8 second exposure, f/22, 40mm, ISO 100
15 second exposure, f/32, 100mm, ISO 100
4 second exposure, f/16, 41mm, ISO 100
15 second exposure, f/29, 32 mm, ISO 100

Night Photography Assignment 3: City Lights (abstract)

So I have been battling a really rotten cold this week. I haven't been up to taking many photos. On Sunday, I realized I hadn't taken any additional photos than the daily 365 shots I always do. I had to force myself to go out Sunday night to go and capture some night photos. I should have worked on the weekly Gizmodo shooting challenge too, but I felt that the night photography was more important. Last week at our class, I asked for some assignment ideas. The themes I got were interesting but nothing struck a chord with me. When I left my house on Sunday night, I still wasn't sure what I was going to shoot. I went down the street and tried some long traffic exposures (which I may post later) but felt I wasn't getting anywhere. I decided to head to my parent's house where they have a nice city lights view. I shot some long exposures of the LA basin that were rather boring. I decided to switch to my zoom lens and try some "zoom exposures:" During a long exposure, I zoom in and out on the lens creating an interesting effect. These photos were better so I decided to go with "city lights" for the assignment. I even tried a new technique in which I start the shot vertically, zoom in and out, then turn the camera horizontally, and zoom again. Although I like the wiggly light lines caused by my unsteady hand, I would love to be able to zoom so smoothly that lines are straighter. Oh well, perhaps I can find some kind of tutorial on how to build a "smooth zoomer." Here are my better shots this week:

45 second exposure, f/22, 300mm-75mm, ISO 100
31 second exposure, f/22, 75mm-300mm, ISO 100
24 second exposure, f/22, 300mm-75mm, ISO 100

Night Photography: Class 2

So I was looking forward to our first "location" shoot. We met down in Malaga Cove in Palos Verdes Estates for our second night photography class. I concentrated on two subjects: the Neptune fountain in the center of the plaza and a large pepper tree. I spent some time working on how shutter speed and aperture affects the photo. I had difficulty shooting Neptune as I was trying to shoot at a lower aperture while keeping a long exposure without washing out the marble statue. I was hoping to include the clouds behind the fountain but wasn't able to. We then started to play with flashes in attempt to back light the fountain. Due to the powerful spot lights that illuminate the statue, I could not get a decent photo. We then moved to the tree where we worked on "light painting." Although I am pleased with the shot below (Red tree), most of my other shots came out too bright (too low of an aperture) and then too dark (too high of an aperture) after adjusting my settings. I think I understand this concept and would like to try this again. I took entirely too many photos which I ended up deleting nearly all. Here are the shots that made the cut:
8 second exposure, f/14, 55mm, ISO 400
1 second exposure, f/4.5, 50mm, ISO 400
1/2 second exposure, f/9, 46mm, ISO 400
28 second exposure, f/8, 50mm, ISO 100
36 second exposure, f/8, 18mm, ISO 100

Night Photography Assignment 1: Stars

So I was hoping to get an assignment for this week in our class but I'm not sure if we will ever get any. I went ahead and made myself my own assignment: stars. I have tried to photograph stars in the past with not much luck. I have always liked "star trails" photography and hoped to make my own photos. Many people use computer software to layer a number of 30 second exposures to create a full sky of trails. I tried it in a single exposure. The only problem I got was it allowed in too much ambient light giving it a washed out feel.
I also read about "urban" star shots. One blog, Long Exposure Tips, discussed using a 50mm prime lens and opening up the aperture to f/2.8, lower the white balance to 2500K and shoot at a low ISO. This seemed bizarre to me as you typically need a high aperture with a long exposure so it doesn't create too bright a photo. I tried this a few times and found that the stars end up blurry and if the exposure goes to long, you get small streaks instead of stars.
I noticed on my long exposures of the sky, especially the third shot below, I am getting small red dots across the photo. Are these airplanes or a problem with my camera/lens? They seem to be in the same place on every photo. I was pleased how the sky in the long exposures of the second and third photos still stayed a dark blue instead of brightening up like the first photo. I adjusted the white balance on these photos to a lower level (Tungsten light, Approx. 3200K). I'm not too sure how to use these settings or even how to create my own. Maybe we will learn some of this in future classes. Here are a few of the better photos from this week:

6,404 second exposure, f/18, 50mm, ISO 100
45 second exposure, f/2.8, 50mm, ISO 100
2,759 second exposure, f/22, 18mm, ISO 100

Night Photography: Class 1

So I finally signed up for a photography class! This class, through the Palos Verdes Art Center, meets once a week for six weeks and we will be studying night photography in and around the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The class is taught by photographer/artist Bernard Fallon and photojournalist Patrick Fallon. I am very excited! Hopefully my photography will improve with this class.

Our first class consisted of introductions and a brief overview of the course. Then we went out into the mall to take some photos utilizing long exposure techniques. These are a few of my better shots:
4 second exposure, f/16, 50mm, ISO 400
6 second exposure, f/20, 50mm, ISO 200
6 second exposure, f/20, 50mm, ISO 200

Crest Fire

So I heard that a brush fire had started near our house. I went to check it out and took a few (not very good) photos. The local news blog palosverdes.patch.com asked if they could use them for their story on the fire. Pretty cool! You can view the entire article here: http://palosverdes.patch.com/articles/brush-fire-breaks-out-in-rancho-palos-verdes#c Here is a screen shot of the web page:

Palos Verdes 5K Photo

So I got the photos from my race already.  So quick!  Not a bad shot.

Palos Verdes 5K Results

So I got my results for the race and they are good. Not quite as good as last year but still excellent considering my poor times on my previous races this year.

Palos Verdes 5K

So I was thinking I was going to struggle on this run since my grandma's memorial service was the evening before.  I ran the race well despite dealing with a horrible shuttle service.  I got to the pickup point 45 minutes before the race start time.  When I finally got off the bus, I had only 10 minutes to run to the registration area and pick up my bib and timing chip.  Yikes!  Then when I left, the race was still going on so no traffic was going across the street.  I skipped the shuttle, hiked up the hill and my wife picked me up on the side of Hawthorne!  Crazy.

Ridgecrest 5K* Results

So I got my results and it is just what I figured.  My full 5K time would have been around 34-45 minutes which is what my training times have been due to the hills.  Since this race was very hilly it fit right into my training times.

Ridgecrest 5K*

So I ran in my March race that was postponed today.  It was a fundraiser for the intermediate school near my house.  Essentially the large portion of the runners were 12-14 years old.  Very interesting running with so many kids.  The course was very hilly at the South Coast Botanical Gardens which made my time slower.  However, the course turned out to be .2 miles short of 5 km.  That is why I am putting an asterisk next to the race.  Still fun.

Instagr.am

So I discovered Instagr.am (an iPhone app) that edits your photos to give it a unique style and tint.  It's great and I love it.  I hope this will get me going into photography again.
Check out my photos at Flickr and Tumblr.
I may start using a different blog soon.  We'll see...

Palos Verdes 5K Photo

"Eye of the tiger..."

At the Finish Line

So I got some pictures of me in the Palos Verdes 5K race.  Since my last race produced zero photos, I was pleasantly surprised to have six in this one.  My official time was 27:09 putting me 144th out of 717 and 5th out of 20 in my division (Men 30-34).  Please don't laugh but I think I look pretty good (in these two photos.  You won't be seeing the other four...)

Palos Verdes 5K Results

So I got my results for the Palos Verdes 5K.  I did really good.  27:09.  I placed 144th overall out of 717.  But more incredibly, I placed 5th in my division (men 30-34).  I can't believe it!  I was 30 seconds away from winning a prize as the top 4 finishers in each division get a medal.  The guy that ended up winning the whole thing came from my division as well.  Anyways, I am pleased with my time and I hope I can keep it up.  I took 3 minutes off my race from last month and nearly 8 minutes from my first race in February.

Palos Verdes 5K

So I ran in my third race this morning and I think it went well.  I felt good during the race and I think I ended up with a great time.  The Palos Verdes 5K was a nice run especially since it is so close (although, it is a little deceiving since it is really in San Pedro for the 5K, the marathon and half-marathon make it to Palos Verdes...)  Anyways, it was a little weird running along the Point Fermin bluffs as I used to walk here quite often when I lived in San Pedro and my wife, K, worked late at the library.  I would walk from the house down the HILL and head along the bluffs to the lighthouse (pretty cool) and then head home.  My parents made it out to the race but I had already finished and was walking back to the car.  We met up anyways and I got my picture taken so I will have at least one.  Back to the race - I forgot to stop my Nike+ timer as I crossed the finish line so I am really unsure of where I will be.  Certainly I will be under thirty minutes (my goal for this race).  But, I really don't know especially since there were no timing chips so I think the gun time is the official time.  Well, we will just have to wait for the website updates.

Robert E. Ryan Park

So I didn't actually do what I said in my "Frak" post from last week, but I did take the boys to a new park and took pictures the following day.  Of course, there was some massive volleyball practice going on with 15+ courts and 150+ people filling up any existing grass and therefore creating a gaggle of parents and kids swarming all over the park.  The park is gorgeous with sweeping views of the coast, Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island.  Here are some of the photos I took (If you click on them, you get a high resolution version of it).  They are not very good as I was busy watching after the boys (a little freaked that some crazy might snatch one, since it was so busy).  The boys, however, had a fantastic time and H and G loved playing peek-a-boo with a couple of new friends.  H keeps asking to go back to the "pirate ship park."  Hopefully, it will be a little calmer the next time we go.