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Archive of ‘Travel’ category

Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Tysons Corner – personal photo shoot

Tysons Corner photo - TimeLine Media - www.timelinedc.com
Tysons Corner photo - TimeLine Media - www.timelinedc.com

Tysons Corner – Garage C

Finally the clouds have gone away! I was able to go out and get some photos of the some of the development projects being done in the Tysons Corner area. At first is a photo of a cluster of buildings looking south from Garage C of the Tysons Corner Center. I think this would make a great background for portraits and would love to try sometime! Similarly to shooting nature landscapes, early morning or early evening has the best light for these types of photos. There is still blue in the sky, However, the light is coming at an angle. This adds dimension to the photos, as well as creates reflected lights in the windows. Once the sun moves high into the sky, you lose this as all the windows turn black. Also the harsh shadows turns your creative landscape photo into an ordinary snapshot.

Tysons Corner – Garage E

The recently completed HOT lanes from 495 have opened, and the Metro train lines are moving along quickly. From the Tysons Corner mall garages, you can get a good view of the Metro construction along with the new Tysons Tower. According to their website the new tower will rise high above the area providing panoramic views to DC. Many DC landmarks can already be seen from the parking garage where I took this photo. The ISO was set at 50, and the aperture was set at f/11. I used this for the best quality raw file to work with, and to keep allow for a higher shutter speed. The exposure time for this photo was 4 seconds which gives a nice blur to the moving cranes in the scene, and the workers moving around on the ground.

Here the sun was still not over the horizon, so there is some nice color in the sky. To balance the light in the scene, I processed the photo in Adobe Lightroom, and adjusted the mid tones to bring out some of the darker parts of the construction area to bring out more of the details in the photo. It will be nice to come back to this spot to see how the building progresses.  Thanks to the Tysons Corner for suggesting some ideas for shooting spots!

Tysons Corner photo - TimeLine Media - www.timelinedc.com

 TimeLine Media  – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Air Force Memorial – Arlington, VA

Photo project at the Air Force Memorial in Arlington

I forced myself on this Friday to get out of the house early while the sun was still low on the horizon to try to get some photos. Living in the Washington DC area gives you lots of opportunities to make images of memorials, monuments, that are familiar to everyone around the world. That makes it a challenge to make something new.

Having easy access to these sites, gives you an opportunity to get images that tourists, and visitors do not have. Waiting for the best light can be tough, but this was the best day I had in a while. I was hoping for clouds with a striking sunrise, just as everyone does, but this day was something different. Lots of cloud cover, with only the hint of a sunrise low on the horizon. It was not what I was planning, but I made the best of it. The Air Force Memorial rises up above Arlington, VA with a beautiful view of the Pentagon and Washington, DC. Going early in the morning also ensure not too many visitors to remove with software later!

Air Force Memorial - Arlington, VA - www.timelinedc.com

Post-processing with Nik HDR Efex Pro

While shooting, I reviewed the images on the back of the screen, and thought that these would benefit from HDR, or High Dynamic Range processing. In order to do this, I placed the camera on a tripod, and bracketed the exposures. The aperture was set at f/8.0 to get a large depth of field to see all the way to the Washington Monument. Then I took 8 different exposures from overexposed to underexposed around the meter reading in the camera.

When I got back to the computer, I loaded the photos into the Nik HDR Efex Pro plugin for Adobe Photoshop. In the first image, I was attempting to make adjustments to bring out a little drama in the clouds, but make the rest of the photo as close to how I saw the scene. The image below, I cropped out the horizon to emphasize the fact that this was a memorial to those that serve their country in the air. I processed the image as before, then converted it to black and white. This makes the tones in the monument match the tones in the clouds, but with a striking contrast from the organic clouds, and the man-made structure centered in the frame.

Air Force Memorial - Arlington, VA - www.timelinedc.com

 TimeLine Media – www.timelinedc.com
703-864-8208

Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Washington Monument Birthday!

The Washington Monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. I guess that makes it the 127th birthday of the unmistakable landmark that greets visitors to the capitol city. The height restrictions on buildings in the city make it the most visible and identifiable marker, and it makes for a great backdrop for photos from the White House to the cherry blossoms, or even from across the river in Virginia. I’ll have to refresh my collection of images that include the monument next time I have the chance.

Contrail from plane passing over the Washington Monument ©TimeLine Media
Contrail from plane passing over the National Mall ©TimeLine Media

This image was one from a walk around the National Mall on a beautiful spring afternoon. With the clear blue skies, and strong sunlight, strong shadows were on the sides opposite from the sun. Adding a darkened vignette on the edges helps to emphasize the monument.

Washington Monument at a beautiful sunset over the National Mall ©TimeLine Media
Washington Monument at a beautiful sunset over the National Mall ©TimeLine Media

Although the structure looks basic, it can change its looks drastically throughout the day. On this occasion the up lighting below nicely highlights the edges in the setting sun. Since it is such a recognizable monument in the city, it gives you plenty of opportunities to set its location from you entire collection.

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