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February 24, 2014

Personal, Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Tidal Basin Evening

Finally had a little break from dance photos to look back and some images that I may put into the portfolio. The winter evenings also brought some opportunities to go out and get some photos of the capitol city. During this evening, I took my gear out to the Tidal Basin. I do not normally visit this area unless it is bursting with cherry blossoms! It is probably one of the most photographed areas in DC during those few early Spring days, but on a week night evening, all the traffic is on the surrounding streets and bridges with commuters heading home for the day.

Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in evening - ©TimeLine Media — Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial in evening – ©TimeLine Media

The parking lots are very accessible during this time, and there is not too much foot traffic around the basin. This gives clear vantages to the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, and even the White House. The fading light will also give you streaks of lights from air traffic going in or out of Reagan National Airport, and there is a faint glow from the traffic and building lights from across the Potomac River. It is a peaceful time if you are there for photos, and not in your car just trying to get home.

HDR22-Jefferson-Memorial-after-sunset-20140131-0004_5_6_7_8_9

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February 7, 2014

Photography, Technology, Travel | 0 comment

Creating Vignettes with Flash

Lighting the Roosevelt Memorial with small flash - ©TimeLine Media

On yesterday’s post, I wrote about creating vignettes, in Photoshop. Today, I want to post some photos of another cool way to create vignettes, but this time, doing it in camera. I made these at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC. In this walk-through park dedicated to the longest-serving US President, there are many of his quotes engraved into the large pink-colored blocks that make up the monument. You can use the color of the blocks to your advantage as pink and blue are next to each other on the color wheel, so they will work together well in a frame. Here is a frame of the manual exposure setup in the camera without the flash:

Roosevelt Memorial without flash - ©TimeLine Media — Roosevelt Memorial without flash – ©TimeLine Media

Washington, DC

I am just looking to keep a dark, saturated blue in the sky. The flash will be used to illuminate the foreground and pop the subject out of the frame. To setup the flash, I put a warming gel over the front of the flash. Additionally I zoomed the head in to 180mm. This focuses the flash into a tight circle as opposed to just spilling light all over the scene. This is what creates the vignette effect which will draw your viewer’s eye to where you want it to go. I hand held the flash with my left hand, and made this photo:

How far you zoom the head, can make the circle of light larger. Especially if you have more of an area you want to cover in light. This next photo, I zoomed the head out farther since I was standing farther away, and had more words that I wanted to light:

It was a challenge to get the light exactly right. Sometimes, I would flash the ground, sometimes, I would only light the trees above the blocks. It would be much easier to do this with the flash on a stand that you can control with more consistency, but I did not want to risk any entanglements with the park rangers. I simply used a hot shoe cable cord to get the flash off the camera, and fired away. Give it a try next time to get a different look at places that are photographed all the time!

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February 1, 2014

Photography, Travel | 0 comment

Masonic Temple at Sunrise – Alexandria, VA

Alexandria Virginia Masonic Temple - ©TimeLine Media

I have read from landscape photographers that the key to getting great images is to photograph in great light. Most of the time, that means going to sites when the light is very low on the horizon. In this case, the early morning just before and after sunrise, or in the evening just before and after sunset. This “Golden Hour” in the morning or “Blue Hour” in the evening does make for some nice backgrounds for photos. The early sunrise in the winter months makes it easier to get out of the house at a semi-decent hour to get these photos. The extremely cold temperatures also help. It keeps cars and other people to a minimum. Who wants to be out here unless you really NEED to be out here at this time?

Masonic Temple

Alexandria, VA - ©TimeLine Media — Alexandria, VA – ©TimeLine Media

This particular morning, I made the trip to the outskirts of Old Town Alexandria. I did not have any trouble finding street parking at this hour – another benefit of such an early shoot, and walked the few blocks to the Masonic Temple. This beautiful structure can be seen from most of the major freeways and highways in the DC Area. It is familiar to anyone that has driven in the area especially if you are traveling across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, or flying into National Airport. I have never been inside, but have put this on my list to photograph once I figured that this would probably be situated perfectly for a sunrise shoot. With it’s East-facing position being the preferable angle, it made for a very easy subject to lineup and photograph. After only three attempts, this day’s attempt was the best from me. I will definitely be back to see about going on a tour. It should have a nice view in to Old Town Alexandria to the Potomac River and Maryland beyond.

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