Making A Building "Smile"

As a photographer that usually gets the assignment of covering weddings, holiday parties, family portraits and engagements, what do you say when asked to tread into uncharted waters by doing some architectural work? What else? "Bring it on."

Gear for the shoot? A trusty 5D, a 24-70 2.8 and a tripod.

In art and photography, it is always mentioned that "the eyes are the windows to the soul". So when shooting a building, would the windows be the eyes to the soul? :)





This was a short-order task. Take photos asap, have it ready by tomorrow, we need it printed in 24 hours. Drive home, get the gear, get good shots while the sun is high...ouch.








I was able to get a number of good ones with the sun melting the pavement with its strong rays, but I was also able to wait it out to get some dusk shots. Most of the images (if not all) were shot at f8 and up. I still shot in manual so that I can crank down the light as needed.


This image (above) was taken at ISO 50, f10 @ 1/80seconds.

Blue skies for the win! Too much brightness at 2 in the afternoon? Crank down the exposure in-camera. Probably do-able via Photoshop, but if you can do it without having to post-process so much, I just feel it speeds up the work-flow.


This image was taken at IOS 50, f11 @ 1/5seconds.





The last 2 images were shot at F9 and F8 respectively. Both at ISO 50 @ 30.00Seconds.

I'd like to believe the building gave a little grin at the very least in my attempts to make it shine.

*RANT Alert*

Tell me if you've heard this one before: "Excuse me sir, but do you have a permit to shoot here?" Have not heard it yet? You're either a ninja that blends well with the surroundings, or you are blessed by fate. I had a brief encounter that was resolved by a quick elevator run (more like a slow-limp really) up 14 floors then followed by a phone call, but it just made me think of an article i read a while back. I guess you're suspicious if you have a SLR (or DSLR), and all is good if you have a point and shoot.

The Outer Banks @ North Carolina

Sun, Surf and a lot of R & R!

It was pretty difficult to go on vacation with a broken hand...this includes just trying to do regular things I'm used to...all the way to loading and unloading luggage with just 1 arm. This trip would have been disastrous without my incredible wife and my kids helping out.

The hard part about photography with a broken hand is not being able to put any weight on my right hand...then not bringing along a tripod because of trying to travel light was totally limiting my shooting. Knowing that photo ops are being missed left and right just adds to the pain. Shooting with minimal spontaneity is as heartbreaking as it gets in photography.

Me and my family had the opportunity to spend a great week at the beach with wonderful friends; paid tribute and learn about the history of flight at the Wright Brothers' memorial on Orville Wright's birthday; visited the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and join the locals in anticipation of a hurricane in the making (Hurricane Bill).

My kids were learning the basics of body boarding and we got our first experience of splashing in the Atlantic Ocean.



Trying to travel light and shoot with as minimal weight as possible, I left my 70-200 2.8 IS at home and took my 70-300 4-5.6 II (non-IS) out of retirement. Most images were taken with my trusty 5D with the 70-300 and for a few shots with a 24-105 4.0 IS.



Getting close was a bit of a challenge...wearing a fiberglass cast that I'm supposed to keep dry on my right hand, i was wading in the surf up to my waist in some instances, but getting "the shot" seemed to outweigh the risk...although I'd probably be saying something else if my 5D ended up in the drink...





Great conditions for newbies learning to body-board. Conditions were also pretty good for a photographer on the beach.






This next shot was from the top level of the beach house we rented. Relaxation at the Outer Banks from indoors :) The window was showing some condensation from the AC vents and wiping that down turned out to be a mistake. The streaking kept re-appearing after that.



Next up, the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. 214 steps to get to the top. Lots of history is waiting for curious minds on this lighthouse at their home page.





This next shot was taken at the Wright Brothers' memorial at Kill Devil Hills. The sides of this monument look like wings of a plane. This was a very hot and very bright day. Fill-in flash was a must for any photos with people in the composition. Did I mention it was hot?



This was the flight path the Wright brothers took on the day they made history.



To read more about the Wright Brothers' Memorial, you can check out their official site at this site.

Locals were saying that Hurricane Bill was responsible for bringing in the 20 foot swells that kept swimmers off the beach on this day. Surfers were having a ball, but they were gone by sunset.



I didn't have a clear shot at the setting sun...bummer. Had to settle for a view of the path back to the cottages.



This was a pretty great trip, and I am very grateful and surprised that I was able to fire off the camera a few times with my right hand's current state.

Till my next post, cya around.

Donald R