Ideally in photography you will compose your image, wait for or create the right lighting and have a lot of patience until the subject is just as you want it. But sometimes time is not on your side and things don’t go your way in photography and the world’s lack of cooperation results in a less than ideal photograph. That is where a little post-processing trickery can come in handy. Yesterday’s Photo of the Day of the Alamo did not look like that when I started. The weather was not cooperative while I was in San Antonio so I had cloudy, gray skies for three days. but even if you had a perfect sky day there are other things that can become an unwanted distraction in your image. For crowded tourist sites such as the Alamo people will probably be your biggest challenge. But with a little PhotoShop magic gray skies c an be blue again and unwanted photo intruders can disappear.
This is part two of my Crossings series which features pedestrian bridges that cross the 51 Freeway in Phoenix, AZ. Check out part one of the crossings series in case you missed it yesterday.
f/9.0 – 1/400 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 28 mm
f/9.0 – 1/200 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 40 mm
f/9.0 – 1/100 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 150 mm
I got the idea for this series of photographs while driving on the 51 Freeway in Phoenix. There are these pedestrian bridges that cross over the freeway every few miles. The further north you go on the freeway the more “ornate” the bridges seem to become. I ended up photographing three of the bridges so this is part one of three. This particular bridge is just north of the Greenway exit.
f/6.3 – 1/200 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 28 mm
f/6.3 – 1/200 sec – ISO 100 – Focal Length 70 mm
Christmas is just around the corner. If you haven’t started checking gifts off your list time is quickly running out. But don’t sweat it yet, one great gift idea is always books, especially for the photographers on your list. I have this book on my wish list, so this is only a recommendation based on what I have read and my own bias towards the subject matter. It is not a review since I have not read it yet. But I am intrigued by the idea of visiting Havana. So mix that with architectural photography and you’ve got me.
Great Houses of Havana
is the work of Cuban born and New York based architect Hermes Mallea. He explores the grand, and once grand mansions of a city that is not often thought of as a center of opulent and architecturally significant homes. But the residences showcased in Mallea’s book were built between 1860 and 1960 before the Bay of Pigs and the Cuba of today. They are homes that have previously never been documented yet they were opened up to Mallea and he brings them to life in this book.
From the book’s website (www.greathousesofhavana.com):
Great Houses of Havana will appeal to readers interested in architecture and interior design, social history, fashion, travel, climate responsive design and historic preservation. Mallea’s Havana is the true insider’s Havana – neither the rum and rumba city of pre-revolution tourists, nor the frozen realm of antique cars and romantically, decaying houses popularized in the recent past.
