see it bigger

There was no “super moon” for +Brian Matiash and I last night on the Columbia, just the gorgeous blue of dusk after a long day wandering from Portland to Hood River and back. I’ve just started going through my shots from the day, but I see quite a few things that seem to have worked.

This photo was from the end of our day. Brian and I could have just kept heading home, but we knew that there were some shots left. He bitched quite loudly–as he is wont to do –about the barge coming up the river, ruining his long exposure. I, who have long wished that I could ride one of these barge tugs up the river, just laughed. I am kind of surprised that I was able to capture it with such detail in so little light, but I like the result. And yes, it was that blue…

(Shot with the trusty Canon 24-105 f/4L, at 1/25th of a second, f/4.5, 1250 ISO.)

I keep coming back to the set of images shot along the Columbia River, off of Sauvie Island, in January. They have been represented here on the blog twice so far: in Sauvie Island Fog and Sauvie Fog {alt}. They sit in the ‘working pix’ area of my library, and I regularly play with different versions from that day, trying to find the best representation of what I felt out there.

I like the vertical representation of the first image (Sauvie Island Fog) I posted, and I wish I hadn’t posted the {alt} version. I’m not sure that the version posted here is better than that first one, but I have returned to this one enough that I was compelled to work on it. There really isn’t a lot of image processing; it was mostly dust spotting, which was a result of grabbing the older camera and not paying attention to the sensor beforehand. I did look at a panoramic-style crop across the middle of the photo, but it felt extreme, and I tossed it.

What’s interesting when I look at the group of images in my library, there’s a tranquility in nearly all of them that was present on the day I was there. This one, which doesn’t have the (lovely) detail or color from the grasses along the riverbank, does have a more timeless quality and feel to me, and one that I like.

The next step will be to print them, and see which ones hold up better there. My gut tells me that it will be this one, but I never know until I get to the print.

it’s a riot out there…

Went out shooting today in Portland’s NW industrial area, on a Google+ photo walk with a fun bunch of photographers, pro and otherwise. I love wandering through this area with a camera–I’ve previously posted shots taken in the neighborhood here and here–and it was nice to get out into the sun, even if we had to sit a bit here and there to wait for it to show up and add a bit of contrast.

I’ve spent a fair amount of time recently shooting in the rainy climes of Portland and the Gorge. I’ve always been ok with carrying my camera around in less-than-ideal weather conditions, but I wouldn’t say that I actively choose to set up and shoot in the rain.

I have quite a few images from treks (trudges?) with Matt Kloskowski, Brian Matiash and Vincent Versace. I’m finding more throwaway shots (i.e. they get deleted immediately) than I normally see, but there are also quite a few that are instructive, whether in terms of composition, exposure, or focus, in a way that I don’t always get when I’m out in good weather. For example, I don’t know if all the negative space in the upper-left corner of this photo dooms this image, but I do know that I like the line of trees fading into the mist, and I like the vibrance of the greens in the moss and the trees in the foreground. The fact that I’m stopping, looking for shots, and then trying to make sense of them is valuable instruction for my long-term growth as a photographer.

they’re here

Our kitchen has been under construction since the beginning of February, and we’re just about done — cabinet and drawer fronts, and a fix to the new range are all that’s left.

One of the things that kept us going was that the finish would coincide with the spring harvest at our local farmer’s markets. Today, the first batch of local asparagus was in, which along with the arrival of the daffodils and the tulips, is my harbinger that spring is finally here.

Went shooting with Brian Matiash, Matt Kloskowski and Elizabeth LePage last night, dodging the rain — and joggers — around the Broadway Bridge. I’ve been looking at this shot for a while now, and, while I don’t think I necessarily nailed it here, I do like the tone mapping and the detail.

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