Ever wonder what us airline crews do on overnights? This is it for me -- run the stairs at our hotels.
Staying in shape and flying are two things that don't go well together. Flying involves a lot of sitting around and eating airport food. On overnights I always try to fit in a jog to counter act the sedentary lifestyle. One of the good things about jogging is I get to see our overnights from a new perspective.
In LA we stay at the airport Westin. There aren't many places to go running except Inglewood (Inglewood Inglewood always up to no good). When I am sick of running past the characters that walk the mean streets of Inglewood I run the stairs in the hotel instead.
The above photo is taken from the outdoor portion of the Westin's stairs to the roof. If you look close you can see the LAX control tower and some airplanes taxiing out.
On the roof of the hotel is a helipad. Makes me think of a 1970's hotel fire movie.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Hotel LAX
Friday, August 8, 2008
Quick Adjustments
Here's an experimental shot. I set the flash to second curtain, and purposely set a slow shutter speed to blur the background while panning. I think it worked out OK. Ella's face is a little blurred, but the tiger is pretty sharp. With a faster shutter speed the merry go round doesn't look like it's moving. I like the blurred look. The photo is more exciting.
Getting a Photo vs Getting "THE" photo
I often find that I don't pull out my camera unless the light is just right, or I have the time to engineer a shot with my strobes. I decided to break that bad habit. I'm shooting with a Canon 5D and lenses that open to f/2.8. Why not push the envelope and shoot more low light/high ISO photos?
The above photo is a picture of our baby girl taken at Pier One on the waterfront of San Francisco. I am making an effort to get lots of photos of Ella that capture the styles and signs of our times. My favorite pictures from my childhood show old cars and wacky clothes styles. In this shot I tried to capture lots of people in the background so Ella can see herself and what other people looked like in 2008.
Technically this photo isn't the greatest; Ella's face is blurred and there is some noise in the background, but who cares. Thirty years from now I am sure this photo will be 100 times more valuable to Ella than a perfectly lit portrait taken against a white backdrop.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Bay Area Fog
This is a common sight in the Bay Area of California. Fog blows in from the ocean and is blocked by the coastal ridges. Some days the fog makes it over one ridge and is blocked by the next. This photo was taken near Half Moon Bay.
Ella Visits the Redwoods
We found a place that I must return to with more time and my tripod -- Muir Woods. Last week visited Muir woods for the first. I wasn't expecting it to be so pretty. Fog floating through redwood groves created hundreds of photo opportunities.
I can't figure out if Ella was born loving pretty outdoor areas or she just loves getting carried around. Every time we take her to the woods or the beach she seems to have a blast.
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is an awesome landmark. From the air it can be seen looming on the horizon from over 130 miles away. The land around mount Shasta is relatively low which makes the volcanic mountain look even larger.
This photo took a lot of color correcting to make it look presentable. I am finding out that the Airbus's windshield adds a blue/green color cast to my photos. I've been correcting the color cast in a curves layer and adjusting each color channel separately. I'm hoping I'll find a process that works for most photos and then create a PS action. For now, I am finding I have to adjust each photo individually.
Monday, August 4, 2008
From This Morning
Man I am tired. The above photo was taken this morning after our 5:00 am hotel van. Here's the caption from flickr: Aerial view of the California coast during sunrise. Photographed apx 30 miles north of Los Angeles
Time for bed
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
