Spring At Last!

Posted on March 25, 2010 by Gary

Spring in San Diego is a beautiful sight to behold. For most of the year, this lovely city is usually blanketed in a layer of brown and tan, due to the fact that we normally have very little water to let things grow. With the high amount of rain this winter though and a general warming trend, things have started to sprout. This is a perfect time to get out and photograph the green and rainbows of colors blossoming all around.

This photograph, though taken in August 2008, reminds me of this time of the year. It's a great example of using bokeh to enhance an image, and is one of my favorite stylistic tools for general use in photography. It was captured in Julian, California behind the Julian Pie Company restaurant on Main Street.

Street Photography: Motorcyclist

Posted on October 22, 2008 by Gary

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but street photography is one of my favorite "genres." There's something about seeing individuals in their daily urban lives that I find fascinating. Too bad I live in the suburbs, right? This photograph was taken in Georgetown, Washington D.C. when I spent a few days there this last April. The photograph was converted to black and white, and was burned and dodged in Adobe Lightroom 2 (as usual). I'm not really into cars/trucks/anything with an engine, but I have a soft spot for motorcycles. Not those Harly-Davidson biker gang type motorcycles, but those modern, hip and trendy ones. You all know what I'm talking about, don't deny it. Back to the photograph, it's not really unique from a compositional standpoint. But because it combines elements that I view as interesting, I can't help but like this photo.

Denver Alley

Posted on October 8, 2008 by Gary

The photograph above was taken in Denver, Colorado back in July. I saw this alley and, without even thinking, snapped a photo of it. The original photograph was left on the cutting room floor, but was rescued the other day when I decided to do some creative editing on it. I won't go into details, as there are thousands of photoshop tutorial blogs out there for this specific purpose, but I will say that all edits were made in Adobe Lightroom 2. What I like about the resulting image is the immense amount of unpleasant detail. Let's make one thing clear: This alley was not a clean place. Not all photography is "pretty," yet photos that are "unpleasant" can still be visually appealing. The dirt and grime of the ground and walls are what makes this photo work.