Recent Projects

This is an interesting project in that the the top floor was constructed on top of an existing parking garage in downtown Edmonton.

Recent Projects

I made two trips to this newly completed office building in St. Albert, once in daylight conditions and another visit at dusk.  All the building lighting is on automatic timers and I was starting to get worried that dusk would be night before the lights came on.  I was almost ready to abandon my plans when the lights flickered to life.

I paid a price for the images I got in that 10-15 minute time period when the light is right; the mosquitoes were absolutely incredible.

Recent Projects

This is an interior photo of the car dealership featured in yesterday's post.  I like to include people in interior photos when practical; that's the receptionist on the stair who I convinced to participate.

Watch your stuff!

To all you photographers who travel with a bag of photo gear I advise you to insure it and watch it like a hawk. The other night I had a camera bag containing a few lenses stolen while in a Vienna restaurant. We were with friends in an outdoor cafe and we have pieced together what happened; very sneaky people these thieves. The polizei told us they have a problem with thieves coming from nations to the east who prey on tourists.

The bag was hanging on the back of my chair. A young couple came in - she was pregnant and wearing a lot of flowing scarves. They sat down at the table behind us for a moment and were told the restaurant was closing. When they stood up she grabbed the bag and tucked it under the scarves and away they went. I felt nothing and and no one else at our table suspected a thing. I had the camera and one lens out of the bag so I still have that. So I have some shopping to do when I get home!

Recent Projects

When I did my drive by assessment of this new car dealership I had a vision of a photo taken at night after a rain shower.  In my mind the sky would have lots of drama and the shimmering vehicles would set off the glowing glass box of the dealership building.

It's about 35 minutes drive from home to this dealership so one evening when the weather was evolving as I wanted I headed out.  It poured the whole way there and was still showering when I arrived.  I set the camera where I wanted it - two locations seemed best - and I waited.  Then for just 30 or 40 seconds the clouds split just enough to render the sky the magical tones seen here.

No photoshop enhancement of the colours, just a bit of contrast adjustment and voila.

Recent Projects

Here's another recent photograph from one of my commercial interior shoots.  This photo is a blend of four images; two images comprise the top and two the bottom.  The two photos that comprise the top of the image are exposed for the interior and then the exterior light and are then blended together to hold the detail in the shadows and bright outdoor light.  The process is repeated for the bottom half of the image.  When all the exposure blending is complete the resulting two photos are merged together to form one photo.

Canon 5DII with Canon 17mm TSE lens.

Recent Projects

I've been very busy this past while photographing interiors and exteriors of various new building projects.  Here's an example; new office space in downtown Edmonton.

Recent Photos

This photo was taken during the course of an air photo assignment in July.  Early morning fields south of Edmonton.

San Antonio Weird Stuff

It doesn't rain much in San Antonio during the summer, but there was one short storm during our stay.  It whipped the blossoms of the trees along the river walk which looked spectacular when the sun returned.  Here, rain drops form ripples to accompany the pink blossoms.

San Antonio Weird Stuff

Grunge is good.  That's my feeling anyway cuz it's fun to photograph.  Here, paint and ick adorn this concrete retaining wall.

San Antonio Weird Stuff

Here's an urban landscape detail photo of a ceramic walkway seen through the eye of the Lensbaby Composer selective focus lens attached to the Canon 5DII.

San Antonio Weird Stuff

I am always on the lookout for interesting shapes, patterns and textures.  This photo was taken along the river walk looking straight down on the water where some barges were moored.  There was a bit of 'something' floating on the surface giving the water an odd coloration and a little foamy swirl.

San Antonio Weird Stuff

I really like abstract art of all types.  This is an example of abstract art made from abstract art.

Along the river walk near the Art museum artists have been commissioned to make art pieces that come in all varieties of shape, form, colour, purpose and media.  under one bridge there are a series of speakers that emit sounds reminiscent of a tropical rain forest; under another are suspended huge colourful fish.  It's all very cool - so much better than just the plain old underside of a bridge.

These photos are detail shots of a series of panels that serve to add a little colour and also act as a guardrail.

I wanted these photos to be as perfectly symmetrical as possible. I find them to be kind of mesmerizing to look at.

Canon G11 capture, contrast and levels adjustment completed with Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop.

San Antonio

Another urban landscape detail taken near the San Antonio Museum of Art.

San Antonio

I think it's good to diversify one's business.  Here are two examples of businesses that see things my way.

The Beauty Salon / Pet Grooming service is a natural fit but I'm not sure about the pharmacy that serves an all day breakfast.

San Antonio

Here's another star reference - this time cast into athe concrete of a bridge support along the River Walk.

San Antonio

All along the San Antonio River Walk there are access points from and to the streets above.  When you walk along the river you easily lose track of the fact that there is a huge city above you as there are few visual clues to this.

This is one of the many access points - in this case to Navarro Street north of the downtown area.

Canon G11 capture, black and white conversion using NIK Silver Efex Pro.

San Antonio

The San Antonio Museum of Art (SAMA) is in the former Lone Star Brewery Building about 45 minutes walking distance along the riverwalk from the San Antonio conference centre.

San Antonio

This weird looking thing is hanging on display at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio.  It is in a small outdoor alcove and looks like a giant chandelier - it's abouot 3 metres in diameter and it took me a while wot figure out what it is.

The CIA is in the historic Pearl Brewery, and this is a machine used in the bottling/capping process.

iPhone Hipstamatic image capture.

San Antonio

The Hilton Palacio del Rio hotel was constructed for the 1968 World's fair.  They built it in just 202 days by constructing each guest room off-site - rumour is that the rooms were completely finished - beds -included - when brought to the site.

This photo isn't up side down, I took it while on a river cruise and when I looked straight up this is what I saw.

San Antonio

Hemisfair Park was built for the 1968 Worlds Fair and the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio.

One of the perks of being married to a world class pharmacy educator is traveling with her to conferences in places like San Antonio and staying in top class hotels - that's the Grand Hyatt under the arch - our home during our stay in the Lone Star State.

San Antonio

As observations towers go the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio is so-so.  Not much to look at (compared to the Seattle Space Needle for instance) it fulfills it's promise of grand views of the city.  It does look rather nice against the soft clouds of the Texas sky and framed with the blossoms from one of the many trees in the surrounding park.

Canon G11 capture.

San Antonio

This is the Bexar (say by-er) Courthouse in downtown San Antonio.

Richard Avedon Blackglamma

Today on CBC radio's 'Age of Pursuasion' (http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion/) host Terry O'Reilly talked about an advertisement campaign by the furrier Blackglamma.  The Age of Persuasion is a program that reviews the successes, failures and thinking behind advertising campaigns...interesting stuff to be sure.

Years ago Blackglamma (and acronym for black glamour) decided on a print ad campaign that would feature celebrities wearing the fur coats.  The criteria was simple; the celebrities had to be so famous that the ads did not have to name them; they would be depicted in a fur coat and every one of them would get exactly the same fee in the form of a fur coat valued at $8000 and a copy of the photo which would be taken be renowned portrait photographer Richard Avedon.

Many of the photos can be seen on this website:

http://fashionsmostwanted.blogspot.com/2010/11/glamour-at-blackglama.html

Some stunning photos; my favourites are Raquel Welch and Ray Charles.

San Antonio

Here's an urban landscape detail taken as I made my way through the streets of San Antonio.

Canon 5DII, Canon 24-105 f4 L series lens.

San Antonio

I probably took a dozen or so photos of San Fernando Cathedral but this is my favourite.  This  is America's oldest cathedral building and dates back to the mid-18th century. The cornerstone of this church was laid in 1738, while the building wasn't completed until 1749. This church has a rich history dating from these times and it is believed that a marble sarcophagus found during renovations at the church may hold the remains of the defenders of the Alamo.

Canon 5DII with Canon 17-40 lens.

San Antonio

I wish I could tell you in detail exactly what this is...I was so enamoured with the metal work on the side of this building that I didn't really pay attention to what the building actually is...I think it's a Mexican History museum or something...

Taken with my favourite 'walking around' camera, the venerable Canon G11.

San Antonio

If you came for the service, the food or anything else for that matter at the Acapulco Drive In good luck to you.  None of that stuff has been on offer for some time at the Acapulco it seems.

San Antonio

This unique light fixture hangs - appropriately enough - in the canteen at the Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio.  The CIA is located in the historic Pearl Brewery about 45 minutes walk from downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio

Here's the third of the Texas Icons - the Alamo. Texas was pretty wild place in the early 1800s and there were many nations and rogue republics fighting over the territory.

The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13 day siege during which Texian defenders held off the Mexican troops despite being hopelessly outnumbered the Texians were defeated - ruthlessly slaughtered by some accounts. Their tenaciousness inspired many to join the Texian army. Buoyed by a spirit of revenge the Texians defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto in April of 1836 effectively ended the revolution.

When Texans say 'Remember the Alamo' what they mean is that victory can be had despite what seems like insurmountable odds.

San Antonio

In addition to the 'lone star' Texans have two other iconic referencess that show up regularly - the longhorn and the Alamo.  If your're business is Longhorn Linen Service nobody needs to ask what state you service.

San Antonio

I took a break from the maddening crowds in the marketplace and was looking for little jewels at which to aim my camera; so there you go.

San Antonio

 In San Antonio - and I would think elsewhere in Texas too - the iconic 'lone star' is used ubiquitously to decorate fences, sidewalks, guardrails...you name it.  As symbols go, it's pretty tough to beat; universally recognized and easy to replicate (any five year old can draw it).  Here are a few examples.

San Antonio

This logo featuring the lone star of Texas and the profile of the Alamo is seen all over San Antonio.  In this case, embedded in a concrete sidewalk.

Lensbaby Composer; Canon 5DII.