Tuesday, March 27, 2007

night shots in helena

there are a lot of things not to like about helena if you look for them. for example the severed deer head in my neighbors tree. i'm convinced this is either a hunting ritual or a cult ritual. either way it's a severed head.

aside from the cultural differences which seem a bit glaring at times, helena is a really cool place to live. few cities have as many nice parks, and to my knowledge there is no place in b'ham like the river park at old town. i just (personally) discovered miles of trails down the river that lead deep into the woods, crossing through railroads, abandoned houses, and lots of good nature.

coming home last night i stopped at the park to try out some night shots. i've always loved night photography. the streak of car tail lights, the starburst of the street lamps, and in our case the blue glow of the flowing waterfall. for some reason helena put these massive blue lights on both sides of the falls, making them look, in my opinion, like some cheap putt-putt fountain. it did make for some funky shots though... kind of eerie I thought. I should also say that I've been trying to do more work with slow shutter speed, specifically with moving water. in the day though, even on my lowest settings, i still get washed out. so here are some i had success with at night.




an antique effect on the blue water it actually turns it to a normal light.



the park.




the street.


Saturday, March 10, 2007

railroad

i was in the studio most of the day. i began to mourn the loss of a beautiful day. thankfully I live close to some cool scenery. well cool for me. i love warn out stuff... rust, paint peeling, rotting wood etc. not junk but... in tact aged objects.

i was in greensboro, al thursday for work and as I was headed out of town I saw the most incredible house i've ever seen in my life. it literally made me physically anxious... my heart started racing. i'm sure it used to be an old plantation home (i later found out it was built in the 1850's). it looked like someone was about to start renovating it. i had my camera, and thought i was about to begin the best shoot of my life. so like an idiot i called the realtor and got the owners name. called him, left a message and never heard back. that's what you get for asking permission. because i'm an idiot and a wimp, i never got a single shot. i kept thinking he'd call as i was leaving town and i'd turn around and get my wish, but it never happened. i'm gonna call him again.

anyway, i've had a void since then and was glad to get to explore my little country town a bit this afternoon. i just started heading down the tracks. i was mainly getting used to our 2 new lenses. here's some of what i got.