An annual event I photograph in Albuquerque, New Mexico is the River of Lights. The past two times I have had a chance to test out a new lens. This time it was the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN Art lens, which I liked from the very first shot I took with it! This lens was as close to the ideal one lens solution as you could get both in terms of focal length (85mm) as many of the light creations are a fair bit away from the walking paths, and the fast f/1.4 aperture for great low light performance and for creating bokeh when possible. Which is your favorite River of Lights display?
New sign new photos for the San Mateo Inn in Albuquerque
I really appreciate returning clients, and Yvette, owner of the San Mateo Inn, is one of the ones I appreciate the most. I returned to the San Mateo Inn for a fifth photo shoot! She got a new sign for the inn plus did even more remodeling of some of the rooms, so it was time for updated photos. Just like I did on a previous shoot, I got a daylight and nighttime exterior shot of the hotel with its great looking new sign. No lighting this time though during the night shot! It is always great working with and talking to Yvette. Thank you Yvette for continuing to choose me as your hotel photographer! Check out the new photos on the San Mateo Inn website.
Night photography from the front door in San Antonio
The first stop on a recent trip to Texas that was purely for leisure (no photo work!) was to San Antonio. The Airbbnb was actually walking distance to the Alamodome, which is also where I first really tested out the new Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master lens I had just received a few days before. This is the kind of photography I used to do quite often when I lived in Tokyo, because architecture to photograph at night was like here, just a short walk outside my own front door. The Alamodome was totally deserted this evening, but fortunately, someone left the lights on. I was super impressed with the performance of the new 24mm lens, which was good, because it was the only lens I brought on the Texas trip!
It was over 20 years ago I saw the brightest stars in the night sky in my life, and ironically it was the furthest I had ever been from the stars themselves as I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Now, I unexpectedly have seen the second brightest night sky in my life here in the tiny town of La Veta, Colorado. Strolling outside the Airbnb it was like the Universe had suddenly created 5 times as many stars in the heavens. It was a spectacular site and a nice bonus on what has been a hard photo & drone work trip.
Lightning in Commercial Hotel Photography Albuquerque
Almost one month to the day I returned to the San Mateo Inn for more commercial exterior photography, this time at night! My first shoot was all during the day with clear blue skies overhead. For this second shoot right after sunset, the clouds were rolling in and a storm was approaching. I was working as fast as I could with my new Sony a7R IV mirrorless camera. In fact this was the very first shoot I used it for! I could hear the thunder and see the lightning, and in a happy accident, during one long exposure photo of the front of the hotel, I caught a sharp bolt of lightning! I got the remaining photos I needed of the pool and front sign, and was back home safe and dry before the actual rain started. Thank you to the owner, Yvette, for braving the storm with me and watching my back as we were very close to the road to get some of these shots.
As best as I can remember, for the first time since I was a kid, I saw a movie at a drive in theater. The experience was great (the movies were not)! This was part of an ultra-rare, full weekend off, out of town, not part of a photo job holiday. It was me and Jessica and our dogs Kiki and Artie all in the M3 with the top down completely under the stars, looking up at the big screen. And the stars! They were so bright and vivid! Not since I spent the night at the bottom of the Grand Canyon did they look as vivid to me.
For the first 4th of July in a long time I had my camera out on a tripod using bulb mode and an index card to capture multiple fireworks burst in one exposure. Setup in a wide open field at Balloon Fiesta Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico I had a clear view with little wind to blow smoke into the frame, but on the other hand not much of a foreground to set the fireworks in. My step-by-step guide for making fireworks photos goes into even more detail about how and why I like to photograph fireworks. Still, I was pleased with the images I was able to make even from a good distance away.
