Wired to the Sky in Suidobashi Tokyo Japan

Nikon D80 Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR @ f/5.6 ISO 400 1/320thThough I have never photographed in New York or London, I am still absolutely sure that Tokyo is one of the top five cities for photography in the world, if not the best.  So many factors contribute to how good a city is for photography that have nothing to do with photography itself, for example public transportation, safety, regulations restricting what can be photographed, etc.  Tokyo excels in all those areas with a great train system, an absolutely safe city to walk around with a thousand dollar+ DSLR at any time of night and no restrictions on what can be photographed.  Want to set up on a tripod in the train station, go ahead!

Then of course it has an incredibly rich source of photography subject matter.  Perhaps what I have written so far should be for another future post.  The photograph above was taken in the Suidobashi area of Tokyo, Japan.  It is a central part of Tokyo, more toward the older, traditional side of the metropolis.  There is an amusement park right in the middle of all the roads and buildings, surprisingly.

Using all 200m of reach I framed a mother and son in what looks like a converted airline food server tethered high above the sky in a series of elongated cables.  I thought it looked like a great way to see the city.  I never went up on the ride myself.  So that is a tip for any current Tokyo photographer who wants what will undoubtedly be a unique vantage point.

A fuller view of a most unusual sky carousel in the middle of Tokyo.

Photography Tip - use filters when editing for great quick results

Nikon D300 Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D ISO 400 1/60th - sailboats of St. Petersburg HarborFor this digital photography editing tip I am using a photograph that was made in an unusual way and breaks a few rules.  Typically for a landscape, fine art type photograph I would of course mount my DSLR on a tripod and probably use a cable release and wide angle lens too.  For this photograph I was shooting handheld with a 50mm prime lens, and in portrait orientation to boot.  At the time I was teaching a DSLR photography lesson to a student preparing for a trip to Costa Rica and he would not be bringing a tripod.

This photograph had been lying around unedited for five months, which means I did not love it, but something about it made me want to not just delete it right away.  Maybe it is the completely empty foreground and the use of portrait orientation, or because of the sailboat with a lowered mast in the middle.  Either way, I will in the following describe my simple and fast editing method of using filters.

The first step was importing the RAW file into Aperture 3.  If you use an app like Aperture 3, then shooting in RAW requires no extra work over just shooting in jpg.  So you get all the benefits of shooting in RAW, with no big work required on your part because Aperture 3 upon file import applies a RAW processing profile based on your specific DSLR right to the file.  No mess no fuss.  So there is absolutely no excuse not to shoot in RAW.  The myth of RAW being extra work is gone!  

Here are the next steps I took in Aperture 3: 

• straighten the horizon (right side was low)
• adjust exposure and vibrance sliders
• use the temperature slider to add warmth (image was too blue) 

After doing super easy and basic slider adjustments in Aperture 3, I then launch Color Efex Pro 3 which is a plugin I have right inside Aperture 3.

 

The filters I used in order in Color Efex Pro 3: 

• Polarization
• Remove Color Cast
• Tonal Contrast 

After finishing things up in Color Efex Pro 3, I export the image as a TIFF right into Photoshop CS5 where I applied a 60% unsharp mask filter.  Then from right within Photoshop CS5 I launched Topaz Adjust 3 and applied the "Photo Pop" filter.  The last little thing I did to the image was use the dodge brush in CS5 set for midtones at 20% to brighten up the condos a little more, and the shoreline too.

This is basically the editing process I do on every single photograph I edit, save for using Topaz Adjust which is only used once in a great while.  One or two of the filters may change in Color Efex Pro, and I may adjust different sliders in Aperture 3, but I think this is a streamlined, easy and effective editing process.  

Please try this editing process out on one of your own images and post a link to the results in the comments below.

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Tropical Shores St. Petersburg Real Estate Photography

Not HDR - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 1/4th tripod mounted with cable releaseReal estate photography, for me, is an especially internal process.  Since the subject being photographed cannot respond to verbal commands, nor non-verbal for that matter, I can work in complete silence and those have absolute, unbroken concentration.  Add to that I use a tripod and cable release for this type of work, freeing my hands, real estate photography is almost a sort of meditation.  To an outside observer, it would appear I was doing nothing, though if they could read my mind they would see a constant stream of calculations and measurements and penetrating glances.  That is how I operate when doing real estate photography.

This first room has come to be known as a "man cave," a term I despise.  I have, as of yet, no great alternative because I think the old term "rec room" still seems pretty good to me.  Regardless of label, this is no ordinary room of this type as the walls, as you can see, are lined with artwork.  In fact most of the walls in the whole house looked thusly.

Not HDR - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 1/2 sec tripod mounted with cable releaseI wonder why granite countertops have become all the rage the past few years?  Was this type of countertop not invented in the 1970s?  It seems now any type of countertop material that is not granite is looked upon with scorn and in need of "updating."  

5-bracket HDR - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/8 ISO 200 tripod mounted with cable releasePersonally, the master bedroom could be the smallest room in the house and I would be fine.  As long as a queen size bed can fit and I do not bump into the night stand, that would suit me.  I see so many house hunters on TV wanting a huge master.  I do not understand the benefit.

Not HDR, but digitally altered - Nikon D300 Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 @ f/11 ISO 200 1/160th tripod & cable releaseThe owner/seller of the house was quite an interesting person.  He was a builder by profession (now retired).  He built this, his own house, to withstand winds of 300mph using a concrete pouring process I was not able to remember since I was concentrating on photography.  Where may you ask is better than living in Florida for a retiree?  Well, he is on his way to Italy to an area that has good beaches also, while being just a stone's throw from ski slopes.  

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Permanently thinking . . .

Nikon D80 Nikkor AF 50mm f/1.8D @ f/2 ISO 800 1/100th

As myself, I do not often go over to other people's houses, being somewhat of a recluse.  However, as a photographer I find myself in places I would otherwise never venture.  One such place was a downtown St. Petersburg condo with as good of a view as you can get in this area.  I was there to photograph a wedding (photos).  The owner of the condo was obviously well off and appreciated the arts for the condo had assorted sculptures and paintings throughout it.  

The sculpture above at first startled me with its realness.  It was creepy.  I did not want to look at it, but one does not see such a piece of art in a domestic setting that often.  The start of the wedding was delayed so I had a few spare moments to try and best photograph this most unusual severed hands, abruptly scalped sculpture.  The figure appeared to be staring into the room.  Boring her eyes into something.  I did not want to photograph that gaze directly so opted for this profile shot, allowing me to include a bit of bokeh from the hanging lights in the dining room.  

What do you think has her so perplexed?

Bride Series - Carie

Carie -- a very happy bride getting ready for her St. Petersburg WeddingMy Florida Wedding Bride Series continues . . . Photographing the bride getting ready might be my favorite part of photographing a wedding, or at least the most interesting to me personally because at the time I am totally relaxed just starting my photography day while the bride has all the nerves and anxious feelings.  I like to see how people react in such situations.  Some brides remain tense and nervous, really needing the help of her bridesmaids (or a wisecrack by me) to even show a hint of a smile, while other brides are totally laughing and showing no outward anxiety.  Carie was in the latter category.  It was like a comedy hour while she was getting ready with me doing a bit of my stand-up routine.  

One photo tip for getting ready shots, if the makeup artist and the bride are not lining up in a way that makes for a good photograph, feel free to ask them to slightly move so you can get a shot, then resume their normal positions.  That's what I did for the above shot, but it remained candid because of the light mood in the room.

The bride all ready for her St. Petersburg Wedding on Snell IsleI had an idea for a "demure" shot so we all attempted to calm things down for just a minute to see if I could make the shot I pre-envisioned.  The above shot is the result and I was mostly able to get the results I wanted to.  Carie was very good at switching moods from laughing to contemplative.

Long lens shots ad variety to images of a wedding ceremonySoon it was time for the wedding ceremony.  I have a new shot that I now like to do for every wedding.  Using a long lens (my Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/4 200mm) I isolate the bride's bouquet of flowers and ring in a tightly composed shot.  I do not include the bride's face for several reasons.  If you include a face in any photo, the mind's instinct to look at, read and identify a face, makes the face the automatic focal point of the shot.  Therefore, not including the bride's face allows the viewer's eye to focus on the ring and the flowers.  

I use black & white processing very selectively, and always on purpose in wedding photography editingNow for this shot, I did want the bride's face to be the focal point as it was a moment of emotion for the bride, but I included other elements as well to show context for that emotion.  Once again using a long lens I was able to create a sense of 3-dimensions and depth putting in focus just what I wanted to be in focus (the bride).  I was also careful to make sure none of the decorative strings covered the bride's face in my composition.

Be ready for spontaneous moments during wedding ceremonies!However, just like during the getting ready time, the wedding ceremony itself involved a lot of laughter.  There was a pause of a good minute to let all parties involved get the giggles out, but I remained focused so that I could photograph everyone's reactions.  

I had a very good time photographing Carie's wedding and was really pleased with the variety of shots we were able to make together showcasing her wedding in a full range of emotions. 

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