Washington Street
Feb, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken on Washington Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. I was born in Providence where I spent my early childhood so there is a passion and sentimentality for the city that I attempt to capture with every shot.Time
I love the golden hour and the light and colors that naturally occur at those times. This image was captured on a Tuesday evening at dusk on April 14, 2015. It was the time of day when men and women were leaving their offices for the day. Some were heading down to the corner bar where music spilled out into the evening air as friends and co-workers met for appetizers and drinks. It was the time of day to unwind and relax the mind and sometimes those vibes carry into the streets and inspire me.Lighting
Light is the most important aspect of photography for me and can make or break an image. Light adds drama to an image and also allows me to add warmth and focus to particular parts of the image. The sunlight hitting the tops of the buildings was key in showing time of day and the headlights and street lamps coming on also add description and character to the scene.Equipment
I love photography but I am not rich so when I moved from the 35mm film camera format to digital cameras, the prices for new cameras and lenses made me shutter. I would need to save my money for a single lens reflex camera fund. The crucial thing for me was the ability to capture raw images so I could pull out the most information from the scene. I looked around and did some research and picked up a Nikon 1 S1 mirror-less camera as a starter which I used for this photo. I used the Nikkor lens 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 and no tripod or flash was needed since there was sufficient daylight.Inspiration
The architecture in the Providence area buildings are historic and are a definite inspiration to me. Also, the illusion of space that is created in the image as a result of perspective as the buildings fade away add a nice space to the scene to promote depth and further viewer investigation. These aspects along with personal sentiments towards positively representing my city and the feel-good atmosphere downtown that evening inspired this shot. Although I never truly know what to expect until I am out on a location, I have a mood or feeling that I seek out as I attempt to capture and freeze a moment in time.Editing
I did some basic edits to this image in Lightroom. I warmed it up and added some contrast. I lowered the highlights and boosted the shadows as well as adjusted the tones in the highlights and shadows to accentuate the colors and visual information. I sharpened the image and added some vibrance and topped it off with a little vignetting.In my camera bag
I recently acquired a Canon Rebel T5 with a 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II and 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III lens. I also have some polarizing and UV filters that I find very helpful at times. I usually have a tripod over my shoulder for taking long exposure photos. As back up, I still take my Nikon 1 S1 with me wherever I go. The fact that it fits neatly into my pocket makes it a no-brainer and it continues to impress me with vibrant colorful images.Feedback
Anything done without passion is not worth doing. Photography is no exception. Particularly in digital photography, there is an enormous amount of images that are constantly being created so images must stand out and initiate emotion. Whether capturing a landscape, portrait, or still life there is technical advice for every image however, I feel it most important to approach photography with feeling. I find that if I really love the shot or what is happening at the time and if it makes me feel something, whatever the emotion, then it is worthy of sharing regardless of it's reception. Personally, I love to capture and view landscape images and scenes that make me want to travel, reflect on where I have been, or see the world through someone else's eyes. I particularly enjoy the experience of viewing an image and when I see it, I immediately know that it really meant something special to the photographer who captured it.
