Sky Glory
This one makes me dizzy but that's why I love it. I left in the light post and building on the right to give context but it's fun to cover up that sid...
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This one makes me dizzy but that's why I love it. I left in the light post and building on the right to give context but it's fun to cover up that side of the picture and imagine something else!
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Jun, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken while roaming around Downtown Denver. I have usual spots that I go to but I thought to go a little farther west in the city and arrived to find this reflective beauty.Time
This photo was taken around 2pm on a sunny and partly cloudy Saturday. The sun was too bright to achieve good shots of people due to the shadows on their face so I found another way to use its light. The clouds really reflected every bit of light and it made for a much more clear and beautiful shot.Lighting
I tried a number of different angles shooting this, but it was tricky because the clouds were moving at a fairly rapid pace. This made the light even trickier to work with because sometimes it would be severely overexposed and sometimes it would be very underexposed. I had to be patient and wait. I finally ended with this one as the light allowed for good reflection without any lens flare and there is a good mix of cloud and sky on the building.Equipment
This one was done with a Nikon D3300 and my Tokina SD 11-16 f2.8 DX II wide angle lens. The lens name itself is a mouthful but it has been one of the best purchases I have made. I also used the lens hood that it came with to try and eliminate lens flare. The wide angle lens allowed me to really capture the entirety of what I was seeing and give a complete picture.Inspiration
I was frustrated from shooting earlier in the day because the sunlight was too intense for properly capturing people as I encountered them. I realized that I hadn't gone to the other side of the city for a while so I migrated and was able to find several new things to shoot. Then I came across this building and couldn't stop staring at it. In fact I almost completely forgot to take the picture because I was having too much fun watching the clouds migrate across the reflected surface. Once I came to my senses I pulled out my photo and attempted to capture the floating castle in the sky that I had seen. I was going to take the photo without the other city objects in it, but I decided to keep them because it was fun to slip in and out of my own imagination.Editing
Editing this was very simple as all I did was convert it to black and white and then up the contrast. I considered keeping it with color and boosting the original blue, but the black and white just felt more mysterious and fun.In my camera bag
Being a budget photographer I am limited in what I carry but make the most of it. I of course have the Nikon D3300 body with me and appreciate how it has a nice light weight body. After this I cary my standard 55-200 kit lens. I don't shoot long distances too often but it has come in handy as I live in a place where I can go from city to mountains quickly. After this I carry a Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 DX II lens. This thing is great and has really allowed me to get more creative especially when doing street photography (talk about getting close!). The thing is also built really well and feels solid when using it. Last but not least I have my nifty fifty f1.8 Nikkor lens. I love working at this focal length and have been pushed to better frame my shots using this lens. Its cheap too so I would highly recommend it!Feedback
Be patient. I am continually learning that the photographer is often at the mercy of the subject and therefore waiting for the right moment is the key to getting special shots. I would also say take a good number of shots as some will be better than the others. You will always regret having not taken enough photos, but will rarely regret having a larger pool to select from.
