picsofmyworld

Skytrain Vancouver

I'm learning to use different manipulations in Photoshop Elements. I'm trying. Please ... feel free to tell me what you think. What is right? What...
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I'm learning to use different manipulations in Photoshop Elements. I'm trying. Please ... feel free to tell me what you think. What is right? What is wrong? What could be better??? I won't mind. Thanks!

This is the skytrain in Vancouver, BC close to downtown.
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SONY ILCE-6000

settings

Aperture 56/10 ISO 100 Shutter 1/500 Focal Length 550/10

upload_date

Jun, 2016

Views

635

Likes

+62

Awards

People's Choice in Abstract Manipulation's Photo Challenge

Outstanding Creativity

+15

Peer Award

Superb Composition

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Top Choice

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

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Platinum

Great composition but it takes a moment to figure out what it is..you caught my attention !

Thanks. I just made this into a plotagraph. Have you looked into those yet? It made this picture look like it's heart is beating. AMAZING!

Very interesting and confusing at the same time!

LOL! I know what you mean. I had fun making this one. thanks so much!

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

I take the Amtrak train to Vancouver once in a while. This was right after day light savings change.

I've been trying to learn how to take pics of rows of things, like these holes, and get them to look like they are miles long. Plus when black a

My timid, shy and spooks easily kitty. She's a sweetheart and what a hunter!!!

This little guy has been all over my back yard looking for food. He finally found it in my sour pie cherry tree.

As an artist I work with a lot of old metal. This is an old cuckoo clock spring. It's coated in oil when it's made. When it sits in my ga

This is on the way to my fathers house. He's a mountain man who lives off the grid. No power, telephone, nothin'! You drive to the end of

I drove to Vancouver BC and stopped at a rest stop on the way. It was a gorgeous day!!!

This is what I wake up to nearly every day. No matter how bad life gets .... She always brightens my days!

I was watching a Stanley cup playoff game and looked out the front door window. There was a critter at the door tapping on the bottom of it. What I

I went walking around my neighborhood to try out my new extension tubes. I’m finding I REALLY like how they work on close ups, macro photos. FUN!

my view from a small restaurant! the food was as good as the view!

I fell in love with this fence. It’s old and amazing. This is the entrance to the front lawn of the Osgoode Hall Building complex on Queen St.

I thought this lady looked so happy to be leaving. I think she was going to visit friends. She had a bit of a sway to her hips and I could just feel

I was walking along a path and found a $2 coin. I wasn’t going to leave it. I saw so many homeless people, I thought I’d grab the coin and find

Behind The Lens

Location

I took the original photo while walking through the False Creek area of Vancouver, BC. I love hockey and I take a train from my hometown, Everett, WA, to Vancouver to watch NHL games. I walk about a mile from the train station to my hotel. The walk takes me under the elevated SkyTrain tracks, around False Creek and into downtown. Vancouver is full of glass buildings. Their color blends right in with the water around this area. There is a wonderful art sculpture called the Trans Am Totem close by. I tried to get it, the SkyTrain and the people and traffic of the area all in one photo. This photo looks east, back towards the train station. In the background are several tall glass buildings. In the middle is the elevated SkyTrain. Under that is automotive and pedestrian traffic. To the left, the art sculpture. The sun was shining towards me from the south. It came together very well. That’s always a nice feeling for this hobby photographer.

Time

I get off the train about 12 noon, so this was taken around 1pm. It’s not a great time of the day to take pictures, but, I figured it was a great time to try to make sure I was taking my pictures “straight”. I have a habit of trying to take 10 photos at one time. You know, you see something and all of a sudden there’s something else and you need that picture too. Will it still be there after I get the first one done? Oh hurry! OOPS! Crooked pictures. I got on Viewbug to learn how to take pictures that were better constructed. Not just those fun family photos. After I put a few pictures on I received a comment about one of the photos I had taken from my moving train. I was so hurt. I loved that photo because it wasn’t blurry and there was no reflection from lights into the windows of the train car. The comment said: remember, always straighten horizons, especially water, etc. At first I pouted. Then I tried it. I learned more from that wonderful comment than from any other lesson I’ve tried. THANK YOU AGAIN! The original photo was taken on Jan. 9, 2016.

Lighting

When the sun is too bright, I take pictures anyway just getting the water level and the buildings straight. Even in that harsh light, I still get a few that I think were well worth it. Plus, I think I learn more about perspective. I take my time knowing the sun is too bright and the photos really shouldn’t turn out great. But, this gives me time to see things at different angles that I probably didn’t try before.

Equipment

This was taken with a Sony A6000, a kit lens (55-210mm), auto focus, aperture: 56/10, ISO: 100, Shutter Speed: 1/500 and focal length: 550/10 (I cheated. That’s what my photo says). At this time I was taking all pictures handheld. I didn’t bring a tripod because mine was so old. I got it for a Christmas present in 1979. It’s so tired, if I put this camera on it, well, it spins the camera around and gets lower and lower. LOL YES! I recently bought a new one.

Inspiration

I try to make it to 7 or 8 hockey games a year. Every time I walk to my hotel I’m blown away by the views, colors and “busyness” of the city. It’s beautiful. I wanted a picture that would remind me of how lucky I am to get to take these trips. To see all the beauty in this city and to make that picture into a piece of art. That had been my goal for quite some time. I honestly had no idea I would get this fun art photo out of the original. It made me so happy I now look for areas that I might get more photos to turn into art. I look for areas that have color, texture and something odd or different.

Editing

I’m trying to learn Photoshop. As you all know, it’s a monster. LOL! It’s your best friend at times and your biggest, baddest enemy at others. I watched a tutorial on-line about making tiny planets. I tried it with a picture of a lake with a few boats on it. Not bad. Then I tried it with the tops of 3 buildings and I was hooked. It became a butterfly. It was that perfect art piece I wanted to make and I honestly had no idea it would work. I spent hours and hours just looking for another picture to make that same butterfly. Hahaha! Nope! I learned then that there is a lot to Photoshop that I needed to try. So, I tried this photo and decided it was busy, just like the city. It was color and texture filled, just like the city. To me, this is the heartbeat of this area of Vancouver. I can feel it in the “vibrations” that were created by those glass buildings.

In my camera bag

As a hobby photographer I only carry a few things with me. My camera and its 2 kit lenses, 2 spare batteries, 1 spare SD card, a couple empty large zip lock bags, a couple microfiber cloths, a few mints, a granola bar (I lose track of time very easily), a bottle of water, an umbrella (Everett and Vancouver are having record rainfall this year! Icky) and a cheap clear rain poncho. I carry those in my canvas shoulder bag or backpack. These give me 2 hands to use on my camera and stay mobile.

Feedback

If you want to try a tiny planet like the butterfly you’ll need a picture that has a group of 3 items (like the tops of buildings). Or try the SkyTrain picture with something that has a long subject in it. Try a dock from a lake. Or a train track. Maybe a road that’s lined with colorful flowers, trees or houses on one side of it. It might be really fun if that road was lined with cows or sheep. Just be ready to crop, crop and re-crop to get things just right. My best advice is if you like a certain photo ,,, try it! If I’ve made 10 of these, 5 to 7 didn’t work at all. They might seem good to try. BUT! You never know, if it will work, until you try it. As Wayne Gretzky said: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

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picsofmyworld

Skytrain Vancouver

I'm learning to use different manipulations in Photoshop Elements. I'm trying. Please ... feel free to tell me what you think. What is right? What... Read more

Behind The Lens

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I'm learning to use different manipulations in Photoshop Elements. I'm trying. Please ... feel free to tell me what you think. What is right? What...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.