washington street photography

la fashion district

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 23:54:05 -0400

la fashion district

a landscape for a change. but then there is not much as...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:06:21 -0400

a landscape for a change. but then there is not much as beautiful as the hollywood hills.

i get asked a lot of times if i keep all my photos or throw away...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:59:37 -0400

i get asked a lot of times if i keep all my photos or throw away photos that i think are not good. my answer has always been: i keep all, i never throw away. the reason? first, storage cost are just too cheap to worry about it. second, you never know, a photo you might think is crap might have something that upon a second, third, or fourth look has something you missed previously.

and the above photo is one such photo. when i saw the scene in new york walking back to the hotel i thought this would be a nice black and white shot, but because it was pretty dark already the three shots i took while walking all were a bit out of focus and some a bit shaky. and so i dismissed the photos not even playing around with them.

then fast forward to yesterday and i am bored on my flight back to DC from LA and playing around with the new Lightroom 5. and there was this photo again. and i thought what if i darken the space around her? what if i give the photo a bit more of a noir look. so i played around a bit with contrast, shadows … ran it through silver efex and suddenly i thought i have something here. so i finished working on the photo, got back to the photo today and its not an amazing shot, but suddenly i thought actually looks kind of cool. so here you go.

so the other day i posted nearly the identical photo. but this...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 02:03:50 -0400

so the other day i posted nearly the identical photo. but this one is different. the first one was really all about her, and the light and composition of the shot. after that i was trying to get some additional element into the frame. and then he came along and looked at her, she even looked back. but i don’t think anything else happened.

The Broadway — Hollywood. i guess i don’t have to...

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 03:10:03 -0400

The Broadway — Hollywood. i guess i don’t have to add much to that.

usually i capture the faces of people. but i guess every now and...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 02:52:07 -0400

usually i capture the faces of people. but i guess every now and then the back of a person is just as interesting. this was taken earlier today at Union Station in LA.

was in NY last weekend and i think the heat had a negative...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 21:42:17 -0400

was in NY last weekend and i think the heat had a negative impact on my creativity. of all the shots this one is the one i liked at least a little bit. not really sure i should post this but just thought i need to put an end to those memorial day photos.

one last photo from memorial day weekend. this one is another...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:46:36 -0400

one last photo from memorial day weekend. this one is another one from arlington cemetery. there were boy scouts that were handing out roses to everyone who was coming to the cemetery. these two guys were just taking a break

ok this might be the second to last photo from last weekend...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 20:31:05 -0400

ok this might be the second to last photo from last weekend … memorial day weekend. this is a photo from memorial day, and also from an area of Arlington Cemetery where a lot of the soldiers lie who died in Iraq or Afghanistan. i thought quite a bit about if i would post this photo or not. had a couple of conversations with friends about posting it. might thought was that i had maybe intruded too much … although neither of the two asked me not to take a photo. one friend told me that all my photos more or less intrude people’s privacy and that this was not different from the others. and that is a fair point. the reason i took this as well as the other photos of people mourning at Arlington Cemetery was that i wanted to capture the pain these families and friends go through and that it is not just about the soldiers themselves but it is a whole group of people that are impacted by the decision to fight a war. it is part of a series that i called remembering the dead and i think ideally it should be seen in that broader context.

changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknows in arlington...

Wed, 29 May 2013 22:34:46 -0400

changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknows in arlington cemetery. i got there just a couple of minutes after the cemetery opened and so there were just a handful of other people around which felt strange since usually this place is just packed. what i liked about this scene was the lines in the photo. the shadows that form one diagonal and then the black walking matt that forms the other

memorial day is over but there are still a couple of shots i...

Tue, 28 May 2013 21:48:19 -0400

memorial day is over but there are still a couple of shots i wanted to post from this past weekend. this is the first one. i walked around Arlington Cemetery and saw this grave stone that was being pushed into the ground by this tree. but at the same time soldiers had put a flag infront of the stone and a rose on top of it.

i guess this is the truest meaning of memorial day. taken this...

Mon, 27 May 2013 15:28:19 -0400

i guess this is the truest meaning of memorial day. taken this morning at arlington cemetery. i put together a set of photos on flickr with more from that trip this morning.

arlington cemetery, memorial day weekend. took this on saturday...

Mon, 27 May 2013 12:41:58 -0400

arlington cemetery, memorial day weekend. took this on saturday morning.

Faces of Rolling Thunder, a set on Flickr.i might post some...

Sun, 26 May 2013 16:30:37 -0400

Faces of Rolling Thunder, a set on Flickr.

i might post some individual photos of this set later but thought i would put this whole set here since it was really designed as a set. as i went to the meet up area for today’s Rolling Thunder event in DC I wanted to capture the people that were taking part in this event. This was not about the bikes but the riders. and i think seeing the full set is the best way to see this.

it is Memorial Day weekend and like all across the country...

Sat, 25 May 2013 12:33:58 -0400

it is Memorial Day weekend and like all across the country people are remembering those that died while serving their country. This leads many to come to DC, specifically to Arlington Cemetery to remember their friends, partners, kids …

was a bit too busy to post some more photos. this one is from...

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:27:14 -0400

was a bit too busy to post some more photos. this one is from Mexico City, just off Reforma.

mexico city, roma district.

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:39:59 -0400

mexico city, roma district.

back home, but there are still a coulpe of photos from the...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:17:21 -0400

back home, but there are still a coulpe of photos from the mexico trip that I think might be worth posting. this one in particular is one that grew on me with the hand sticking out of the bus to help the woman lift up her market acquisitions into the bus home … wherever that is.

it is the last full day in Oaxaca, in Mexico, so I had to go...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:17:58 -0400

it is the last full day in Oaxaca, in Mexico, so I had to go back to the Central de Abastos, the wholesale farmers market here. and it was worth any minute i was there. can’t wait to come back here and go back to the market.

another photo from the Central de Abastos Market in Oaxaca. this...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:29:59 -0400

another photo from the Central de Abastos Market in Oaxaca. this is not the market right off the central plaza but more or less the wholesale market that is used by farmers from all over the region. the amount of stuff one can buy there is insane. there are mountains of mangos, papayas, onions, all kinds of herbs, chickens … and anything you could ever think you would need. between the inside and outside space the market covers probably two football fields and it is easy to get lost in the narrow walkways. but if you want to get a feel for the food culture of oaxaca it is a great place.