How I Shot That - See the New Orpheum and the Capitol

How I Shot That - See the New Orpheum and the Capitol

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Camera: a6000 / Lens: 50mm f1.8

Street style photography isn't something I get to do all the time.  I might not get all of the finer points of Street Style (I have much to learn), but it is so enjoyable to do.  And if you live in Wisconsin, one of the greatest places to practice this art is Madison.  State Street to be specific.  

 

 

This area has a great mix of people.  The University of Wisconsin is very close.  This is the state Capitol area.  It is an area right between two large lakes.  Government offices and government related businesses are every where to be seen.  You will find people from every part of the state and the region coming to this street.

 

 

UW is probably responsible for much of the night life, but being the state capitol it is a little above average.  That means besides bars and sandwiches, you find classy restaurants and even theater.  It is a great place for anyone starting out in street photography.  For myself, I wanted to include the buildings of the area in my photos.  

 

 

Besides the buildings in this photo, we have a mix of the area's people.  Young professional, college students, and tourists.  The young professional near the optometrist isn't going the way of the crowd. The college kids are heading up the street to their next destination.  Then the theater is lit up and just viewable past the trees.  It is a slice of Madison.
 

How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

How I Shot That - Clouds and a Falling Leaf

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Sony a6000 / Sony 50mm f1.8

When the Fall comes, the weather gives us special opportunities.  One of these opportunities came from a set of trees in La Crosse that are nearly 100 years old.

Every fall, these few tall trees around Riverside Park shed their leaves.  It is the hight that gives me options.  And that day the clouds were spotty and the wind was just enough to rest the light collector away from the branch.  

Since it has so far to fall, the wind really carries it away.  I get enough space away from the tree to take that out of the frame.  And then I need to spend much of a day by this tree, running down leaves.  Sometimes I need to spend multiple days in order to get the photo I want.  This one, I had actually come back to the same place multiple afternoons to get the photo of a single leaf with the clouds in the background.

Something else that helped take this photo, was a new camera (at the time) that had a much better focus system than my old point and shoot bridge camera.  This was from my Sony a6000.  I used the 50mm f1.8 lens.  The a6000 was made as a starting sports camera.  So I was able to get my focus on the leaf pretty well.  I also had to shoot pretty fast.  So 11 frames a second was nice to have.

If you were to purchase this photo, the best way to do it justice would be on a large metal print.  Think 12x18.  That would be gorgeous.

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

How I Shot That - Neat Stuff True Value

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Lens - Sony 50mm f1.8 - https://amzn.to/2qsKH6W
Camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2veYxyW

In La Crosse, WI, there is this downtown 'hardware store' that most people think of as either the Downtown Kroner's or Kroner's Really Neat Stuff store.  It is one of those things that makes a downtown of a small town feel like a part of a small town.  La Crosse is one of those cities that has a hard time with that identification. 

Almost bipolar in that aspect.  Some ways a small town... the next block over, you realize too big to be small.  Overall, it tries to keep the façade of a small town.  This is one of those places where you feel it keeping those roots. 

The building keeps a white wash on the front with a black and white art deco style to it.  Obvious with it's run against time.  It has a need of fresh paint.  But the building otherwise keeps the clean lines and great signage.  I liked this because you have a newer car to date the time, even with being a black and white to keep the age of the setting.

There is another element of rule breaking here.  I took this in broad daylight.  Must have been between noon and 1pm.  The light is harsh, but I think it accentuates the sharpness of the building.

From where I was, is also a common location where people eat in downtown La Crosse for lunch. 

That is the other reason I took this, anyone from this town will instantly recognize this spot, that store, and why you would be there.  It has a connection to a local that others won't have.  But on it's own, you can connect with any one from a small town with a downtown hardware store.

This was with my Sony a6000 and a 50mm f1.8 lens.

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

How I Shot That - Bokeh in the Fall

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Lens - Sony 85mm f1.8 FE - https://amzn.to/2Gwzto2
camera - Sony a6000 - https://amzn.to/2H9lplA

Sony has been growing their lens selection to include some impressive glass.  One particular lens is the 85mm f1.8 seems to perform above its class.  That means it is relatively affordable, but at first had some people thinking photos that came from it were like that of a Zeiss build of glass. 

This is what I love about this lens, besides how cheap it was, it wasn't very heavy (for me) to carry around.  And in spite of some of the photos describing how big it was, it didn't feel that big in my hands... it felt just right. 

I rent this lens for a family photo shoot, but I needed to get a feel for the lens.  I went out to one of the parks with access to wild life and a variety of shooting options.  It was fall, with a beautiful collection of fall colors breaking out all over the place. 

Now, I'll let you in on a secret of mine... I have some color blindness.  But it is selective with trouble between some reds and greens.  You will find other incredible photographers out there with color blindness as well (probably most well know is Trey Ratcliff).  So, when I can see how awesome some color combinations are, I'm sure it is going to look amazing.  At least that is what I'm told... lol!

Being an 85mm lens with a 1.8 f-stop available to it, you can achieve an incredibly thin field of focus.  On top of thin focus, you can gain some silky smooth backgrounds.  With a marsh and fall weather, I knew I could get some greens, reds, blues, yellows. 

So this was a plant that lost all of the pedals and just had a ball of its center left.  I was near the water where some sun had peaked out.  That made me in shade, this plant in light, and a mix of light and shade behind it.  This makes use of one of the greatest assets of a mirror less camera, the electronic viewfinder.  It helped me see the effect I was going for all the easier.

That electronic viewfinder also helps because people can't focus this way, and it helped me nail the focus on the ball.  It also helped me realize if I missed my intention, I could go right to the next shot.  No wasting time.

When I first placed this on some of my media pages, people came up to tell me how neat it was.  People also told me about how some colors were amazing (you know, the ones I didn't even know were there)! 

But that is what makes the feedback so amazing.  You not only get confirmation about what you intended to do... but you get to understand the view of other people around you, too.

How I Shot That - After Hours near the Bahai Temple

How I Shot That - After Hours near the Bahai Temple

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Sony a6000: https://amzn.to/2GiWa2T
Sony 50mm f1.8 OSS:  https://amzn.to/2E24YEx
Bahai Wilmette Wikipedia Page

When you are in town for a visit with family and you find a little bit of time... go do something.

The other day I was in the Chicago area and after dinner I had a little extra time.  I asked my brother, if we could go see the Bahai Temple in Wilmette, IL. 

If you haven't seen this place, it is huge!  It is the kind of thing that in most cases, a small lens was made fore.  But I really like the 50mm.  I like it so much, I still use it for getting scenic shots.  Could I have had done this with something else... probably. But I'm still very happy with this.

That night was very much spur of the moment.  The night had actually gotten a bit more chilly than I expected, too.  But being the upper Midwest, we are not unfamiliar with this change in weather.  After we found a parking spot it was a small walk up to this location. 

But, since it was cold, my brother and I did a couple of things before leaving the vicinity of his car. We checked our batteries in our Sony cameras.  Changed our lenses, and then started walking. 

As we got closer, it became apparent just how massive this structure is.  But since I had the 50mm lens on my APS-C sized camera, I had to find my first photos be from a ways back.  And that is where I found the location for this photo. 

Where most people would take the photo of the building dead center, I wanted the off-center look.  But when you do that, usually it helps to have something that makes up for the empty space.  That is where a leading line comes into play.  That is why I took this spot to start snapping away.  The lights for the parking area lined up a little to point towards the top of the dome.

Some of the first photos were a little fuzzy, and had too much noise.  I didn't have my tripod with me, so this was going to require me planting my feet in a very steady position.  I held the camera a little extra tightly, and against my head by the eyepiece.  Then I started to lower the shutter speed to 1/15 of a second and then lowered the ISO to 500.  After a few attempts, I got a clean shot. 

If you want to see a clean, enlarged photo, go to my Google Plus Post Here.
 

An interesting thing is hearing out there all of the talk about photography gear.  People look at the new toys out there, but not at what they already have.  Or, they are convinced that this one particular lens will be all they need. But the truth us going to be messy.  That is because as artists, we are usually a little messy. 

And I think that night illustrates some of this point. I sure would like different gear, but the distraction of other gear for me will be a detriment. If I had kept my 70-210 lens with me during this walk, I would have been distracted with other 'options' and couldn't have focused on what was in front of me.  It helps me stay in the moment.

Thanks for letting me vent a little bit!

How I Shot That - Milwaukee Fog and Art

How I Shot That - Milwaukee Museum of Art

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Sony a6000 - http://amzn.to/2FW83M8
Sony 20mm f8 - http://amzn.to/2pywfJC

They say, always have a Fog Plan.

A couple of years ago, at about 10 am in July on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, I didn't have the faintest clue that we would be heading into a wall of fog.  But we were in for a treat. 

My brother and I both do photography, and we got a late start to the day.  He and I were driving in from Chicago and thought that we were going to see a lot of hard shadows and sunny skies.  However, nature sent us a gift.  Fog at the shore line that was thick but let us have all the light we needed. 

One of the best architectural treats of Milwaukee is their Museum of Art.  Looking like a sailing vessel instead of a structure, it sits on the shores of this Great Lake.  Walking outside it can be misleading when finding a center focal point to photo.  So you get it just right, or make it look like you broke the composition rules on purpose. 

I had to line up the points and check for other matching lines.  The point of this deck that came out towards me was my main setup.  In checking out the lines, I confirmed I could not see the wall of the center rib on that deck.  When lining the photo up to the top, the top of one of the masts also lined up.  I decided that the 'sail' could break the rules of composition.  I know the sides of the photo seem to be clipped a little, but that looked equal to me, so I went with it. 

When I had this photo in color, it felt like I lost contrast a little bit.  But going back to monochrome, gave me back some of the building, while still keeping some of the fog's softness. 

But this also brings up the idea of the 'Fog Plan'.  When I first came to this building, I went to the main entrance.  And then I went inside.  What was I thinking?  I wasted valuable time with the fog!  Remember, fog is your friend in photography!

Also, this was a fun day that day, walking around Milwaukee.  You should try it some time.

Equipment Post - what would make this better?

Equipment - What Would Make This Better?

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I have seen a lot of people drop their jaws over new cameras lately.  It seems that some people are chasing the megapixels of a camera, others just want the latest camera.  And a few, are shrewd enough to realize an improvement can be done, but perhaps not the latest camera, but that you need the right camera.

My test was when posting this photo of a skater at the 2017 National State Games, to ask people what could make this photo better.  This was a group of heavy Sony users and many said the a7Riii or the latest a7iii.  Only one person admitted to getting the camera (that released over a year ago) might be the right path.  That was a suggestion for the a6500 with the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  Sure, this would have been a near $4000 investment, but it didn't take me north of that with suggestions of the other camera's and the same glass. 

But the main thing that would give me the best increase in photo quality would be the lens.  Lens issue would help by this main factor.  The lens I used for this was the Sony 70-200 f4 G.  But the lens I wished I had was the Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM.  And  what that lens does is allow?  More light to hit the sensor.  More light means I can use a smaller ISO value.  Smaller ISO value means smaller grain in the photo.  Smaller grain means that the color and sharpness will be more pronounced. 

One other thing... you get better subject separation between subject and background/foreground.  This is called Bokeh, getting a fuzzy looking out of focus look.  It also makes the subject stand out that much greater from everything else. 

Now, what a better camera body would have given me: other opportunities.  The a6500 still has 11 frames per second, and that is a must.  But something else is that camera has eye auto focus on continuous focus mode.  Additionally, it would give me the option to use 8 fps speed, but give me the slight motion between those shots.  And that would help with tracking the subject.  This photo, while what I wanted, was only in the bottom two thirds of the frame. If I had gotten a much more centered photo, then I would have greater content to work with.

Product Amazon Links
Sony a6500     Sony a6000
Sony 70-200 f4 G     Sony 70-200 f2.8 GM
Sony a7III     Sony a7RIII