Sometimes you just have to keep going back!

Entry to the Corner Pocket

I got together with my friend Mike Pittenger to go photograph in the rain last night. The afternoon had been gray and drizzly and I felt we could get some good reflections in the streets after dark. We drove through nearby Wylie,Texas looking for some interesting things to shoot. A few pixels were used up but nothing terribly exciting came of it. I decided we might try the Square in Garland. I know I keep going there to shoot but when conditions change like this you can create images not possible when it is dry. Good subject matter can be shot in a variety of ways. I also knew Mike had not seen the theater and it would give him a chance photographed it. When we got to the square the streets were dryer than I would have liked. It had only drizzled a little in the last two hours. Mike had some fun shooting the theater and I got a nice one of the entry to The Corner Pocket. We called it a night and we headed back to his place to get my truck.
 I stopped to get something to eat on the way home. I noticed it was raining quite hard outside now. Eat fast.  Bring me the check. Rain has let up. I need to get back to the square. The streets were much wetter when I returned and much stronger reflections. Below is one of numerous compositions that I took from an assortment of puddles that I was able to work with.

Plaza Theater in the Rain #3

I thought I would included this last image. It is the darkest of the four exposures which were combined to make the final image above. If I was still shooting film this is probably close to what I would have had to use as my image of the reflections. It is dark enough to retain some detail in the bright marquee but it leaves everything else much darker than what my eyes could see. Some people seem to think digital is sooooo easy. The truth is that you need to have quite a bit of software skills in order to get the above version instead of what is below. Just thought I would throw that out there.

I decided to go hit some golf balls yesterday afternoon since the temperature finally got back up in the 60's. I also threw my camera gear in the truck because I had spotted this old house behind the practice range. Once again I hoped for some great sunset light and didn't get any. I did use some long exposures which gave me the chance to run inside the old house and pop off my flash. I did this several times in several exposures which were combined. Still not satisfied I said to myself  " why don't you just over process this image like so many other photographers are doing. Some people seem to really like that look." I show two stages of this process below. I really tweaked the second one. What bugs me about both is the glow or halo where the sky meets the trees and house. I have toned it down in these examples but the affect is usually much worse in some of the work I see on the internet.

After shooting the old house I headed back towards home and drove through the square in Downtown Garland. The coffee shop was open and I decided to take a few shots. The second one shows a good reflection of the Plaza Theater in the window.

A New Look to the Blog!

You might notice a little different look to the blog today. I have added the same header as my web site plus the links to all its pages. The blog has been a separate entity from the web site since I started it a little over a year ago. I felt they should work together...and now they do! I also have a link to my growing gallery on Flickr. It is scary how many photos are on Flickr and how many people are looking at them. I decided I better jump on that train too!

Yesterday afternoon my brother went with me to the Mesquite Art Center to see the Photographing the West exhibit of photography. After looking at the exhibit we looked at the rest of the Art Center. We went to the car and got our cameras in order to photograph a meeting room that seemed to interest both of us. The room was much larger than necessary for the tables and 15 chairs. After we left the Art Center we drove through downtown Mesquite and then headed east looking for something interesting to shoot at sunset.  We photographed the steeple on an old church then headed back towards Garland. My plan was to stop by the Posados across from Town East Mall and add to my neon collection unless we found something we liked better but that wasn't the case. It has some great lights just like the Plano location but it is still different. I think got a better CAFE than I got last week at the other location.

Playing Around at the Old Cemetery!

I decided to do something a little different last night. Take a chance, experiment a little, try out a new technique. I have seen some work that was created with multiple images. They weren't really a variety of exposures but instead in each exposure a different area of the scene is lit with a flash. Usually colored gels are put over the flash to give added color. I went out to an old cemetery in Garland that I had driven by many times but never explored. Interesting place. It has one of those Historical Monument things telling about it at the entrance. I'm not necessarily a fan of cemetery photos but I'm sure I can get something neat with this technique in the future.

A Stadium Double!

 The Ballpark in Arlington

My friend Gary went with me to shoot last night. Since he lives in Grand Prairie I decided that we could meet at his house and then drive out to nearby Arlington and photograph The Ballpark and the new Cowboys Stadium. We had another one of those "not a cloud in the sky" sunsets. Where have all the neat high clouds been for the last ten days? Both Stadium shots were taken from a bridge that crosses a small lake that is almost between the two stadiums. It was frozen solid except around the edges. We have been close to record cold the last two mornings, colder than it has been around here for about ten years. Both shots were 4 different exposures that were combined in Photomatix Pro. Instead of using the tone-mapping feature I have used Exposure Fusion to combine the images. Even after it has combined the images I make several new layers from the original exposures and mask in a few of the best exposed areas. A lot of extra work but I am pleased with the results and it is not going to give you that over processed funky look which so many tone map images have.

Cowboys Stadium

After checking out a few other possible photo locations around Cowboys Stadium we headed to Tom's Burgers and Grill. After a nice 1/2 pound burger we took a few shots of the exterior before heading back to Gary's house.

Tom's

 I did manage to get a good shot of the Dallas Skyline around dusk yesterday. Most of the best skyline images of Dallas are taken near the Trinity River levee just west of downtown. Not the safest area to be in after dark. I have to wonder why I finally go down there to shoot and go by myself. After hiking down the levee to get a better angle it was almost a relief to run into another photographer. We both photographed until dark and then walked back together. I  drove back into downtown and was able to get a shot of the Majestic Theater. A Laser Spectacular to the music of Pink Floyd was going to be shown at 9 pm. Unlike several nights ago when we drove by, I felt the lights in front of the theater would be on tonight. Even got a free spot from a parking meter that was right out front. All the surrounding parking lots were ready to start taking $15 from people attending the Light Show. Tickets to the show around $30 then about half that again to park. What a rip off.

After having some Mexican food with my wife I made one last stop and photographed C & M Tire. Its an out of business gas station which is now selling tires and chrome hub caps. I combined 5 different exposures but am pleased with the way it turned out.

I was over by the Hollywood Theater in Garland last night and spotted this sculpture at the Dart Station that was next door. The sun had set and it was just dark enough to use a flash with a red gel on the sculpture and have it pick up some of the red. I also added a texture layer, vignetted it and then reduced the opacity quite a bit. After shooting the sculpture I went across the parking lot and photographed things on the front of the Hollywood Theater. I chose to include this shot of the ticket booth and several funky looking posters. Still working on the Casa Linda Theater. The Bert Monroy filter takes a lot of work.