Abandoned building shot #2 is today’s photo. I especially like the rusty chain link fence that guards the building. Hmmmm…. I may need to do a special series of photos just of rusty objects since I do love rusty metal!
Without further delay… here is the picture:
Graffiti on the Mission Creek Park Abandoned Dock
It certainly looks as if I will be visiting Mission Creek Park more often – I like the views, and also it’s a nice place to stroll and look at the scenery and watch people play with their dogs too.
For some reason, I love urban graffiti, especially so when it’s on an abandoned structure. This building is on a dilapidated dock… I wish that I could get inside to take pics of whatever might be in there, but the whole structure does look really unstable, so it’s probably a good thing that the access has been fenced off.
Mission Creek Park Abandoned Dock
This evening I went for a walk – I was on a mission to photograph in the light of the sunset/twilight, and a few days ago I scoped out a spot that I thought would be interesting.
I brought my SLR, my point-and-shoot, and of course, my iPhone. I ended up taking a few with my iPhone that I liked quite a bit, so I think that over the next few days I will post those pics before I upload a few from my SLR.
Mission Creek Park Sunset
Here is one of my favorites that I took on my iPhone, again with Pro HDR.
Look for more from that park in the coming days!
Back on the 8th I was still visiting the Portland/Vancouver area, and while I was there I met a friend for lunch at the Stardust Diner in Vancouver, WA… a greasy spoon that does not disappoint!
They have an amazing breakfast menu that’s served all day, really good hamburgers and the best milkshakes and sundaes around! I didn’t get a pic of the chromed exterior (think Airstream trailer, only HUGE) but I did remember to get a shot of their colorful menu covered in pictures of old-fashioned ads.
Stardust Diner Menu Cover
Mmmmmmmm… I’m really craving a sundae now!
Today I give you TWO pics, simply because I could not decide between the two!
Again, using the Pro HDR app for iPhone, I have re-visited the “Seasons of the Sea” at Yerba Buena gardens…
Seasons of the Sea HDR
… and close-up:
Close-up Seasons HDR
Holding still for these shots was difficult at best – if I’m going to use this app much more, I need to invest in a tripod.
Yerba Buena Gardens is a place that I visit often, not only because it is on my way to many destinations that I frequent, but also because it’s an awesome park with many things to look at and places to relax.
I am still playing with my the HDR app on my iPhone – likely this will be a trend for a while as I continue to put it through it’s paces.
Today’s pic was taken on my way home from City Target. It’s near a waterfall feature in the park.
Yerba Buena Park Reflection
It’s a bit grainy, but nonetheless I like the composition and the varying colors.
Clouds! I LOVE interesting looking clouds and there aren’t as many opportunities to photograph them here in the Bay Area… at least not so far. If we DO get clouds, most of the time they are flat and un-interesting things with no depth at all, unlike what is commonly seen in the NW.
Not to say that the NW doesn’t have it’s share of boring flat cloud cover… because it most certainly does, but the chances of seeing epic fluffy thunderstorm laden clouds is much greater than here in San Francisco.
My eyes got their fill on the flight from Portland back to San Francisco, and of course I had my iPhone in hand to document them… only I thought that they needed a bit more depth, so I decided to add a little drama to them by using a bleach bypass effect on the picture using Photo FX app and then masking off the clouds and adjusting the red of the plane engine back to it’s normal bright red using the Colormania app. Yay for Virgin America Airlines! They have become my fave airlines for so many reasons.
Clouds Under The Airplane 01-09-13
Flights to San Francisco have been delayed due to weather (I am guessing most likely fog or a really low ceiling) so I am still sitting here at the Portland Airport, listening to live music entertainment! (I think that I’ll post the video I took in another post – it’s amusing!)
So, having time on my hands I decided to play with the Pro HDR app again. There is a steady stream of people walking by so I thought hmmmmm, wouldn’t it be nice to get a longer exposure and see them as a blur?
I decided that it would be fun to see how long of an exposure I would get with this HDR app, and wondered if that movement would translate well into the picture:
Portland Airport – HDR with Movement
I am pleased with the outcome! In fact, I have a few apps that have “longer shutter speed” so that you can get longer exposure times out of your phone, and I feel like Pro HDR did a better job of that than the apps that I have which are specifically designed to do that.
To be fair, I have not tried out those long exposure apps with night time exposures – just daytime, so before I write them off completely, I have a bit more experimenting to do.
For now, it’s Pro HDR for my long exposure needs.
HDR is an aspect of photography that has intrigued me for quite some time now, and I am finally beginning to dabble in it a bit with my SLR.
Although I haven’t had the results that I have hoped for, I continue to experiment and I am not going to give up until I get the results that I am striving to achieve! Perhaps I need to read more on the subject.
Just a few days ago, I came across an app for my iPhone that claims to do the HDR work for you, so I decided to give it a go based on a plethora of good reviews.
Here is the result of my first experiment:
HDR Experiment
The app is Pro HDR and it is really easy to use. Set your phone on a stable surface or attach to a tripod and it does the bulk of the work – first it analyzes the light/shadow in the room, and then it takes two pictures to layer. That process takes around 20-30 seconds – that’s just an estimate as I didn’t actually count how long it took to finish.
Once the processing has finished, you then have the opportunity to adjust various levels of the picture: Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, Warmth and Tint. Beyond that, there are also crop, frame, text and filter options to add to your photo.
It’s easy to use, and I think that it’s an app that I will be apt to use very often which means that I am going to have to invest in a Joby tripod! 😉
At the risk of seeming redundant, today’s pic is another one that I snapped with my iPhone the morning of January 1st.
My mother-in-law has a nice garden which supplied endless opportunity to capture shadows against the morning sky. This pic didn’t start out quite as vivid, so I helped it along a little in Photo FX – my go-to app for photo editing on my iPhone and iPad.
I darkened the shadows a bit and added a layer of color to the sky to make the shadows pop a bit more to my liking, and I’m happy with the result.
Suquamish Sunrise on Jan. 1, 2013