Endless Lights

The Bay Bridge; Shot at ISO 400, f/7.1, and exposed for 10 secs.

Although I am a strong supporter of the idea that people are what truly defines a city, I feel that architecture and the infrastructure of the city should still be considered. During my recent trip up to the Bay Area, I focused on taking photographs of people; this is one of the few shots that is void of humans. 

The Decisive Moment

Shot @ ISO 1250, 1/1600sec, f/3.5

     "Photography is not like painting. There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative. Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever." - Henri Cartier-Bresson, 1957.

 H. Cartier-Bresson coined the term "The Decisive Moment." This phrase contains the quintessential difference between the masters of photography, and the mere hobbyists.

     If a sports photographer is shooting an LA Lakers basketball game, and he clicks the shutter a second or two after Kobe dunks, the photograph might as well be deleted. That is how important seizing that golden moment can be. 

   
     One way that I have been able to sharpen my skill of capturing that instantaneous moment is taking photos in the passenger seat of the car. This simple visual and mental exercise trains my mind to see a few seconds into the future, thus allowing me to imagine the image in my head before I see it on the LCD screen of my camera. More often than not, I smack on my 18mm lens, and either roll down the window, or I open the sun roof, depending on the environment. Sometimes, if the window is dirty enough, and I am trying to capture a grungy or morbidly urban image, I keep the window rolled up, to add to the grotesqueness.

Urban Overcast

Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall is truly magnificent. This creation is just one of his fingerprints that he has graced us with. The majority of photos I took of this vivacious piece of architecture were solely focused on the building itself. What I like about this particular image over all of the others I took is this one gives the viewer context of the location of this concert hall; amidst dreadfully dull buildings, this unique masterpiece graces its surroundings with an unearthly presence.

Two by Two

While staying at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, CA earlier this December, one of the employees told me how to get on the roof of this 12-story hotel. This certain door down the hallway, he told me, was the only door with roof access that would not set off the alarm. As I took my first steps on the roof, I looked down and saw these businessmen rushing off to work. Amidst the relentless chaos, I framed a relatively harmonious image via precise placement of my subjects.