Photo Walks Today

looking north from Front Street - the Division Street Bridge - Mount Vernon

Another night shot – LOL. It really does feel like it’s always dark this time of year. I grabbed this photo the other night after class in Mount Vernon. This photo was taken about 10:30 pm. It’s interesting how much blue there is in the sky at that time of night. Again, it was one of those clear days/nights. Not even much fog coming off the river – very unusual. This shot is looking north from Front Street – the Division Street Bridge – Mount Vernon.

The photo is very, very noisy which indicates I didn’t get a good exposure (as well as I have a small sensor in my camera). I wanted the best depth of field I could get – so used F/13 at 30 seconds (ISO 100). Next time I’ll try opening up to about f/5.6 and up the ISO to around 400. Can’t hurt – already very noisy and the extra ISO should give me a better exposure.

There’s a wooden walk and parking area open to everyone along Division Street. It’s Wheelchair
accessible.

Bellevue Night Shot From Madrona Park

If you’d like to catch the Bellevue Skyline a great place for a clear shot across Lake Washington is from Madrona Park. I used a 55mm lens to capture a little of the tree in the foreground and lake reflections. This photo was shot about 1/2 an hour after the sun went down, on one of those sunny February days.

Settings were: F/5.6 at 30 seconds (ISO 100).

Madrona Park has asphalt sidewalks with plenty of room for wheelchair photographers to capture this shot. Drive along Lake Washington Blvd to find your favorite view.

The other day I received this notice, sure made my day!

Hi pugetsoundphotowalks,

I am delighted to let you know that one of your photos with a Creative Commons license has been selected for inclusion in the newly released sixth edition of our Schmap Chicago Guide:

Jay Pritzker Pavilion
www.schmap.com/chicago/activities_wickerparkbucktown/p=332285/i=332285_34.jpg

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this same link will take you directly to your photo in the iPhone version of our guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how your photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of our guide at:

Jay Pritzker Pavilion
www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=chicago&sid=activities_wickerparkbucktown&p=332285&i=332285_34

Finally, if you have a blog, you might also like to check out the customizable widgetized version of our Schmap Chicago Guide, complete with your published photo:

www.schmap.com/guidewidgets/p=25636851N03/c=SJ20151091

Please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/emma.williams

I took the photo during a photo walk we did last year in Chicago at eBay Live.

Every Photographer Loves A Leica!

Want to buy your beloved photographer a gift more decadent than a box of chocolates?

Here’s a camera that every serious shutter bug would love to own, no matter how many professional DSLR cameras or gadgets they already own.

There’s something about (well there are lots of something’s, really) the Leica name that brings out the longing in every photographer. Maybe it’s the stellar optics of a Leicia, or maybe it’s the rich photographic history they symbolize.

Leicas have been used by many famous photographers, including names your beloved shutterbug will recognize like:

Diane Arbus

Alfred Eisenstadt

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Of course, love doesn’t come cheap. A Leica D-Lux 4 Digital Camera will cost you $700 -1,000. And it will look like a regular digital point and shoot camera.

But, oh… it can do so much more…. And it has that wonderful red dot that will make your photographer the envy of all their peers.

You’ll be the tops on your valentine’s heart.

The All Roads Film Project is now accepting film entries for the All Roads Film Festival 2009 to be held in Los Angeles, CA; Washington, D.C.; and Santa Fe, NM.

All Roads is a National Geographic program created to provide an international platform for indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture artists to share their cultures, stories, and perspectives through the power of film.

The 6th All Roads Film Festival dates are set for the following:

Los Angeles, July 17-19, 2009; Washington D.C., July 24-26, 2009; Santa Fe, December 2-6

Entry Fees are: Dramatic Feature $40, Long Documentary $40, Short Documentary $20, Live Action Short $20, Animation $15 and Music Video $15

There are two ways to submit:

In the interest of conservation, N.G. encourages everyone to submit online at events.nationalgeographic.com/events/all-roads/all-roads-call-entries-2/.

You may also submit by downloading and mailing in entry forms found on the website.

Submission deadline March 31, 2009

It seems that it’s always dark this time of year! In the spirit, I’ve decided to learn more about photographing in low light.

Last night on my way home from class I took this shot from the 70th St. overpass. I was facing south towards downtown and used a 70 -300mm zoom lens at (200mm) to capture the downtown buildings.

The image is pretty darn noisy and will never be accepted by a stock photography house – but that’s the price you pay for longer exposures and exentended zooms. Doesn’t matter, I like it and will add it to my favorite night shot collection.

Place: 70th street overpass (of I-5) facing south. Sidewalks do have wheelchair access – but I noticed a ’sidewalk closed’ sign for that extends for several weeks.
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Exposure time: 20 seconds

ISO: 100

F/stop: f/11