fstopandsee

I like photographing trees. If I can get something interesting like this sunset in the background, all the better.

An ongoing construction project for Sutter Hospital in Sacramento was the inspiration for this photo. I drive past these cranes every day, and wanted to make a night shot incorporating them. I waited until they were lined up and found a vantage point nearby to take this long exposure. I dig the way it shows the city at night.

This is a project I’ve wanted to do for a while. The idea is simple but the execution can be a little more difficult. I mounted my camera with a wide angle lens between the seats of my car. With the manual exposure set and a remote shutter release in my hand I was off to the races, or at least the city streets. I had a little help from my trusty assistant to fire a flash inside the car manually during some of the exposures. My first attempt was with 3.2 sec exposures, and I liked the results. I’ll play around with varying the time next, so I either get blur, or more sharp context for what is going on outside the car.

After taking a ton of photos driving around looking for lights, I decided what I had would work well as a video. So here you go, not only a photo but also a video I put together of the shots from the evening!

The astute viewer will also notice a little subtle advertising!

There was a brief time tonight when the sky just lit up. I ran out with my camera to a park and found some trees to add to the foreground. This is the result. The trees are just starting to bud out here, so you can still see through the branches to the beautiful clouds behind them.

The death of a tree is a sad thing. This particular tree met its match, like many in the area did at the time, after a few very stormy days. This park was hit hard, and some of the trees ended up with their roots in the air.

A perfectly planted row of trees that were begging to have their picture taken. Their yellow leaves lit up the whole street as I walked by.

It may be December in Northern California, but there are still many shades of leaves on the trees. I was able to frame this one to get some red, orange, yellow and still green leaves all at once.

This cool old mansion in Sacramento looks pretty ominous to me, if I were to guess I’d say it is haunted. But the gate is open, so you can go check it out for yourself.

Scenic T Street in Sacramento looks even better in the fall. The huge old twisting trees lining the street really light it up as their leaves change.

The California State Capitol as seen on a clear afternoon. Tomorrow is election day, so this is your reminder to go out and vote if you want to have some voice in what goes on inside here!