Category Archives: Commute

Shots from my daily commute.

Commute, Photos

Bright fog hanging low

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I have a couple of easy to get to spots along the commute that I frequent. This is one of them–the southeast end of the Golden Gate Bridge. If it’s foggy in the City I usually start imagining how things might look by the bridge. I’m not always right, but it’s a good mental exercise. So… there was a thick, bright fog hanging low over the City this afternoon and the bridge looked just like I thought it would. Straight from the camera, here’s the view:

Golden Gate in bright fog

And looking out over the bay from the same spot (more or less), here’s a tweaked shot of a freighter I’d just missed as it passed under the bridge:

China freighter in SF Bay

Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm.
Bridge shot: 59mm, 1/200 second at f/9, ISO 200.
Freighter shot: 24mm, 1/200 second at f/11, ISO 200.

Canon T2i imagining by the bay.

Commute, Photos

Old pilings on the river

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One of the beautiful things about large digital files is the latitude of detail–if the overall exposure is good shadows areas can be brightened and highlights can be darkened in post production. Digital photographers can do this in camera with graduated neutral density filters, but the “trick” is less effective with angles. For this Petaluma River image, in Photoshop, I pulled up the shadow areas and lowered the highlights with the “Shadows and Highlights” image adjustment tool to give it an HDR effect.

Petaluma Bridge

Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm at 24mm. 1/160 second at f/11, ISO 200.

Canon T2i rolling on the river.

Commute, Photos

Solarized ride

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Today, at the end of my commute, I stopped in town and wandered the streets for 20 minutes or so looking for stuff to photograph. I happened upon this cool looking, but rain dirty 1953 Buick Roadmaster. The surrounding scene wasn’t so great, but the look of the car (especially the front end) got me snapping. Once home, I loaded the images into Photoshop, picked the shot I liked the best and proceeded to do my usual Nik Silver Efex Pro tweak. While clicking through the Nik presets I chose “solarized” (an effect I usually ignore) and BINGO! I don’t tend to go “cartoony” with my photo manipulation, but the strong solarizing effect worked magic on the image.

1953 Buick Roadmaster solarized

For reference, here’s the image straight from the camera.

1953 Buick Roadmaster

Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm at 22mm. 1/160 second at f/11, ISO 200.

Canon T2i catching a ride.

Commute, Photos

Between storms

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We’ve been getting hammered with rain here in the Bay Area–and, for the record, it’s quite late for such heavy deluges. But, being that it’s Spring, when it clears the big cloud views can be quite nice. This afternoon was no exception. This view is just up the road from my house.

Sun and clouds in Spring

Lens: 15-85mm at 15mm. 1/400 second at f/16, ISO 200.

Canon T2i working between the storms.

Commute, Photos

Pigeons on the roof

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Here’s another shot from yesterday’s commute stop. I like the mixed textures of the galvanized metal barn, the ground and the passing storm clouds in the frame–but, oddly enough, it’s the pigeons just doing what pigeons do that makes the shot for me.

Barn with pigeons after a storm

Lens: Canon EF-S 15-85mm at 61mm. 1/200 second at f/16, ISO 200.
Black and white conversion: Nik Silver Efex Pro (version 1).

Canon T2i admiring the pigeon-ness of the pigeon.