Photo Walk at the Moran Eye Center

PhotoWalkEyeCntr-5406, originally uploaded by HKkstrongside.

This last week I was introduced to a flicker group here in Salt Lake. In this group they choose a location where everyone can come and photograph, they call this a Photo Walk. This last week the photo walk was at the Moran Eye Center in Research Park.
At first I was really surprised at how many people were there. It was exciting to see so many people from pros to first time photographers, running around taking pictures of anything and everything.
What I most got out of this experience was that anywhere you may be, there is always something to photograph. Who would have thought that a couple dozen beakers on a peg board could make such an interesting photo such as the one I have posted here.

Reach for the sky

3.2s @ f11, 200mm ISO100

Well, you can't go to Seattle without taking a photo of the Needle. My good friend Sean took me to a locals only location to snag this shot. Unfortunately there was some smog which softened the view a bit. However, they still came out nice.

I have really been enjoying adding a bit of vignetting to my photos lately. I like how the effect draws your eye toward the center of the subject. It's kind of ironic however that I would pay thousands of dollars for lenses that don't vignette a photo, only to go back in later and add it.
What do you think of Lens Vignetting?

No sun, no problem

Recently I was able to visit my good friend Sean and his family in Seattle. I had never been before and was excited to experience the lush green forest feel, hopeful to capture it with my camera. I quickly found myself overwhelmed with interesting things to photograph, so much so, that I hardly photographed anything. Strange how that happens eh?
Over the next few posts I will share some of the photographs that I did take and some of the challenges with each.

The photo you see here was taken at the Public Market downtown, famous for the fish throwers. I found this angle interesting with it's interrogation style lighting, busy colors and shapes. Shooting indoors always has it's challenges especially low light since I have a hard time wanting to use the higher ISO's. That phobia probably comes from my film days. Anything over ISO400 was just to grainy for me. Generally 200 or lower is where I wanted to be. So, with the image stabilizer on I braced myself up against a column, waited for the crowd to pass and took the shot.

1/125 @f3.5 200mm ISO400

... and so it begins

When I look through the viewfinder of my camera in search of "the shot" I can't help but be awestruck by the infinite combinations of interesting points of view. One might see the bars on a gate as a security measure to keep out unwanted visitors while another sees an interesting pattern of vertical steel lines. The possibilities of finding an artistic point of view are truly endless, after all, art does begin in the eye of the beholder.

I love photography and through that love I have captured many wonderful moments, frozen in time, through the lens of my camera. I am excited to begin documenting the experiences I've had and will yet encounter as I explore the views around me.

I am always looking for new ideas for photographs. If there is something you would like to see me capture, please let me know. If it works out, I might even send you a print.

... and so it begins.