Shooting in the Park

Last night was a slow night in Riverfront Park, but there were some visual changes in the surrounding environment. One thing noticed right away was the fact the Parkade sign is now illuminated. Last time I was shooting in the park, that sign atop the Parkade building downtown was dark. The fact it was illuminated is a good thing and also a challenge for a camera. The extra light from the letters can blow out a photo with its brightness. I bracketed the shots from darker to lighter, with the darker images reproducing the Parkade letters pretty well. Of course that almost eliminates the details on most other things, so this week editing will attempt to establish the entire scene, by layering, erasing, reducing some opacity, and feathering the edges.

The sign at Anthony's caught my eye, so I shot a number of frames adjacent to Anthony's, and their FISH came out really detailed. Editing should allow that one to get online this week.

I found a clear area to photograph the east side of the WWP/Avista building. The green letters have always been readily identifiable, but with some in-camera image reviews I noticed a lot of the lighting in the Washington Water Power letters visibly dark. Dark spots appear periodically in the green letters, to the point I may not be able to upload those images to the web. I'll look again this week to see if there is another way to produce clean and clear green letters, without the letters looking like a paint or clone job. We shall see.

A great moon last night, with brief moments of the moon bouncing lights off ample passing clouds. In the area of the reflection rocks and bridges (west side of the park), the moon gave off some bright light, so I hope to get at least one of those images online, bringing out the details of the ground and rock surfaces.

The park is a great place to take a camera and tripod, and no matter how many times you look around, something has changed. Even the deciduous trees and shrubs are making their seasonal changes, and they are visible even in low light conditions. Riverfront Park is just a photogenic environment, and changes occur with or without any man made assistance. It’s plainly an enjoyable experience, and easy on the eyes and camera lens.

John