Mother natures discrimination. An evening with Whidbey Island Seagulls

In late 2006 though mid 2007, I had quite a number of photo opportunities on Whidbey Island. My son was a Deputy Prosecutor for Island County, and he had a house located at Penn Cove. As a result, there were always opportunities to take my cameras for a walk, and to see nature literally everywhere.

On one such occasion I noticed a number of Sea Gulls lined up along two sides of handrails on a northside Penn Cove Pier. There must have been 50 Gulls facing into the wind. One of the Gulls was separated by several feet from the mass of Gulls along one handrail, and I snapped a photo of as many of the Gulls as I could. Later when I begin to view the images on my laptop, I noticed that the Gull that was set apart from all the others only had one leg. I had witnessed that Gull fly up to the handrail and land on it, and nothing in way the Gull flew was any different than watching the other Gulls fly up to the Piers metal and wooden handrails.

After observing that the Gull had only one leg, I began to see this Gull a lot in the Penn Cove area. He was now easy to distinguish, as he was virtually always set apart form any other groups of Gulls that were present. I happened to mention this Seagull to my grandchildren, and they felt sorry for this Seagull because he was always “alone.”

I was not Biology major in my 7 years of College, nor do I consider myself as an expert in any matters at all related to animal/bird social practices. Yet, in this case, I did see that the one legged Gull was always apart from the other Gulls that had two legs.

I kinda got attached to this particular Gull, and in my Whidbey Island trips to visit with my son and his wife, I looked forward to looking for the one legged Gull, and normally it was easy to find.

It’s been about a year since I have been to Whidbey Island, since my son got recruited to Prosecute cases in Whatcom County (Bellingham), and his wife is now an RN at St Josephs Hospital in Bellingham. So, I wonder if this Gull is still alive and well on Whidbey. I had forgotten about him until this weekend when my grandkids finished up spending a week with my wife and I, and of course they asked about the one legged Gull.

So, if anyone happens to be in or around the north side of Penn Cove, on Whidbey Island, look for the one legged Gull and let me know if you find it. I’ll pass along that info to the grandkids.

Here is a photo taken one evening before sunset, and also the closest I ever saw that one legged Gull to any of the other Whidbey Island Gulls.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/oneleg.htm

JDM

Artluck 2008

Last Thursday night, I was able to participate in the May 2008 Artluck show, at Spokane Falls Community College. The event was held in the Lodge building on Fort George Wright Drive, and sponsored by the Institute of Extended Learning. Once again, the event featured a free dinner for all attendees, and once again, the food was really very good. I was wondering how the food would go over since we were doing Mexican food for the second straight event, but after consulting with my 4 grandchildren, they thought the food was very good, indeed.

The Artluck event was cosponsored by the Photography program at SFCC, as well as the Spokane Camera Club. Camera Club President Will Murray and I were the coordinators from the Spokane Camera Club, and from the reactions of the attendees and artists that I spoke with, they all felt that the event was very successful.

This event easily surpassed the attendance of the last two events, even if the attendance of the last two were counted together. I was pleased to see that and investing my time and website to help market/promote this event was well worth it. I’ll be happy to do it again for the next event, which we will try and do in November of this year.

Artluck is a great opportunity to meet artists and photographers who have common interests, as well as those who can spur you to try new techniques and methods. I think that we had 22 slide programs that we accepted for this event, including at least three high school students work, as well as some photography students from area colleges. These kids were all very talented people, and they can only get batter as the years add to their experience and skill levels.

Although there were a number of the artists that displayed great work, I found that photographer Kent Henderson and artist Erin Gibson were at the top of my list. I also liked the work of both Will and Barbara Murray (photography). In fairness and full disclosure, Erin Gibson is my daughter. How she can take out a pencil and piece of paper and draw like she does is an absolute amazement to me. Obviously she didn’t get that skill from my side of the family, but the more drawings she does, the better she gets. In looking at Kent Henderson’s photography, I also think that his demonstrable talent is evident now, but if he spends more time on his skills, look out. I spoke with Kent at some length, and we plan on working on some collective projects, since it is only fair to share the fun we both have in shooting around Spokane and elsewhere.

If I were to have any concerns at all about this months Artluck event, it is based on two issues. One, we are likely going to need a larger facility as we plan ahead. As more artists and their families/friends find out about this ongoing series of events, we are likely to get quite a crowd, even larger than we had at this month’s event. The other issue is the number of talented people in Spokane, that should be displaying their work, but who have opted not to for one reason or another. Yes, what I’m saying is that a lot of the talented people I spoke with at this month’s event were professional artists and photographers. Yet their skills were not displayed digitally in slide programs, as they never entered their work. I think that is a mistake on their part, but hopefully they will consider displaying the skills that they have, in November. Displaying artists work has never been easier, which has been a goal of ours. You submit your work digitally (CD), after the images have been resized 1024 max width or length, and you number the order of the slides. Then you choose your own music (or poetry, if that strikes you) and your slide program is assembled for you, prior to the event. Yes, you do not have to do it, it is done for you. How easy is that?

I think that those of us who are coordinating these events will at some point, have to evaluate each submission/entry, so that we keep the evenings slide displays at or under two hours. Many of our attending photographers are from out of Spokane, and it just isn’t fair to them to keep them until late into the night, so we can get all of the slide programs sent in, displayed. One way to get people out by 9PM or close to that time, would be to start earlier, so we can really give each slide program the space in the program that each artist needs. We already limit each program to less than 5 minutes, so we should be able to get almost all programs shown.

For this month’s event, we did have to sort through a large number of programs submitted by students, and these kids made it really hard to choose the top programs for display. Yet, that is a task that coordinators have, and if we need to, we are prepared to do the same evaluations in November for the next event.

At Spokane Night Scenes, I get feedback from photographers, all the time. When I look at the work done by these people, I am really surprised that they did not submit their work for others to admire. I really hope that you photographers who have emailed me from either the website or this blog, will get you work together for us to show, in Novembers event.

For those of you, who are learning about this Artluck event for the first time, keep in touch with me and I’ll update you on the next event as we get closer to getting it off the ground.

If possible, I want to see if I can identify a weblink for you to look at the work of the artists that I have mentioned in this article.

Erin Gibson:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/ebg/ebg.htm

Kent Henderson:

http://www.hendersonphoto.blogspot.com

I’ll see if the Murrays have their photos online, and if so I’ll provide that info.

JDM

Spokane’s Riverfront Park

Riverfront Park really needs no introduction to local Spokanites, but at risk of seeming a bit trite with a community landmark, Riverfront Park has been more than fabulous lately. For those of us in Spokane who have dealt with the massive snowfall this winter, we are now seeing that snow return for our viewing courtesy of the Spokane River.

I made a photo trip into the Park this week, and I could instantly see the difference between our normal river flows, and the massive flow going on right now. We are told that we will be at or above flood stage for another week, and you can see that even when you set foot into the 104 acre Riverfront Park. Water from the river had spilled over some riverbanks into pathways along the south river channel. Not all of the paths, but seeing the river on the pathways is a little different. Some of the birds seem to have adjusted to the flow being on the paved surfaces

(This spot was dry a couple of days ago, http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/spotwasdry.htm)

The evening I made it into the park was almost as though I was there for a major event in downtown Spokane. There were more people along the river than I had ever seen before, enjoying the massive river flow. I tend to not shoot people pictures in evenings and after dark, but I almost gave up on that attempt. Although I took about 750 digital images in areas around the park, this trip was more to enjoy the sights and sounds of Mother Nature. I did add a PDF file with some early evening shots (7PM or so) to the website, although the shots were not a traditional type for me. The PDF file is linked from:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/mf.htm (Reaching flood stage May 2008 (PDF 460K)

If you have not witnessed this year’s water display, take a few minutes and head downtown and enjoy it. There was not much we could enjoy during the winter that lasted forever, but now Mother Nature is giving us an opportunity to enjoy the moisture that we received over the winter.

I plan on making one more trip today or tomorrow with my grandkids. I think that the power of the river will be an intimidating experience, but also a family outing in a beautiful community. I’ll take a tripod and one DSLR with me (Canon 40D), just in case something presents itself, but I’m more interested this time in how big the kids eyes get when they see the falls.

JDM

National Geographic picks up Spokane Night Scenes image

I got a surprise this morning, when my wife logged onto the National Geographic website, and she found one of my Spokane Night Scenes landscape images. I guess I do recall sending something to NatGeo some time ago, but I never looked back to see what might have happened with the image.

Ironically, the images that made their Landscape Gallery, was one of the images taken out of Spokane. A night image to be sure, but it was not a local one. It was not even a recent one, but an image taken in Spring/summer of 2006. (Canon 350D). I think at this time the lens was a kit lens, and the 350D was fairly new in the inventory.

I also noticed that NatGeo turned my landscape into a puzzle. I guess I’m not patient enough to do their puzzle, even though I know exactly where all the parts of the photo need to be. I’m probably going to pass on doing their puzzle, but its kinda fun to know they did that with my late night image.

That location was one of the darkest places I have been with the exception of Riverside State Park. I remember setting up and exposing for at least 5 minutes in CR2 + JPEG. I’d have to check the original file, but I think it was an F8, using a wireless remote for that camera.

So, today has already been an interesting day, and it is some reinforcement that night photography can be something that is recognized….in plain old “regular spots.”

National Geographic has my image at:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/landscapes-photogallery

It is the eighth one over to the right, I think. Their puzzle part of my image is in a section called, artfully, “puzzles.”

If you have trouble with the National Geographic display of my image, it is located locally at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/momspath.htm

JDM

Shooting Spokane after dark (with a camera)

It appears that my annual slowdown in night production is fast approaching. As it gets darker in Spokane, later and later, it also makes it a little more difficult to budget the time needed to get a variety of camera shots. Staying out all night is something I did back in my Spokane Police Department career, but I’d rather not do that any longer.

Normally it is September when things kick back into gear, and I’ll start lining up Spokane locations to shoot at night. Some early locations include a return to Holy Family Hospital, where there will be some new signs installed, and perhaps some wide angle shots from the south side looking north. I have one other target at Northtown Mall to do, so that will require another visit in the fall.

I have in mind a couple more bridges, such as Green Street, and TJ Meenach. Both may be a challenge for the same reasons (lighting is over the surface, but not underneath). Nonetheless, shooting those two at night is an objective. Having said that, I suppose it doesn’t actually mean I’ll use the shots I get…we shall see.

Redo the Campbell House, and three shots from/of the Spokane River from locations inside Riverfront Park. I did shoot a number of those locations after dark, but the cameras and their sensors have improved from the cameras I was using at the time of those visits.

Some of the earlier shots of locations in Spokane have been updated, as both cameras and software have improved over time. HDR, Noise reduction, Genuine Fractals, Adobe products, have all improved. There are others, but what I find is that “what is old, can be made just like new.” Since 90% of things I shoot have been either CR2, or NEF files, revisiting the original files and redoing them has been so much easier. Some of my River shots were shot in JPEG some years ago, and I will reshoot those, at the same times of the year that I shot them originally.

I have talked with several friends from the Spokane Camera Club, and we are going to embark on some painting with light projects. We have three different locations in mind, although I think it is a fair statement that I will keep that mum until we get those locations completed. Once again, I think those will be fall projects. One of the photographers is itching to experiment with these locations, so we might do it this summer…I’ll have to see if I can be talked into shooting that late. Fun for one, is not necessarily fun for all…….

I need to line up more regional shots. Although I will still spend time in my usual photowalk areas, I know there are other locations that should be captured. There is one regional location where I was denied permission to visit with my cameras (Mt St Michaels), but I know there are others that will say yes.

When I was denied permission to photograph Mt St Michaels, I have had some other photographers tell me that the just went up there and took pictures without asking permission. One person said that they never asked for permission because they didn’t think they needed it. Even though Mt St Michaels denied me permission to photograph at their location, I respect that decision, and asking permission is ALWAYS the right thing to do (on private property).

If anyone can think of anything I can visit with the camera gear, just send me an email. I’d love to give it a visit to see what it is that captured your eye.

JDM

Ethics? What is that?

The onslaught continues, sorta.

Today I found three more of my images magically appearing on other websites, including one of my images in which they left my plainly visible copyright, on the image. Nonetheless, my images were being used by others. The websites that I found today, are photo websites, in which there are rules and declarations that the work posted is their own, and not owned by someone else. Amazing, these folks all signed on to this web service and agreed to add only their own images.

One of the websites showed 8 of my images all built into a collage, along with some basketball photographs from the Gonzaga basketball team. This person really did a nice job with my images, but they most certainly missed the first requirement.

I contacted the web service and they removed all of my images from the sites owned by the people that took the images. They did it directly, and very promptly, and their effort is much appreciated.

Yet, this is indicative of something. Rather than describing what I really think, I can at least describe the taking of my images as “unethical.”

Last year I dealt with 10 of these issues, all which were on commercial websites. I invoiced each of the unauthorized users, and I got a 100% return of payment for the images used. That isn’t the point, and when I hear (or read) the excuses used, it is absolutely amazing to me.

I am not that difficult to get in touch with, if someone wants to negotiate use rights for an image, or for multiple images. Yet, that is the right way to do things, and it seems oh so much easier to just take what they want, anytime they feel like it. Honesty? Ethical? Do they even know the meaning of the words?

At least the web service (Photobucket) dealt with the individual use of my images very promptly and I thank them for that. I will NOT be contacting those that took my images directly. They would not likely understand anything that I would say, and ethics and honesty must be in a class they never attended when they went to school.

JDM

Shooting in North Spokane

The next couple of weeks involve shooting at northside locations, in Spokane. Last weeks shoots started with the Northtown Mall, and the next night I switched to Holy Family Hospital. I am likely to need a return visit to Northtown Mall, since there are three shots I never had a chance to get to.

Next on the list this week, is the Spokane VA Medical Center. When I went to Joe Albi Stadium this weekend with one of my twin grand daughters, it became apparent that the VA Center might be a great target for a night shoot. I just got off the phone with their Public Affairs director, and their location is on for this week.

Speaking of these three northside locations, it brings to mind, one thing. Ask permission FIRST, before stomping on to someone’s PRIVATE property and going to work with your cameras. That might be a no brainer to most people; it is also the ethical and professional way to address shooting on somebody else’s turf. For those of us who actually enjoy photography, it can be a major disappointment when someone (Staff or security) approach you and tell you to put the camera away. Quite frankly, you missed the first step, and that was “ask permission first.” You may not have any problem at all if on a public place when you shoot, but if you are going on “their turf,” then ALWAYS ASK FIRST.

Not as many people shoot at night, and are not as wacky as my wife thinks I am. So appearing on somebody’s property with a camera may do you (and any future photographers) no good at all. If you are on a public space and not on private property, then you should not have trouble.

There is one other issue, which may also be a no brainer to many of you. If you are shooting at a hospital, and on “their property,” proceed with caution when photographing patients, staff or any people at all. Think about it, and the last time you or someone in your family was ill. Yep, the last thing you would want is for a person with two cameras shooting pictures of you in a time of family crisis. Privacy is important, and for ethical people, you can get what you need without disturbing people who are ill.

If this is overkill on this topic, it does not bother me a bit to keep talking about ethics and the “right way to do things.” For photographers who want to go about it some other way, you can skip this entire section.

Perhaps a side benefit for doing things the “right way,” is that magically the interest in what you are doing will increase, sometimes dramatically. Spokane Night Scenes went from an average of 600 hits a day two years ago, to 2200 hits a day and currently increasing each month in 2008. Arguably, people might just agree that those of us who live here live in a beautiful place. It is also possible that all of the contacts and friends you have made as you contact property owners might continue to visit you, long after you completed your on location photo shoot on their property.

Years ago, back in my police days, I had little empathy for the people I found without permission on somebody else’s property. Granted, most of them were burglars or other types of thief. Those people were most likely there to steal cameras, and not use them. Yet, for those of us involved in photography for reasons determined by us, and enjoyable, just ASK PERMISSION first. In a case where you are denied permission, then you might think about getting what you need from a public space and not going on private property at all. Or, just bag it, and move on to something else. Have fun, and find something else to shoot. Sometimes there are days like that when you get a NO for an answer. It won’t happen often, but it does happen. Life is kinda like that…..

Last weeks shots are not totally edited, but some of the Northtown and Holy Family shots are online. I’ll check with the GM at Northtown and schedule another visit back there.

Try this URL for thumbnail access to the larger 80% resolution images. The newer images are located at the bottom.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/presentation7.htm

Upcoming shoots involve some fairly extensive painting with light projects. If I can get enough help, we might try to “paint” David Govedares work at Riverfront Park (runners). That would take some choreography and controlled use of cameras and flashlights, but it might be fun to see how we can create some additional interest in the existing sculpture.

JDM

Painting with light

Painting with light

One of the things I have wanted to play with has been painting with light. First, you need darkness, and also flashlights and colored gels. Although darkness comes later each night (finally), the photographed spot has to be really dark with limited ambient light.

I chose the Olmstead Overlook, which is west of todays Liberty Park. Liberty Park was cut in half by the I90 freeway years ago, and the Olmstead Overlook is an area that could (and should) be rehabilitated. A beautiful place, which also is totally dark at night.

I set up to shoot a series of images using the Canon 40d, on a tripod. The images were taken at various settings, but all were timed exposures. The fastest exposure was at thirty seconds, and the slowest images taken were at the BULB setting at close to 5 minutes.

One series of images was facing north, in the totally dark environment. There was a little light left an hour after sunset, but other than that, nothing. I set up one shot at 30 seconds, at F11. While the exposure was in progress, I painted the right side wall with Lumiquest Gels (BLUE), and a strong flashlight. I took the next shot, painting the left side of the area in red, and then the pathway in green. All of the shots were thirty seconds. It got so dark after another twenty minutes that shots of around 5 minutes had to be used so that the forms of the rock walls could be seen.

Today I began to look at the series of images taken from last nights shoot. The colors were fairly well identified in the shots using the colored gels, so I added the red, green, and blue shots together to get something which lit up the pathway that was almost totally dark. The shot was cropped to eliminate some dark foreground, and too much sky. What I wound up with looks like something with a lot of drama (color), in an area I could hardly believe I was standing in. The area was dark, but with the flashlight illumination and the colored gels, the impact of painting the left and right walls with different colors (different shots each) the final form of colors really changed things.

I was thinking of using amber gels, but I’m glad I didn’t since the backdrop (Office depot walls) were illuminated by High Pressure Sodium streetlights.

I’m going to work on this “painting with light” some more, and another night visit to the Olmstead Overlook is definitely in order. This area is likely not to have been visited by a lot of people, but if it were rehabbed, I think it would be. It does get noisy with cars and trucks from the freeway, but this is quite an area to visit.

Painted URL:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/redgreenandblue.htm

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

A winter that will never end

Wow, it’s still cold out there at night. Yep, cold, windy, and on most occasions…dark. Dressing for the conditions is still the most fundamental step in night photography, but one would think it has got to get warmer around here eventually.

Recent activities for Spokane Night Scenes has been the Marina in Bellingham (Washington), as well as downtown Spokane. Some recent images were shot from the area of Cliff drive, and Pioneer Park. I still amazed at all the lights that are out in front of the camera lens, as Spokane goes into darkness mode. To me, it is just as beautiful as it was the first time I saw it back in my Spokane PD patrol division days on the south hill.

So what is left to shoot? I’ve heard it recently, that I have already shot about everything there is around town. Not so fast, methinks. The reality of looking at things through the lens of a camera is that things change, every day. You can go back to the exact location 5 days in a row, and there will be something different each time you go there. Change the time of day, and the time of the year, and you can literally shoot forever with all the different views, in exactly the same community.

Lately I am dealing with a new DSLR (Canon 40D), and I am also retiring a good one (Canon 350D). My secondary camera that I take with me each night is a Canon 400D (XTI), and I think the options available to me now are getting a lot more plentiful. The 40D camera is easily a good piece of hardware, although I wish I had thought to switch the noise reduction features ON, in my most recent outing. I shoot at somewhere around 1 second exposures, through lengthy bulb exposures, normally at F8 to F11. Almost always, I use the lowest ISO, and with Canon cameras that is 100. So, even though I forgot to set the noise reduction for my lengthy exposures this week, I was able to reduce the noise in post photographic editing. I have enabled those features on the Canon 40D now, so next time out I can concentrate on what I am shooting.

This week, images were shot with an 18-200 lens, as well as a wide angled 11-18 (both Tamron). I normally shoot with wide angle on the Canon XTI camera, and flex the choices of glass on the other camera.

In upcoming weeks, I will begin shooting up on the north side, most likely in the area of Northtown. I have spoken with Mall management about shooting after dark, although I really have no clue as to what might render itself to being presentable yet. One thing for sure, every time out with some cameras, is a good time indeed. I’m just hoping that things start feeling like Spring in Spokane. I look forward to one maybe two layers of clothing, instead of three and sometimes four, with two wool hats pulled over my ears.

Apparently Spokane Night Scenes has really acquired a viewer following, with an average of 2200 hits each day coming in from the statistics server. Amazing, I think. I think that what is happening is that Spokanites are beginning to see what their community looks like after dark.

Enjoy some of the new photos, most of which can be linked from at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/dwtn5.htm

John D. Moore, CPP

Spokane Night Scenes

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com

In the dark, at Spokane’s Sacred Heart

The target for this night was the area in, and around, Sacred Heart Medical Center. I had nothing particularly in mind, but to look for photo ops that would show themselves. It was a very windy night, and it was going to make it a little tenuous to extend the center mount of the tripod, at pretty much any spot. Keeping it at the normal platform level means, you will need to bend over quite a bit…and after a couple of hours…well, you get the picture.

Approaching from the east, I took images of a sculpture on the south side of the street across from the ER, but the peripheral lighting (high pressure sodium), really removed any color at all of the sculpture. I shot a number of images at the ER area, but so far nothing really appeared of any value.

East of the main entrance at Spokane’s Sacred Heart Medical Center, was a well lighted statue. It was lit from the ground pointing up, so the top portion of the statue area was very well illuminated. I set up the tripod and took images with both Canon cameras, (Wide angle 11 X 18, and my walk around 70 X 200). The cameras both have seats for the tripod, so it goes pretty fast. Foot traffic and vehicle traffic were actually very constant, so I was not in a position to move around very far. I shot about 20 images with each camera and the images looked pretty productive in the viewer of both cameras. I used the 11 X 18 in landscape mode, and then zoomed in as far as I could with the 70 X 200, in portrait mode. The aesthetics created by the manual manipulation of the lenses created the ambient light seemingly generated from the statue.

I found a parking lot on the west side of the Scared Heart Medical Center, and went to the top floor. I shot a number of images of Deaconess Medical Center, as well as the downtown area, generally facing the northwest. The wind was so forceful, that there were times the entire floor of the parking garage was moving, so after reviewing images taken that night, some of the images were blurry, and not sharp. I don’t think it was the tripod moving, but I could feel the entire floor moving during wind gusts. I shot about 50 images from here, and was satisfied with only two images of those shot. Just looking at what appeared on the monitor later, I could tell exactly when the gusts of wind had appeared. It is not an exactly a fair analogy of what occurred though. To generate 2 completed images, is usually a combination of at least three images taken without moving the camera, and just adjusting either the shutter or the aperture opening. So, those images need to be in concert with one another. One is generally wide open to lighten up the darker areas, and at the other end of the spectrum, one image taken at a very dark setting so that the blown out lights are reduced considerably. The only thing that seems to stay the same at a location is how cold you feel, since the cameras seem to do very well in cold temps.

Of the night, I am guessing that the statue at the entrance to Sacred Heart Medical Center might be my favorite that night. Some very nice people exiting their shifts at the hospital stopped by to see what I was doing, and with one exception I had fun talking with them. One drunk looking for the hospital ER, slammed into the tripod which screwed up a progression of 6 images. I told the guy where the ER was, and he tripped and fell as he finally walked to the ER area. Sometimes, these things remind me so much of my police days…..

If you are monitoring any of these images, you can go to the thumbnails at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/dwtn5.htm

Enjoy.

JDM

Turning green into gold at Spokane's Riverfront Park

Sure, it is a place that everyone in Spokane has seen before. And, sure, it is something almost anyone with a camera has taken a photo of. Yet, tonight there was something different.

I had taken about 200 or so images at a variety of locations, and was headed back another mile to where I parked my vehicle for the evenings photo shoot. I walked eastbound, on the walking path just south of the US Pavilion. I noticed the hole in the side of the south side roof, which apparently allows rain/water runoff from the Pavilions roof area. I had stomped around on top of the roof surface for a couple hours during a security survey I had done of Riverfront Park a few years ago. It was obvious that people were using the holes access to the Pavilion roof area for their own pleasures, during the security survey. So, tonight I walked back over to the hole in the wall with two cameras and a tripod.

When I got close to the wall, I noticed what I had been unable to see from the Riverfront Park walking path. The entire roof area was in color, which came from the lights straight up in the air above the Pavilion. Those lights were in the process of changing colors, and the entire roof area was lit up in the colors coming from above.

I set up one of the cameras (Canon 400D), and leaned the tripod in to freeze its position against the Pavilion wall. There were so many wires above running one way or the other, and the only way to eliminate them from the shot even slightly was to lean up against the wall for the shot. The lights were green, and began to transition to gold…and it was beginning to look amazing on the surface of the roof as well as the colors from above. Wires or not, I had to take the shots. I shot as often as I could (RAW+JPEG), in the frozen position of the camera, as the light on the roof changed from gold to almost completely green. Wow, it wasn’t something I had seen before, even when I was stomping around on the Pavilion roof during my last Park security survey.

In post photo editing, I combined the lightest image that I could, with two images that were substantially darker, so I could lighten up the darkest spots on the roof, as well as tone down the bright lights from above. I shot images at ¼, through 8 seconds of exposure, using ISO 100, at F 11 (wireless remote). I could do nothing about all of the overhanging wires, but what you see is what the site revealed that evening. I thought about spending a day or two trying to remove all of the wires, but I got what I was after that night, some great colors.

It is always amazing, when you can capture green as it turns into gold. Yep, absolutely amazing.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/usp.htm

JDM

It’s snow problem after all

I lined up two targets for an evening and after dark shoot this week. Bad news was that each of those locations was covered in so much snow and ice that I just began to walk around the west end of downtown, to search out locations which were easier to get to.

Finding other locations was not too difficult, although getting close to the Spokane River in the area behind City Hall was tough to do. Where there wasn’t ice, there was at least two feet of snow. Fortunately there were ample footprints that allowed access under the Monroe Street Bridge, on the south side of the river.

The water level was at it’s lowest level in quite some time, and it must only be a few more days when the dam unleashes the annual “monster flow,” downstream. I shot about 100 images in this area, before moving up and onto the streets around Riverpark Square. After about 250 images total, I went inside Riverpark Square to warm up, and prepare to call it a night.

Of the shots taken on that evening, I settled on perhaps 6 images of the 250, to present online. That figure is actually not a complete record of the shots used, since as many as 5 images were combined in layers, to generate one complete shot. Shooting as wide open as I can, allows for dark areas to become lighter, and at the other end of the scale, shooting a very short exposure helps control the light emission levels. Putting those images together allows for a lot more uniformity in levels which might otherwise be too dark or too light.

In deep snow, balancing the platform for timed exposures can be a little tricky. There are times (about half) when the camera is actually tilted to the side of the tripod, simply because the ice is so high beneath the tripod. In the end, the images are level….and the tripod provides much needed stability in inclement weather and very low light.

I think I added at least 6 images to the website.

JDM

Old fashioned theft in Spokane

This weekend Google search decided to find thumbnails of my images which had been featured on Spokane Night Scenes. As I began to click though my images, they began to appear on sites owned by Spokane Realtors. That came as quite a surprise to me, since none of these realtors had any agreements with Spokane Night Scenes, to use any of our copyrighted images.

After accumulating 5 realtors that had used my images, I went back to Google search and on my first screen up popped a Spokane Law Firm, which featured prominently one of my images. Yep, you guessed it, no agreement or contract.

After 31 years in the policing business, it comes as no great surprise to me that “some people steal.” I have witnessed first hand, thefts of a variety of kinds, and now I am seeing them once again. Digital thefts are a bit different, but all in all, they are the same thing…taking something that does not belong to you.

Photographers speak about copyrights, and believe me; those conversations are many and frequent. In theory, copyrights begin from the date of creation, with or without filing/registering the copyright at the Library of Congress. In my case, I have registered my digital images with the Library of Congress. Not really to hard to do, just fill out the paperwork, generate thumbnails on a printed sheet, and two CD’s with the protected images. Write a check for 45 bucks, and send it off to the Library of Congress.

So, are copyrights even relevant anymore? I mean, do they actually offer protection from a digital thief, who decides to turn your work into something that they want to use for “their project.” Just this weekend, I found 6 examples of my images appearing on a variety of commercial websites. I must admit, my images looked great on these links, although I am sure that I am slightly biased…. In fact, I would gladly have let these companies use the images that they obviously wanted to use. I would have done so, after reaching an agreement with them, and invoicing them for their use on their websites.

It must be easier to just take whatever you want, any time you want it. My images are all a part of an ongoing documentary of the community I live in, and I have displayed images on the Spokane Night Scenes website. I know we live in a beautiful place, and as I have mentioned before, I have a lot to be thankful for in this community. Yet, ethics seem to at least be lacking when my copyrighted images are taken and used, without any permissions or agreements.

It costs me a lot of money each year for my membership in the Better Business Bureau, and as I run my Security Management business I know I would never present to my clients something that I did not have ownership of. Is that just old fashioned? I mean, is it old fashioned to “not want to take something that did not belong to you?” Further, is it old fashioned to not want to “present the material taken, as your own?” You know, I don’t know. I gladly pay my dues to the Spokane Better Business Bureau, and I pay my business taxes, and all of the other relevant costs associated with running my business. Only to find other Spokane businesses just taking my property and presenting it as “their own property.”

I guess in the real world, it would be nice if things were not this way, but I guess of all the people in Spokane, I should not be at all surprised. I have seen this stuff happen a lot in my lifetime, and the only difference now is that it is happening to my business.

My son and I talked about it a little yesterday, and as a deputy prosecutor he gave me his take on the issue, and we both chuckled a little. So, this morning I began sending out notifications to the offending businesses, along with billing them for using my materials. I have placed them on notice, that absent payment, I will see them inside a courtroom in Spokane. As I write this, I am shaking my head wondering why all of this could not have been avoided in the first place.

Then again, maybe I am just old fashioned.

Stay tuned. I know I will be asked to identify the “borrowers of my work,” and I guess that is still an option. On the other hand, I am happy that they like what I do, enough to use the photographs. They just need to pay first, and then use…..

JDM

Hunting for Spokane photos, and finding Spokane ghost hunters

One of the interesting parts of a search for nighttime Spokane photos has been purely unintentional, but enjoyable.

In the past 5 years, I have averaged 3-4 contacts (yearly) with small groups of people who are “looking for Spokane ghosts.” All of those contacts were totally enjoyable, and the outdoor contacts did not interfere at all in photographing whatever location I happened to be at.

One interesting group was searching for Spokane ghosts, via their handheld GPS unit. During that conversation they displayed a complete set of GPS locations where they were hunting the Spokane ghosts. When they asked to see a view of the last photos I had taken at the location, I gladly displayed the last two images for them on the cameras electronic display window. They felt that in one window there was the image of a face looking out at us, but to me it looked like a streetlight reflection. In any case, it was a fun group of people and it made the evening’s photo effort very enjoyable.

After my initial meeting with Spokane “ghost hunters,” I began to find them at other locations that I had listed for night photography visits. Most of the ghost hunters felt that the reason I was at the locations initially was because I was also hunting for Spokane ghosts. I wasn’t, but nonetheless, speaking with these small groups of people made the various evenings very enjoyable.

Back in my years at Spokane PD, I had responded to calls about lots of mysterious noises, and suspicious incidents. I had never encountered anything paranormal, including at several of the locations that these small groups of ghost hunters were visiting. Each evening that I happened to meet with the ghost hunters, I enjoyed listening to some of their reports about spirits and haunted Spokane locations.

All in all, these nighttime experiences have been fun, along with the actual capture of images at whatever Spokane location I had targeted for a photo op visit. I’m not sure how many contacts with these folks I will have in 2008, but I am sure of one thing, each contact will be totally enjoyable.

Here are some of the locations I met the groups.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/corbinart.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/monhall.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/patsyclark.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/stjohncath.htm

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/doubletree.htm

I don’t know if any of the groups ever “found anything,” but every group sure enjoyed what they were doing.

Entertainment at the Hotel Lusso

This week, my goals were the Hotel Lusso, in downtown Spokane. Of course it was snowing the night I traveled down there, and at 23 degrees, it was a very icy drive.

When I was setting up outside the Hotel Lusso, I located myself across the street adjacent to the Davenport Hotel. I was approached by a man and woman who happened to be from Munich, Germany. The couple was interested in photography, and I spoke with them for a few minutes about my night photography project.

As we spoke, I heard a loud engine noise, and looked to see a large 4WD pickup, westbound on Sprague, just east of Post Street. It looked like they were trying to beat the light, and then they changed their mind. Since it was solid ice down there, the truck completely slid all the way through the intersection, actually doing a 180, facing east when they finally stopped. The couple from Germany watched the event, and smiled. The woman commented on how some people cannot drive in snow, and I agreed.

Approximately 5 minutes later a large 4WD GMC model pickup truck, also slid all the way through the intersection, after speeding up to try and beat the red light at Post. At this point I was on the north side of Sprague, and as the driver of the second pickup slid through the intersection at Sprague and Post, I noticed that the couple from Germany had just exited the Davenport Hotel, on their way to an event at the Fox. They turned to watch as the 2^nd truck went sliding through the intersection. I was able to see them laughing as they continued their walk toward the Fox…..

I’m guessing they felt all Spokane drivers are that careless in the Snow/Ice, but one thing for sure, two local Spokane drivers certainly are. At any rate, I got about 175 shots downtown, in addition to getting the entertainment in front of the Hotel Lusso.

Although I may add two more photographs to the website today of locations other than Hotel Lusso, I did add two photos of the Hotel Lusso on that cold and snowy night. A link for a second view is also on this URL.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/lusso2.htm

JDM

Comments from Spokane Night Scenes visitors

This week I got a number of emails from former Spokane residents, who commented on how the Spokane Night Scenes images brought back some pleasant memories for them. That was really good to hear, and to have received photographic reviews from these former residents of our community was very gratifying.

I wrote some time ago about the progression I took in utilizing the digital technology of the times for work I was doing. The first digital camera I owned was purchased to allow me to shoot photographs for the Spokane Police Department website, which I was webmastering at the time. I had read about something called the Epson Photo PC camera, and I went to one of my bosses at SPD to ask for a city purchase of that camera for SPD, so I could use it on the web. I was denied that request, but I bought the camera anyhow for my own personal and family use. Although the camera was cumbersome, boxy, and had little memory, its valued uses were easy to see.

Next came a Nikon digital camera (CP 900e), which was better than the Epson in every way, and using it for the websites I was developing at the time was easy for me to do. I remember shooting photos of our infamous “ice storm,” for the Spokane PD website, and it became so easy to shoot and publish online soon after an event, the feeling was amazement. I still could not get my boss to let me purchase the camera (for SPD’s website), so I bought the Nikon for myself, and for the past number of years, the quality of the digital cameras has never dropped in quality. Each year they get better, and the uses are more pronounced.

Doing this Spokane series of photos has been helped a ton, by the cameras available in the year 2007. Setting up shoots in 2007 with two cameras and varying lenses and tripods, allows for a wide variety of shots at each Spokane location. Yes, digital cameras are a great source of fun, and a definite asset for the utility work in my business projects in 2007. The series for Spokane shoots at a number of locations has an ambitious schedule for the winter of 2007-2008, and my newer digital cameras should allow for some great image captures of our local community.

Yes, we live in a beautiful place. Having these electronic systems available for photography, makes it easy (well, sorta) to show others about our area and our community. Stay tuned, more Spokane images are coming….. Spokane has a lot more places to visit for the first time, and also some visits to earlier locations to reshoot some images with a better set of cameras.

A very Merry Christmas to all of you visitors to the Spokane Night Scenes website!

JDM

I don’t do elections, I just take photos

I don’t do elections, I just take photos

I got a group of emails from what appear to be local Spokane residents this week. Apparently there is a John Moore, who is a supporter of May Verner, who is running for Spokane Mayor. Sorry, that is not me. I am not a resident of the City of Spokane, and I do not do City elections, I just take photos.

If I did live inside the City of Spokane, I’d likely be counted as a supporter of the current Mayor of Spokane, Dennis Hession. I have had the pleasure of speaking on a number of occasions with Mayor Hession and his wife, and I have a real feel for how much they like this community. Seeing how they appreciate my after dark Spokane images, shows me that they like the community as much as I do.

Anyhow, I don’t do elections. I just take photos.

John

Should a sunrise feel like work?

Getting up early has always seemed to me, to be related to “work.” In my dayshift patrol days at the Spokane Police Department, early was always the optimum word…and it was indeed, “work.” So getting up early now, with a chance to have some fun, just seems a bit tedious. Yet, capturing sunrises with a camera has now been added to my list of fun things to do, and slowly but surely, getting up early is eroding the feeling of it always being “work.”

Sunrises can be as dramatic and as colorful as can sunsets. There is one major exception though, and that is “you must point your camera in a totally opposite direction.” All of the other factors for low light imaging are the same, including the use of a stable tripod platform for the timed exposures.

Sunrises have been a pleasant surprise for me in the past couple of weeks. I have been out of Spokane for a couple of weeks, and monitoring sunrises from my location has been very easy to do. Shooting through secure glass windows, well above ground level, has not been that difficult. It can be, if the reflections from the interior glass are also captured in the frames of the landscape you are trying to photograph. So, keeping the interior as dark as the exterior has been a big help in capturing what the camera has seen during some colorful sunrises this past week.

The placement of the camera and tripod also resulted in the capture of a very large rainbow, which seemed to be less than a hundred yards away. The interior glass did filter a little bit more on that series of shots since it was later in the day, and a lot brighter outside. I may add some of these images to the Spokane Night Scenes website, although I am a little reluctant to add out of town shots to a location designed primarily for Spokane Night photographs. We’ll see, in another week or two when I get back into town and into a normal routine once again.

One thing for sure, getting up early and looking at what Mother Nature is offering for the day, has been fruitful for the past week or two. I need to do more of that back in Spokane. Although that may actually seem like “work,” once more….

John

Canons and Nikons, changing over time

Using cameras over time has resulted in many changes, over the years. When I first started shooting night scenes, I did so in 1987, with a 35mm Canon AE1 SLR. My night shots were a part of a complete security survey I was doing for Riverfront Park, and the night shots were a result of the lighting study I set up in the park.

I began more sojourns into Riverfront Park, with a followup security survey which I began 14 years after I did the first one. The difference in both the process and the equipment used had changed, as far as use for night shots. In 2001 and 2002, I used a Nikon CP 990, which was the second Nikon series camera in their digital series. It was a great camera, and the 3.34 MP camera allowed editing and transitioning into a digital security survey report easily and almost effortlessly. The night shots with the Nikon CP 990 seemed to be superior to the shots taken during the 1987 security visits to Riverfront Park. That camera is no longer in use, but it is still very functional, and has been used occasionally by my kids and their children.

Then along came the Nikon CP 4500, which was similar in many ways to the Nikon CP 990. I just never got to like that camera as much as the 990, perhaps because it was smaller, yet it offered more megapixels per image (4+). I saw no difference in many ways from the two cameras, but the CP 990 just seemed better in almost every way. There was no significant difference when it came to low light shots.

The Nikon CP 8700 replaced the CP 4500, and in every way was a better piece of hardware. Shooting after dark allowed RAW imaging, as well as JPEG, and the camera allowed easier editing and cropping for written reports since it as an 8 megapixel unit. That camera has been used on many night sojourns from 2003-2005, and is still in use as a backup camera. It was the closest camera to a DSLR I ever had the pleasure to shoot with, and allowed shooting at an ISO of 50, which helped low light images, for noise purposes.

Although the CP 8700 is still up and running, my night visits to Spokane locations are driven by DSLRs, including the Canon 350D (XT), and the Canon 400D (XTi). Both of these units allow for easy lens transfer and placement for a variety of scenes. Shooting at 8 megapixels (350D), and 10+ megapixels (400D), cropping is once again easier, as well as shooting RAW (CR2) plus JPEG. Both cameras allow an ISO level of 100, and that is very helpful in low light situations that I find myself in once or twice each week. There are times that even the Nikon CP 8700 is still used after dark, and having three cameras available at every location allows for a lot of possibilities based on the obstacles that you find when you get there.

Over time, cameras just got better. Considering the beauty of the Spokane region and the locations after dark, all of these digital cameras have played a role in capturing the area we live in.

Nikon CP 990:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/clocktowerbridge.htm

Nikon CP 4500:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/rp.htm

Nikon CP 8700:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/b3.htm

Canon 350D:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/spiresnorthwest.htm

Canon 400D:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/landmark.htm

JDM

A photo visit to Deaconess Medical Center

This week’s efforts included some post-sunset shots utilizing the Deaconess Medical Center parking garages. I contacted the staff and security officers at Deaconess, and they were a great help in getting to a couple of areas I had not been visited for a cameras eye view of downtown.

This was an experience I had not anticipated. The wind was blowing from the west, and on top of the garage on the west side of Deaconess I really had to keep an eye on the actual focus and blur that did occur when there were gusts of wind. Even with a fairly heavy tripod and not using the center post, still allowed for some movement in the time exposures, on a number of the shots. Bracketing individual scenes was a big help in post photo review, and when there was movement detected for a particular shot, it was almost always replaceable by a number of others taken at the same place and at varying times.

Out of 400 or so images taken during my two hour or so visit to Deaconess, I felt that there were five images that were usable, and a couple others that I am going to have to look closely at over the next week or two. Normally, for me, getting one usable image from 100 taken is about my average. In some cases that is not a fair analogy, since some images used are actually a combination of two or three bracketed images taken at the individual location. Photomatix Pro is a big help on some cases, and using layers in Elements 5 is another sure way of getting what you saw the night you were there.

The top level of the Deaconess parking garage is just west of this building location.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/deac.htm

Coming up I have two other locations scheduled, including the rooftop at the Doubletree hotel, and in the area of W 1000 First Street. I have some contacts in target locations in the W 1000 block of 1^st, and I will get together with them to shoot some after dark images of that area. The W 1000 block of 1^st is a personal goal of mine. I had administered/organized the construction of the Spokane Police Departments Crime Prevention Center at 1201 W First, and along with ten or twenty police senior volunteers, I worked in that neighborhood for a few years after we opened our doors in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Once upon a time those blocks were the hangout of a lot of two legged predators, and the area was not to be visited for any length of time at all. To see all of the great activities that are taking place down there now is most certainly to be documented.

JDM

Stealing the Scene

Recently, I became aware that some of my Spokane Night Scenes images were being used by others who had no permission to do so. Initially it was a shock to me, when I saw my images being used commercially and privately without my permission.

In one case, I found one of my images being used by a private party as a part of his blog, on the Internet. After my informing him of his unauthorized use of my image, his reply was,

“I'm very sorry. I have removed the picture, much to my regret. It was a stunning picture.”

How difficult would it have been to send me an email requesting use of my image? Was this person really sorry for using my work, or were they sorry that I found out they were using it? Seems to me that if the image he was using was that impressive to him, he would have made the same contacts with me that many, many others are making when they begin the process of using Spokane Night Scenes images.

Then there is the case of a web design firm who took one of my images and used it on a website designed for one of their clients. Yep, they used it commercially, without permission, even though they were being paid to build a website for a client of theirs. When I discovered the unauthorized use, I contacted them immediately, and got this response. “If you decide to take legal action, I sincerely ask that you involve only myself and my company, ___________ _________. The owners of ____________ are a grassroots company just starting out and trusted me to comply with copyright laws - which I thought I had.”

Come on, I mean really….”THOUGHT I HAD?” How can this be the case? Using something for commercial gain that you don’t own is not exactly a proper use of copyrighted materials.

In the second case, when it was brought to the attention of the web design firm, they bought the limited use rights, allowing them to continue the use of the image owned by Spokane Night Scenes. Sure, this would have and should have been done up front. Ethics, professionalism, and business to business relationships are built on doing things right, and in this case, they finally purchased the use rights.

To own and operate a business, must be the most misunderstood thing around. People just don’t seem to realize all of the costs and liabilities that go hand in hand with operating a business. There are licenses, insurance issues, corporation costs, State and Federal tax issues, Better Business Bureau membership costs, photographic equipment costs, administrative hardware and digital office equipment costs, and the list goes on and on. Yet, in the previously described cases, none of this was important to the former users of the work done by Spokane Night Scenes.

Amazing….. You would think that the web design business had an idea about all the costs to running a business, as well as what it takes to keep the business going…such as income to pay for all of the costs…… Yep, amazing.

Then there are those requests I get, asking to use Spokane Night Scenes for free…for one reason or another. I am as responsive to the needs of some requests as I can be, but bills don’t get paid by giving away everything we produce…. So, I have to limit what is “donated, or given away.” I would much rather donate my time as a photographer, than to compromise the product line of images used to run a business…. Even so, there are those who want, and will, take advantage of that…..

Yep, amazing…

John

(No, I will not ID the people or company involved in these cases….since these issues have been resolved).

Is it, or isn’t it?

A friend related to me some comments made about a photo I had taken at Riverfront Park, in downtown Spokane. Rather than a traditional sunset photo, the image was actually facing downtown, to show the sun setting reflections in the windows of the businesses. After I got it onto the hard drives and the computers, I was satisfied with the image, and put it on the web.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/meadow.htm

The particular image in question was emailed to the Spokane Camera Club for its monthly competition, and I was out of town for the “critique.” The topic of the month was sunsets, and the comments related to me were that the person doing the critique stated that this was not a sunset shot.

It was an image taken at sunset, and timed to be exactly at sunset, with a view of the setting sun in windows rather than the traditional view of the sun setting in the sky on the horizon. Since I was told of those comments, I have always wondered what a sunset really was, if it was not an image of the setting sun along with other objects in the same frame of the shot. The job of critiquing images displayed at a Spokane Camera Club meeting is pretty much a thankless one, and having a professional comment on your shots is geared toward making members better photographers. Yet, if a shot taken at sunset, during a sunset, is not really a sunset photo, then what is? Beats me……

Anyhow, at risk of offending someone for taking another view of Spokane during a sunset, I offer up a more “typical view,” of a Spokane sunset. This image was at sunset, with some orange reflections off the clouds, with a focal point of a landmark on the right half of the image. I wanted the left half void of any focal points, and to begin water reflections in the lower third of the frame with the landmark beginning in the second third of the frame.

Anyhow, I hope this is a sunset photo, especially one you can enjoy.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/landmark.htm

John

Colors of the STA

For the high and low of it

Providing motion after dark can have some dramatic impact on the actual image capture at a location. Sometimes capturing fireworks can be like that, but in other circumstances it is automobile traffic that provides the motion and the color.

There are some fairly traditional after dark “motion shoots,” in Spokane. One example of that is the south side of the overpass at Riverfront Park, above the Washington Street couplet. That shot reveals both the traveled portions of the roadway, as well as the lights from some downtown office buildings, and of course the Spokane River.

This week I wanted to find a secondary location, or several of them, if I could. The goal was to capture vehicle motion and color, at sunset through total darkness. The first target this past week came as I faced south towards the moon, on the Clock tower footbridge. This footbridge is close in proximity to the southbound lanes of the couplet, onto Stevens street. To get the moon and vehicles into the same frame, the angle needed to get a traffic flow that displayed vehicle lights over and above the side rail on the couplets bridge surface. When an STA bus came through, I really liked what I saw, and set the camera (Canon 400d, RAW + JPEG, F16, 6-8 seconds exposure, tripod mounted) up for any other STA bus that came across the southbound lanes. About 10 minutes after setting everything up, along came an STA bus, and the timed exposure showed the motion and flash of the bus colors and lights.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/stablur.htm

On another night, I sought out another secondary location, where I could get vehicle lights, in a mostly out of the ordinary photo location. At sunset I took a look at the north end of the Washington Street Couplet overpass, from the ground level. Shooting there looked doable and so about two hours later in total darkness I returned to that spot and set up for another timed exposure. It was a little difficult to judge when northbound vehicles were going to enter the frame, since the east walls of the couplet blocked most of the view. I had to listen to approaching traffic, and then set up an exposure which would be long enough to capture vehicles as they came into view of the camera, as well as when they exited the field of view to the north. (Canon 400d, F16, 8sec, tripod mounted, RAW + JPEG, CR2). What I had not counted on was another STA bus to enter my scene, along with three other vehicles, and all at the same time. The combination of all the vehicle lights, was a big help in displaying the motion and color at the time of the shot.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/washlights.htm

At night, there seems to be no Spokane locations in which there are no photographic possibilities. Yep, we live in a beautiful place….

John

The STA Blur

Summertime and photography after dark offer up some interesting challenges.

First, to get out with cameras after dark, means that the actual period of darkness comes much later in the evening. So, unless you want to spend hours much later in the day, you may opt to wait until Fall or Winter months.

Or, you get out early in the morning before sunrise, to get the shots of locations during darkness. That condition is not one of my favorite activities, since many of the nighttime lighted buildings or locations will have all of their lights off.

So, I tend to get out there later in the evening and shortening the amounts of time to the places which get visited. For me, it means I have maybe two hours to get shots or get out. On the bright side, it isn’t cold with ice and snow on the ground.

Summer shots after dark in many locations mean that there are much more people activities in progress. I have never been out on a shoot around Spokane in summertime, when small groups of people don't become interested in what is happening. Taking time to explain what you are doing can take some time, but it is the right thing to do.

There are times when people are going to get into your shots. Usually not a problem, unless your intent was to capture objects and not people. Photoshopping them out of the image after you get the RAW files on your computer might be doable, but taking them out of the frame is not a representation of what you saw when you were at the location. When I was setting up a shot on the Clocktower foot bridge in Riverfront Park, I had at least ten people wait in a group until they were sure they would not ruin the shot. I think I must have shot ten images before I noticed them, and I thanked them as they went on their way that evening. I was trying to frame an STA bus as it crossed the Washington Street couplet into downtown, to see if I could get the bus colors and the early evening moon in the same shot. It was about 9:15PM when I got that opportunity and the bus colors and the motion depicted by the southbound bus seemed to jump as the 4 second time exposure (F16) captured the action.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/stablur.htm

Shooting in the evening is a good deal of fun, even if it requires a late evening/night series of digital shots.

John

Awards for Spokane Night Scenes

I wanted to thank all of the friends of Spokane Night Scenes, and to pass along some recent news.

Each year the Spokane Camera Club hosts a banquet to honor photographic excellence, in film, slide, and digital photography. This year, I received a request to enter previously selected images into their judging, and I agreed with their request. Of the digital images entered, the Spokane Night Scenes photographer received four category awards for digital photos entered in their judging. Of all digital images in their judging process, photographer John Moore received the "John Hill Digital Image of the Year award."

Thanks for taking the time to admire the images of Spokane, taken after dark. We live in a beautiful place, and photographing it after dark is a process which will continue for quite some time to come.

John