Hillyard Skate Park, Spokane, Washington

Recently I saw a few blown out daylight images of the City Park, just north of the downtown Hillyard business district. A number of the images displayed the Hillyard Skate Park, during daylight. As I looked at these really bright images, it gave me a pause for thought. What would this place look at after dark? I was wondering about how I could try and display the curves in the massive amount of concrete poured at the Skate Park in Hillyard.

Building a system or process, was the next step…and it had to be done during daylight. I traveled to the Hillyard Skate Park, and shot images in a 360 look, so I could review them later to come up with a plan. Shooting with my 18 x 200 was perfect for daylight, but, the field of view was too limited when applied to the curves and deeper areas of the Hillyard Skate Park. The only way to maximize this shoot was to go with an 11 x 18, at the widest view, and even then it would not completely cover the entire concrete areas. I settled on one specific area where I surmised I could throw red, blue and amber lights into the recesses of the various component areas of the concrete surfaces. To do so would require extremely long exposures, as I would have to walk into each area after the camera began the shot process. Then I would have to return and close the shutter with my wireless remote. I’d have to repeat this process in each area, and with each different color. What bothered me the most was leaving my camera on the tripod and simply walking away from it, but hopefully, there would be no people around after dark.

Last night I returned to the Hillyard Skate Park, with two cameras and two tripods in case I used both cameras at basically the same times. One camera was using the 18x200 lens, and the other was sporting the 11x18, which ultimately prevailed and the 18x200 was not used for any images. As I arrived, it was totally dark (pitch black) in the Hillyard Skate Park, but there were no people at the venue. I set up the 11x18 camera at the spot I decided on during the daylight visit, and I started lighting the foreground with red light from the Big Max flashlight. I began the shoot with a 10 second exposures, and even when I progressed all the way to 30 seconds, it was so dark I had to stop doing normal timed exposures, and I set the camera to a BULB setting so I could just run with what I was doing, until I was done with whatever I was doing.

I began shooting BULB shots for the blue areas of the shots, and it took about thirty seconds to get to and back from the blue areas of the shots. Add about 3 to 3 and a half minutes for the blue painting efforts in each area, and I started eating up a lot of time on each exposure. After doing the 2 blue areas, I shot with amber at the east side (rear) of the project. This amber area wrapped all the way around the red and blue areas, but most of the amber was influenced dramatically by all of the high pressure sodium lights which were shining in the distance (background light). In the final image, I can see the amber light that I shined from multiple directions, but it really never was as pronounced as I had originally hoped for. Blue was okay, and red was as “in your face,” as I could make it. Red did well, as it was also farther away from the background lighting, and the red area (and blue) was totally shielded from the influence of the background as those areas were really deeper in depth from the top of the concrete.

After about 30 individual BULB exposures, I had eaten up almost an hour and a half of time at the location. I quickly reviewed the RAW (CR2) images, and it appeared I would have enough material to blend after the files were displayed on the computers in the office.

Today, I added a low res version of a blended series of shots. A total of 7 images were needed for this version of the Hillyard Skate Park. It isn’t quite a pano view of Hillyard Skate Park, but the 11x18 was definitely the right choice to get as much of the concrete depths as possible. Concrete is actually kinda ugly stuff, and really plain. Until I began walking around this location with a LED headlamp and the Big Max flashlight, I never had given that much thought. At least now, there is a little color at the location.

Here is the Hillyard Skate Park, in north Spokane. (LOW RES)

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

JDM

There's daylight at Spokane Night Scenes

This summer, there have been a number of daylight "excuses,"to capture some colorful photographs. One of the "excuses," was the Annual PoW Wow in Spokane's Riverfront Park. This was a great source of color in 2008, and in 2009 the Pow Wow easily surpassed the moment this year.

I have installed a flash slide program of assorted Pow Wow images, online: This is a LARGE Flash program, and it is designed for those visitors who have high-speed, or broadband internet connections.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/POWWOW2009.htm

One other daylight project this summer, was the Gallery display of very large color prints (24 X 36, and 20 X 30) at the Liberty Theater in Toppenish, Washington. Known for it's historic murals all over town, it was fun to display down there. I had a chance to speak with local photography Pro's and that was a blast.

Then I got a chance to setup at Unity In The Community this year, at Riverfront Park. My daughter Erin Gibson was able to display her pencil Art with me, both at The Liberty Theater in Toppenish, as well as the booth setup in Riverfront Park here in Spokane. Her art is available at:

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

Lets face it, I am a night shooter. Yet, once in a while doing some things in daylight can be classified as fun (more or less). This weekend I had a chance to complete a community service project for the Friends of the Falls (FOF) in their Spokane River Cleanup event. I shot about 450 images this weekend, and I edited about 75 of those for FOF to use online and in their ongoing efforts with the Spokane River. One of the Spokane City Council members asked for a number of my FOF images from this weekend, and he displayed those at the City Council Meeting held last night at Spokane's City Hall.

I have a feeling that the images from this years event will be used by a few other non profit groups locally, since many were involved in the work on the banks of the Spokane River this year.

JDM

Shadle Aquatic Center sculpture, Spokane, Washington

Last week, one of the News releases I got from the City of Spokane, listed about 6-7 art objects, which either had been, or would be, installed around Spokane. Seemed to me an opportunity to try and capture these art objects, if possible, after dark. I emailed my contact at City Parks, and they were informed of the effort, in case any of the images could be helpful to Spokane Parks.

The first visit was to the Shadle Aquatic Center, on West Wellesley. This art (sculpture), contained three ten foot tall objects, standing side by side. The surfaces of the sculptures were fairly shiny, so it appeared that this would actually help reflect any projected light from a colored flashlight lens. Bad news was, that almost directly overhead was a high-pressure sodium streetlight. It totally bathed the entire area in orange light, and it so overwhelmed the color schemes, I thought the project might be doomed from the start.

Each of the parts of the sculpture were bathed in a different color light, although I was unable to use amber because of the streetlight. I used regular white light on the center of the sculpture, although it turned to gold because of the streetlight. Red was fairly consistent with the actual colors used, and blue was almost totally eaten up by the direct light from above (streetlight).

Putting all of the bracketed images on the computer screen the next day, gave me some hope that I could make my way out of the mess created by the streetlight. One way was to create a layer of totally desaturated color. That layer became black and white, and it eliminated all of the intense color from the streetlight on the surroundings. I was able to add additional layers for the colored objects in the sculpture, and as a result I got rid of the streetlight impact on the area, and was able to display the colors used on each part of the sculpture.

Sometimes this night stuff cam drive you crazy, but if you don't get in a hurry, and the tripod gives you a very stable platform, you can just keep shooting as you make the adjustments at the scene.

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

JDM

Season of the night

That sounds like the title of a book, but for a night shooter, it is definitely a season of the night. It is always a good news – bad news season, meaning it’s great to shoot earlier in the evening, but it also means winter is on its way. So, in this area you take the good with the bad, and you search for targets and get out and shoot.

This season, there is an extensive list of do-overs. Reshooting some of the images taken in years past, albeit with much better equipment now. At some of the prior targets, the locations have undergone cosmetic changes, and shooting them once again allows for a comparison of the way “things used to be.” This part of the 2009-2010 season is not overly exciting, but documenting change should be done.

A month ago, I determined to shoot the hardscape waterfall at Mirabeau Park. It is a rather attractive area, and the falling water seems to be very popular with quite a few local people. In my evening spent at the waterfall, I had about thirty people watching throughout most of the process of painting the waterfall with light. I was a bit surprised by all of the watchers, but then again, watching someone shine red, blue, or amber and white light onto the adjacent structures must have been a tad unusual. It got so dark at this location, that the beams of light might have been all the people could see.

At Mirabeau, I wasn’t real happy with the paint job, and it will require another visit. First, it was so dark, that autofocus was useless. It was easily doable after shining a light onto the waterfall, as long as the light was amber, or white. The cameras would focus easily at that point. In switching to manual focus, the total darkness made it hard to focus on a specific point when using the mode for real time viewing on the back of the 40D. Viewing through the viewfinder was impossible in that darkness, and no headset or handheld flashlight that I used made much difference. After about twenty minutes of going back and forth, it became obvious that the best focus would be auto, and it would require white light on the waterfall. So, then it became a challenge to focus the camera, and keep the shutter half-way down, all the while you used a free hand to add a colored filter/lens to the Big Max flashlight, aim it and shine the colors onto the target. That took some doing, and that is one time I could have used a second person at the scene. So, next time out there I am going to invite at least one other photog out there so we can coordinate lights, camera, and action.

Then, there was the couple who somehow came up behind me in the darkness. I was busy doing the camera stuff, and they walked right up behind me, maybe two feet away. I never heard them because of the waterfall, and my eyes were on the colors I was shooting toward the water. The male asked me if I was going to sell any of the photos I had taken, and I literally jumped a foot off the surface. I am sure they had no idea they scared the hell out of me, since it was so dark out at that point. My headlamp was also on, so it likely blinded them a little when I turned around. They departed after some small talk, and I took a few minutes to settle down before I started trying to get back to the focusing issues.

I took about 200 images that night, with two cameras. One camera had an 11 – 18 wide angle lens, and the other used a 18 – 200. I felt comfortable with a fairly wide range at this site, and the choices of glass were fine. The only major glitch on this night was the total and absolute pitch black night. At many sites, I have at least some ambient light, but not on this occasion. The only lights in the neighborhood were lights that I brought with me, or wore on my forehead.

Although the standard practice of bracketing shots at varying shutter speeds was used; I just never got real happy with any of the blended shots. I did add one image using some blended shots, at 20-30 minutes after sunset.

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

A second image was added, at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/totaldarkness1.htm

I’m not sure when Spokane County Parks will turn off the waterfall for the season, but I do plan on heading back out to this location for another after dark visit. Next time I’ll have to attack the night scene a little differently. If I only shot things in daylight, a second visit would not be required…..

JDM

Spokane Night Scenes chosen for the Spokane Riverfront Park Map panels.

Spokane Night Scenes has been chosen for the image placement on the new Spokane Riverfront Park Map panels.

These maps are to be placed at central access areas in Riverfront Park, so that visitors to the park can see where they are and where the activity areas are throughout the park. These panels are scheduled for fabrication and placement in Riverfront Park by July 2009.

Enjoy the new maps in Riverfront Park.

A link to the new map is located HERE.

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/RFPMap.jpg

I resized the original art, and it is presented in a JPEG format.

JDM

Spokane Night Scenes at the historic Liberty Theater

I had an opportunity recently to display framed poster prints of Spokane Night Scenes images. Unlike my gallery displays in First Friday events in Spokane, this opportunity took me back to Toppenish, the Mural Capital of the State of Washington.

I got to display some selected poster prints at the historic Liberty Theater in Toppenish. The images were selected as a gallery display inside the Liberty Theater. I had some experience with the Liberty Theater in Toppenish, and at one point I developed a website for the Mid Valley Performing Arts in the Yakima Valley.

It was fun displaying the large Spokane Night Scenes poster prints, and I actually got to display my work with drawings completed by Erin (Moore) Gibson CFA. It was fun to do the gallery display with my daughter also displaying her framed art in the historic Liberty Theater building in Toppenish. For a look at Erin’s art, here is a link to her drawing efforts.

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

If I get a chance to display in the Liberty Theater again, I would not hesitate to take any of my large poster prints of Spokane Night Scenes to that area for gallery display. I let others choose what prints to display, and I might have chosen one or two others in place of what was otherwise selected. The people viewing the work had no complaints though, so maybe letting others pick out what was shown worked very well. For some reason, the image of the Perry Street Cafe seemed to be the most popular down there, and the pro photogs that I spoke with totally enjoyed the grayscale/color layering approach.

Exposing Spokane Night Scenes images to that region of the State was sure a lot of fun over the Memorial week period.

JDM

Spokane night photographers

There is one thing easy to notice, if you shoot after dark in Spokane. The first thing you notice is the absence of photographers shooting after dark. Next thing you notice, is that local photog groups tend to focus their efforts on daylight ventures such as photo walks, photo tours, and other daytime adventures. Any training, if offered or experienced may be good or bad, depending on the skill levels of the participants rather than a direct result of the skills of the project leader. As a result, marginal or worse photogs can develop other participants into marginal or worse participants.

My opinion? Certainly. Participating on group activities with photogs running helter skelter for their shots, can be problematic. How many times have I seen several photogs shots with two or three other photogs all lined up in the shot of the one wanting a photograph of something. How many times has one small subgroup of participants distracted other photogs from concentrating on what they intended to do, only to be looking at what this small subgroup is involved in.

Organizing small group activities is a challenge for the leaders, of that there is no doubt. If you are the leader, you need to focus most of you time on the group members, and not on what you think you might get in this photo shoot. Why? Some members of the group are just learning and they have questions. "How do you do this, how did you do that, why did you do that, where do I find that on my camera, how does it work, why should I do it that way?" In fairness to these members, they really need coaching. For a group leader interested in shooting, boy does that make it hard to do. So there is balance and there are sacrifices to be made on behalf of those who are learning. When I do small groups of night shooters, I shoot the scenes they will be taken to, days or even weeks BEFORE the group meets. I can concentrate on what I want, and when I take the group out, I leave my cameras in the office. Displaying some of your earlier results on a laptop or other such small display, can give the group members ideas on what you did, and how you did it. Then you take them out to the locations and walk them through their efforts. Some participants will succeed, some will not.

Many photogs simply enjoy the social aspects of the group shoot, and gaining technical skills is not their highest priority. Nonethleless, each member of the group can learn from each group leader, given the amount of time the leader can spend with each participant.

In my view, I wish there were more night shooters. In some communities there are night shooters, and they are formally organized into 501 C3 type organizations, and in other communities there are less formal structures. These groups shoot at night, although many of them begin their activities at sunset or slightly before. So, are there night shooters in Spokane? I have no clue, since in the past 5 years I have seen but a handful of photogs shooting after dark. It's too bad, since after dark, everything changes. By changes, I mean, REAL changes. Not just technical photography, but issues of safety. As a result, small groups of people together for an evening, is a very good thing...assuming that the leader spends time on what the group is doing, rather than what individual leaders are doing for themselves.

Night shooting is fun. It plainly is fun, and with a small group, it can be loads of fun. Yet, if there are few groups who have a particular night shooting interest, it can be very hard to find a learning experience. As a result, there seems to be an interest in beginning some type of night time shooters group. As done in San Francisco, and elsewhere, there are many groups who cater solely to night shooters. Since there has been some interest in a night shooters group of one kind or another, perhaps it is time for an assessment.

I would invite any photog interested in s night shooters group, to contact me. I can disseminate to interested parties, and perhaps, if the participant level seems adequate, we target a night shoot for the group members.

Keep up the good work everyone, and let me know if there is any interest in a night shooters group.

John

John D. Moore, CPP
spokanenightscenes.com

Night shoots – A Spokane update.

In one sense of the word “Springtime,” it is a pleasure to see that it has arrived. After all, this winter was a disaster in more ways than one, and once again, it seemed to go on day after day with no end. Since complaints generally go on deaf ears, it is just one more notch in the level of experiences shared by many people, not just me.

Yet, it is the subtle changes in seasons that impact, at least slightly, what I do. Simply put, I shoot at night, exclusively. I can go out there with the masses with digital cameras in the daytime, but unless it is a community service project I am doing for someone, daylight is not a challenge. It just isn’t. Night shoots are ALWAYS a challenge, in many more ways than one. Yet, it is the challenge of darkness that is of interest to me.

In the past few months, I have focused on either downtown Spokane, or the North Side. One very fun project was for the Northeast Youth Center, at their annual Nighttime Easter Egg hunt. When I first got the announcement/release from Spokane Parks, I could imagine lots of colorful light trails running all over the place, perhaps with varied colors, and directions. After it began to get dark at Hays Park, the lighting possibilities were obvious, with hundreds of children and parents/grandparents running all over with glow lights or flashlights. Here are some of the images from the night:

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

Capturing all of the lights as they wandered through the field of view was pure fun and enjoyment. It can be said matter of factly, that the photographers that night (3) had as much fun as the kids did. I would not hesitate to jump out there next year when they do this event again. Now that I know the ropes of the event, capturing the lights will be much easier since I know how the process works for all of the people and kids.

In downtown Spokane, there are some new sites/sights. Maybe just new to me, but they are very colorful additions to different neighborhoods. Beginning with this next link, are a short series of images captured that evening. Just when you think downtown has nothing new; the camera can show that all things change over time.

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

A little more recent was a return to the Wandermere area (Business Park). There is something about these built up hardscape areas that make for some great intellectual challenges. It no longer is an issue of what the cameras can do, but what can you do to change or modify the appearance of the images at night, including a great deal of water. I shot this area last year, but along with another photographer, we went after the water up there once again. Painting somewhat drab waterfalls with light, can go a long way to modifying the look, without much alterations in RAW post processing. Taking the bracketed shots in various colors and blending them, can take each waterfall into something that could be, rather than what is currently.

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

On another occasion, I went down to Riverfront Park, as it was supposed to be a very foggy night. I got there ahead of most of the fog, but within a half hour of walking around and shooting a number of locations, on came the dense fog. Here is a short series of images, as the fog finally arrived down there.

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

JDM

Shooting in Hillyard

This week I visited Hillyard, and it was a tough photo op. Tough for a number of reasons, which included three or four drunks in the street screaming at each other. STA mercifully came by and picked up one of the drunks, and the others wandered off westbound from Market Street.

After getting the cameras and tripod out of the truck, I noticed an absence of color. Other than high pressure sodium street lights, there was not really any illumination to speak of. So, it was going to be a challenge to find some shots. Let’s remember, Hillyard is a historic community…..and I was determined to try and capture some of the buildings, poor lighting or not. Hillyard holds some historic moments for me, too…coming from my days at Spokane PD.

I captured some views of the Alaskan Lounge (Tavern), and then moved south shooting some angles of the street scenes. I found one well placed Mural, and that was about as far south as I made it on this visit.

Editing posed some challenges, since what I had really captured was an absence of color. So I began to layer each series of images, and I converted the top layers into black and white versions. As a result, I could then bring out any objects with color from the background layer. Mostly, it was the interiors of the buildings with large windows that offered some color. A few signs, and voila, some image captures in Spokane’s historic Hillyard.

I’m not done shooting in Hillyard, and perhaps there are a few locations I need to visit the next time out. I think I will try and make some contact with representatives of the Hillyard community and see if they have any ideas. One thing still holds true, as far as night shoots go. Some historic buildings that look great in daylight can look absolutely horrible after dark. Conversely, some things that are as ugly as the day is long (in daylight), can look vastly superior after dark. Only one way to find out which, is to go and take a look when the sun goes down.

So, at this point, I have added 4 images from the nights visit to Hillyard. They are largely grayscale, but as I mentioned previously, they are not totally black and white creations. Image number one is located:

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

JDM

Request for a Spokane Ghost photographer

Request for a Spokane Ghost photographer

Yes, you read that request correctly. In fact, this request came from the couple I ran into in 2007/2008 at two local sites. The couple was part of a group of Spokane ghost hunters, who wound up at the same locations I happened to be shooting Spokane Night Scenes.

I do not know the couples name, as I thought I had saved their emails from two years ago. Apparently I will have to wait until I get further emails from them, perhaps in May of this year.

Here is what I know. In Spring and Summer of this year, the group they belong to (Spokane ghost hunters) are going to be visiting many outdoor locations, including cemeteries. They mentioned many names, but the only ones I remember from the conversation was Holy Cross, Greenwood, and somewhere near Fort Wright. This group has apparent goals of getting a room at the Doubletree, and Davenport, so they can be in areas which are supposedly “Spokane haunts.”

All of this strikes me as a bit unusual, to get a request for photography during some local ghost hunts. This request came after I was approached by two ghost hunters in the Rosewood Post Office this week. The Spokane Ghost hunters had planned for a visit to Holy Cross, and had stopped by USPS at Rosewood where they saw me checking my PO Box. I had not seen the two ghost hunters since I shot photos at Patsy Clarks Mansion, in 2007 (I think).

At any rate, I asked the two Spokane Ghost hunters if I could find someone else, since I was not interested in joining a Spokane Ghost hunter social network. Is this a serious request? I have no idea, but why they would ask me to shoot images for their group? This contact at Rosewood Post Office came out of the blue.

Over the years, I have met a number of Spokane Ghost hunters. Until this week, I have always talked with them on location where I was shooting Spokane Night Scenes. Every single one of the people was very nice, and it was very interesting to speak with them about their activity. I don’t think that all of the people I met at the various sites were members of the same group, but perhaps they are now.

Even though I declined the request, I asked them if it would be okay to find someone else. They said “that would be fine.” My plan is to have the Spokane Ghost hunter group contact any interested photog directly, so that I am “off the hook.” I am thinking they might not do anything at all until May.

Maybe I grew too cynical in all of my years of policework. I responded to so many calls of bumps in the night, etc, that perhaps any interest waned years ago. I remember a call for service we got years ago, regarding apparitions in someone’s home. Two of us at Spokane PD were tasked to spend two entire shifts in this home to see if we could arrest any intruders. We never saw any. Yet, after each shift, the homeowners called in that apparitions appeared within minutes of our leaving each day. My partner in this project was as suspect about the entire thing, as much as I was.

So, I will pass along to any interested photographers, a potential photo op this Spring.

JDM

Former scenes of madness and crime, in Spokane

I have three short term goals, and to take advantage of the early darkness, I need to get the goals completed soon. Goal one involves Spokane Night Scenes photography in Hillyard. Next, I want to shoot around the neighborhood in Spokane’s South Perry business district. My third goal was to get out in the fog, which I did a week or two ago in Spokane's Riverfront Park.

Hillyard has a history with me, although I am sure it is not of any official historical value. Each time I drive through Hillyard, I think of two things. First, was the madness of a street fight I responded to one night. I was working graveyard shift in my early police career (Spokane PD), and patrons from a bar emptied into the street at Queen and Market. A fight commenced that required just about every police officer in the city, as well as many Spokane County Deputies. We arrested 16 people, and a couple of our SPD guys had to make stops at Holy Family ER, before heading in to the jail to book in prisoners. That was one of my early police experiences with total and complete madness, and will not be one ever forgotten.

Another Hillyard memory is also police related. It involves the former US Bank location. I did a lot of robbery training for the staff at this former bank branch, with a very good friend and mentor Richard “Dick” Long who was the security director for ONB and later US Bank. Dick was such a good friend, that when he passed away, police department photographs of he and I doing training in Hillyard, became a much better memory than the total madness of the huge street fight at Queen and Market.

Since there is some historical value, generally, I am going to have to visit Hillyard after sunset, and see what things look like. I’ll have to deal with some parked cars, and considerable northbound traffic, but if I don’t like what I capture, it does not have to make it onto the web.

South Perry also has car parking and traffic flow, but there is something about what has transformed that small area into something very attractive, at least in daylight. To be sure, there are some police memories of mine in this area, too. The south Perry district was always good for an armed robbery or two, at the same locations (still is). Over the years, some really strange things happened in this area, but armed robberies seemed to be the bulk of my memories up there.

Today might be the day I can visit the South Perry district. I have a visit to the area on an unrelated issue, so maybe bringing some camera gear might give me the opportunity (if there is one) of capturing the South Perry district after dark.

JDM

How many individual parts equal one camera?

How many individual parts equal one camera?

That is a question being asked by a photographer I ran into last week in Riverfront Park. I was out one evening to get some fog shots, and I was approached by two people sporting a new Canon camera that they had gotten for Christmas. Although I am not exactly sure, it looked like one of the fairly new XSI models. It also looked like it had a 28 X 135 lens on this camera.

The couple initially asked questions about shooting images after dark, and as I conversed with them, I began to get the almost overpowering odor of beer breath. In my old job I used to smell that all the time, and to be sure, I was getting it again. In this process, I changed locations a couple of times, and they followed me around, with the camera carrier staggering from one side to the other on the wide pathway inside the northwest gate to the Park. I actually had tried to recruit this couple to the Spokane Camera Club, so I began to wonder what would happen if they ever showed up.

The two interested photographers stayed with me for a while longer, and were shooting something in the dark, about 50 feet east of where I had my tripod set up. I heard some yelling, and I saw one of them fall on the ice. There were the usual crashing noises, breaking glass, and swearing. Then silence.

The person who had been carrying the camera, got up and wiped all of the snow off, Then it looked like he was searching for something. The search went on for about 5 minutes, and then when I saw them pick up several different things it dawned on me that their new camera was now trashed. I know of three separate parts that were retrieved, and the lens was now a separate piece, and it was rattling when the guy shook it. The camera body (or what was left of it) was also rattling quite a bit.

Is there a moral to the story? Beats me, but maybe a little less liquor before a shoot might be a starter. Also, wearing shoes that can provide traction, and having a flashlight when shooting at night.

So, anyhow, maybe all of the pieces of this camera system will be put back together, although I doubt it can be saved. So, if a couple shows up to a Spokane Camera Club meeting with duct tape all over their camera, they might have an interesting story to tell you.

One other thing. Things have begun to slow down for the Moore family, so our night shooters will be back out shooting once again. I want you guys to shoot some motion shots, and if we have time next trip out we will do some panoramas after dark.

I’ll let you night shooters know the next targets, and locations. Likely in a week or two.

JDM

Shooting Spokane, “the plain old views.”

So, why go to the same old places to see the same old sights? Photographing night scenes in Spokane is absolutely a different experience every single time I go out. Even the same locations are different, albeit most people would say they all look the same each day. Yet, they look different based on time of day, time of year, and the conditions of the weather at a given moment.

This week, my shoot involved carrying no additional lighting with me, and there were literally no targets identified in advance. The timing of the downtown visit was at sunset, and as the sun went down, ambient lighting changed, the skies changed, and the shadows changed. As it got darker, what were most enjoyable were the seasonal holiday influences, no matter where you looked.

A couple of places had shadows where I hadn’t seen them before so I shot some images of some “regular old places, and yet even they looked different through the lens of the cameras. One of the locations was immediately north of Escent on Spokane Falls Blvd. The shot had been done before in some earlier foggier shoots, but I shot it again as the light and shadows were different. (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/escent2.htm)

Then there was the Olive Garden downtown. The angle of the approaching night sky and the angle of an overhead light shining on a sign, made this location a perfect time for some shots. At the corner of the building the Olive Garden sign was featured, along with shadows that I had not seen before. Add the interior lighting and it was a no brainer to just grab this shot. (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/olivegarden.htm)

A little later in the evening it was time to capture a little of the downtown seasonal decorations and lighting. Adjacent to the downtown Library and connected to Nordstrom is a skywalk. The holiday decorations along with lighted outdoor trees made this view come alive, although it is just a plain old site that “we see everyday.” The sights after dark, are always different, and in my view……many times are improved over the plain daylight views. A look at this view demonstrates that fact immediately. Here is a site, and also a sight, that now looks remarkable different from the “norm.” Take a look:
(http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/nordstrom2.htm)

Even the Lincoln building looked different tonight, and comparing it to some shots I did a few years ago was a must do: (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/lb.htm) The traffic was so busy at the Riverside and Lincoln intersection, I reversed the shot location to try and capture the traffic and the structure(s) southwest of the Lincoln building on this evening. (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/cwest.htm)

Plain old downtown sites? Maybe, but after dark and as the sun disappears, these “plain old locations,” have a completely different look to them.

If you haven’t tried shooting these “plain old sites,” after dark, give it a try. I think your evening photo shoot will be a very pleasant surprise to you.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes

Hi, what are you doing?

I’m sure it does look a bit unusual, I mean, there is a guy standing in the dark with two cameras and a tripod. Considering that it isn’t an everyday experience for people to see night photographers, it is understandable that someone might wonder “what you are doing?”

I had such an enjoyable contact in Riverfront Park the other night, as I was in the midst of some “painting with color shots."

(http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/cflag.htm). I think I was in the midst of a series of shots using a blue filter on one of my Big Max flashlights. The blue light was pointed 30 degrees or so away from the object I was lighting (the Canadian flag sculpture north of the Carousel), and the reflection from the stainless steel sculpture was seen by RFP security officers.

The two young officers stopped by to see what I was doing, and it was a totally enjoyable conversation with these fine young security officers. A photographer that brought his own “color,” was unusual according to one of the officers.

After I finished shooting in RFP that night, I shot off an email to RFP management about the great security officers that I met with the night before. I wanted to make sure I thanked them for stopping by to visit, and for their inquiry. On this night I heard once again how different it is to see photographers who shoot after dark. In daylight, everyone walks around with a camera. At night, it is much less so.

The contact with RFP security officers added a lot to the night out, and it just represents why shooting at night is so much fun.

I'd name the two officers, but I'd rather have their bosses give them a pat on their backs.

JDM

Painting the town with light

Painting the town with light

So, the reality of shooting at night is that it gets dark. Yep, it can be really dark. So, then the issue is, you need to bring your own lights…..even lights you want to use as a basis for adding color to a scene.

One of the darkness challenges in the Spokane area is not unlike other communities. Yet, locally we have some very interesting sculptures, which are at best “bland,” and at worst, “ugly,” after dark. Conversely these sculptures would easily be observed as the artist rendered them, in daylight. So, night shooting requires an entirely new approach in trying to make sense of some local art….including adding some color.

In the photo “Aliens” (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/blueheads.htm), this art project was huge, yet it was invisible after dark. When I brought a group of photographers to this location to get them familiar with “painting with light,” the members of the group were not sure there was even a piece of art there. So, in my own visit, the challenge was to light the object, and include the use of color. Obviously, using red and blue filters do something to the sculpture, but in the real world this location is almost totally dark. This location was easy to paint, and the camera settings had to move very little as the color was added over a series of shots.

In another photo “Alive,” (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/alive.htm), this location was dark, but considerable lighter than the other one. Yet, after dark, there was no color, and ambient lighting was placed to light newly planted trees and not the sculpture. So, it was time to add color once again, and in this case the sculpture was painted with red, amber, and blue filters using a Big Max handheld flashlight. Since this sculpture was stainless steel, each color reflected from one surface to another, and color bounced pretty much everywhere.

The Wandermere waterfalls (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/twiggs4.htm) has been written about before, yet it is one more example of something which can be lost by darkness, yet brought to life is you add colored lights/filters. Trying to find a balance of objects in the darkness and then adding color is nothing short of fun. There are many other things which can be painted with light, even in very dark conditions.

One of the darker areas, yet totally interesting, is the Olmstead overlook, at the extreme west side of Liberty Park. (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/redgreenandblue.htm) To say this area can become dark is an understatement. Yet, for a target area to attempt to use color and light, it is perfect. There are old pathways, rock walls, and lots of shadows. If any of you want a place to go with endless possibilities, this would be it. Further, most of the area is a great start for handheld lights which would not interfere or distract passing motorists. On the south side of this area is I-90, so your primary areas of interest will be well away from the east-west bound freeway traffic.

There are many other places to discover and toy with painting with light, and I am sure there are more for me to discover. I’ll be taking some local photogs (Spokane Camera Club) out for a few more night experiences, and depending on time available I may take them to the Liberty Park area.

Any of you other photogs that want to hook up with my night groups, just let me know. If any of you can help me coach future night shooting groups, we can get each phog a little more personal attention.

Enjoy painting the town with color. I totally enjoy it.

JDM

Spokane Night Scenes, an exercise in Night Photography

Spokane Night Scenes, an exercise in Night Photography has been updated to include details for 2008.

2008 updated details for this PDF file are in italicized text.

The direct download for the 2008 update is located at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/SNSNP.pdf

Since the 2008-2009 night season has begun, updates will continue as they are developed.

John D. Moore, CPP
Spokane Night Scenes
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com
photos@spokanenightscenes.com

Have Space Aliens landed in Spokane?

Have aliens landed in Spokane, or is it just artistic obelisks? I am betting that it is an artists sculpture, titled “Cooperation.”

Cooperation—Michihiro Kosuge, 1998, http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/campusresources/Facilities/art/kosuge.asp

In a recent night sojourn, I made a visit to the WSU-EWU Campus in Spokane (Riverpoint Campus). Things have changed indeed, and I discovered artistic objects that were not there (or I had not seen them), when I visited this campus a year or two earlier (http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/blueroom.htm).

I observed three very tall granite looking obelisks, with an unusual shape. Framed against a bland sky, I decided to see if I could spruce things up with some color.

One image was bracketed using a blue filter on a Big Max flashlight. Another bracketed series of images was with a red filter using the same flashlight. The images were combined in post editing (CS3, PSE6, Photomatix 3) What appears now, is a completely different view of the same three obelisks, with a completely different quality, at least in my view. All timed exposures, this was one of the easiest shoots I have had in one evening. Hauling around additional lights and filters was a bear, but it appears to have been successful in this Spokane Night Scenes image.

The low-res image is located on the website at:
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/blueheads.htm

JDM

Spokane waterfalls after dark

I had the pleasure, with my family, of visiting TWIGG’s Bistro, in the Wandermere Business Park area (Northside). One of the things I noticed were some nicely hardscaped waterfalls in several locations. I was trying to imagine what these things would look like after dark, and I asked the Twiggs staffers about the waterfalls. They were less than knowledgeable about the lighting situation after dark, so it was time to visit the hardscapes myself.

This week I finally visited that target area, and those hardscaped water features looked better at night than they did in the daylight. I bracketed over three hundred images that night, with the last 50 or so images using colored filters for flashlights I had, to add some interest to areas that were the most drab at the particular water feature I was shooting.

The recent additions to the Spokane Night Scenes website are located at:

http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/twiggs.htm
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/twiggs2.htm
http://www.spokanenightscenes.com/twiggs3.htm

There are a lot of possible angles to shoot the water features, but one of the best is behind the Bank of Whitman. You may actually be the focus of adjacent party revelers, at Twiggs. Their outside dining area gives the customers full view of the water features behind Twiggs. I know that I was the focus of attention when the Big Max flashlight and colored filters came out for use on some of the shots. Nonetheless, this was an evening well worth the drive north.

JDM

Spokane copyright theft

Once again, I have been placed in a position in which my copyrighted image has been taken for someone else’s use. Finding my images misappropriated and on someone else’s website is getting more routine these days, but nonetheless, it is a disappointment. It is more of an ethical issue, when you think of how many people just “take,” anything they want, when they know it isn’t theirs to take. Here is the URL of my misappropriated image:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cawhite/SpokaneWAMyHometown/photo#5138090057029577474

The user of this image is called CA White, and as stated on this URL, the images are “from their hometown.” So, apparently, walking around Spokane is just one more person who could have asked for permission, but failed to do so. This does not appear at face value, to be a commercial use, but if we find that CA White has sold my image (s), then we will commence a civil action. This appears, as stated previously, to be a lack of ethics shown by the user.

Would I have allowed the person to use my work? If they had asked, would I have allowed them to do it? At this point, it is rather moot, since they went ahead and took my image and used it without any discussion. When I think of all the money invested in my photographic hardware, software, and office hardware, it makes little sense for me to put up with copyright infringement. To run a small business, it takes a lot of money, and even more effort. So, when I see someone take my stuff and use it without any thoughts given to my ownership, I can see myself becoming a lot more hard nosed about this issue.

Picasaweb apparently is a Google prodigee, so I have filed notice this morning with the Google legal staffers about this use of my image. The image in question is a December 28 image, in 2005. It has been displayed in print form at First Friday Galleries (2006 and 2007), as well as appearing on Channel 14 locally. This year the arena image was replaced with another view of the arena, although I am giving some thought to putting it back on the Spokane Night Scenes website, since the image is apparently good enough to be stolen.

One of these days I would like to have a long chat with the person who takes my stuff for their own purposes. Why did you take the image, when you already know it wasn’t yours? There are only two places the images could have been taken from, and both of those locations are owned by me. Why is it that you failed to email me to ask about using it? When the Google attorneys contact you, are you going to tell them you are sorry for using the image? Or are you just sorry that you got caught using my image?

Ironically, meeting the Google requirements for filing the complaint actually took almost as much time as I took to register just under 500 images with the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress.

CA White, shoot me an email, if you read this. Even after spending 31 years in policework, I am still very curious as to why things get taken by someone without permission.

JDM

Having some fun with copyright theft

So, last night I decided to try something a bit different and have a
little fun.

I found a link in my webstats program that came from
http://www.allempires.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=24898&KW=spokane&PN=2

I'm not sure if that URL will successfully reach your browser header,
but lets give it a try. At any rate, I find an image of mine used by
someone without permission. What to do, since this is the zillionth
time it has happened to me.

I wanted to try something different, so I find that the image is
actually linked directly to my website image file name. I opened up
my photo editor and created a second copy of the image that was taken,
and changed the file name for it. I opened up my html editor and
inserted the new image, so everything is as it was originally. Now I
brought up the taken image and added Image stolen from just above the
copyright details added.

Today I am getting slammed in terms of site visitors, from the people
who found my stolen image. The site traffic has been great, and I
even got some emails from the site visitors, kinda laughing about this
guy taking my image and not knowing it says stolen from on it.

Anyhow, today should be interesting and my site can handle the
additional traffic okay. I'm not sure I will do this technique very
often, but for once I can smile as my stolen image keeps appearing on
this website each day. With or without the knowledge of the image
thief, I had a little bit of fun doing this.


Based on the pure numbers of people who arbitrarily steal images from me, I am almost overjoyed when I speak with people who wish to legally use the images. It is an absolute pleasure to speak with ethical people, whether it is for a commercial sale or a non-profit or 4th grade teacher asking to use an image for a classroom project.

So, for all of you ethical folks, feel free to keep the emails and phone calls coming. For those of you who manage a website with your images, just remember, the unethical folks out there will be taking your work, so stay active in your discovery methods.

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