photos from joshua l. smith
Any photographer knows that there are acceptable photos, there are good photos, and then there are photos that you feel lucky to capture; and you have to display all three types. Bees rarely stay on a flower for longer than a few seconds, and this image took advantage of a flower’s askew petals; lining the two up wasn’t skill, it was luck. But a good photographer knows that the more often you go out to take photos, the more likely you are to get lucky.
I have attended a half dozen or more Wauconda Cruise Nights over the years, and every time at the north-west end of Main Street, there are two Duesenbergs – gorgeous cars from years ago. Each time that I attend, I make sure to walk past them; and after this past Cruise Night, I thought “they’d be a fun ’36 Apple’ challenge”. So, next time that I attend, my goal is to take as many unique photos of the car that I can possibly imagine.
This Packard was the first car that I saw as I walked into Wauconda’s Cruise Night in June. Packard’s are uncommon but have a wonderful 1950’s style; it was an easy photograph, even with the crowd that had gathered around it. It went on to win the award for the car show that evening too.
Don’t shoot in direct sunlight; wait for an overcast day.
The direct sunlight creates harsh shadows and high contrast colors.
Unless you can use the shadows and bold colors to make a wonderful photo.
First of all, this hotel’s footprint is very odd, very random; almost as if the architect was moonlighting as a cubism artist.
But then the midday sunlight reflecting and refracting across the brick facade?
Absolutely delightful!
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Of course there is a joke about the Golden Arches on the River Point building, but honestly, this construction was a wonderful addition to the Chicago River split. In 2008 and 2009, I visited this exact spot, but there was no building, only traintracks. Now, there’s a beautiful park, wonderful art, and the space has been utilized.
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I love a photo that doesn’t have a lot of visual clutter, and I love a photo that has a strong point of focus. For this photo, I love that the subtle colors work so well together, and that the lines are so strong throughout.
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This DJI Mini 3 was my Christmas gift, but I’ve only started learning to fly it. With three teenage daughters, the school year is simply too busy!
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As the sun crests the hills, a photographer has a few minutes when the tips of trees and plants are radiating the sun’s fresh light, and the rest of the plant rests in the shadows … a solar spotlight of sorts.
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There is not much to say about this image; I love its simple composition.
As you fly over the midwest, you can see a patchwork of farmland, roads, and rivers creating right angles and natural curves across the earth. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy this photo so much, it reminds me of the mixture of manmade and natural shapes. The weathered run off from the rivets just adds a little pizazz too.
As the sun faded in and out of the cloud cover throughout our walk around the museum, the colors of the metal would change. The building would reflect the blues, yellows, and greys in the sky and then my Sony would attempt to record those colors as photographs. As I was editing the images, I found so many fun and fantastic color combinations; in this image, you can see the golds, coppers, and silvers as well as the grey, blue, and yellow in the clouds.
I struggled with editing this image. I love the composition, but getting the dark and light not too dark and not too light was a challenge; and I still don’t think I’ve got it right. The light parts just aren’t light enough, and I’ve always struggled with getting monochrome images to have nice lighter parts of the image without having just a texture-less white space. Each photograph teaches us a lesson and often that lesson is “you have a lot more to learn.”
Unlike most of Frank Ghery’s most famous buildings, the Museum of Pop Culture is not simply shades of shimmering silver. The building has 5 or 6 unique segments in different colors, each segment with his signature curves and waves. Shadows and reflections wandered across each curve and surface, combining to form a lasting smile across my face.
Ghery’s architectural works stand out in any skyline. The multiple colors, textures, and waves on the Museum of Pop Culture exhibit a wonderful feast of the eyes. While many of his buildings and designs are similar to the Pritzker Pavilion here in Chicago – mostly uniform in color – the Seattle design has multiple treatments and colors for the sheet metal. As we walked around the exterior, I found dozens and perhaps hundreds of potential abstracts, and after editing, here are a few that stood out as spectacular.
As you walk away from the Seattle Space Needle, you’re treated to the chrome and copper variations in the anodized metal. The waves and variations reminded me of a patchwork quilt that has been tossed on the couch; almost as if the wind had blown the building into that particular spot in Seattle’s downtown.
The tiny streams that pass through the canyons communicate a powerful message – little actions over and over for a long time yield huge results. The daily trickle of water combined with the spring floods are a lot like our daily lives … for better or worse.
In my mind, traveling before 1830 would have been absolutely terrifying. In the past 200 years, transportation across country has progressed from walking and horseback to paved roads, trains, and even aircraft. This view upstream near the Vermillion River reminds me of all of those dangers.
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On the day that we visited the Museum of Pop Culture, the sky was perfect; bright sunshine diffused through high and wispy clouds. The muted sunlight was perfect for capturing the golden hue on the metallic waves; there’s another hundred compositions that could be made off of this building.
I absolutely loved photographing the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle; but I would love to photograph any of Frank Ghery’s buildings!
Kerry Park was on several Youtube “must see” lists for Seattle, and you can see why. It offers a wonderful view of the skyline, and, on a clear day, a pretty great view of Mount Ranier.
However, don’t plan to spend an afternoon there! 🙂 There’s only street parking, and I think there are maybe 10 benches to sit on. Sarah and I had an afternoon planned for this park; oh well, it gave us a chance to see other sights instead!
