The Dangers Of Using A Flash

        The two photos in this post were taken a split second apart at identical camera settings: Nikon D5000, 76mm, 3200, f/1.8, 1/40th. The top photo looks scary because I happened to take the shot at the same time that another photographer in the audience fired off his flash. The bottom photo was taken with nothing more than the ambient light of the theater. I think the photos speak for themselves. If you mouse over the photo above, you can see the effect very clearly. A flash will destroy the ambient light and throw shadows all over the place. It’s hard to say why this other photographer chose to use his on camera flash instead of going the route that I did. As you can see with my photo below, the mood that was created by the artists of the theater is preserved and displayed forever in my photograph forever.
        A flash, in the wrong environment is like a bolt of lightning, scaring everyone around and freezing a moment in time like a sledgehammer crashing down on a slab of steel. Do yourself a favor in low light conditions… With your camera in aperture priority mode, turn off the flash, turn up the ISO to the max, and open up your f-stop to the max. You will be amazed! Just look at the differences between these two photos! Don’t be scared to force your camera to take good pictures… Candlelight, night time & low light in general calls for a high ISO and a wide open f-stop, NOT A FLASH!

Amaryllis Planted March 13th, 2010

        My awesome parents gave me an amaryllis bulb for Christmas 2009 that I have just now, in March 2010 gotten around to planting. By late April the amaryllis will have multiple flowers and be over a foot tall.

The Trolley Operator Waves

        It’s a bright, sunny day as the San Diego trolley rails past me with the driver politely waving to me. This pic was taken just outside the 12th & Imperial transit station, and this trolley headed out to East County, all the way to Gillespie Field.

Passengers Framed By The New Trolley Wrap

        Riding the trolley is actually fun, when you’re not commuting because it goes to some neat places. It gets crowded during rush hour and sometimes late at night, heading out of downtown, but if you are a career public commuter, it’s no big deal.
        By the way, you can take the trolley home to East County after partying in The Gaslamp District for Shamrock 2010 as long as you are at the Fifth Ave. station to catch the last trolley at 12:26am. To see the SDMTS breakdown of trolley times to get home in all directions on the trolley from Shamrock 2010, click here.

Grossmont Transit Center – Where A Trolley Guard Was Shot In 2009

        This is where I transfer to take the green line to Old Town, and ultimately into downtown San Diego. Today, was a very strange day. I made it halfway to work and all the way around the San Diego trolley line.

Catching some Z’s On The Green Line

        I had my camera at the ready for most of the day today, which made it remarkably east to snap photos of fellow commuters.

Scanning My iPod

        My camera, a Nikon D5000 has an articulated LCD, so I don’t have to bring the camera to my eye to composed photos. This makes for some shots that can be composed lower than you normally would. This pic of a fellow commuter somehow ended up sharp photo despite my accidental .4 second shutter speed. The lower than normal vantage point meant I wouldn’t have to worry about his face being partially blocked by the brim of his hat.

Homeless Penthouse At 12th & Imperial

        When you are homeless, it is very hard to eek out a living, and that is why the homeless congregate in busy city centers. The densest area of people that can offer money and assistance to vagrants are in the middle of the city, so that’s where the bums go. Homeless people go where people with homes work (not live) so that’s why the downtown area of any city will have homeless, trying to improve their lot in life.

The Homeless At 12th & Imperial

        Homelessness is a very sad thing. They form their own communities and social structure, but they have nowhere to live. I don’t know what the particular plight of this group of people is, but I hope I never have to experience it myself.

A Warehouse Near 12th & Imperial Transit Station

        The textures and colors of this warehouse wall caught my eye. The ultra dark interior seems to add an air of mystery as well.

Build The Stairs

        These men are building stairs that will lead to a bridge that cost San Diego $26 million. I first wrote about this bridge in October of 2009, then again in December 2009. I captured a great sunset photo behind the bridge to nowhere in late January of 2010

The Bridge Over The Harbor Drive

        These guys are hard working people, and that is for sure. This image was taken a little over an hour after lunch, so these guys attacked their workload like ants attack everything.

Pedestrian Bridge Over Harbor Drive

        Summer of 2010 is the projected completion date for this bridge. There have been delays and cost increases, but this bridge to nowhere perseveres. This summer, guests of the Hilton Hotel will have very easy access to PETCO Park.

76mm, 1/80th, f/11, 200 ISO

        The trusty D5000 produced the shot above. Now, I admit this image is not terribly interesting, but photographically, I think it shows some advantages you have as a photographer if you shoot in RAW with a DSLR. The two shots in this post were shot at the exact same camera settings, under full 8AM sunlight, but the one on the top was worked over in Camera Raw and CS4. The bottom photo has not been worked at all in post. (Except for resizing and crop, of course.) So much highlight detail is recovered in the walls. The exposure for the shadows, blacks and machinery itself is about right, but the walls are blown out. Had I been shooting jpegs, the shot below is what I would be stuck with, but RAW… RAW files just have so much more data and exposure latitude, that you should really shoot exclusively in RAW, if your camera is capable of it.

Camera Raw Will Rescue Those Highlights

The San Diego Trolley Goes By

        You may recall a post of mine from the end of January that told my tale of woe while trying to reload my Compass Card at a ticket vending machine.
        This time around it went off without a hitch. It makes me very happy to say that! It was very easy and took exactly 45 seconds, so it’s a bit more time than buying a day pass, but WAY less time then buying a monthly pass at Vons.

                With all actions done by pressing buttons and tapping your card, you start by pressing any button to wake up the TVM, select the pass you want to add to your Compass Card, tap your Compass Card on the validator, pay $72 via cash or credit, tap your Compass Card again, take your receipt and go.

                Very important notes: For those that pay with cash, the TVM’s give a maximum of $5 change, dished out as Sacagawea or Presidential dollar coins. Also, paying with coins to buy a $5 day pass or $2 one way ticket is fine, but won’t work for a monthly pass because there is a 20 coin deposit limit, so that means you can’t pay with coins, Einstein. You’ll just have to find somewhere else to spend your $72 in change.