This is the fourth and final part of the Golden Hour series. For this shoot, I walked up to the top of Nob Hill to capture a few shots right at sunset. I experimented with exposure levels and depth of field.

My favorite picture is the picture with the silhouette of the city against the orange sky. I focused on under exposed the city. The reflection against the windows captured the color of the sky.

Above is the third part of a series on pictures I took during the golden hour. I stayed out a little later and took more pictures after the sun officially set. I edited a few in Lightroom to take advantage of the contrast (black & white) and color isolation.

The second part of my Golden Hour Series takes place in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. It’s the neighborhood with a view that sits right above the Marina.

I snapped a few pictures on my way up the hill, but a majority come from the park at the top of the neighborhood. I found a set of mosaic set of colorful stairs that I was fascinated with (one picture from my set is included above). My favorite pictures in the set are the two that capture the sun creeping through the houses and tree.

This is the first part of a series of pictures I took at sundown  (see blog post for more info on the golden hour- Magic Hour). I decided to finally take my camera out of hibernation,  and headed over to Fort Mason after work last Friday to take pictures of the Golden Gate bridge. The park is a short walk from our apartment, which is why you tend to see the park frequently in photography.

More pictures to come soon from other golden hour sessions that I had during the week.

Special thanks to Christine and Jake who have driven all the traffic I’ve received on my blog. They linked my blog on their wedding site to highlight the engagement shoot we did back in July. I haven’t posted anything new on my blog since October; I haven’t even snapped a picture on my SLR since my trip to Hawaii. The last few months have spent in a photography funk  as I’ve spent all my energy rehabilitating my leg and to focusing on my recent engagement. Well now, I’m official back!

This week I’ve started by getting back to the basics, starting with the focusing on the core techniques like composition, contrast, lighting, and framing . The best photography draws upon one fundamental technique, using contrast,  to make a picture dynamic. Ansel Adams mastered this in his black and white photography, and on of my mentors, Tom Bowman, does this with his iPhone photography.  There is no better time to take advantage of contrast in light than at the golden hour – the first and last hour of sunlight.

A level of dedication is required to take advantage of the golden hour; you either have to be up at the crack of dawn or you have to be willing to give up some time right before dinner. Regardless of which you choose, it’s well worth taking time to shoot during the golden hour. The benefits to shooting during the golden hour are endless – softer and warmer light, longer shadows, less harsh light, and more color, just to name a few. Here are two examples of pictures I took of the Bay bridge on my iPhone at different times of the day.

Example 1 – Picture of the bay bridge taken at lunch in harsh lighting. In order to make the picture more dynamic, I had to work with the composition of the frame to give it a sense of depth.

Example 2 – Picture of the bay bridge taken at dusk as the sun was setting as the moon was rising. Here I didn’t have to worry about composition as much because the lighting provided the color to make the picture more dynamic.

 The examples above highlight the differences between shooting during high sun and during the golden hour, and the improvements it can have on your photography. One isn’t always fortunate to shot a picture during the golden hour so other techniques as exposure, framing, and composition play an important factor in making the photograph pop. Check out this great resource for more help with photography techniques – http://www.digital-photography-school.com.

In my next few picture posts I’ll highlight some pictures that I took during the golden hour in the Bay Area. I had a mission to take more pictures so I started by bringing my camera along to work.

It’s taken a little over a month but I finally got around to batching my pictures from Hawaii. The picture commemorated numerous things – Eli’s first trip to Hawaii, my first trip to Hawaii, Brittany’s birthday in September, Elana’s birthday in October, and lastly my birthday the day after we ended the trip. We rented a condo in Kihei on the island of Maui and got to relaxing! The injury prevented me from doing the stuff I wanted to do, namely surfing, hiking, and paddleboarding, but it left plenty of time of hanging out at the beach. Not much to complain about when you days consist of lounging on the beach with a few drinks. We had to get creative with the beach sports and ended up come up with paddle golf. Outside of being beach bums, we enjoyed great times at the condo, dinner’s out, and exploring the island. It was an amazing trips with great friends, can’t wait to get back.

If you’ve never been to Hawaii, find a time to make it over there soon, it’s worth the long flight for the East Coaster’s. Our group decided to try to make it a yearly occurrence. Next time I go I’m going focus more on taking more pictures at dawn and dusk.

I’ve been slacking since I tore my Achilles tendon. This down time was supposed to be an ideal time to expand on my site and photography. Since the injury, I’ve only highlighted three sets of new pictures and a few blog posts. I admit it was harder than I expected and I didn’t foresee the challenges of taking pictures with a boot on or a bad leg – but I’m allowing myself to give you a bunch of excuses. I’ve recent taken two trips that offered some food photo ops, Montana for Labor day and Hawaii for the weekend prior to my birthday. In order to reduce jealously between the two sets of pictures, I have to share the Montana ones first. I’ll go through the Hawaii pics soon and I’ll have those up on the site within the next week or so.

The first pictures were taken at the Bowman’s backyard at sunrise and sunset. Whitefish offers some of the most picturesque views and I’d recommend that everyone make a trip up there to check out Glacier park. The tranquil environment offered the perfect therapy for my leg; the biking riding and hiking also helped. The second set of pictures are from Glacier Park. The Bowman gang (minus Charley) showed a little compassion and took me on a 4-5 mile hike around the lake. My leg ended up getting a great workout, but I came to a realization that it was going to be a very long time until I got back to my normal active self. I hope you enjoy the Montana pictures!

A few weeks ago, two of our really good friends from Chicago came out to visit us, Jake and Christine. The trip had been planned since the Spring, but it became even more special after the announced their engagement in late June. Even though I had never done any professional or wedding photography, they asked if I could do their engagement photos while they were out here. I was a little nervous at first, but I figured it was a low risk situation – worst case, they didn’t like any of the pictures and they could hire a professional. I ended up loving the experience, and we took pictures throughout the entire trip. We took a few pictures at Mantanza Creek Winery in Sonoma and then some more around the city. In all I ended up with over 150 picture for them to have. This set are thirty of my favorite pictures. Congrats to Jake and Christine on their engagement! We are looking forward to celebrating with you and your family next year! The two of you are perfect for one another; the love and energy you have for one another show in the pictures.

These are just a few of my favorites. I’m sure Christine and Jake will share more on facebook! Some of my favorite ones are in black and white, which dominate the set.

Throwback post from September 2009. I took these four pictures in NYC and did a some post processing (black and white, or color isolation) on a two. I highlighted a few of these in Facebook a year before launching my blog. The featured image on this post is one of my favorite pictures. I captured a photo of the iconic Grand Central Station; I love the contrast, and the color isolation on the flag.

With the unlimited supply of digital cameras – point and shoots, camera phones, digital SLR – everyone is digital photographer. Snap a picture of the sunrise on your phone and bam, you’re a digital photographer. It’s the beauty of the hobby, the modern world has reduced the price of entry so that anyone that can do it. If you can afford a phone or an inexpensive point & shoot, you can get photography; nut while anyone can enter the hobby, it takes time to truly master it. Buy all the fancy equipment you want, but it won’t improve your technique and composition. I bought my digital SLR, a few accessories, and started a photography blog to enter the world of digital photography. I have a long way to go until I’m upgraded from my amateur status. Truly mastering it will take time to improve on techniques and hone all the skills. Give someone off the street a fully loaded, top of the line SLR and they probably won’t come away with any better pictures than they would’ve taken with an entry level or a point and shot. Give a professional or someone who’s master photography a camera phone, and the results will amazing you!

Today’s blog post features someone that I’ve held in high regard, especially in regard to digital photography. Tom Bowman started his hobby in digital photography back in the day when we had film and dark rooms; the man knows Ansel Adams…Ansel Adam (not to date him). Since I’ve met him, he’s abandon his full fledged SLR and opted for shooting with his iPhone (3G) or his Leica (compact). If he had to face off against someone with a DSLR, and he’d win any day. He has a natural eye for composition and lighting. To him every day is a photo shoot; a simple walk around the neighborhood will probably yield a few interesting photos. In the two year’s he’s had his iPhone 3G, he’s built a vast collection of amazing photos that I wish I could replicate with my DSLR. Just this week he launched a new site (www.iphoneansel.com), which I highly recommend that you check out. He pictures focus on composition, and he understands how to take advantage of the iPhone’s small sensor. His adventures life between his home in Whitefish and his home away from home in San Francisco, give him diverse scenery to take capture photos. His site even has a user submission portion to submit your own camera photography.

Check out iphoneansel.com when you get a chance!