Night Photography in Historic Downtown Los Angeles

It's not too often you get to use the words "historic" and "Los Angeles" together in the same sentence. Last week I had the opportunity to lead a group of photographers on a night shoot in Downtown LA. We enjoyed a meal at Phillipes, the restaurant where the french dip sandwich was invented, and then set off on a walking tour through Chinatown and Olvera Street, where the buildings sometimes date back to the 1800's. Which for LA is "really old." I mean, in this town, the music from INXS and New Kids on the Block already qualifies as "oldies."

Night photography here is fun. Chinatown's a place to start shooting early in the evening, the shops are open and lit up, and there are people scurrying about. One of my favorite things about low light photography is the way the lack of light allows you to add motion blur to your images. A tripod and a cable release are a must here. While using a tripod and your camera's self-timer might work for landscape shots, nailing down the motion blur you want to capture in the city takes split second timing. A passing bus, a cop on a code three run, a cyclist, or almost anything else that moves is an opportunity. A street photographer working at night needs to know his camera the way a special forces soldier knows his weapon. Alright, he doesn't need to be able to disassemble and reassemble it blindfolded, but it does help to be able to change shutter and aperture, dial in exposure compensation, bracket shots, and use the camera in full manual. And be ready to plunk the tripod down, frame, and shoot in a couple of seconds. It can be done. All it takes is a little practice. What works? Anything with action and color, strong lighting, abstractions of line and shape, or a story to tell. Get together with a friend and go out shooting together!

Worm's Eye View

Pastor Kevin is leading the charge for Jesus in a way that definitely falls "outside the box." As part of the sports ministry at one of California's mega churches, he's up early on a Saturday morning leading a group of mountain bike riders up a trail overlooking the San Fernando Valley.

Always look for unusual angles when you're out shooting. The shot was taken by picking a small aperture, using an off camera, corded TTL flash to frontlight the rider, and holding the camera a few inches off the ground. The autofocus found Pastor Kevin, the flash fired, and the result was an image that captures the essence of Pastor Kevin's ride for a cause bigger than himself.

Dragging the Shutter

Showing action can be an important part of conveying the image your eye sees. Here Deano and the Dynamos, a Christian Music Ministry, are performing at one of the largest churches in Southern California. Deano's jumping and whirling and playing his guitar is so dynamic, it's hard to capture in a still image. In the closup of Deano, I wanted to caputure a sense of motion, so I selected aperture priority mode and set the camera at f-14. The technique of dragging the shutter, that is, intentionally choosing a slow shutter speed, can work with or without a flash, but often the best results come with a flash. If your camera has a flash option for "slow sync" and "rear curtain sync," try turning both of them on. This technique works best with a high powered electronic flash like the Nikon SB-800, but the real key to making it work is taking lots of shots to get the one "keeper" that will become your personal treasure.

The Missing Man Formation

IN MEMORY OF PHOTOGRAPHER JEFF MILLER 1955-2008

Today I said farewell to a friend. He died at the age of 53, which at one time would have seemed old to me, but no longer does. There are many great lessons in life, and we all learn them along the way. It's important to work hard and play hard, and to use the talents God gives you.
A good life lesson, once paraphrased by Bill Gates, is "life's not fair. Get used to it." Jeff's greatest love in life was flying. He was a commercial pilot with 7000 hours flight time, when a trip to the flight surgeon pulled the plug on his career overnight. He had been diagnosed with diabetes.
Re-starting his life, he did some entrepreneurial things to make a new career for himself. He got involved in volunteering, and found himself hanging out of helicopter doors in a harness, holding a camera instead of a stick and throttle. He helped organize the Heroes Airshow, and shot photos for the fire service, including the LA City and LA County Fire Departments. The diabetes eventually took one of his legs. When Jeff went to the County Fire Department to renew his fire line credentials, there was a new fire department official at the desk who was skeptical as to why a disabled man in a wheelchair would need a departmental ID. Today, that same official spoke with pride of how Jeff didn't quit. One of the photos on display showed Jeff in the door of a helicopter, flying over a scene with his camera. One leg was against the helicopter's skid bracing his position, the other leg was still freshly bandaged from his then recent leg amputation.
Life is finite. As you come to terms with that reality, you learn to worry less and pray more. I liked Jeff's approach toward life. He had passion, and he was organized. He never spent a moment of his life drunk or on drugs. When he died, he wasn't rich, and he wasn't famous, and he had little in the way of material possessions. His most treasured earthly possessions were simply a flight harness and his camera, but he lived his life to the fullest and he made the most of the talents God gave him.
When helicopters come in for a landing, the ground controller will raise both arms vertically to signal the pilot that he's on the right heading. At the memorial service, I took this picture as three LAFD Huey's flew the missing man formation over us. As they came in, Jeff's sister, doubtlessly raised on a diet of aviaion, instinctively raised her arms overhead vertically, giving the same signal I've seen Jeff give time and time again on the airfield. I took the picture you see here.

Jeff, you're on the right heading.

Amen.

Photojournalism 101

A group of Christians from Shepherd of the Hills Church are doing a "community days" project. People are donating time and materials to help beautify Mayall Street Elementary School. Here, a team of people are putting in a garden.

Let's talk about this from a photojounalism standpoint. Getting an overall shot that captures the essence of what's going on is critical. In order to get the angle I wanted, I decided to double park and scramble up onto the roof of my vehicle, standing up and getting images with a wide zoom lens. This shot captured the overall story. Getting ten feet off the ground made the difference. From street level, you couldn't tell what was going on. So don't be afraid to look for an angle that works, even if it takes thinking outside the box to make it happen.



Try to add a foreground that helps tell the story. Here, a volunteer works hard planting a flower garden. This shot captures the essence of the task. From a technical side, the secret to making this shot work was balanced fill flash. With direct sunlight as the only light source, the subject's face would have been dark beyond recognition. Using a camera mounted TTL flash I was able to capture the details of her face. I needed to adjust the exposure compensation, decreasing the exposure by -0.7 stops, and powering down the flash by 1.7 stops, to keep the foreground from being overlit.