Posts Tagged: commute
Plume
Sun and Plume (click image to view large)
For several years, I had thought about this shot along I-80 in Berkeley, back when I commuted to Emeryville. Each morning when the conditions were just so, I would think to myself that I should try to take a photo, and that I should be ready the next time. And each day, I would get to work, start my day of worries and promptly forget about it. Then I didn’t have that commute anymore and really did forget all about it. Then, the other day, I drove to work instead of biking and the sun was was out, and there it was again. And there was my camera on the seat next to me. Now, shooting photos while driving in rush hour traffic is not too smart or safe, so I didn’t linger long. This is not what I imagined was possible with the scene, but it is a start. Perhaps if I can get someone else to drive while I hang out the back window I can see what we can do.
Plume #2 (click image to view large)
Selenium Chevelle
Chevelle and Cones (click image to view large)
Found on the way home from work the other day. This is the black and white version, done using the selenium preset in lightroom. I’ll post the color version a bit later. Shot with the Nikon D300S.
Mystery of Communication
Lomo Stationwagon
Late last week I finally decided to stop and shoot the station wagon I’d passed several times on my commute to and from work. That night as I was perusing Google+, I read something which led me to some free Lightroom presets. I decided I’d try out a couple. The first one was a kind of lomo effect. I applied it to the station wagon and posted on flickr. I didn’t think to much about it; I have not been too active lately and I’ve not been getting many veiws, which is understandable. I have just been trying to keep up with the post-a-day project, and not getting much chance to check out what everybody else is doing.
So, I was surprised the next day when the photo had been explored and getting tons of views and faves. I thought it was a pretty boring shot. I guess people like this lo-fi stuff. The popularity of hipstamatic is testament to that. So with that here a gallery with a couple more attempts to explore this theme.
- Lomo Stationwagon
Albany Streetscape
Shot from the bathroom window as the sun descends behind Marin.
Stop for a Reason
Derelict Storefront, Berkeley CA, April 2011
I had every intention of riding my bike to work today. Instead I drove again; there was talk of rain. I just missed the light in the left turn lane at Sacramento on account of the slow ped in the Acura in front of me. Slightly miffed, I glanced to my left as he drove off down the street. I glanced back to the camera on the seat next to me. I managed three shots with adjustments before the light turned green.
When I got this evening, someone emailed me about photos of colorful old buildings in the east bay. Note to self: remember to always try to make lemonade.
The Beautiful Gate
The Beautiful Gate Church, Oakland CA. (Click the photo to see it bigger.)
I rushed into work this morning, my second day on the job, hoping not to be late. And yet, just as I turned to go through the gate, I looked over my shoulder at the blinding morning light coming off the church across the street. I had no choice, but I took care of business as quickly as possible and hurried in. A study of changing light over time could be an interesting distraction.
Morning Commute, March 16
This morning’s commute was inspiring. Starting with the dumped over the shopping cart and bag of baby shoes and ending with downtown buildings in soft overcast light.
“Confusion will be my epitaph
as I crawl a cracked and broken path
If we make it, we can all sit back and laugh
But I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying
yes, I fear tomorrow I’ll be crying”
State of California
I’m not sure what further connection there is between these two yet, but I feel strongly that there is one.
Alternative Trailer
Travel Trailer © neo serafimidis 2011
I have been walking by this trailer twice a day for a few months now. Every single time I walk by I say to myself, “photograph that thing before its gone.” It is parked out in the back 40 at El Cerrito Plaza. I can’t quite tell if someone is living in it or not. I’m a little surprised that it is still there, because the Plaza security is, or used to be, quite vigilant about people parking in the Plaza when not actually shopping there, for example, while catching the BART to work for the day. Maybe the bad economy solved that problem and so no one’s watching anymore. Or maybe the owner is paying to park it there. Still I wish I had shot it when I first saw it, because at that time, it was all alone out there. Lately, there have been a few other motor homes and trailers parked around it, too. And often this little guy is sandwiched between a couple larger ones. So, when I saw it open on one side, I decided I better go for it. As it was, I had to get in close at 16mm because there was a blue Fiero or something parked nearby in front, and a big motorhome right behind it. Getting close and crouching down, I managed to get it to look lonely again. I’ll keep an eye on it, and hope for better light, maybe in the morning hours, one of these day. This is my second try at post-processing. Here is my first attempt at a fake lomo film kind of look.
Vintage BART Sunset
BART Sunset / © neo serafimidis
I shot this yesterday and marked it for deletion. Today, I decided to play with it a bit before deleting. I came to like it after the color got messed up. It reminds me of tungsten slide film somehow.
Corvair Square
I recently changed the route of my bike commute to work. I was simply trying to get away from San Pablo Ave, which, while it is the straightest shot to my workplace, is also very bike-unfriendly. There are lots of cars, obstacles, freeway on/off ramps, and debris.
I decided that I would try to slide over to Hollis Ave through Emeryville, and this took me into west Oakland. The result is a new crop of photos, and some incubating ideas for future series.
Purple Nova at the French School
Purple Nova at the French School, originally uploaded by neocles.
I noticed the purple Nova while biking to work one morning. The intense color caught my eye. I took a couple shots, and I noticed right away on the camera that the color was not as bright and not as purple in the image. This was true on the computer as well, and I sort of forgot about it for a while. I didn’t think it would amount to much.
A couple weeks later, I started fooling around with the post-processing work on it, and got something I rather liked. I eventually uploaded something to flickr, and it suddenly turned out to be one of the more interesting and popular things I’d produced in awhile. (Bear in mind that I measure these metrics in small fractions of what most flickr pop stars do, so my data set is pretty limited. Nonetheless it seems meaningful to me!) I guess the moral of the story is that you can never tell what is going to resonate with people. At least I can’t.
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