I think this is one of those cliche styles of photography that every photographer tries at some point, so it was just a matter of time before I gave it a spin. It is fun, and the results are interesting - even if they are a challenge to get something really worth keeping...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di LD Macro1:2 at 176mm, 41 sec at f/36. ISO 100. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Why This Photo: As I said, I think every photographer gives this a try at some point.

What Works: The symmetry of the light trails is really what caught my eye and I am glad that the end product does a good job of presenting it. Also, my new tripod worked well to keep the shot very steady even for a 41 second exposure.

What Doesn't Work: All in all, though, the photo is still pretty cliche, and quickly after browsing it, I think it can become stale. There are also some rather distracting elements scattered around the shot, but those are probably hard to avoid in such an urban setting.

I'm sure I'll try it again, so I'll just have to keep an eye out for a more interesting area to try next time.

- Bill

With the evenings getting darker earlier these days, I recently went out with a couple friends to get some night photography downtown. I came back with only a handful of keepers, but it was still a fun learning experience.

One keeper is actually two different exposures of the Roberto Clemente Bridge. One is a fairly short (1/2 second) exposure while the other is a much longer exposure at 25 seconds.

Short Exposure 1/2 sec at f/1.8	Long Exposure 25 sec at f/11

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, 1/5 sec at f/1.8 and 25 sec at f/11, ISO 100. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Mouseover each thumbnail for a larger view, then place your vote and leave a comment to let me know why you chose what you did.

- Bill

I am trying to get better about this - once things warm back up again, I'll try to get back into the habit I started of carrying my camera with me full time. For now I feel the repeated heat/cold wouldn't be a good thing for the camera. Anyway...

Sometimes you don't need to travel to far off locations to get great shots. Remember - look for creative photos in what you see almost every day.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 27mm, 1/250 sec at f/11, ISO 400. No post production. Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, PA.

Why This Shot: I've always liked the architecture of the Mellon (I still like to call it the Civic) Arena. As Anya and I stood in line to get in to a game (actually on the same day we got engaged over 200 miles away in Niagara Falls), I looked up at the large steel support structure and decided I should click off a couple shots.

What Works: Strong composition of the photo seems to draw the viewers eye through the shot. The repeating patterns of the support structure and the roof tiles allow for a lot to look at in an otherwise simple composition. The bright blue sky finishes things off nicely.

What Doesn't Work: The shot is ever so slightly off level - though easily fixed with some minor rotating and cropping. The sky is just a bit over exposed, and the position of the clouds is somewhat distracting - had they been in the open area of sky, they may have been more pleasing.

This image might actually be better done as a bracketed set or HDR image to be able to gain the crisp detail in the arena and yet get the best pop out of the blue sky. Perhaps some day I'll head down there to try this one again. Though I guess I shouldn't procrastinate too too long - it will be sad to see the arena go away. It has so much character and I for one will miss the Igloo!

I hope to get to start collecting more architectural images in the future. It is an area I am interested in and so often overlook. I just need to remember what amazing photos I can get in my own backyard.

- Bill

Welcome to my photography blog. Admittedly, I do not know everything there is to know about photography. Heck, I wouldn't even call myself anything more than an enthusiastic novice that gets lucky now and again and sometimes gets a few decent shots from time to time. But I'm learning, and that's the key. Which is the point of this blog - to help myself learn by forcing myself to explain things, and by extension, hopefully help others to learn as well.

So that explains why I'm here. Hopefully you see something here that gives you reason to come back! This will be a journey. A journey through learning about photography and everything that is a part of it - the technical stuff, the equipment, the financial aspect, the emotional side of photography - just about anything and everything that has anything to do with photography is fair game here I think. Hopefully soon some folks with follow this blog and provide their own insights and it will function on multiple levels. For right now, I'm just forcing myself to get going and hope it takes off.

Which brings me to the photo for this post... I had another photo that was more of a sunrise photo, but frankly I didn't like it as much for my first post, so I'll use it later maybe. But anyway, I think I'll experiment with how I want to discuss photos. I think starting out, I'll do four sections for each photo: Technical Data, Why This Photo, What Works, What Doesn't Work. They should be fairly explanatory once you read them, so I'll just get to it.

Technical Data: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM AF at 20mm, 1/320 sec at f/18, ISO 400.

Why This Photo: I took the photo because I liked the sun coming up from behind the Pittsburgh skyline. I had gotten to work early this morning and done some work and then headed out to take some photos of the replicas of the Columbus ships. I had wished to beat the sunrise, but as you can tell, I missed. I liked the small group of ducks drifting down the river. I chose this photo for this post as a kind of nerdy symbolism of 'dawn' - I thought it fit with the beginning of my blog.

What Works: I feel the composition is ok - even though I break the rule of thirds with the far shore of the river, I think I picked it back up with the placement of the tops of the buildings against the sky and the placement of the group of ducks sits right on one of the power points. I also liked the repetition of the shape of the point with Point State Park and the formation of the ducks.

What Doesn't Work: Obviously, the fact that I missed sunrise by a long way off, and resulted in a heavily blown out area in the center of the photo. While I like the sunburst effect of the sun peaking out from behind a building, I think I missed here and produced a fairly distracting blinding spot in the center of my image. This ends up washing out the colors of the sky, and reducing the detail of the city and any foreground elements. The reflection of the city off the river would be much nicer if this wasn't washed out too!

So there you have it, my first post. I'm not going to just put photos here and expect people to read this if all I do is claim my photos are flawless - that's not the point here. I'm trying to learn from my photos, and hopefully teach others from them as well.

I really hope you enjoyed this first post and stop back for more. I also plan on getting a full equipment list of what stuff I am shooting with (and what I might have collecting dust), a set of links (for places to go for more info, more photos, sales, etc), possibly reviews of the various equipment and books I've owned or read - the sky's the limit, and hopefully I'll get something useful going here.

Anyway, thank for stopping by and taking the time to read this!!!

- Bill