Where:  Catalina Island, CA

Between Meeting:  Company Outing

For an outing we took a ferry to Catalina Island, which is just off the coast from Los Angeles.

Once there, we boarded a bus for a tour.  Our driver was the happiest person I ever met and delivered a steady stream of laughter via the PA system on the bus.  When we stopped for a break at a scenic overlook, my colleagues poured out of the bus and headed straight for the view.

Knowing the view would be just another view, I focused on the extraordinarily happy bus driver, who of course was thrilled that I was paying attention to him.

There were a lot of distracting elements in the background so I wanted to get in tight.  Then I remembered the advise of world renowned travel photographer Bob Krist, “When you think your tight try going 3 steps closer”.  My lens must have only been a few inches from the man’s chin, and by being this close and at a low angle, I completely eliminated all the distracting elements.

Where: Tucson, Arizona

Between Meeting: Dawn Before Meeting with Swanee

I was scheduled to meet with Mary Virgina Swanson at 9:00am.  Mary, better known in the industry as “Swanee”, is a fine art marketing consultant based in Tucson.

I was up at 4:30am since I was still on Eastern Time, and made an attempt to photograph the sunrise over the saguaros near my hotel.

Like so many natural history scenes, when I looked through the viewfinder I felt like I’d seen it before, or have seen much better like the amazing saguaro work of Jack Dykinga.

And as the sun rose, I had yet another perfectly exposed pedestrian picture of cacti at sunrise. I remember feeling a bit down that yet again, the only place I could find photographic inspiration was in a concrete jungle, vs a natural one.  But when I turned around towards the rental car my spirits rose, as the interesting picture was not the sunrise, but the moonset.

By positioning the moon at the top of one saguaro and cropping into its arm, I saw a top down view of thumb & pool stick about to strike the moon into the corner pocket.

Where:  Century City, CA

Between Meeting:  Before a Meeting with an Ad Agency

We had a 10:00am meeting with an ad agency whose offices are located in the Century Plaza Towers.  Since high school, I admired these twin buildings and for the first time had an opportunity to actually go inside.

I arrived early to check things out.  To my disappointment, the buildings were more interesting from a distance.  With an hour now to kill, I bought a coffee and sat at a table in the courtyard so I could check email.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a shaft of light that was a reflection of one building in the glass entrance of the other building.  It was interesting, but not enough to think about removing the lens cap.

Then I saw a person walking through the reflection and within seconds the lens cap was off, shutter speed to stop the action was set, and I waited.  And I waited.  Turns out these buildings sit on top of one of the world’s largest underground parking garages.  So elevators take people straight from the garage to their floor explaining why the lobby I was looking at was very quiet.

It was a good thing I was an hour early for the meeting.  I waited for about 35 minutes before the the right person, walked through that reflection, at the right moment.

Where:  Orlando, Florida

Between Meeting:  After Photoshop World

A woman got out of a taxi wearing a horse head and made her way into my hotel via the revolving door.

Not sure what was up, but the light was great and I liked the incongruity of the scene combined with the Do Not Enter sign.

Where:  Orlando, Florida

Between Meeting:  After Photoshop World

I’ve been traveling to Orlando for several years to attend trade shows.  Its one of my least favorite places because its clean, modern e.g. no Dano Pictures.

After Photoshop World last week in Orlando, I finally got a picture when strong raking light fell on these two teenagers waiting in the lobby of my hotel.

Where: San Diego, CA

Between Meeting: Sunday Afternoon Before Monday Morning Meeting

The airport in San Diego is right in the heart of the city.   While some find the view on final approach a bit nerve racking, I always see it as an opportunity to do an aerial scout for pictures.

On this occasion, I saw some kind of festival that was seemingly across the street from the airport.  Sure enough, the festival was taking place in the Spanish Landing Park which is only 5 minutes from the rental car lot.

At the far end of the festival were giant plastic bubbles people would climb into and bounce around in a fenced-in area.  These were land versions of the water bubbles I had photographed before.

With my lens maxed out at 300mm, I was able to crop out elements that would have given this scene context vs the ethereal and abstract look.

Where: Black Canyon City, Arizona

Between Meeting: Delayed Ad Shoot

We were in Chandler Arizona last summer shooting a Finish Strong ad.  This ad in the campaign featured Moose Peterson photographing a rare war-bird while in flight from a chase plane.

In the pre-flight briefing, a series of comprehensive safety measures were reviewed and if there were any concerns during the shoot, both planes would immediately return to the airport.

The two planes took off before dawn the next day, circled the runway twice, then both returned.  There was a concern.  It was minor and quickly resolved, but the light was only good for 45 minutes and that window was gone.  We decided to try again the next day which left me with a free day.

I started to plan where I could take pictures later in the afternoon when the light would be at its best.  It was the end of June and in Chandler it was Hot!  So I did search to see if there were any events taking place at higher altitudes in the mountains outside of Chandler.  In that search I came upon a web site describing abandoned Arizona landmarks.  Most of these were Wild West type of places that were too far away except for an old Dog Racing Track.  This track was about 2 hours away and at a higher elevation, so I thought it would be both cool and cooler.

When I opened the car door 2 hours later and felt the blast of hot desert air, I quickly realized in the summer, there was little difference in temperature between sea level and an elevation of 2000 feet.  I stuck two bottles of water in empty pockets and started to explore the clubhouse of the abandoned facility.

Most of the site had been picked clean and while there was a lot of broken glass and twisted metal, it was a bit dull looking.  When I went deeper into the old clubhouse I came across floor tiles broken into a million pieces and a single chair left in the dark shadows.  The temperature was now even hotter as there was no moving air and it was pretty dark where it took a good 30 seconds for my eye to adjust to the dim light.

I moved the chair to a position with less distracting elements and where it would be dimly back-lit for a sense of dimension.

For the best quality I set the ISO to 100 and my resulting shutter speed at F25 was a full minute.  I was going to try a few different angles but knew I had to get out of the stifling air before losing consciousness and settled on this one scene.

While the image was relatively monochromatic, I still converted to BW which when combined with the long exposure, produced a ghostly feel.

Where:  San Fransisco, CA

Between Meeting:  Enroute to a Video Editing Session

Instead of taking the more scenic route to my appointment in the Presidio,  I drove through San Fransisco’s infamous Tenderloin District.

While many consider the Tenderloin to be an unsavory and dangerous part of town, for me its where the some of the most interesting people can be found.

When I spotted this person in a wheelchair wearing a crown I had to stop and try for a photograph.  As I walked closer to the man he said, “I see you want to take a picture”.  I said, “I’ve never photographed a King before”.  He then told me he was not a King but a Prophet.   Then he said, “You know its $5 to photograph the Prophet”.  And I said, “OK”.

While some might say its inappropriate to pay a person for this type of image, but for $5, I got the picture.

Where: Tokyo Japan

Between Meeting:  Night Before Meeting at Headquarters

I arrived in Japan last week and spent the night in Tokyo.  I had to take a train to Epson’s Headquarters the next day and would only have this one opportunity to make night photographs.

During the day Tokyo often feels monochromatic, but at night it comes alive with color.  Yet instead of shooting the usual and somewhat pedantic colorful signs, I tried a different approach and looked for interesting blurs.

I put the camera on a tripod (when possible I travel with lightweight sticks), leaned over the railing of a pedestrian overpass, and experimented with shutter speeds between 1/3rd and 1/8th of a second.  I checked the histogram, settled on 1/8th of a second and proceeded to make several exposures over a 15 minute period.  I was looking for right mix of blurs and their interaction with the concentric circles on the sidewalk.

Where: Miami Beach, FL

Between Meeting:  Heading to the Airport

I had a noon flight out of Miami which meant I could look for pictures on South Beach in the early morning. I was drawn to a particular building with complementary blue and yellow colors.

In optical color theory, complementary colors are created when one additive and one subtractive creates white, grey, or black when combined.  Complementary colors are 180 degrees from each other on the optical color wheel e.g Red-Cyan, Green-Magenta and Blue-Yellow.  From a design perspective, I have found complementary colors often create impactful images even though the colors are formed with pigments vs light.

While the blue on this particular wall was more aqua in keeping with the look of South Florida, it still created a sense of vibration next to the yellow.

I was working the composition with the colors and the lines when I saw moving stripes out of the corner of my left eye.  Instinctively I zoomed out and when I saw a woman wearing blue strips that were perpendicular with the ridges on the blue part of the wall move into the scene, I checked focus and waited until she was in the right third of the frame.

Where:  Las Vegas, NV

Between Meeting:  After Photoshop World

When Photoshop World is in Las Vegas, the Expo often closes with enough time to catch the best light of the day.

When possible, I try get away from the Strip and often head to Fremont St. where things are a bit more gritty and usually more interesting.

While walking the streets near the bus station, the last of the light for the day was streaming into the driver’s side window of a waiting taxi.

The blue tint of the windshield combined with what is essentially flare, produced both a color shift and a reduction in DMax.  Usually color shifts and reduced DMax are things to avoid, but in this case it gives the image a special feel.

Where:  Matsumoto Japan

Between Meeting:  Waiting for Taxi

I was waiting for a taxi to take me from my hotel in Matsumoto to Epson’s main office in Hirooka.  I spotted an interesting connection between the red stripes of a traffic barrier and a red square across the street.  When people walked by, depending on an individual’s gait, I noticed an illusion where a person’s ankles seemed in the wrong position due to the chevron shape on the barrier

I made a series of exposures as people walked by.   This image best illustrated the illusion.

Where:  Las Vegas, NV

Between Meeting:  After Photoshop World

Located far from The Strip, is the Neon Boneyard.  The Boneyard is run by the Neon Museum and home to over 150 donated and rescued Las Vegas signs dating as far back as the 1930′s.

I was in Vegas for Photoshop World and was able to secure a 1 hour time slot to photograph the signs right after the Expo closed.  I called Jay Maisel, who was also at Photoshop World, and invited him to come along.

It was the end of August and hot, as in, unbelievably hot.  Our time slot was for 4pm which would be the hottest part of the day at around 104 degrees Fahrenheit.  With the high air temperature combined with the radiant heat from all those metal signs, I started to worry I might inadvertently kill the amazing Jay Maisel through heatstroke.  So I prepped the night before getting 5 bottles of water for each of us, misters and hats.  I put together a plan so Jay and I would drink a bottle of water every 10 to 15 minutes.

I remember the blast of hot desert air as we got out of the cab and set off as the 1 hour time slot began.   Jay said, ” I’ll see you in a hour” and I bolted looking for the best stuff.  In 10 minutes I took what I thought were 3 amazing images and downed one bottle of water.  After 30 minutes, I was up to 5 great images and made my way through 2.5 bottles of water.  At 45 minutes, I was running out of images and a bit dizzy, but persevered shooting a total of 9 interesting images in that hour time slot and finished my 4th bottle of water.

I was faint, and dusty and went to meet Jay at a pre-designated area when the hour was up.  To my surprise and delight, Jay looked pretty much the same as when we arrived.  The heat didn’t seem to phase him.  He said that he saw me running around and thought the heat would send me to the hospital, so he decided to find a shady spot, and within that one hour slot focused in a small area where there were a lot of letter A’s.

It was an interesting lesson for me that when surrounded by so many amazing things, the best approach is to force a self assignment that limits you to a single concept, in Jay’s case, the letter A.

While my stuff was OK, and I may have captured more images, Jay’s A’s smoked just about everything I shot.

Where:  Philadelphia, PA

Between Meeting:  After Visiting Shades of Paper

After a meeting at Shades of Paper, I had a few hours before my flight out of the Philly airport.  I programed the GPS, and planned to ignore it if I saw or sensed there could be an interesting picture.

Like the time in LA where I saw a flash of yellow and drove around the block to find a boy dressed in yellow at a yellow bus stop, I saw a similar flash of color, only this time it was blue.  With the GPS informing me I was now going the wrong way to the airport, I drove around to see what the flash of blue might have been.

I  slowly drove by and saw a pool with a blue wall but it was too late to stop, so another right turn, another GPS  “Your going the wrong way” and I drove around the corner but this time parked the car.  When I walked up to the fence I saw this person on the coping stones of the pool.  I couldn’t tell if he was doing pushups or looking for a lost article at the bottom of the pool.  It didn’t matter.  His posture and the position of his arms were in wonderful symmetry with the metal railing within the varying shades of blue.

Where:  New York, NY

Between Meeting:  After a Press Tour

We had a series of meetings with writers from photographic publications.  Instead of the usual hotel suite in Midtown, we held these meetings in Chelsea which is a much more interesting part of Manhattan.

At the end of the day, one of my colleagues recommended we take a taxi to Central Park to photograph people.  But I opted for a small water park that was literally across the street.

Regardless of where one is in the world, when water is being sprayed on a hot day, just wait and kids will run in and out.  In order to see water it has to be back-lit.   So I got at the right angle to see the water and within 3 minutes this little girl did a dash though the spray.

Where:  New York, NY

Between Meeting:  Before Photo Plus Expo

Some of my favorite images in Manhattan are found in the reflections of the buildings.  Before heading off to the Jacob Javits Convention Center for PDN’s Photo Plus Expo, I looked out of the window of my hotel and noticed movement several stories above the ground.

Turns out this movement was a reflection of the traffic on the street.  I gently pressed the end of my lens to the window in my hotel room and waited until the taxis stopped for a red light.  I then changed my position slightly to create the illusion that the taxis were in the lanes of the windows on the building opposite my hotel.

Where:  Point Mugu, California

Between Meeting:  Driving Back to the Office

I was driving back to our offices in Long Beach from meetings at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara.  I was getting low on gas and arbitrarily took an exit off of the 101 in search of a gas station.  While looking for gas, out of no-where, I came across the Point Mugu Missile Park.

Turns out there was a naval base nearby and the Missile Park features various aircraft that were tested in the area in the 1950s & 60s.  I love aviation and I was like a little kid walking around the various planes when my inner adult voice said, “This is fun, but why don’t we try to make a photograph”.

It was a foggy day and the sun was peaking in and out through the dense cloud cover.  The clouds were acting like a giant +10 ND “Big Stopper” allowing the sun to be seen as a small disc in the sky.  I thought it would be interesting to incorporate the sun since its usually way too bright except at sunrise and sunset.  But instead of it being a small disc in the sky, it was really a boring small disk in the sky.  So I looked for something that would provide scale, got on my back and positioned a fighter jet as if it were balancing the sun on its nose.  That too was kinda boring.  I then moved a slight amount so instead of the jet balancing the sun like a small ball, it looked like a microscopic view of a needle penetrating a cell in a petri dish.  Converting to Black and White helped with the illusion.

Where:  Parking Garage, Beverly Hills CA

Between Meeting:  Before Lucie Awards

Sometimes you have to work for the image.  In this case, I just drove to the right level to find it.  I was on my way to the Lucie Awards and was a bit early.  I pulled into the parking structure of the Beverly Hilton Hotel where the event was taking place and for grins, I kept driving up to the different levels to see if there was anything more interesting to photograph.  When I got to the 5th level, light was streaming through the metal slats of the parking structure because I was now at a height above the surrounding trees.

I zoomed the lens in to the widest focal length and placed the camera directly on the pavement for a dramatic angle.  Since I could not see through the viewfinder, I made a series of exposures angling the camera up and down slightly to ensure one of the exposures would fill the frame with the best composition.

Where:  Los Angeles

Between Meeting:  Lunch Break

It was the Christmas Season in LA.  With temperatures in the 70′s, we decided to eat lunch outside.

While hundreds walked by and saw nothing, I saw not only the shadow, but red and green colors in keeping with Christmas.

Where:  Downtown Los Angeles

Between Meeting:  On my Way to See Jay Silverman

I was very fortunate to have attended Reseda High School.  From the 60s through the 80s many considered the Photo Program, under the direction of Warren King, to be the best of any high school program in North America.  And decades later I often work with fellow alumni who are leaders in the industry like Gil Smith, Jeff Sedlik and Jay Silverman.

I was on my way to meet with Jay on some ideas for a future project.  While driving through downtown LA en-route to his studio in Hollywood, I had this flash of yellow.  So I drove around the block for another pass and saw a boy in a yellow shirt and yellow sun glasses sitting at a bus stop with a yellow ad.  I drove around the block again, parked the car, asked permission and the captured the scene.

Later I noticed the green shade of the ice cream cup matched the green logo on the shirt which was nice.  But even with all the strong colors in the scene, Jay Maisel’s equation for a successful image came together with Light (coming from the right giving the face a sense of dimension) Gesture (the way the boy was eating) and Color (yellows, reds, greens).

Where:  Albuquerque, New Mexico

Between Meeting:  After Taping Video For the Epson Print Academy

I have a tendency to crop in tight.  Sometimes too tight.  So when I had some free time after video taping at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta for the Epson Print Academy, I forced myself to go wide.

I was trying to capture the expanse of the scene and the saturated colors against the early morning sky.  But I found that this was a scene where what I was experiencing, didn’t look that great in the viewfinder.  By going too wide, the balloons looked like upside down specs of tear shaped colors.

So to create a sense of depth I moved in tighter, focusing on individual balloons.  It was better, but then all I had were big colorful balloons  e.g. the dreaded postcard.  In the distance I saw balloons taking off in shadowed areas and rising into the light.  That contrast created a sense of depth and became my portal to a picture vs a postcard.

I followed 7 balloons as they rose from the shadows to the brightly lit sky.  These were OK.  But as the 8th balloon rose, the Pilot took off his hat and started waving to the Zebras.  With all the amazing color and shapes in that sky, ironically its the B&W silhouette of a gesture, that makes this a real photograph.

Where:  Corner of Powell and Jackson – San Fransisco

Between Meeting:   After MacWorld

While many like to photograph the Cable Cars in San Fransisco, I often find myself shooting the cable car tracks.  Tracks with turns create a sense of elegance along with motion where there is no actual movement.  Then its all about how to light metal.

While seemingly unintuitive, metal is not directly lit.  Instead, an indirect light source via an incident angle lights the metal.  In the studio this is be controlled with flats, fill cards and scrims.  One of the masters of this craft is Andre LaRoche of Stage 3 where indirect light is used to photograph cars and motorcycles.

When on location the concept is essentially the same, but instead of using a 4 x 8 foot flat to bounce light in at an incident angle, you have to put the sky to work.  In this shot I estimated the path of the sun and where the incident angle would make the metal of the tracks gleam.  I then waited for the light to slow down and for the Kelvin temperature to drop for that golden color.

Where:  Airport, Rochester NY

Between Meeting:  Traveling to the ICP Infinity Awards in New York City

Rochester has a reputation for gray skies.  The old joke is that the 18% Gray Card was patterned after a typical Rochester sky at high noon.  While a gray card is the sensitometric halfway point between white and black, skies in Rochester do sometimes feel a bit 18%.

While waiting to board my flight, I noticed moving shadows on the floor that I had not seen in a few weeks.  When I looked up, it was unusually sunny and I saw two people washing windows one story up from the boarding area.  In one direction the light was flat, but in the direction of this image, the light was backlighting the soap and giving the scene a sense of texture.  So I just followed the window washer on the side of the building with the good light, waiting for the right moment of soap, squeegee, composition and action.

I set everything to manual to prevent the autofocus from going to infinity and exposed for the soap letting the person silhouette.

Where:  Singapore

Between Meeting:  Lunch Break During a Strategy Meeting

When I come across a postcard scene, I always try to find something that a postcard would never have.  Otherwise, all I have is another postcard.

Buddahs in Asia often feature a pot belly and a big smile.  Many like to rub the pot belly for good luck, but I noticed that this Buddah had wear marks on the face.  In a few minutes some people came along and started rubbing the face for good luck.

With a blur of the hand via a 1/30 shutter speed, I went from postcard to picture.

Where:  Delhi, India

Between Meeting:  After an Epson Print Academy Program

Bus stops are often fertile ground for great photographs.  My favorite bus stops are in San Fransisco because the older shelters have diffused stripes that are etched into the glass.  These stripes cast shadows and make for great silhouettes.  The bus stops in Las Vegas cast different patterns due to the drilled holes that make up the back wall of the shelters.  Rochester NY has patterns etched into the glass of their bus shelters that make for interesting design forms.

Right after we completed an Epson Print Academy program in Delhi, I walked to the front of the hotel where there was a busy bus stop on the Inner Ring Road.  There were no bus shelters in this spot, just a parade of buses with hundreds of people.  Each of the buses had a person in the last seat who would wait until the final person boarded, then would bang the side of the bus with his hand signalling the driver it was safe to pull away.

Of the 20 or so people I photographed who performed this service for the drivers, this person’s eyes really connected with the lens.  It’s the only exposure I was able to make before he banged the side of the bus and sped away.

Where:  French Quarter, New Orleans

Between Meeting:  After Trade Show Hours

I’m headed to New Orleans later this month on business.  In prep for the trip I was reminded that I made one of my favorite images in The Crescent City, pre- Katrina, of a hotel worker taking a break.

Most see this as a simple, quiet picture.  But to me its filled with multiple elements of composition many of which I learned from my amazing high school instructor, Warren King.

Rule of Thirds

-The woman is in a third

-Her head is in a third

-The top step is in a third

-The bottom of the door is in a third

Symmetry

-The meeting of the two green doors

-The white door jambs

-The equidistant beige wall

-The steps and the threshold

-The door hinges

Color

-Similar colors of the door, dress, tattoo and steps

Gesture

-Body pointed right, head pointed left telling a story that could be about the present, or the future, or maybe the past

Interrupted Pattern

-The crumbled paper next to the step that shouldn’t be there, but connects with the highlights in the socks and the door jamb.

Where:  Miami, Florida

Between Meeting:  The Day After Photoshop World

I love the art deco buildings of South Beach, but my favorite place in Miami is Little Havana.

8th Street, better known in the area as Calle Ocho, is a Cuban neighborhood filled with amazing people. While walking down Calle Ocho I came upon Maximo Gomez Park better known as Domino Park, where spirited people play a very aggressive game of dominos.

With my limited High School Spanish I befriended an elderly man.  We drank some remarkable Cuban coffee.  He then introduced me to his friends, we drank more coffee and also smoked an amazing cigar. After a good 45 minutes, I felt there was enough rapport that I could bring out the camera.  Rapport is so important in this situation and my new friend was turning into a wonderful Fixer.

He advised me who I should photograph to make the best impression and then made the introductions.  I saw a great face and asked if he could introduce me.  He quickly refused telling me, “Not a good idea, he was at the Bay of Pigs and still a wanted man”.  I took his advise, and we drank some more coffee.

I was in the zone capturing so many amazing images, but my concentration was quickly broken due to the after-effects of drinking all that coffee.  There was so much to shoot and I didn’t want to leave, but I had to refocus my efforts on finding el bano.

I was so frustrated having to leave but when I came upon a mop leaning against a colorful wall outside the bano, I knew this was going to be the best shot.  I made a strategic decision to take care of nature first, then made a few simple exposures where the mop looked like a face with long hair.

I was back in Miami a year later for a different trade show.  After the show ended I headed straight to that park.  I had a much higher resolution camera and was determined to make an even better photograph.  I jumped out of the taxi and went straight to the wall.  The mop was still there!   But it was leaning against a freshly painted beige wall.  It was now a zero picture.  I was reminded to always get the shot, because it might not be there in the future.

Where:  Santa Barbara, CA

Between Meeting:   After a Brooks Institute Advisory Board Meeting

When I was a student at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara I rarely noticed the immediate area.   I would often drive 2.5 hours to my native LA to do assignments because I thought Santa Barbara was where the action wasn’t.  My long term photographic sights were on Chicago then New York and even London.  Over time, I did Executive work in the business schools of Harvard, UVA and Michigan. For the most part, my world was East of the Mississippi.

When I went back to Santa Barbara recently as a member of the Brooks Institute Advisory Board, I was shocked at how beautiful Santa Barbara really was, and equally shocked that I never noticed this when I was a teenager.

So after one of the Advisory Board meetings I set out to capture the beauty of Santa Barbara I missed as a student.  I failed.  All I was getting were postcards.   So I settled into my comfort zone of shadows and contrast and found a skateboard park.  While the park was within sight of the Pacific Ocean, I focused on the shadows of skateboarders and bicyclists.  I cropped out the palm trees, got the shot and then like old times, drove 2.5 hours to LA only this time to catch the red-eye to New York.

Where:  Yangon, Myanmar

Between Meeting:  Weekend Before a Meeting in China

I attended a meeting at an Epson facility outside of Hong Kong last year.  I went two days early to take advantage of the weekend, cashed in some frequent flyer miles and flew from Hong Kong to Bangkok and then onto to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) Myanmar (also known as Burma).

Several photographers told me Burma was a photographer’s paradise.  While they were thinking of the famous Pagodas in the North, I found photographic paradise on the amazing streets of Yangon.  With only 48 hours in country, I was on high alert for the best images in the least amount of time.  So when the light became too flat and the tropical temperatures soared, I sought out pictures indoors and visited a Monastery.

I soon learned that this was the time when young monks had their last meal for the day, and I was allowed to make photographs.  The light inside was dim and filled with color casts that could not be white balanced.  In the analog world I would have had to punt, but with a DSLR I pushed the ISO up to 2000 and experimented with blurs at 1/9 of a second.  I concentrated on finding a singular element that would stand out from similar elements.  When one of the monks reached across the table I panned to get a bit more sharpness on him letting the others blur.

With Adobe Camera Raw I found a compromise white balance and then brought out the reds with Viveza 2.

Where:   Costa Mesa, CA

Between Meeting:   Sunday Before a Monday Morning Meeting

When I have a meeting Monday AM that requires travel, I try to arrive by Noon on Sunday.  This gives me enough time to look for pictures when the light is good later in the afternoon.  I did a Google search on What’s Happening in Orange County (South of Los Angeles) and learned of the Orange County Fair.

I love State and County Fairs anywhere in the country because they are usually filled with great color and shapes to photograph.

At the far end of this Fair were Bubble Rollers, where children climb into large plastic bubbles and bob around in a pool.  The challenge was finding a singular element in a confusing scene and then pulling focus.  When I saw a boy wearing a yellow shirt I honed in on his every move through the pool knowing the complementary yellow and blues could create vibrating color.  I increased shutter speed to both stop action and reduce depth of field then manually focused to prevent  the autofocus picking up on the contrast in the small waves in the pool.  After about 30 exposures that missed, this one worked.

Where:  Venice Beach, CA

Between Meeting:  On the Way to the Airport

Venice Beach is only a few miles from LAX (LA’s main airport) and is one of my favorite places for photography.  I often leave for the airport an hour earlier so I can have that extra hour to photograph the myriad of subjects at this unique location.

I love Black and White.  I’m classically trained in the Zone System.  And with the greatest of respect for my friend John Sexton, who is one of the finest Black and White artists on the planet,  I have evolved into a full-fledged, Histogram Slammer.   With encouragement from Greg Gorman, I now carefully and deliberately clip shadow detail if it will lead to a more impactful photograph.   I did a class recently for Kelby Training on The Art of the Black and White Print with Josh Haftel of Nik Software where we discussed the benefits of a full tonal scale, and when its OK to purposely lose shadow detail.

With a high shutter speed I was able to capture the water beading from the outdoor sand removal shower and by exposing for the highlights, I purposely let the shadows block-up for maximum impact.  A simple conversion with Silver Efex Pro 2 also allowed me to do controlled burning of the highlights in the upper right corner.

Where:  Signal Hill, CA

Between Meeting:  Coffee Break

Tea time in England is 4:00pm. There is interesting data indicating we can drink caffeine at 4:00pm without disrupting circadian rhythms, thus the tradition.  All I know is I’m often dragging around this time.  During the winter, 4:00pm is usually the best light of the day.  So I often take a break, get a coffee and spend 10-15 minutes looking for interesting things to photograph, in the good light.  Then back to the office until 8pm.

A few minutes from Epson’s office in Long Beach, CA is Hilltop Park.  It sits atop a hill with a somewhat industrial view of the Long Beach harbor.  Sculptures in the park tell a story of the area’s past which was focused on drilling for oil.  The light was good, and with a Grande Bold in hand, I drove over to the park.

The light was low in the sky courtesy of the ecliptic in winter, and I saw this girl playing in the overlook area.  She was 180 degrees from the angle in the final image and the light in that direction was dead flat.  Knowing kids move around, I just waited a few minutes and she started to walk the perimeter of the viewing area.   She briefly stopped in a perfect spot where the sun created an edge of light separating her from the background.  By moving my position a couple of feet, I was able to create a somewhat mirror image of her and the coin operated binocular.

I love negative space and knew the composition was strong.  The way she was standing evoked emotions of pride and confidence.  But my favorite aspect of this shot is what Jay Maisel calls: no color, color with only subtle nuances of pastel tones.

Where:  Shinjuku Railway Station, Tokyo Japan

Between Meeting:  Traveling to Epson’s Main Office

Epson’s Main office is located in the Japanese Alps.  For the most part, the only way to get there is to take the train from the airport into Central Tokyo and then transfer to another train heading to Matsumoto.  While some of my colleagues prefer to go straight through to Matsumoto, I like to spend the night in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, and take a train in the morning.   By doing this, I can take pictures during the morning rush hour in the Shinjuku Railway Station.   Shinjuku is the busiest station in the world as measured by passenger traffic.  With 3.5 million people a day using the station, it’s a Dano kinda of place!

Many commuters in Tokyo opt for conservative business attire.  So when I saw a woman with bright yellow tights, I knew this could make for an interesting picture.  But very quickly I lost sight of her due to the hundreds of thousands of commuters swarming through the station.  Then a few minutes later I spotted her taking the stairs up to one of the platforms.  I went up the staircase but again those amazing yellow legs disappeared into a sea of people.  I looked and looked and when I turned around there she was standing in front of a yellow line which is the color coding of the train line.  When I saw yellow on yellow and then for the first time saw that the shoe heels were yellow I remember thinking, what amazing luck.  Then a train zoomed across my viewfinder and I thought all was lost because of how it blocked my composition.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later, when I looked at the LCD, that I realized how lucky I really was as a yellow stripe on the train recorded as a blur due to the shutter speed which turned the scene into a real photograph.  So today when I am taking pictures in crowded places and people are getting in the way or there are distracting elements, I always remember Shinjuku as sometimes those distractions can be of great help.

Where:  Studio in Carson, CA

Between Meeting:  Dinner Break During Video Shoot

It’s been a long day today producing a video on wide format printers.  Because the printers are so large we shot them on a cyc in a studio designed to photograph cars and trucks.  We used a mix of 1Ks & 5Ks to light both the printers and the expansive background.  Due to the large areas we have to light, there are often clusters of tungsten lights and stands just off of camera.

While we were all focused on the lighting (pun intended) I noticed that the lights from one part of the set were casting a shadow on a part of the cyc that was not in the shot.  Then I saw an assistant go to move a flag. While the day was about shooting video, I went to the car, got my D800 and during a break captured the shadows of tungsten lights, gear and the assistant on the curve of the cyc.

Below left are the cluster of lights that were casting the shadows on the cyc wall.  And on the right, is yours truly with the Arri Alexa we used to meet our resolution capture requirements for upcoming trade shows.

Where:  Central Park, New York City

Between Meeting:  On My Way to Visit Fred Marcus Photography

I had an appointment with Andy and Brian Marcus who are amazing wedding photographers based on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  I was a little early, it was a nice day, so I took a stroll through Central Park.  I was near the Bethesda Fountain when I saw this man in a bright orange shirt making giant soap bubbles.  The first thing I did was reach for my phone and not the camera.  I simply called Andy and let him know I was going to be late.  When something is this good capture the moment, because it might not be there after the meeting.

I spent about 20 minutes shooting the bubbles right before they burst and when the refractive surface colors were at their best.  I used a wide aperture to throw the people in the background out of focus and waited for the right moment when the orange shirt and bubble were in the right position.  In post I added a subtle blur on the left and right with FocalPoint 2 software to knock down some distracting highlights.

Where:   San Fransisco, CA

Between Meeting:  Walking Back From the Moscone Convention Center 

The analytical left side of my brain understands that light is light.  But the creative right side of my brain is convinced, there is something truly special about the light in San Fransisco.  At certain times of the year, about an hour after sunrise and an hour or so before sunset, light rakes straight down the streets illuminating everything in its path (provided you’re at the correct incident angle.)

Its not uncommon to see photographers throughout the City chasing that wonderful light as it pours across the Painted Ladies, the Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge.  But when the light is beautiful, I often look for the mundane and see if I can make IT look beautiful.

By using a wide focal length, getting just on a few inches above the street and circling the subject to find that perfect angle, a lowly street hole cover can turn into a form of folk art.  When I converted the file to BW with Silver Efex Pro 2, it created a more dimensional and dynamic image.

Where:  Los Angeles, Corner of Wilshire and Highland
Between Meeting:  Heading to the Office

Got off the plane at LAX today and headed to Samy’s Camera to get gear for a video shoot.  Then off to the Epson office in Long Beach, but thought it would be fun to take a drive down Wilshire Blvd. and see the places I used to visit when I was a kid.  While I live in New York State and most think I’m a native New Yorker, I’m actually one of the rare natives of LA.

So I drove by the La Brea Tar Pits, then LACMA and quickly realized this was a nice part of town e.g. no “Dano” pictures.  With that, I sought the quickest route to the freeway when I heard loud noises and what looked like a demonstration. I found a parking spot, walked toward the activity and encountered a protest by Egyptian Americans who were upset by President Mursi’s recent policies.  The nice but boring part of town became much more interesting!

After about 15 minutes I realized I was not much much of a photojournalist.  I was getting nothing.  So I did the Jay Maisel 180 by turning completely around since that might be the better shot.  And I saw this wonderful kid on a shoulders of a man.  After getting permission from the parent, which is very important when photographing children, I remembered Jack Reznicki’s advise to chop off heads for greater impact and eye contact.  Technically its crop not chop : )

One of the wonderful things about DSLRs is the LCD preview.  Its really breaks the ice and when I showed the family the image of the girl with her hands on the hair of her uncle, I was asked to photograph her sister.  I was delighted to do so because of the subject and the beautiful light.

While I didn’t capture images the wire services would run, in some ways these images do tell a story.  It’s not about politics or the flag painted on the sister’s cheeks, but about a better future for our children and that future is always in their eyes.

Where:  Portland, Oregon

Between Meeting:  Heading to the Airport After a Video Shoot

Knowing there are no pictures to be found on the Interstate, I ignored the GPS and headed for the side streets.  By pure chance, I came upon the Urban Iditerod where teams in the Lower 48, mush bar to bar in themed home-made shopping carts on the same day real sledders start the Iditerod in Alaska.

Jay Maisel taught me that when working with large crowds to look for simple singular elements.  So I befriended the Chicken Team, and by taking a low angle on the pavement with a wide focal length, I was able to create a simple background of sky vs hundreds of distracting party-goers.

I lined up the team for a chicken inspection shot, but the best image was when I asked the Chicken Men to start pecking each other.

Where:  Las Vegas, NV

Between Meeting:  Walking to Photoshop World

There’s something about Photoshop Word where I seem to get great shots.  The best stuff is often, right around the corner.

The Las Vegas Photoshop World takes takes place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.   The trade show is located at the end of a walk through the hotel.  On the left side of that walk are large windows with views of the pool.  Early in the morning light streams in through those windows and the yellowish walls opposite the pool view, almost glow.  While on that walk I saw a hotel worker on a scissors lift changing light bulbs.  I watched for a while and when he moved the lift, I saw his silhouette move across the glowing yellow wall.

This shot was captured as the worker stepped down from the lift which was literally, around the corner from the trade show.  Even the mundane task of changing a light bulb can make for an interesting photograph.

Where:  Cedar Point Amusement Park, Sandusky Ohio

Between Meeting:  After an Epson Print Academy Program

For roller coaster enthusiasts, Cedar Point is one of the premier locales in the world.  When my teenagers learned I was headed to Cleveland for an Epson Print Academy program, I was “volunteered” to escort them to this hallowed ground of G forces.  Knowing my inner ear was not up to high-speed inverted drops, I elected to drop the kids off at Millennium Force.  It was a win-win.  They could ride one of the gnarliest coasters in the world, and I could go looking for pictures.

I loved the intense colors throughout the park and honed in on this geometric section at the end of one of the rides.  One of the featured photographers in the Epson Print Academy was National Geographer Photographer Bruce Dale.  Bruce would advise people about patience and sometimes its best to wait for the shot.  Knowing my kids were happy riding Millennium Force over and over, I waited and waited and watched as hundreds exited this one ride.  Each time I would have the zoom, exposure and focus set waiting for the right person to fill the frame.  After about 20 minutes patience paid off and a person with a blue shirt aligned with the blue railing and another person in a red shirt filled the gap between the yellow and orange siding.  But for me what makes this picture work is the gesture of the two girls which visually tells the story without any words.