365 Photos: Week 28 Costa Rica Vacation

November 27 – December 2, 2012

Week 28, as I write this, seems a lifetime ago.  It was filled with the fun from our Costa Rica Vacation.

Because if the diversity of images, I chose more images than seven this week.  The choice was made in large part to capture the diversity of activity we did while in Costa Rica.

Tuesday’s image was of some fishing boats in the little bay of San Juanillo.  After lunch, we drove to this little bay to be in the water.  The bay was part of the little village, and fishing appeared to be a large part of the village life. I took many shots of fish heads, the buildings, the people, and the water.  There were some lovely sunset shots, but I was really fascinated with the boats and getting good shots.  This would be theme for much of the trip.

Perhaps the best part of the whole trip was waking up at 4:30 in the morning to go down to Ostional to see a turtle arribata.  The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is apparently the only species of turtle who lay eggs in groups.  All other sea turtle lay solitary.  So during a new moon, they use the beach in Ostinal to lay eggs.  It was AMAZING.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  Hundreds of turtles were coming out of the ocean and crawling up the beach.  Tiny baby turtles were coming out of the sand and running back to the sea.  Vultures were picking at eggs and babies.  It was beautiful.  It was chaos.  It was the circle of life.

The turtles come at night, so you either have to go at sundown or sunrise in hopes of seeing anything.  This is one of the best images I got during the trip.  There are others in my previous post. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who loves nature and wildlife.

The day began before sunrise, and also included a boat trip on Rio Nosara to see birds, crocodiles and other wildlife that ended at sunset.  Some of the wildlife was wild.

I was using a 50-200mm lens to get this, but we did get pretty close in the boat.  Notice there are two spiders.  Apparently the smaller one is a male.  She is likely to eat it.

Thursday we went horseback riding through the forest and out onto the beach.  It was a delightful two and a half hours made even more so by our guide, who is here with Evan.

After the horseback trip, we went to Samara for lunch.  As we were heading back to the car I snapped this shot I thought was cute.

I shot many things in Samara, but I really liked the look of this one. The street photography is much different in a little village than in a big city.  I asked her if it was ok, and she said yes.  I’ve found that I am getting more confidence when it comes to asking strangers to take pictures.  I still need more, but I am getting good when I see something I really like.

On Friday, I got a little indulgent with two shots.  They are of the same moment, but so some reason, I was overly fascinated with this pig, dog, and kids playing in the tidal pool with them.

I cannot explain my fascination with these animals or why I took so many pictures. It must have been because I’ve never seen a pig and a dog play on the beach and kids play with their pig in a tidal pool.  I took lots of pictures of all this, and at no time did I see an adult.  Things really are different in Costa Rica.  As the tide came in, I saw the kids leaving the beach with their pig and dog in tow.

On Saturday, we headed to the Four Seasons for the rest of our trip. At beach that night we saw the prettiest sunset of the whole trip.

I used the flash to fill in this shot.  I love the colors and everything about this shot.  We had been frolicking in the surf, hence Evan’s wet shirt look.  It was such a gorgeous sunset. And fast.  Near the equator like that, the sun goes straight down and then it gets dark.  Not at all like Alaska, where sunset last for over an hour.

On Sunday, we went snorkeling.

We bought a Canon D10 for the trip to take some underwater shots.  The first day was me getting used to the underwater features and the quirks of the camera.  I did get this fun shot of Evan underwater.  I do like the Canon D10 for this kind of work.  Also, it is great for being in out of doors places where there is lots of water.  More on that later.

Because I do love snorkeling do much, we went again on Monday.

I was getting better with the camera on the second day.  There is a bit of post processing to get the images sharper and more colorful.  The water was pretty murky when were out. But I like the way this puffer fish looks.

Because this day was jam packed with other activities, I do have three images total for Monday.  We took another boat ride and saw tons of wildlife.  The light was better this day than the previous boat ride.  I got a lovely picture of a crocodile and a bird.  Again, this was with the canon 50-200mm lens I borrowed for the trip.

I have more of Costa Rica for Week 29 before heading home.  That will be in the next post.

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New York City Photography: A Lesson in Patience

This was shot by Evan as we walked around the village on our summer trip to New York City

From the moment I stepped out of Penn Station, I was a little overwhelmed.

Everywhere I looked was a possible shot. There was the motion, the activity, the colors, the people. It was summer in New York City, and I didn’t know where to begin shooting photos.

Since I began the 365 Photo Project, when I come into new places and situations, I want to shoot pictures of everything. I’m finding that’s not the best way to attack taking pictures. An interesting byproduct that I hadn’t expected was the need for patience when taking pictures.

Of course patience is the true friend of the artist. When I was involved in theatre as an actor and director, you needed patience to rehearse a scene. As a writer, the patience came in the editing process–the true art of writing. So be asked for patience to take pictures seems strange.

I’ve learned there are many types of photography–snapshots, landscapes, portraits, street, etc. some of the moments are ephemeral–people move, light changes, a smile disappears. Others might be more static–a mountain, a tree, a building. Regardless the need for patience remains to get the right exposure, setting, cropping, framing, or expression.

Shooting in New York made me think about and deal with all of it.

I got a few moments in the Apple Store to buy a new iPad plug because I left mine in the hotel in DC. The glass steps leading down into the store were so fun to capture. It took a great deal of patience to try to get the exposure right shooting into the bright sky.

Our hotel room was on the 17th floor. I had fun shooting out of the window at various rooftops. It’s pretty amazing what you can see. I was also trying to capture the terrace across the street at various times of the day. It was the only plant life in the whole building and made for an interesting shot.

     

I did try my hand at street shooting. The people in New York are fascinating. I love the shot of the psychic checking her iPhone. Does she really need to do that? Doesn’t she know who is calling or emailing already?

The kids in the park watching the juggler were a treat too. Kids are so free to do whatever.

       

The subway was also fun to take pictures in. I’d never really done it before. But I cranked my ISO up and brought the speed down and got some fun shots.

For some reason I was compelled to shoot motion. I guess it was the movement in the city. Truly it never stops moving. No matter the hour or the location, there was always motion.

As I write this, I’m on vacation in Santa Barbara. I saw a photographer at the street fair who had shot nothing but doors. They were really cool. It made me think of the door image I took in New York. I love the red with the green writing framed by the black. It really pops.

I wish I had a good tripod. That is likely to be a purchase very soon. I was able to the get NYC skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge by placing the camera on the decking of the bridge. I like it, but I was limited to what I could shoot.

On top of all this there were the people, the street fairs, the farmer’s market, the dogs and so much more that I captured. By the time I got done with the trip, I felt more relaxed about taking pictures. But I still have a ways to go. New York was a good place to learn the wonderful skill of patience.

How do you cultivate patience when photographing?

Click on any of the pictures below to see a full gallery of my New York Trip.

This was shot by Evan as we walked around the village on our summer trip to New York City

365 Photos: Week 8 Washington DC and New York

I said that I thought I peaked during Week 5 with images and shots. That was a great, beautiful week in Anchorage and in Alaska.

However, Week 8 was pretty amazing.

I was in Washington DC for a conference in the first part of the week. For the latter half, I took the train to New York City to spend a long weekend with Evan. Check out my earlier post of all my Washington DC photos.

The first shot was of Lincoln at his Memorial. I wanted to get tons of great shots on the evening tour of the monuments we took. However, at the first stop–the Capitol–it started to pour. We still took the tour, but I was severely challenged in what I could photograph. Hard to keep still in the pouring rain and get long exposure photos.

The girl laughing was part of an attempt at street photography. Her brother was poking her and she was trying to make him stop.

The sunrise shot (picture at the top of this blog) overlooking the words, “I Have a Dream,” was a shot I sought out intentionally. Read more about that in an earlier blog post.

I took tons of pictures while in New York City, but the skyline shot at night was my favorite for that day. I’d never taken a shot like it before. I love it.

More pictures from that trip will be coming.

I was trying to get more gutsy with street photography when I took the shot of the kid blowing smoke in the park. I just went up to him and asked if I could take his picture. He was very approachable, and I enjoyed how the smoke played in the air.

The last shot in New York was from our hotel room. Being on the 17th floor afforded us many strange and unusual views. I enjoyed this one of the guy sun tanning on the roof of a building. Sun bathing urban style.

The last show was of my living room. I was happy to get home and be there for a few days. This is more of a diary shot.

Click on any of the images below to see the full gallery of the week.

On to Week 9

Washington DC: A Hard Place to Shoot Pictures

We got wet during our evening tour of the monuments. This was taken right after being at the Capitol building.

I love going to Washington DC, but being there with a camera is a bitch. And I don’t mean the rain. Although that is tough too.  See the above picture where I got caught in it.

Let me explain.

Other than, maybe, New York City, Washington DC is one of those familiar places you’ve seen a millions times in photographs, movies, and on TV. As I started taking pictures, I noticed how hard it is to shoot something interesting that hasn’t bee done before. That’s a little tougher, but a good challenge. I didn’t want people to look at my pictures and go, “Washington Monument. Nice.”

And can I say, shooting the Washington Monument is a pain. It looks cool sitting there in the mall, but trying to get a compelling image of it is hard. It’s just this stone structure that points straight up. Really, it’s a little boring. And in midday it’s worse.  I did see a cool black and white image of it. Someone gave me a nice comment on this shot I took of it.

Shot of the Washington Monument taken by Jason Hodges

Our first stop was the White House. I got a shot of it and went, “That’s the White House. Nice.” Even I was bored of my pictures.

I looked around for other views and I noticed the other people who were there. I was fascinated that people from all over the world would come to our Nation’s Capitol to see the house where our leader lives. I can’t imagine me going to France to see the house where The French President lives. Or the king of Prussia. Or the guy who runs Canada.

Although, I would go back to Buckingham Palace, but that is a whole different deal. Queen Liz doesn’t really run the show.

So, the shot I got at the White house of people taking pictures represents the excitement of being there. I don’t know if the woman it the headscarf is an American or not. That is beside the point. I don’t even know her religion, but it shows the excitement that people have to be at the White House. I love that.

I also like the above shot at sunrise.  Again, I was looking for another way to capture the place.  I loved that I was the only one there, save for the security guard.

Another spot that is a bitch to shoot? The Vietnam Memorial.

This is really a moving place. How do you come to it with a unique perspective? You can’t. With that in mind, I did the usual shots to get acquainted with the place. I shot people and reflections with the names. Seen that.

Then I became taken with this BEAUTIFUL park ranger. She was taking rubbings of names on the wall to give to relatives of the soldiers. I shot a great many photos of her on the ladder getting the names. I was pleased with the results and images.

I also like humor in images. When we got to the WWII memorial, it was midday. The memorial has all this beautiful architecture and these great fountains. The shots I liked most were of the young woman wading into pool in front of the “No Wading” sign and the ducks swimming through the fountain. I also like the shot of the fitness boot camp I got early in the morning in front of the WWII memorial. What a great place to workout!

More humor for me was this mural I found.  I don’t know who the woman in the middle is, but I know the rest of them.

In trying to have my own point of view, I decided to try to find offbeat things that haven’t been photographed a million times. As I was looking at my iPhone map on the steps of the Lincoln, I noticed that there was a memorial to Einstein. Perfect! I hadn’t seen it before.

The Einstein statue is so cool. The exterior isn’t smooth. There is a playfulness to it. I don’t know why. I imagine that’s because we seem to have created a myth of playfulness around him. Probably because Walter Mathau played him in that movie.

The goal was to get Al with this world famous formula. I thought the memorial was new or newish. It was put there in 1979.

There is a wonderful quote which I shot, but the image was dull. Here’s the quote: “as long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail.”

I liked that a lot considering I had just stood in the spot where MLK had delivered his I Have a Dream speech.

I also was trying to do street photography.  I got more into it in New York, but I was trying to see if I could pull it off.  I like this image for what is not there.  I don’t know if you can see, but in her cellphone screen is the statue of Lincoln.

Speaking of the Lincoln Memorial, there are several shots of the Lincoln Memorial.  For details on those check out my earlier blog entry. That was my morning to be a “real” photographer.

Here is my favorite image from that morning. Yeah, it’s a little blown out at the top, but I still love it.

Below is a full gallery of the images I took.  I don’t know how many total I took; several hundred for sure.  The editing process has been great to make me consider just which images are worth viewing and reviewing.

Click on any of them to view the full gallery.

Coming soon!  My gallery of New York City!

We got wet during our evening tour of the monuments. This was taken right after being at the Capitol building.

To Shoot or Not to Shoot Photos on the Street

When I was in New York and Washington DC last week, I was excited to make street photography a part of my 365 Photo Project.

I also found street photography to be a little intimidating. When I was out for an early morning shoot in DC, I intentionally chose not to take some shots of homeless people sleeping on benches in a park. The images I saw would have been stirring, I believe. I was afraid of making them mad.

This is a great article about the ethics of shooting on the street, and has some great discussion of street photography techniques. I wish I had seen it before my trip. I might have taken a few shots that I chose not to.

It’s fun to read about the snobbish side of photography. I like that you should be up close and not use long lenses for “real” street photography. For now, I’ll be zooming in until I get more comfortable.

As I walked through the streets, I did consider the approach the author describes of “stealth” picture taking. I knew that would be hard and didn’t try. I now wish I had. Sounds like it would be a good technique to know. Sounds like anything, it takes a great deal of practice.

This is a great read and it contains beautiful pictures.

And here is one street photo from my trip.

A Street Photo shot of a Psychic as she tries to cool off on a hot New York summer day. Shot by Jason Hodges