Welcome to the Essential Light Photography Blog By Jim Sabiston






Thursday, June 3, 2010

It's Show Time!

This weekend is the first outdoor show of the season and we are busy, busy, busy getting ready. Posts may get a little less regular as the next month is pretty solidly booked with shows in various towns on Long Island. Stop by the News and Events page on the main web site for the upcoming show shedule.

In the meantime I will share a few recent images. First up, is a study of an interesting brownstone detail on 38th Street in Manhattan:

(click images to enlarge)
This is one of those little surprises that hit you when you least expect it and why it pays to carry a pocket camera at all times. I've walked by this spot literally hundreds of times and for some reason, on this particular morning, the light, the details, the textures all just clicked. I used the Canon G9, which spends a good part of its life in my briefcase, on full manual and no flash. Something about the way the G9 works responds really well to texture style sharpening with images like this.

Another example of the value of always being prepared to capture a surprise opportunity is this little study taken during my niece's wedding. We were waiting just outside the country club's bar (is a bar in a country club still called a 'bar'?) when the play of light around these empty wire frame tables and chairs caught my eye:


The graphic shadows of the wire mesh and legs were fascinating. Here I put the Canon G9 to work once again, stashed in my jacket pocket. Settings were manual with no flash. as usual.

One more shot, recently dug up during a review of old files, is this unusual little number. Taken during a mid-day visit to Argyle Park during a snowy, cold winter day, this shot is a very subtle graphic study. I was taken by the potential in the way the flat, gray light reflected off the surface texture of the moving water contrasted against the frozen water and the snow covered bank. Getting the composition 'just so' is critical in an image like this if all the broad forms are to work together.


As I was out scoping potential subjects, on this day I was equipped with one of my pro cameras, the Canon 5D. The lens was the standard 24-105mm and a tripod was used, along with a polarizing filter to control the amount of reflection off the water's surface.

Thanks for visiting. Back to running prints for the upcoming shows. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by!