Cosmoscope

My 16 year old son is a talented musician, sharing out his guitar playing duties between various different bands and playing gigs in the Atlanta area. We took the opportunity a couple of days ago to get some moody, rock-star, photographs at a construction site close to where we live. This is my favorite picture for the shoot...

On Saturday night, one of his bands - Cosmoscope - were playing a local Battle of the Bands contest. They were easily the best band of the night: a fact they proved by finishing first! Here's a couple of photographs of them in action...

Quito

We've recently returned from a few days in and around the beautiful city of Quito in Ecuador. This city has a bad reputation as a crime ridden and dangerous place to visit. It's nothing of the sort: certainly you're at no greater risk than any other large city and we didn't feel in the least threatened or in any danger during our stay.


Quito is about historic buildings and fantastic views. Here's one such, taken from the Basilica Del Voto..

It's also about the friendly and wonderful people. Yes, there are beggars and plenty of evidence of poverty but there are no aggressive street vendors, the markets are inviting and you're free to browse without being pestered. These two ladies let me take their photograph for a dollar each!

There are more of my photographs from Quito here.

Fall colors

About a 40 minutes drive away is the Sweetwater Creek country park. The woodland trail makes for a perfect walk on a cool and sunny autumn morning. Earlier in the day would have been better from a photography point of view but the trees act as a good filter and the colors at this time of year are excellent. Here's a shot of part of the old water mill ruins that are about a half mile down the trail from the car park..

The the trail meanders alongside a river and eventually leads out to a small waterfall. Here's a picture looking upstream, showing off the beautiful autumn colors..

Urban Atlanta

I got a few photographs of downtown Atlanta this afternoon. The area is actually just a few blocks from the famous Martin Luther memorial but it's a pretty run-down and neglected part of town.

Here's a shot from inside a road tunnel that passes under the rail tracks...

I'm a big fan of trains, so here's a picture of one!

Walking back to my car, a local cycle club passed by. Here they are passing by one of the graffiti'd local buildings..

More Mandroid Academy

A great shot of Alpharetta's very own Mandroid Academy taken outside the Masquarade last Sunday just before they hit the stage....

Sugar Hill Cars

We took advantage of the sunshine today and headed to a local classic car show.  The focus of the show was old VW's but there were also some beautifully preserved classics on display. Here's a couple of pictures...

Old cars weren't the only things on display...

Mandroid Academy at The Masquarade

The Masquarade is a decaying old mill close to downtown Atlanta that has been converted into the city's best rock music venue. It's still a decaying old mill that looks to be in danger of collapse at any moment but for the purposes of hosting the best in hard rock and heavy metal bands it's perfect: a fitting combination of grime, graffiti, and grunge...

Last Sunday night, Mandroid Academy (a band that includes my son, Christopher, on guitar) were on the bill opening for Swedish metal gods Sabaton. So, of course I took the opportunity to get some shots of the band in action...

The lighting was a challenge since the opening bands weren't afforded much use of the headlining band's rig: so all they got were some red spotlights. However, the venue has some excellent vantage points that made up for the awful light. I've desaturated most of the color from this shot and quite like the finished effect...

Here's one of the Ian, the vocalist, in full growl...

I also got some great pictures of the band together outside the venue before the show which I'll share some time later.

In the meantime, if you're a band in Atlanta looking for somebody to take some decent photographs for publicity or other purposes then drop me a line!

South Eastern Railway Museum

The South Eastern Railway Museum in Duluth near Atlanta contains a great collection of rusting, decaying, old rail cars. It's great for photography and I've made a number of visits to try out different lenses and techniques. 

These shots were taken today using a Sigma 70-300mm lens. The lens was a recent purchase from Amazon and while not as sharp as some as some of the high-end lenses that I've tried out it's great for getting in close to objects and also to nature; since trains are not the only things at the museum. My son spotted this grass-hoper and I used the macro setting on the lens and a manual focus to get in close to it...

The decaying rail cars have great texture and character. Hopefully some of that is captured in this next shot...

My favorite of all however, is this one...

Opeth in Atlanta

I harbor a secret desire to be a concert photographer. I've made a few attempts at various gigs played by my son's band and learnt that a) you need a good camera with a fast, wide open lens and b) you need to be standing in the right place. Since being in the audience will probably afford you neither of those requirements I gave up some time ago trying to take anything more than the odd snapshot with my little Samsung HZ10W at rock concerts. The low and dynamic lighting coupled with fast action makes getting good clear pictures a matter of luck at best. Here's a lucky shot from last night's Opeth concert in Atlanta. I got a few of the band but this is my shot of the night!

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo is a huge, sprawling city that I had but a few hours to explore so consequently only experienced a little of what it has to offer. There are plenty of warnings about how dangerous a city it is but downtown there are plenty of police and it felt safe enough. 

From a high vantage point the cityscape is almost Blade-Runner like in that it seems to go on forever. Here's a view from the Italia Building right in the heart of downtown:

Back on the ground the streets appear characterized by graffiti that appears in the most impossible of places. I quite liked this next shot...

I would love to see more of Sao Paulo and Brazil. Maybe next year..

Shanghai Shooting

Shanghai is a fascinating city to wander around. Night brings out the best character and I love the street scenes, especially where food is being prepared. This is one my favorite photographs from my recent travels.

Pictures of Sydney

I wanted to return from Sydney without the cliched photographs of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. In the end their photo appeal is such that I came back with plenty of both but at least they are my own!

Cafe in Paris

I figured that if I couldn't return from Paris with one or two decent photographs then I should probably choose a different hobby. There are more of my pictures from Paris on Smugmug..

First post to my photo blog

I love old cars and there are plenty of them around Atlanta where I live. I found this one down a side-street next to Freedom Park near Little Five Points.

This is the first post to my photo blog. I'm an "aspirational amateur" but I don't have time to mess around too much with the pictures that I take. If they need more than 10 minutes of messing around with in Photoshop then it probably wasn't that good a picture in the first place. This shot was taken with my trusty Nikon D5000 using a recently acquired Sigma 70:300 lens. I converted to B&W in photoshop and added a bit of tint. Done. I think the result is quite nice...