Tag Archives: Urban

Blue Hour at the Olympia

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Blue Hour at the Olympia by Chip Bunnell PhotographyMy summer has been extremely busy with out of town activities. I am truly grateful for each and every opportunity I have had and the amazing people I have met. From a smoked salmon vendor at a Helsinki farmer’s market, to the baker of incredible fresh French baguettes in Claude Monet’s home town, to a creative musician that uses his former baby shoe as a striker against a metal gas can to keep rhythm in WI, well, you can see what I mean. Each day I saw and each person I connected with, whether it be a new face or a familiar family member, left a lasting memory and added another line in the list of this adventure called “my life.”

Last Friday, my grand adventure brought me back to my home turf in South Florida. A photowalk in downtown Miami was set up to celebrate the arrival of a famous HDR photographer, Trey Ratcliff. While photography is typically a relatively solitary activity, this event brought together well over 50 phellow photographers (or is it ‘fellow fotographers’) to take on the night streets and all the urban scenes we could find.

One such place that caught my attention was the historic Olympia Theater. The older marquee still has its lights blazing brightly to announce its place on Flagler Street. The magic of “blue hour” gave a rich contrast to the yellow glow of surrounding street lights. I added energy and motion to the scene by capturing light trails from the passing cars. A single, slightly blurred pedestrian on the right cross walk introduced the human element. To me, this image represents not only the reality that others around me saw, but the surreal reality I envisioned that night.

Photo Stuff: Single frame, 4.3 second exposure on a tripod. Processed in LR and Topaz Adjust 5

www.ChipBunnell.com
©2015 All Rights Reserved

CA Capital at Sunrise

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CA State Capital at sunrise by Chip Bunnell Photography

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To me, there is no better time of day than sunrise. It is the start of the new dreams and all the slates are wiped clean from the previous. Mix in my city-boy roots and you have the love for photographying the streets on a weekend morning. Gone are the crowds of people and virtual parking lots of cars on the main roads. Calm and a brief feeling of openness fills the void. As an unpublished bonus, if you happen to look in just the right direction, at just the right time, you get a truly colorful treat in the urban sunrise sky.

A recent family trip took me to the state capital of California, Sacramento. With nothing more than a goal of seeing a unique bridge over the river and a GPS I headed out into the darkness. I was lucky to find a parking garage right across the street from the bridge with an empty spot right in the front – another bonus to photographing when most are fast asleep. As I stood at the corner waiting to cross, I looked to the right and then to the left (yes kids, look both ways before crossing the street) and saw one of the most amazing skies I have seen in years! From fiery reds to cool blues, it seemed as though a giant paint brush used just about every rich color in the pallet. The State Capital building stood as a brightly lit marker to draw my focus. I quickly positioned my tripod and made several frames from various angles, hoping that even a small piece of what I was witnessing could be captured.

Within a few short minutes the magical explosion of color faded and I moved on to my primary destination. Sometimes you are in just the right spot at the right time. That day I was, and that moment will live on in my archives to remind me of that powerful view.

Photo Stuff:  Single frame on a tripod, Processed in LR, PS and Topaz Adjust 5

www.ChipBunnell.com
©2015 All Rights Reserved