Up Your Alley (also known as Dore Alley) is an annual leather and fetish event in San Francisco, known as the little brother to the much-larger Folsom Street Fair. This is the second time I've gone there to photograph the day. The attendees are friendly, and without exception, happy to pose for portraits. This year, [...]
I see this topic discussed on photo forums from time to time: Can one make good portraits with a 28mm lens? The most open-minded respondents always say that you can make a good portrait with any focal length, and I agree. Maybe 85mm is perfect for head and shoulders shots, but, depending on the subject [...]
Along with the Embarcadero, North Beach in San Francisco is at the top of my list of places to go in the city for street photography. This past Sunday, I walked around for a few hours, and came across several people I had short conversations with before asking if I could take their photo—my standard [...]
I know the Tenderloin isn't the most photogenic, or safest, neighborhood in San Francisco. But it borders Civic Center, where I often go to photograph the government buildings and walk up and down Market Street. This past Sunday, instead of heading "down" to Market St., I headed "up" from Civic Center into the Tenderloin. I [...]
I've visited Martinez many times because it's close, the downtown is picturesque and uncrowded (especially on a Sunday afternoon), and all the picture-worthy sites are within walking distance of each other. Incorporated in 1876 (!), the town has lots of history (birthplace of Joe DiMaggio) and well-preserved historic buildings, like the John Muir National Historic [...]
Very early last Sunday morning, I walked to the end of Pier 14 in San Francisco. It's a good spot for capturing the city skyline, and I've done that many times. On that day, I found this young man with his guitar looking out at the bay. I liked the composition from behind, so I [...]
Walking along the Embarcadero last Sunday morning, I came to a small grassy area near the Cupid's Span sculpture. Dogs were playing on the grass, and one, a Vizsla, whose name, I found out later, is Lyra, was scouting for birds to chase. At the end of a low concrete wall, she was posing perfectly [...]
I had an "assignment" from a group of photographers I meet with to take three street portraits. I went to a couple of locations in the past few weeks, but didn't come away with any portraits I liked. In one case, I didn't get any at all. So I went to the Embarcadero in San [...]
I got many images I liked from this march, mainly because I learned some helpful lessons from shooting previous marches: If you can get in the middle of the march and walk backwards, shooting people's faces, the photos have a lot more impact than ones you get standing on the sidelines. A bigger or brighter [...]
I went into San Francisco late in the afternoon (3:30) last week to do some street photography. The challenge was trying to use my normal street settings in low light. I normally dial in f/11, 1/250s, Auto ISO, and focus at 6 feet on my 35mm lens—but very quickly, as the light disappeared, I had [...]