I went to go visit a friend living in DC. We had an aboslute blast! Washington DC is one of the places where I first fell in love with photography, a decade ago. It was special to go back after all this time and take photos with a proper camera.
I love Idaho. It has some of the most gorgeous scenery on the planet! I was able to take a couple trips over the summer and here’s some of the shots!
I went to Hawaii to go help my sister have her baby. Part of going to Hawaii during COVID-19 was I signed a form saying I would stay locked down for 14 days. Let me tell you that was the longest two weeks of my life. Nothing is worse than seeing a tropical paradise and knowing you can’t go out side. Quarantine got so bad I started having dreams of running around outside. Once I completed my time the first thing I did was go outside and take photos. Here’s what I got.
On Monday March 16, 2020 I went out to take photos of Las Vegas. The pandemic panic had already started and there was no toilet paper to be found anywhere. Governor Sisolak hadn’t shut down the state yet but we all knew something big was going to happen. I figured it would be neat to document what it looked like before the pandemic took our country by storm. Enjoy.
The alleys around Fremont Street have all kinds of art. I saw these and felt like they were appropriate.
Fremont Street still had quite a few people, but not as many as it usually does.
The strip was really empty. There were hardly any people. Typically the sidewalks are full of people but there were small groups randomly. Traffic was still pretty normal. The next set of photos are all taken of the Bellagio.
All the high end stores were empty. They had no merchandise and were closed. It was wild to see so many empty shops.
More than half of the slot machines were out of order. I have never seen so many slot machines empty.
The Lobby was dead. There were no people. It is eerie to see a place full of people dead.
I think it is a common misconception that you need to be in some amazing place to take an amazing photo or even amazing photography equipment, but that’s not true. Although both those things help make it easier on a photographer with a little creativity and resourcefulness anything is possible. Water drops are one of my favorite things to photograph. They always look so beautiful and it was something that I really enjoy. Only problem was that I don’t have an external flash, but I decided to attempt the photos with my camera flash and it turned out!
So here’s the set up. Take a sheet of aluminum foil and place it on your counter. Then place a glass baking dish on top with water inside. Then fill up a zip lock bag with water. Find a way to attach the bag to something above the glass dish. I have upper cabinets so I used a string and had the bag dangle above the baking dish. pull on the bottom corner of the bag until water begins to drop. Use a pencil and place it where the water is dripping. This will help you find the right focus. Once you get your focus you no longer need the pencil. Make sure your camera is on a tripod and that you are using some sort of macro device (lens, tubes, filters). I had filters so I used them. I used the flash on my camera instead of an external flash, because I don’t own one.
In order to get the rainbow background I used some holographic tape. I taped it to a candle lid and propped it up against the glass dish. I then used a flashlight to light the tape so it would show the rainbow. Overall I think it turned out very well!
