I'm so glad you found me! I'm a San Francisco photographer, and this blog charts my journey in the ever-evolving world of photography. One of the things I love about photography is that it's a journey, not a destination. I'm constantly learning and meeting wonderful people. Please peruse the blog to your heart's content, then check out my website and feel free to contact me! (I love hearing from you.)

“Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow." – Imogen Cunningham

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.” – Edward Steichen

Anatomy of An Image, Week 5

Someone was watching Citizen Kane the other day (hello Andrew!) and there is nothing that this picture makes me think of more than Orson Welles, even though it's in color. Except there's no sleigh named Rosebud. (Which, I'm sorry, he should have just gotten over. No need to be so fixated on a childhood toy.) And because I took it tonight and I'm kind of just really digging all that blackness, it has qualified for week 5.

So, Basics
Lens: my broken but still kinda works 50mm f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm, duh :-)
Aperture: f/13 (to get the light to do that cool star-thing)
Shutter Speed: 1/8 of a second (I had to hold my breath and practice being a tripod. But I do this so often I'm practically collapsible by now.)
Magic Ingredient: The guy who decided to sit down outside in the midst of my shooting, with the awesome hat. You made the shot, dude! Many thanks.

The Story
I decided to take the bus tonight instead of walking because it was raining. Thanks to daylight savings time it was pretty dark at six o'clock as I was waiting for the bus. I was standing at the stop thinking how pretty all the reflections from the rain were and how I just wished I could find a good subject while I waited so I could take a few shots, and then I spied the cafe across the street. I took a few shots with a wide aperture, just to get a sharp shot, and then I decided that I really wanted the starburst effect so I stopped down to f/13 to get it and just prayed that I could be still enough to capture a sharp image.

Then the man in the hat walked out and sat down and I just thanked whatever gods there are and prayed even harder for a sharp enough picture. Seems like it worked!