12 replies to this topic

[bclaridge]

I just bought me a new camera, so I had to take advantage of this beautiful weather! ☀️

I'm by no means a photography expert, as there's still a lot I have to learn. In terms of gear, I used my new Canon R8, plus the RF 50mm F1.8 STM lens. The lack of stabilization in this combination concerned me for the night shots, but the wide aperture has its benefits over my kit lens (despite the kit lens having optical stabilization).

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With that caveat out of the way, enjoy the pictures. I took these pictures on January 29, 2024 (the very day I received my R8):



















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I took this next image on January 30, 2024. I have many more pictures from that day, but I need to sort through them and add my watermark.

[TLA]

Lovely photos, thanks for sharing. I particularly like the shots of the Grace and UMB signage.

[bclaridge]

TLA, I appreciate your feedback a lot.

How about another round of pictures?

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I took this first picture this morning, January 31, 2024:

 

 

Also from this morning. I'll admit it was a little bit risky to take this, but it was 8am and nothing was open. This is a (heavily-edited) picture of University Park Village:

Those who know me know that White House Black Market is my favorite clothing brand, and that I enjoy wearing their clothes. The store manager, Tina, along with the rest of her team, have been extremely helpful in shaping my style.

Time to go up to the West 7th area:



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Let's go back to downtown. These shots are from January 30, 2024:

 

 

 

[Austin55]

Nice shots! The "ghost" sign on Westbrook is interesting. The weathering on that building has really made it look mature and blended in with the rest of downtown. 

[John T Roberts]

Nice photos.  I appreciate you contributing your pictures here on the forum.

[bclaridge]

Nice shots! The "ghost" sign on Westbrook is interesting. The weathering on that building has really made it look mature and blended in with the rest of downtown. 

The architecture of The Westbrook itself also helps it to blend in. Those art deco features can definitely make you forget that you're looking at a building that is just over a decade old (completed in 2013).

Any labelscar ("ghost" sign) is fascinating, in my opinion. I know my picture of The Westbrook's WHBM labelscar might be a little hard to make out, but that's a good reason why I posted the image of University Park Village that I posted afterwards. Interesting fact: the WHBM logo still (partially) exists under that white plastic covering on the corner of 3rd/Houston. I'll link to a post I made in the Sundance Square thread about it. That post isn't just about the former Sundance WHBM, but the history of WHBM more broadly.
 

 

Nice photos.  I appreciate you contributing your pictures here on the forum.

You're definitely welcome!

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While not Fort Worth, I went and took some pictures at Southlake Town Square. I took all of these pictures on February 1, 2024:











Aritzia is my other favorite women's clothing store. I simply love the lighting details on their store in Southlake! The design inside is also gorgeous, although I didn't want to risk pointing my camera into their store.

Fun fact: Aritzia's fitting rooms lack private mirrors. You actually have to come out of your fitting room to a set of communal mirrors to see the clothes you try on (although there is usually one room with a private mirror; some people have been known to use their front-facing smartphone cameras as a makeshift mirror). Despite being a trans woman, I don't mind their fitting room setup, not to mention that Aritzia sales associates have always been friendly to me. I prefer their NorthPark Center store in Dallas, because it's about twice as large as the Southlake location.

This is how it looked for me to try on clothes at the NorthPark Aritzia.

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These next pictures are also of Southlake Town Square, although I think there were a few more quality issues with them:







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Finally, on my drive up to Southlake, I managed to get these shots of State Highway 170 in far north Fort Worth. The freeway is not yet open, but its opening day looks very near. The first picture looks west from the future Westport Parkway overpass:




Looking east from the Beach Street overpass:



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I hope you enjoyed my latest photo post!
 

[bclaridge]

I'm back!

I finally started experimenting with RAW files and working on my editing skills. Take a look at this photo of the White Settlement Road Panther Island bridge at sunset:

[Austin55]

RAW files are the way to go for less than stellar lighting! Nice shot. 

[bclaridge]

I think this image is the perfect embodiment of spring in Texas. Bluebonnets and stormy skies define our spring season.

The biggest issue I have with this image is the out-of-focus Fort Worth skyline, but it's not the main focus of this picture, either.

 

[John T Roberts]

On my DSLR, I shoot everything with the RAW format.  On my cell, I only shoot nighttime photos with RAW.

 

You have taken more nice photos to add to your collection.

[bclaridge]

On my DSLR, I shoot everything with the RAW format.  On my cell, I only shoot nighttime photos with RAW.

 

You have taken more nice photos to add to your collection.

Thank you! I know my skills are definitely improving; this has been a "learn-as-I-go" endeavor. First I started with my shooting skills, now I'm starting to work on my editing skills.

I currently use RawTherapee to edit my RAW files. I'm debating on getting either a Lightroom or Capture One subscription, although I find the open-source RawTherapee more than sufficient right now.

Speaking of cameras, I'm on a full-frame mirrorless camera body (Canon R8) as mentioned in my first post. Sometimes I wish I got a DSLR instead for better battery life, but I love the small size of the R8. Put on a small prime lens such as the RF 50mm F1.8 STM and it is fairly compact.

I just wish I had a telephoto lens with the total solar eclipse coming up, but I'm pretty short on funds right now. With my birthday coming up on April 11th I had thought about asking my family for an early birthday present, but they have other things they need to spend money on (car repairs mainly). While there are plenty of other use cases for a telephoto lens, there's no guarantee that skies will be clear on April 8th, so I don't want to invest in such a lens right now if I can wait. The RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM seems to be the most affordable telephoto option out there for RF-mount that would give me just enough reach; even 400mm probably isn't ideal reach on a full-frame camera (if I were on APS-C it would be, but APS-C has worse low-light performance due to the smaller sensor). I'll probably make do with a wide-angle totality shot of some sort using my RF 24-50mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM kit lens, but with the eclipse going to be high in the sky at around 1:40pm, wide-angle shots are less than ideal compared to an eclipse taking place closer to sunrise or sunset. I had thought about solar filters too, but I know those need to be removed during the phase of totality for the ideal shot. There are also mirror (catadioptric) lenses, but I'd need to buy an RF-to-EF converter as all of those seem to be EF-mount; photo quality is lower and there is the donut bokeh effect to consider on some types of shots too (which I'd love to use for artistic effect). There's also the TTArtisan 500mm f/6.3 manual-focus telephoto prime I might consider (it's available for RF-mount), if I could get one shipped in time.

[bclaridge]

How about another night shot?

I love my night shots, but I'm not really going to have opportunities to take any more for quite some time, with sunset now after 8pm (and my latest free time, on those days I'm free, being around 8pm). These two from the end of March will have to do for now.

I also have a new watermark and branding I'm using here too:

 

[John T Roberts]

Very nice.  I like the one on Commerce Street the best.