This is the first part of my long exposure work. It’s just me, my camera, and my skateboard for the majority of them. Lots of late night adventures, and lots of meaning. So much to see, so stay awhile and look around. I promise it’s worth it.
The chain link fence at first, was an annoyance. Now, I see it as an element. I could say what I think it represents, but this is art, and art is always up for interpretation. Think about it.
When I first started out doing long exposure work, I focused on the colors. This was me trying to focus less on colors, and more on the image itself.
I didn’t invent this technique, but I did come up with it on my own. I’d never heard of it before, but realized it would be possible. After a lot of playing around, I finally nailed it.
This image always struck me. The pose I took, the trail in the background, the single yellow gaze of the iconic sodium lamps that are ubiquitous here. I like to think that this guy missed the last bus out, and now he’s just waiting, but he doesn’t know why. Yes, that is me, but that’s also decidedly not me, if you get my drift.
More ghosting, black and white. Takes away the color, leaves the focus on me, fading away, but still so much here, existing.
This was an interesting effect. The sky being so black caused my upper body to appear solid, as there was really no light coming in from that area, but where my legs are is where there was backlighting, causing a more pronouced ghosting effect.
Also fun fact: This image freaked my mother out so much when she saw how I took it.
These ghosting images are really some of my most powerful shots. So much told in one image, so much up for interpretation. What’s the story here? Did he get left here? Is he waiting for someone who’ll never come? How did he get here? All up to you. Let your mind run wild.
This was an experiment in cloning. Turns out the same ghosting tricks I used can also be used to make multiple versions of me.
Happy times, now. This was a fireworks show, and I love how these images came out. Never been quite able to capture something like this again.
The next few images were shot at the Golden Gate bridge, around sunrise. That was a fun shoot, though being up that early was torture. Anything for the shot, I keep telling myself. From riding an ATV up a hill as the sun sets to hauling myself out of bed at 3 AM for some sunrise pics, I’ll go anywhere, do anything, just to get the one shot.