downtown orlando

August 25, 2010August 25, 2010

Downtown Orlando North

Not quite as interesting as pointing towards the more busy side of downtown, but another view of downtown which includes the Bank of America building. The bright vein that runs through the middle of the city scape is interstate 4. It represents the busiest and ever expanding artery in the Central Florida area. On the other side of it is the out dated Orlando Arena or also known as the TD Waterhouse Arena, which is where the Orlando Magic play.

Eventually I imagine as long as the Orlando area continues to keep growing, this area will also be filled with large multibillion dollar buildings such as the one I’m standing on for this picture.

This was taken on top of the Dynetech Building downtown on the 29th floor. Used a f/10 with a tripod.

August 20, 2010

Overlooking downtown, is a great view from the 29th floor of the Dynetech Centre. This marvelous building is a mix of business and home to 164 luxury apartments.

After some experimentation, what worked for me best was a f10 stop with a few seconds of exposure time.

I also learned first hand, that cheap $35 tripods are not adequate enough for the weight of a DSLR. The Nikon D90 is 1.5 lbs, and the Nikkor 18-200mm lens is 1.2 lbs so the camera ends up being roughly 3 lbs. A cheap tripod you pick up at your local mega retail store is fine for maybe a pocket size point & shoot or perhaps even for your kids to use around the house for setting a repel tower for their GI Joes.

My style is to shoot low, so I’ve never extend the tripod to clear a guard rail before. Atop a 29 story building, the wind adds a new ingredient to the challenge of getting a concise clear shot that a small aperture and longer shutter speed. These tripods simply are not made to handle the weight of the camera, it nearly felt like it was going to fall over with the extended weight of the lens and was excessively wobbly. The only successful shots were from collapsing the tripod and mounting it on a portion of the roof that had a deep low wall top.

Taking it all into consideration, it does not make sense to use a cheap $35 tripod with a $2500 camera. It is no different than buying a fantastic $1500 lens and defeating how awesome it is by using a cheap $20 filter. Lesson learned.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-200mm VR2

August 17, 2010January 11, 2015

Bank Owned

Anyone who is going through turmoil as a result of an unstable economy or even a financial situation should feel like what this picture exemplifies. Most Americans rely on banks to provide things that we would normally not be able to afford on our own. Through that, they rely on a great source of income. Those who have lost that source of income, are now faced with the heavy burden of handling the finances for investments that at one time were a “sure bet”. The bank, alone is a master standing tall over you, thirsting for your pittance in return for your freedom to continue on until the next time it is demanded from you.

Some people, never wake up from being slaves to this financial institution. Most people are so blinded by consumerism and keeping up with their neighbors, they gladly give up their financial freedom to give off the illusion of status.

The bible states Proverbs 22:7, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” There is no doubt that debt can take over the choices you have in life. The more you have the more it limits those choices.

About the photo

I managed to make my way to downtown Orlando to work on night photography. I love going downtown because it is busy with life, lights and architecture. With this shot, we managed to scale an open parking garage at the base of the BB&T building. Unfortunately, due to the high wall surrounding this particular parking garage, we became limited with our options. Framing up shots with the wall in the way without having a low building perspective was not easy. However, I figured I would take advantage of that perspective and shoot this building from the bottom up. Other than some slight contrast updates this picture is right out of the camera.

I took this picture with my Nikon D90 mounted on a tripod with a remote release.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-200mm VR2