Print sale.

I just sold one of the Piezography prints from the "Contemplative Landscape" to the New Mexico History Museum.

Lighting gear

Someone asked;

"How about just providing descriptions of all of the available equipment options that might get used for lighting control for architectural photography, and then some examples of kits that prominent APs bring for different purposes? I am not just talking about the lights themselves, but a complete description of the available tools of the trade and their uses."

I wish I had that broad of experience. But I have been using basically the same kit for 30 years-except I added Pocket Wizards a few years ago. I'm simply not qualified nor do I have the time to put together such a list. Also  the schools I teach at have basically similar equipment except different brands.

I use:
2 Norman 800w Power-packs
4 Norman 2000w Power-packs
8 heads
2 Canon Speedlights
maybe 8 light stands from floor to about 12" in height
numerous Light Disks for bouncing light
Numerous umbrellas for "throwing" the light
4 Lowell Tota Lights-halogen
2 Lowell Omni Lights-halogen
Gels to convert them to daylight
Black sheets for killing reflections and ambient light.
White sheets for filtering daylight
Full set of Pocket Wizards for slaving strobes
Traditional slaves and sync cord for back up

Contemplative Landscape

The Contemplative Landscape exhibit in Santa Fe opens to the general public on Sunday. It includes some of my B&W architectural photography. I hope to see you there! http://ow.ly/73UZ6

Going to the Miniatures show?

Going to the "Miniatures" show at the Albuquerque Museum? FWIW I can't make it this year-I have another opening same night in SF. The "Contemplative Landscape" show-http://ow.ly/6XOks

versatility.....

I've always had a very diverse photography career and sometimes it all seemed like two much. But in this economy I have really appreciated it. Versatility is demanded in this economy. This month in particular has reminded me of how diverse my career has been.

In my commercial still photography-this year I shot 6 of nine winners of the 2011 New Mexico AIA Design Awards and I just completed my first commercial architectural video.

Millenium Park in Chicago was just named one of the top 100 outdoor spaces in the US and Canada. I was one of 4 directors of videography who shot the faces for the Juame Plenza Crown Fountain. I did this as a side job while teaching photography in the summers at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

A new show of civil rights documentary photography opened in Salt Lake-I did the scans for photographer Maria Varelas contributions.

In terms of my b&w personal photography, this year I've had a one person show at a city owned gallery, a permanent installation of twelve images at a city owned conference room, a group show in San Francisco, and two more groups shows in New Mexico both opening on the 22nd, one at the Albuquerque Museum and the other at the New Mexico History Museum.

And just to top it all off, I've had two great interviews come out this month. One in El Palacio about my images in the Contemplative Landscape exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum and one on my commercial work on a popular blog.

Anyone trying to make a living out of photography? Spread your net widely.

Civil Rights exhibit in Salt Lake

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home2/52651497-183/rights-civil-movement-exhibit.html.csp

This should be well worth seeing. I had a little to do with it-I did the scans for photographer Maria Varela.

Critics and Designers Pick Their Favorite Public Spaces | Planetizen

Critics and Designers Pick Their Favorite Public Spaces | Planetizen

I have not visited all these spaces. I'll have to put many of them on my Bucket List. Actually i'm prejudiced as I have some involvement in the Chicago's Millenium Park. I was one of four directors of videography who shot the nearly 1000 faces for Juame Plensa's Crown Fountain.

The Isleta Project-My new architectural video..

The Isleta Project at the Pueblo of Isleta south of Albuquerque. Clients are RMKM Architecture, Jaynes Corporation and Pace Iron Works.

Why use T/S lenses for perspective correction instead of PS??

Here is the gospel from Rodenstock. It shows why you should use T/S lenses or a view camera rather than doing it in PhotoShop. It applies equally well with DSLR T/S lenses as it does with view camera movements.Perspective Correction in camera

INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER KIRK GITTINGS

INTERVIEW WITH ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER KIRK GITTINGS

New Superb Portfolio of Falling Water

Falling Water by Christopher Little.

Article in El Palacio

The new Fall issue of El Palacio has a nice little article by Mary Anne Redding ( the curator) about the "Contemplative Landscape" exhibit in Santa Fe with a large section on me, my history and my images. Check it out if you get a chance (you have to buy it).

Exposure on twilight shots

There are allot of methods out there on the web like relying on "civil twilight" tables. IME any method that does not take into account the actually brightness of a given building is going to run into problems.

I don't base my exposure on the sky. I base exposure on the lights in or on (or both) the building and then wait for the sky light level to dim to my target balance. The constant is the building lights so IME that is what an exposure should be based on.

The other issue is ones shooting direction at twilight. If one is shooting towards where the sun set, the sky is considerably brighter than if you are shooting away from it. The difference is about 1/2 hour for that sweet balance. Many times this allows us to do two or even three perfectly balanced twilight shots of the same building in the same night if we move fast, one looking east, one looking north or south and finally then one looking west (this assumes a building with even lighting on the sides we are photographing).

Another issue is clouds. I know from experience that when clouds are present the right balance is going to happen earlier and we need to setup earlier. Again the constant is the building lights we control that by our exposure. The sky light changes-we control that by when we shoot.

I make my living doing these shots. It is my bread and butter. I oftentimes have flown halfway acros the country and only have one night to pull these off so I can't rely on any method that is not rock solid. The biggest problem we face these days are sensored lights in offices-some are motion and some are thermally triggered. On few buildings is there a central over-ride. This means we have to have someone periodically moving through these spaces to keep the lights on. On one shoot recently in Reno we had 64 offices in two adjacent building over three floors with motion sensors. The lights would stay on from 2-3 minutes and there was no over-ride. We figured we needed 4-6 people running around just to keep these on. We couldn't do it. Our client was in Vegas and did not have personel to contribute in Reno. Fortunately it was a secondary twilight and not the important one of the front. Here is the project: DPS (I'm not happy with how tight some of these shots have been cropped but..........). Images number 1 and 6 show the problem side. You can't really see it because of the angles, but that is actually two buildings connected by a catwalk.

Solar array shoot.

Solar array at the Albuquerque Academy photographed for the manufacturer. The landscaping in the far foreground, leading up to the fence was recreated in PS. All that was there was bare dirt and a huge pile of tumble weeds against the fence. We pulled down the pile of tumbleweeds, photographed an appropriate piece of landscape nearby and painted it into the scene.

Images from the Rakco Opening

The show in San Francisco at Rayko
I'm in good company.....