There’s some debate in the Wong household about who took this photo. I claim that I took it. Everyone else says that Nathan did.
Regardless, it’s one of my favorites and it’s one of the few photos that I’ve had printed big. We have this in a 24×36 inch canvas hanging in–wait for it–Nathan’s room.
We were out for a walk along the East Bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It was late in the afternoon and the light was hitting the water perfectly when I noticed the reflections. It was then that Mike/Nathan took this.
Digging deep into my library on this one. This is from a trip to Ft. Lauderdale (albeit many years after I would have been eligible to attend a Spring Break party) to present at a Kelby Training event.
I had a high floor room at the Westin right on the ocean and on that morning, I woke up very early due to the travel. When I went to the window, this is what I saw. I quickly grabbed my camera and went out on the balcony. This was my favorite shot of the bunch.
I went back and looked at some of the other experimental photos I took in Malibu a few weeks ago and found this one.
Before processing it to black and white, I wasn’t that thrilled with it, but after working it in Lightroom and Photoshop a little bit, I’m finding that I like it more and more.
The dark black band above the rock is a wave coming in that hasn’t broken over yet. Contrasting this to the long exposure of the waves in around the rock, the incoming water looks like a wall.
Perhaps the best lesson for me on this trip was to learn how to shoot with the circumstances you’re given. The sky was completely overcast on this day and there wasn’t a trace of the typical blue sky that you normally get along this stretch of the coast. I remember thinking as I shot this series was that this otherwise bland sky would look great in black and white, assuming I could get the foreground elements to contrast the lighter sky.
The more I go back and look at this one, the more I like it. I hope you enjoy it as well.
The third black and white water photo from my most recent visit to Venice Beach.