Downtown Lens

Downtown Lens: Depth of Field

By Dave Bullock — October 06, 2008

Dave Bullock

|Photo Gallery| In photography just as in life, it's important to pick up the signal above the noise. To do this in photography you have to find a way to isolate your subject from the background. In this edition of Downtown Lens, I'll teach you the basics of depth of field and how to manipulate it in camera by adjusting your aperture. — Continued Inside...

Downtown Lens: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Part 3 -- Processing

By Dave Bullock — September 25, 2008
2 Comments

Griffith Park Fire and Downtown Los Angeles from 7th Street Bridge

What your eye sees is not always what your camera captures. Your camera’s dynamic range, the level of tones it can capture, is much narrower than what nature presents. High Dynamic Range photography allows you to capture a view that more closely mimics real life. The real magic happens not in the camera, but in the computer.

Downtown Lens: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Part 2 -- Multiple Exposures

By Dave Bullock — September 14, 2008

What your eye sees is not always what your camera captures. Your camera's dynamic range, the level of tones it can capture, is much narrower than what nature presents. High Dynamic Range photography allows you to capture a view that more closely mimics real life. To do so, you need to take multiple exposures of the same scene.

Downtown Lens: High Dynamic Range (HDR) Part 1 -- Camera and Tripod

By Dave Bullock — September 11, 2008
1 Comment

6th Street Bridge and Downtown Los Angeles

For those new -- or not so new -- to photography, it can be quite frustrating to take a picture and find that what looks like a perfect scene simply doesn't show up in the camera. This happens because the human eye is able to record a much wider dynamic range than is your camera. High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography helps to bridge that gap.

Downtown Lens: Your Right to Photograph

By Dave Bullock — August 31, 2008
11 Comments

As a photographer you have certain rights that permit you to take photographs in public places. Frequently, security guards and other people will tell you that you can't take a photograph. If you're standing on a sidewalk or in the street, they are wrong. I have often been accosted by overzealous, uninformed and incorrect rent-a-cops when taking pictures of...

Downtown Lens: Beautiful People

By Dave Bullock — August 24, 2008
7 Comments

Every day of year the streets of Downtown Los Angeles are packed with people of all types, shapes and sizes. Each one of them has their own unique beauty. Most would love to have their picture taken. There are two options for taking photos in public. You can either take the picture without asking or ask and then shoot. Both of these methods can give good...

Downtown Lens: Rule of Thirds

By Dave Bullock — August 17, 2008 — 2 Comments

Dave Bullock

|Photo Gallery| Good composition is one of the key elements to making a good photograph. Great photos aren't just about what's in view, but also how the shot is arranged. One simple technique that anyone can understand and master is the rule of thirds.

Using the rule of thirds is easy. When you look through your viewfinder, picture an overlay in the form of a tic-tac-toe board -- two equally spaced lines perpendicular to two more equally spaced lines. — Continued Inside...

Downtown Lens: One Man's Trash

By Dave Bullock — August 03, 2008

Downtown Los Angeles has no shortage of trash. We commonly see it piled high on street corners and in front of businesses as the day ends. These piles exist for a number of reasons, many of them not quite proper -- illegal dumping was a topic at City Hall this week. Normally when I see a pile of boxes and shipping material I don't think too much of it. Sometimes...

Downtown Lens: Just Be There

By Dave Bullock — July 27, 2008 — 4 Comments

Dave Bullock

Downtown Los Angeles is always ready for its close-up. If you count the movies filmed (on a per-frame basis) Downtown is probably the most frequently photographed location in the world.

One of my favorite pastimes is walking randomly through Downtown with my camera at the ready. Having a camera hanging over my shoulder inspires me to notice visually interesting things that I otherwise might ignore. — Continued Inside...