On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
A few weeks ago I posted pictures from a #streetmeetla photo shoot down in San Pedro. Well, they had another one, this time at San Gabriel Valley Airport in El Monte. The theme was VW’s and airplanes(being that it was at an airport, kinda makes sense). I drove alone since I didn’t hear anything from my colleague, but just after I arrived, he showed up with a model I’d shot a couple of times before. Quite a few photographer brought their own lighting equipment, but being that it was outdoors(and I don’t have any), I just had my cameras. Basically the way this shoot worked it that the models(there were both male and female models) would stand by a plane or a VW and do their thing and the photographers would snap away. I think I got some really good pictures at this shoot. After the shoot I started home and figured I’d stop by Mission San Gabriel since it was close by and the IR pictures I shoot 3 years ago sucked. I headed home from the mission fed and walked my girls and then it was off to The Huntington for their evening strolls for members.
On a personal note:
This will be my second to last regular post here at ‘On The Road’, I had hoped to supplement my income by selling my pictures but I’ve only had 3 sales. I’ll close up BillinGlendale.com next April(I think I’m paid up though then) and get regular employment. I’d like to thank all of you for your kind comments and encouragement. My next and last submission will be a good one, stay tuned.
Taken on 2019-07-28 00:00:00
San Gabriel Valley Airport
I had photographed this model earlier in the shoot sitting in a VW bus. She moved out to where the airplanes were and I took a few more pictures. This picture differs from others in it’s processing. I used a color Lookup Table. Color Lookup Tables(LUT) map the colors in a photo to other colors to give a specific feel to the photo, in this case I used a LUT the mimics Kodachrome film. As Paul Simon noted, it makes all the world a sunny day, and is pretty saturated. It made her skin a bit too saturated so I removed it for the areas where her skin was showing and left it on the rest of the photo.
Taken on 2019-07-28 00:00:00
San Gabriel Valley Airport
This model arrived about half way though the shoot, in fact I saw her arrive when I went to my car for a break. She posed in a green VW Bug. I took this shot though the windshield and the RAW shot had quite a bit of glare, some of which you can still see in the processed photo. While I liked the pose, I almost didn’t even process this shot due to the glare. When I did attempt to process it it(bringing out the full dynamic range and applying haze reduction), I found that the glare added almost a dreamy look to face. She had an abrasion on her right elbow that I removed in Photoshop.
Taken on 2019-07-28 00:00:00
San Gabriel Valley Airport
This model also arrived late in the shoot. She posed with another model next to this airplane and the by herself. You can see the San Gabriel Mountains in the background of this shot. One other photographer posted his shot of this young lady in the #streetmeetla Instagram page and I felt that he smoothed her skin so much that she looked like a robot and it seems to me also lightened her skin tone. His photo as taken in full sun and possibly with additional light(flash), so that might account for it. Skin smoothing us useful, but needs to be used sparingly and you should never remove tats or lighten skin tone.
Taken on 2019-07-28 00:00:00
San Gabriel, CA
Driving from the airfield back to the cave, I decided to stop at Mission San Gabriel since it was only a bit out of the way. I have some of my favorite photos in a slideshow as wallpaper on my PC. The day prior to this shoot an IR photo of the mission came up on my screen and it was awful. I took it 3 years ago when I first visited the mission. Since I had my IR camera and we had some nice clouds in the sky, it made sense to stop by the mission for a re-shoot. This photo was taken at the same spot that I’d taken the shot 3 years earlier. As is my procedure now, I took two shots: one with my IR camera and one with my regular camera. I then combined the two shots(with a lot of processing in the mean time on Photoshop).
Taken on 2019-07-28 00:00:00
The Huntington, San Marino, CA
After my return from the airport and mission, I processed some of my photos and fed and walked my girls. Then it was off to the Huntington for the Evening Stroll. My goal was to attempt to get a good sunset in the Chinese Garden. I spent most of my time between the Chinese and Japanese gardens making sure to be in the Chinese Garden for sunset and the garden’s closing. While the clouds had dissipated from earlier in the day, there were still sufficient cloud cover to provide a colorful sunset. This shot is the combined result of 5 shots taken with exposure bracketing and processed with HDR software.
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
p.a.
First photo looks like the yellow of a piper cub, but the plane seems oversized to be one.
Thanks for all your posts; sorry the business part didn’t work out.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@p.a.: Thanks.
JPL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’ve enjoyed your work and thank you for sharing your photos with us.
Rob
I’ve enjoyed your work too, and I’m bummed that the business didn’t work out.
rikyrah
People pictures from Bill?
Your talent ??
Great pictures ??
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Thanks.
@Rob: Thanks. It’s not just that sales were less that I’d like, I’ve come to the conclusion that people don’t buy pictures, but my costs have increased dramatically over the past 2 years. My rent has increased almost 30% and that is what is really driving my change in direction.
@rikyrah: Thanks, I’ve been trying to learn to do portraits. I started out pretty much only doing landscapes(you don’t have to pay the landscape). One of the reasons I joined the local meetup was to get some experience shooting people. This second meetup(StreetmeetLA) provides even a lower cost way to shoot people(this shoot was actually free).
No models in my last post(I just submitted it), just IR and stars.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Beautiful photos as always.
I have a photographer friend in England who takes pictures of landscapes, etc. I’ve bought a couple of his prints, but there’s only so much space available on the wall, and they can get spendy when they’re framed.
It’s a tough business. :-(
I assume it’s extremely tough to make money in the “stock photo” business as well. :-(
I hope you find your niche soon. Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: Yeah, I was thinking about that in light of my meager sales, there’s only so much space on a wall. I’m pretty much giving up on photography.
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Hey, don’t give up. Maybe take a brief break, or maybe try other things. You’re a great talent, and great at explaining what you’re doing and why.
Henry Ford failed 2-3 times in the car business before Ford Motor Company succeeded. ;-) You’ll find your niche. Keep slugging away.
Cheers,
Scott.
arrieve
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Bill, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re giving up on photography. Your pictures have brought me so much pleasure, and ideas on how to improve my own pictures. It’s next to impossible to make a business out of it anymore, so it’s basically just going to be a very expensive hobby for the majority of us who love to take pictures. But I do hope you’ll find a way to keep taking pictures, if only occasionally, and share some of the best ones with your friends here.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott:
@arrieve:Thanks, I’m happy that y’all like my work, I think it’s improved quite a bit in the past 6 months(the kid said as much on Saturday). It may just be an expensive hobby, though I may have to sell my cameras to stay afloat in the short term. I’m just very sad.
Steve in the ATL
The girl in the third pic is Gina, right?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Heh, you tell me. You know Gina.
J R in WV
Bill, I’m sorry you couldn’t make a go of a photo business. I did a little commercial work back when it was film and chemicals, and quit because clients were inclined to pick my least favorite slides. It was totally subjective.
I hope you can maintain it as a hobby, if you care to. Your work has visibly improved over the period you have been posting here, to the point where I’m really impressed.
Amir Khalid
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Sorry thephotography hasn’t panned out as you hoped. I hope you manage to avoid selling the gear. That would indeed be a shame.
CaseyL
Your photos are beautiful, and thoughtful, and I’ve enjoyed your commentary on them.
I’m so sorry you have to close down, to the point of selling your cameras. I’m sure you’ve thought about this, but if not: could you do a sideline in teaching photography? The techniques you’ve described might be useful for people who take scientific or technical photographs. (I don’t know how big a market that would be; probably rather small.) Maybe high-end real estate or fashion photography?
Steve in the ATL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: have you tried taking photos of tricycles? I’ve seen those sell for small fortunes.
Tehanu
Gorgeous pix! Please don’t give it up entirely.
West of the Rockies
You are genuinely talented, Bill. I also hope you keep being a shutter bug, if only to nurture your soul.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: I’d like to keep it up as a hobby, but even that is looking increasing slim.
@Amir Khalid: Selling my cameras is looking like an increasing likelihood.
@CaseyL: My primary concentration early on was landscapes and I’ve moved to doing quite a bit of landscape astrophotography in the past few years. I’ve not had the opportunity until recently to do much in the way of photographing people. It’s a different skill set(people move alot).
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steve in the ATL: Thank you! I think I’ve finally found a way out of my jam.
@Tehanu: Thanks, I don’t see much of an alternative moving foreward.
@West of the Rockies: Thanks, I guess there’s always my cell phone camera.
I’ll explain in a bit more detail what’s happening that’s lead to this decision. I mentioned the rent hike. I am on an early distribution of my 401k and had to decide about 3 years ago what that distribution would be. I put in wiggle room for rent hikes, but not for the 40% rent hike that’s happened over that timespan and I can’t increase the distribution without getting screwed by taxes. I’ve looked into moving, I have two dogs and that narrows the list of alternative housing about 95% and even if the rent is cheaper I’d still have to pay additional for my babies(they’re both about 13). I’ve lived here 9 years and when I contemplate moving I just look around and start to cry(it could just be dust in the room). Right now I have a yard out front for the girls and a doggie door in back, they and I will require quite a bit of an adjustment for a new regime especially if I’m not at home as much as I am now. The real kicker is that in addition of the monthly rent hike, the landlord(they just bought the place) has raised the deposit to the same level as the new rent, the previous landlord had never raised the deposit when he had increased the rent in the past. So, not only do I have an unplanned monthly rent hike, I also have to come of with an addition $540 to cover the hike in the security deposit. The rent hike is why I’m giving up photography as a full time gig, the deposit increase is why I’m thinking of selling my stuff.
Sorry for the long rant, I just thought I’d take out some of the mystery
Debbie(Aussie)
I so sorry Bill. Sometimes life sucks. I so hope you can find a way supplement your current income without having to give up your cameras. Absolutely love your work, particularly the Huntington ones. Best wishes.