Posts

We went to Tampa for a wedding…

I was in Tampa a few weekends ago for a wedding and went for a little walk.  Here’s what I found….

More later….ML

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Can you still swim?

Photo by Michael LoBiondo

at least they let you swim…

You get to the beach, you have your beach chairs, cooler, blankets, frisbee, lotion, radio (ipod with speakers?)…and you have to buy beach tags to play on the sand and all the other stuff has to go back in the car!  You can still swim and other….things (not on the sign! Besides, sand gets everywhere).  I remember the old days, where you could do all this and more as long as you were nice to your beach neighbors and picked up your trash (not on sign, either).

So have fun at the beach this holiday weekend.  The beaches are open, the water is still cool and the smell of the ocean is intoxicating.  Just make sure you pick up your trash and be home by dark:-)

More later….ML

Architectural Photography – Now’s the time

Photo by Michael LoBiondo Photography

Architectural Photography

We are doing a lot of Architectural Photography now and put together this little piece.  We’re always looking for an interesting angle to photograph when interpreting the architect’s design.  Also, shooting at dusk gives us a unique perspective on the building,the lighting and space around it.

It’s also great to photograph the architects, developers or designers.  We also photograph the real workmen/women on the job but that’s for another blog post.

ML

Architecture Photography-More Images of Nashville TN

Photo by Michael LoBiondo

Walking Bridge to Nashville

I wanted to post one more Architecture Photography image from my trip to Nashville TN from a few weeks ago.  Now that the rains have stopped and we can see blue sky again here in Charlotte.  This image does illustrate a point that you don’t always need perfect blue skies to get a great shot.

The other note on this image is that a few years ago, this river flooded…over the tops of the banks seen here in the background and up almost to the top where the bridge deck is.  Massive amounts of rain in a very short time.  I have other shots of this bridge and the city on Flickr and you can get a different look at the banks and imaging the water going over the bank and 2 blocks up into downtown.  We’re talking “Noah” time.

If you have seen my previous blogs you might notice that our website has changed.  There are a lot of people to thank for this and I will do so in later posts when we work out all the bugs.  Please leave me your comments and opinions of the site.

As I said, I have more shots of Nashville on my Flickr site even the ones I posted on Facebook while I was there.  Of course, a shout out to the Farm Bureau and all our local farmers.  Bring a kid to a farm.  Let them know their food doesn’t come from the grocery store but from the ground and a pig and a cow (just sayin’).

“…look at what the shadow does…”

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Photography by Michael LoBiondo specializing in people, corporate,industrial, and advertising.

Sometimes, the light just works for ya’!!  This is from an Annual Report shoot we did on an industrial location.  We shot a bunch of stuff with “regulation” eye wear so you could see the model and see where they’re eyes were looking.  There wasn’t any shadows on the papers and you could see all of his face.  After we got the shot the client liked in the can, I started to move him around so that the shadow coming through the paper started to become important.  I put him in sunglasses because I wanted to have the reflection of the paper and at the same time, NOT see his eyes.  Kind of an anonymous look. It also helped to bring the paper just high enough so you couldn’t recognize him. The paper became a big reflector to pump light back into his face so that he wouldn’t be in complete darkness.  Dramatic, playful, successful.  Keep looking!!

More later…

ML

Chairs by the seaside…

Photo by Michael LoBiondo

Chairs by the seaside..

I have this fascination with taking photographs where ordinary things we see everyday from angles or perspectives that you don’t ordinarily see.  These chairs are standing (sitting?) at attention like they are waiting for something to emerge from the ocean or the far horizon.  What are they thinking, what do they see?  Are they just at rest while waiting for the next person to sit on them or have they already done their job and enjoying the gaze of the sunset  and the peace of the ocean.  Do they hear the rustle of the breeze or the crashing of the waves?  Maybe they are just chairs in the grass!

More later…

ML

Red,White and Blue

I can never get enough of neon signs and marquees. Especially when the sign has been dark for many years and someone comes along and refurbishes a great theater like this.  This is the place where I saw Star Wars for the first time.  I was a senior in high school.  Do the math. In 1987, it closed down.  It had survived 50 years.  You can read more here.  A lot of businesses on the “avenue” closed down during that time and this small town in south jersey is very different from when I lived there.  But then again, what hasn’t!

In case you’re wondering, this was shot handheld with my old Canon G5 camera while I was resting against a lightpole.  I turned off the flash and just relaxed into the exposure.

More later…

ML

Luck or Patience…

Photo by Michael LoBiondo

Luck or Patience…

To quote a great golfer, “The more I practice, the luckier I get” (Lee Travino, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jerry Barber…who knows).  I use this to illustrate that what looks like luck is sometimes just patience.  It’s like when you “know” you have the shot in the camera.  The ability to wait for the right moment to click the shutter involves anticipation of what’s coming and having patience.

This image was for the Charlotte Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.  We were shooting simultaneously from this angle and 90degrees from this angle across the street.  Here’s the catch: we couldn’t have any people in the shot and there was a convention going on with over 10,000 people at the same time.  We weren’t allowed to approach anyone at the convention to ask them to move or to stop any flow of people leaving or entering the building.  Being a dusk shot, you only have a few minutes with the perfect light.  We had to wait until there wasn’t anyone on the sidewalk because post would have been difficult.  So we waited and watched.  It was like the place had a pulse…hundreds of people could be at the doors in seconds.  There are actually a bunch of people to the left of the frame.

We took MANY exposures and bracketed all along the way.  There was 1 perfect shot.  No people.  Post production for spotting and the usual stuff.

To see more of our architecture images, go HERE. If you have questions about any of our images, drop me a line and we will use it in a future post.

Was it “luck” or “patience”?

More later

ML

Cheap Hamburger, Anyone

PHoto by Michael LoBiondo

The Varsity in Gwinnett GA

Photo by Michael LoBiondo

The Varsity in Gwinnett GA

So, your north of Atlanta off I85, and you want a cheap hamburger but “not” a cheap hamburger.  I was there during my birthday late last month and picked The Varsity for 2 birthday meals.  It’s the most amazing cheap hamburger you can get.  Plus fabulous onion rings and scoop ice cream.

Your thinking, so what’s with the signs.  Well, I was able to go the The Varsity twice during my stay.  The first time the sky was beautiful blue with puffy clouds.  2 days later, a storm was moving in.  This became a simple exercise in “just because you shot it once, doesn’t mean your finished”.  Things change over time, some slower like rust on metal, some take a change in the weather.  AND, always have some way to create images with you at all times.  A sketch pad, notebook, camera phone (!!!). Doesn’t matter.  What’s important is SEEING….and of course, a great cheap hamburger!

More later

ML