I'm starting a "Photo of the Week" section of my blog, to display an image, describe how I shot it, and what my thought process start to finish - here's my first:
USA: Nevada: Clark County: Las Vegas: Visitors watch the amazing Bellagio water show at night along Las Vegas Boulevard
This image was part of a week-long assignment to capture Las Vegas for a photo essay for Endless Vacation magazine. I prepared the job by contacting dozens of casinos and resorts, acquiring permission to photograph on various properties, submitting my million dollar liability insurance (which is required for many different types of photo shoots, especially resorts, casinos, and large corporations), then driving from the San Francisco Bay Area to Las Vegas (just to lug more gear without the airport hassle since I was on my own for the week).
This evening I went out with my Fuji 680 III camera, a bulky medium format beast that I love, with a large tripod and walked along the Strip. I shot many angles of the Bellagio water show but this one was one of my favorites. The first thought I had while finding a spot to shoot was incorporating all the elements of the show- the water, the glow at night, Bellagio Hotel and Casino, and the visitors gathering around to watch it. I backlit the entire scene using the tree to help frame my composition hoping it would be outlined by some of the high shooting water. I metered the front facade of the building to get a reference, took other meter readings around the scene, and used my best guestimate for the shot (shooting film, I wouldn't see my results until a week later).
Once I receiving the film and picked my top selects, I scanned them in my with Nikon CoolScan 8000 (not available any more- today they make the CoolScan 9000, they turned digital in a 300MB file, and a tiny bit more detail was pulled out to stretch the contrast ratio to fit what I saw - for the most part, 99% of what you see is in the film.
My editors thankfully loved the shots I captured that week. It ran as a cover story and feature spread, and some of the work now rests in my files as well as my stock agency's files. I'll be back in Vegas in March to capture new images of the ever-changing resort city.
When it comes to digital photography, exposure, technical details, and photographer theories, many feel you simply can't lose your highlights in the shot - you can't cut them off on your histogram, have 'blinkies' (showing you in your digital image where the detail is lost) etc, etc. I don't necessarily believe for all instances. To me, photography is also about capturing mood, a feel, a glow, a moment, the heart of something - that's when technical aspects are important but throw out a bit- it's about the final image.
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