California Trip - February

August 03, 2020

In February I went to California to road-trip and explore the National Parks as I enjoy them a lot. Their unique beauty brings something different every time I photograph them. I also wanted to go and have a chance at photographing the “Firefalls” in Yosemite, but Yosemite ended up being too dry. So upon finding out Yosemite was dry and had no snow I decided to leave the next day and go down to Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks 7 hours away. Before that though I decided to photograph stars the night before and then sunrise in Upon arriving to those parks as I needed to adjust my plan I quickly found locations to shoot while getting lunch on the way down. I then improvised and was able to photograph these locations in the light conditions I hoped for with the weather that was given. Of course I woke up for sunrise, in these locations and stars every night that the weather allowed. After visiting Death Valley and Joshua Tree I decided to drive back up north along the Pacific Coastal Highway. I stayed in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and photographed stars before I continued the drive in the morning to return to San Francisco. When getting to San Francisco I touched on Daly City where I had always wanted to photograph for the repetitive and intriguing architecture and then some locations in San Francisco I had touched just yet. The West Coast is one of my favorite places I’ve had the opportunity to visit and explore and I can’t wait until I’m there again.

A shooting star over climbers on El Capitan with Half Dome looking in the background with more stars peaking through the cloudy sky.

Some deer within just outside of the Yosemite Valley

The Red sunrise light smacking the side of the Panamint Range

Amazing light spilling through coastline trees.

Daly Cities repetitive buildings and architecture.

The white architecture of San Francisco joining together for this calming shot.

Drone shot of streets coming together in San Francisco.

El Capitan being frame between pine trees on the Valley Floor with the Merced River running through.

Sand dunes during Golden Hour in Death Valley National Park

Sunrise with salt flats and the Panamint Range in the background.

Crazy cactus in Joshua Tree National Park

Milky way over a waterfall along Big Sur’s highway.

The lines of housing within the Bay Area / Daly City.

Neighborhood of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge overlooking it.

Transamerica Pyramid overlooking light trails.

Thank you for reading and looking at my photographs from my trip to California in February.

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Photoshop "Dreamscapes"

April 24, 2019

Photoshop has been a love and hate relationship for me since I jumped into the program. Sometimes it does what I want to do and sometimes I wonder how wrong could it actually get. This beautiful program has made so many things easier to do and broadened the road for more creative pieces. The multi-use program has been helpful to me in many different situations and shoots. From photoshopping small details out to compositing images like this, or repairing a subject. Photoshops many great uses have benefited and broadened art.

These images below were all crafted with images I took personally. They are from many different locations such as Yosemite National Park, Iceland, Grand Teton National Park, etc. These locations are all special to me, along with the beautifulness each spot holds. In total I spent about 40 hours creating this group of work.

California

November 19, 2016

In March of 2016 I received a text from my Aunt inviting me to join her on a journey to San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. The trip happened in mid June; June 14-20th 2016. This was not only a great opportunity, but reconciliation for my home for I once lived and grew up in, San Francisco. Moving to Pittsburgh when I was seven from San Francisco was a big turning point in my life. Having to start over and make friends in a place that was all to unfamiliar other than winter trips or summer vacations to visit family. Adjusting to the North East lifestyle and culture was a big step for me, but an important one. Pittsburgh is where I began my passion for photography. Pittsburgh is where I found myself and where I want to go, but... San Francisco has always been where I felt at home; so receiving that text in March was not only an opportunity to visit, but to capture moments and memories that'll last me a lifetime. The trip started of course with a flight to SFO from PIT; which upon arriving my Aunt and I got a rental car and proceeded to our hotel in Fisherman's Wharf. We visited many destinations of views I had researched before hand for photographs and great vista points to capture; here are some of the photographs below...