Scott O. Smith Photoblog

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 100
1 second(s)
f/4.0

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 100
4 seconds
f/11.0

Today’s shot is of my family at Temple Square in Salt Lake City Utah. From Thanksgiving through the end of the year this part of Salt Lake City is filled with Christmas lights and attracts thousands of visitors. The Temple, reflection pools and other buildings make for a great backdrop.
We were there on a Saturday night and there were people lining up to our right to take snapshots of their families and friends trying to get the temple and trees in the background. Most were very disappointed with the result. The flash would light the subjects but the temple and Christmas lights would be nothing but black.

For this picture I wanted to capture the lighting of the temple and Christmas lights in the background with my family with just enough light on their faces. I had my family hold (almost) perfectly still while I fired off a 1 second exposure. During the exposure I manually fired my Canon Speedlite 430EX at full power to light up their faces. While my wife Karyn could have used a little more lighting on her face I’m fairly pleased with this shot.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 100
1 second
f/6.3

Last week I received my new iMac. I’ve had a macbook for over a year and needed the bigger monitor and more horsepower. My experience so far has been wonderful, everything from setup to installing all my apps.

I had to order my iMac online because I opted for a bigger hard drive. I also wanted to give the wireless keyboard and mouse a try. After using the wireless keyboard for a day I was disappointed with it’s size. It’s the same size as my macbook keyboard and lacks the extra keys that I’m accustomed to with desktop keyboards.

I called customer service to find out if I could exchange it for the full sized usb keyboard. The customer service rep told me they would send me one overnight and that there wouldn’t be a charge. When asked “why no charge”, she simply said “we want you to be fully happy with your new iMac.” If you thinking of switching to a mac don’t give it one more thought. My experience has been positive so far and I’m sure it will continue.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 100
1/1000 second
f/4.0

Finishing my week long series of my favorite places to photograph in San Francisco with the the Transamerica Pyramid.

This shot was taken from the glass sky bridge on the top floor of the Mandarin Hotel. The glass bridge gives a great perspective of the city. Take the elevators to the top floor and get ready for an awesome view.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24mm f/1.4L lens
ISO 1600
1/25 second
f/1.4

Continuing with day four of my week series of favorite sites in San Francisco to photograph with the “Painted Ladies” seen from Alamo Square.

For those who watched the American sitcom “Full House” in the late 80′s should recognize this scene. I wasn’t a big fan of the show but do remember the opening credits that showed these Victorian homes. The Alamo Square park gives a great view of the city. The Muni bus line provides easy access to and from the park.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 400
1 second
f/5.6

Continuing with my week series of favorite sites in San Francisco to photograph with the Oakland Bay Bridge or “Bay Bridge”.

Most people focus their attention on the “other” bridge(golden gate) when they are in San Francisco. The Bay Bridge offers some great scenery, especially during sunrise and sunsets. For this photo I wanted to capture the blue/purple sky with the blue water at dusk. Taken about thirty minutes after sunset with a long exposure gave me just what I wanted. Very little post processing was needed, slight temperature change with some clarity boost.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 100
30 second
f/13

Continuing my week of favorite sites in San Franciso to photograph with Coit Tower.

Coit Tower is probably one of the most photographed sites in San Francisco. For this shot, I wanted to show how steep Telegraph Hill is below the tower. I like how some of the homes appear to be stacked on top of each other. This shot was taken on Russian Hill near Lombard Street (“the crookedest street”) facing East. The Powell-Hyde Cable Car line passes directly over Russian Hill on it’s way to Fisherman’s Wharf and provides easy access. I spent about an hour shooting at different locations and this is my favorite.

You can see other shots of Coit Tower on my flickr stream here.

Canon XTi
Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens
ISO 200
5 second
f/4.0