Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Puerto Rico

Old San Juan – The Basilica at the Cemetery

Architecture, Black and White, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan National Historic Site No Responses »

Mar 202010

Basilica and Cemetery at Old San Juan. Shot with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 24-70mm lens at 70mm. Image exposed at ISO 200 at f16 for 1/4 of a second.

Hi everyone. Todays image is a black and white shot of the Basilica and Cemetery in Old San Juan. The cemetery is located along the ocean and below the walls of El Morro, one of two forts built on the of island Puerto Rico by the Spanish. El Morro, along with San Cristobal are part of the San Juan National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service.

This photo was shot almost directly into the sun producing a high key, back lit image. A 4-stop Singh-Ray split neutral density was dropped in to help hold back the sky a bit but the intense light was hard to manage. But I love the dramatic light that is created with this effect. The foreground elements are sharp but the image begins to fade toward the background due to the sun and wind born mist from the ocean.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

San Juan Cruise Ships

Old San Juan, Photography Technique, Puerto Rico, Ships No Responses »

Jan 022010

Cruise ships prepare to leave the harbor in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. Shot with a Nikon D300, Nikkor 12-24mm lens at 18mm, f8 at 30 seconds.

As the wind chill here in West Virginia hits the single digits I am once again transported to some warmer climate; any warmer climate will do. So for todays post I have featured a shot of cruise ships preparing to leave the port in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The light from each ship was simply amazing and to see four ships in port was a real sight. To get the shot I had to overcome a few technical difficulties. Number one was the loss of my tripod at the airport. This image, shot at midnight from the small balcony of my hotel room, required a long exposure and a stable set up. So I had to improvise. I pushed a chest out to the open window and propped the camera up with books and small pillows. Getting a proper exposure was another issue. I took several test shots to get the composition and exposure to my satisfaction. I wanted to capture the low clouds along the horizon to aid in a visual transition from the ships to the night sky. I used mirror lock up to help eliminate any camera shake in my tenuous camera set up. One of the things that makes the photo so dramatic are the multiple light sources from the ships and the road along the shore. It is not possible to balance these out so I set the camera to AWB to start and then adjusted the color temperature to taste. I also shot at a fairly low ISO of 400 to keep as much noise down as possible. The image was processed in Nikon NX 2 and Photoshop. To help bring out details in the image, including the clouds, I used a contrast mask and some simple curve adjustments.

Graffiti Portrait in Old San Juan

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Street Portrait No Responses »

Dec 302009

As the thermometer continues to drop and we prepare for yet another potential blast of winter weather my mind drifted off to some warmer climates I have visited. I have made several trips to Old San Juan in Puerto Rico and have fond memories of walking along the Paseo, drinking cafe con leche in the Plaza de Armas, and listening to the ocean crash into the rocks below the old forts. On a Sunday stroll through the city I discovered this beautiful piece of graffiti painted on a large roll up door. It is not normally visible during the week since it covers up the entrance to a local business. I passed it several times in an attempt to get a photograph but there were always cars in the way and I could not take the shot. Luckily on the day before I left I found a clear shot. As I was shooting this little man walked up and struck a pose. A few shots later he was off to his destination. At first I thought he was the model but later learned the portrait is on a famous Puerto Rican basketball player who now plays for the NBA.