Photography

The Golden Gate Bridge through my lens

Golden Gate Bridge | Photo by Charlie Kaine

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most photographed landmarks in the World...so I thought I'd take a stab at it myself.  On this particular day I had all the essentials anyone needs to make a great photo: 1) My camera 2) My tripod 3) Unusually great weather!

My goal for this shoot was to create an amazing panoramic shot of the historic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Here was my simple list of gear:

  1. Canon 5d Mark II
  2. Canon EF 50mm f:1.8 lens
  3. Tripod (cheap plastic one)

Not much else is needed.  

Adobe Bridge

Adobe Bridge

To get this shot I first had to find a good location to shoot from.  A little trial and error is all the time you need to find the "perfect" spot.

Once I found a spot to my liking, I just setup my tripod, adjusted exposure and focus, then took multiple photos covering the span of the bridge and a little extra for good measure.

Above you will see the 10 RAW photos I shot individually.

Photomerge

Photomerge

After doing some basic edits, I merge all of my shots together in Adobe Photomerge.

I just let Photomerge do its job and stitch together my RAW photos and place them in Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop

After just a few minutes of waiting, this is the result of the photo stitching.  I could have taken more photos, but I saw no need at the time.  During the editing process, I actually used Photoshop's Content-Aware technology to expand the right side of the photo.

Once I merged the layers and cropped it to my liking, I began to fine tune this image to the final shot you see at the very top.

All images in this blog post belong to Charlie Kaine Photography.

Beautiful Real Estate Photography | San Francisco, CA

Recently I shot some Real Estate photography at the beautiful 38 Dolores St. Apartments in San Francisco, CA.  I was amazed by the modern architecture and city views.  I was fortunate enough to get access to three of the units, one of which was a Penthouse with a sweeping 180 degree view of San Francisco.

Below, I have posted just a few of the final images, many more to come.

If you are in need of Real Estate/Interior Design Photography, contact Charlie Kaine Photography for more information.

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

This was shot on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with a view as far as the eye can see.  Fortunately, this particular unit was a model and was already fully furnished.

I had very minimal gear for this photo shoot (on purpose):

  • Canon 5D Mark II
  • 17-40mm Lens (Canon)
  • Tripod
  • Shutter Release Cable
  • iTunes Playlist (Stevie Wonder, Take 6)
Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

I purposefully did not bring any lighting equipment whatsoever to this shoot.  I was determined to use a combination of exposure blending and HDR (High Dynamic Range [imaging]).  In short, HDR is useful because the camera simply cannot capture the full dynamic range (brightest to darkest spots) all in one shot.  Typically, if you expose for outside of the window, the interior would be completely dark.  Conversely if you expose for the interior, the outside of the window would be so blown out that all you would see is bright white light.  HDR requires taking multiple shots (tripod is needed to keep the camera steady) of varying exposures at 2 stop increments.  That allows me to blend those multiple exposures in Adobe HDR Pro (or any similar HDR software) in order to retain all of the details in the highlights, as well as in the shadows with little to no grain (or noise).

As powerful as these new DSLR cameras are, they simply cannot replicate the natural God-given HDR our eyes use every second of the day to process true light.  This is a relatively easy process which allows me to not have to carry around a ton of lighting equipment; but it does add more time in post-production since you will be processing 5 frames in order to create just 1 photo.  I utilize Adobe Bridge to manage all of my photos and collections.  90% of my photo editing is done using Adobe Camera Raw, where I color correct, adjust white balance, correct exposure/contrast/clarity/etc.  After first doing minor adjustments to the 5 individual exposure shots, I then combine them using Adobe HDR Pro.  From there I create a single 32 bit image from the 5, and continue my edits in Adobe Camera Raw.

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

In Real Estate Photography, it is advantageous to use a wide angle lens in order to capture as much of the room as possible.  In this particular photo, I was able to capture the bedroom, living room, and part of the dining room table all in the same frame.  That is not possible with a smartphone or a cheap point-and-shoot camera.  I was using my Canon 17-40mm lens on a tripod for this shot.

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Photo by: Charlie Kaine Photography

Are you selling a home and are in need of professional real estate photography?  Contact Charlie Kaine Photography at CK@CharlieKaine.com


All photos posted in this blog post were created by and copyrighted by Charlie Kaine Photography, and cannot be reproduced or used in anyway without the expressed written consent of Charlie Kaine Photography.

Free Wedding Tutorial: 4 Ways to Light Wedding Receptions

The guys at Fstoppers were gracious enough to share some free tips from their 14 hour DVD on how to shoot Wedding Photography. 

This is good not only for wedding photographers to learn from, but also future brides and wedding coordinators need to know what a good photographer needs to make the most amazing wedding photography for them.  Use this as a guide as you plan your reception, and the venue space, as well as the available lighting.  Enjoy!