Photo Contest Entry: “University of North Florida International Photo Competition”

Category: “The World I Visited”

Title: “Birds Eye View”

Award: Third Prize

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Panoramic 

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We just launched our all new website! We have been at it for weeks and now our fullscreen portfolio is available with lots of new content and video integration! Check it out and Let us know what you think! 
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Alabama State Docks 

The Port of Mobile is heavily populated by industrial facilities that serve as a vital work source for much of the local economy. Along the bay and rivers, cargo facilities and railways line the coast spanning over 75 miles. It is quite a different type of skyline than I am used to seeing. I had been searching high and low to get a picture worth keeping in downtown Mobile. There is so much going on in this busy area, I hadn’t been able to find a location to shoot from due to buildings blocking every angle I took from the ground.  I was able to get into the convention center along the river and I shot this just after dark from a balcony. The sunset was incredible, lighting the skies up with variations of fuchsia. If you look closely, in the lower left hand of the photo, you can see a ghost of the rolling freight train that disappears into the distance. This photo really symbolizes the history and culture to this port city that connects to the Gulf of Mexico. Logistics is what help put this area on the map! 

Tech:
Canon EOS 60D 
10-22mm @ 17mm
f/22
30s.
ISO 320

University of South Alabama: Student Housing Project 
Stokes Hall

We received a call midweek from Elkins Constructors letting us know that we were invited to bid for this buildings photo project. Though it wasn’t the first time we took on architectural photography, it was definately one of the biggest buildings we have ever shot. 

The timing of this project was somewhat unpredictable. With the move-in for the new semester around the corner, we knew we would only have a small window of opportunity. Even though in the back of my mind I was unsure if we would land the project, we began to prepare anyway. Finally, late Thursday afternoon we received notice that we got the job and were instructed to shoot the very next day. The window that we were given was from about 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. They had to lock down early for the early arrivals the next day…

Even though it was a little pressuring knowing that we only got one chance to get all the photos they needed before the building was occupied, we were able to pull it off in just a few short hours. With no decor and an empty building, it was a little more challenging than we expected to make the building give off the vibe that we wanted to portray especially with the vast amount of different types of light we encountered. Natural light through the windows, different temperatures of fluorescent lighting everywhere, hard reflections off of the fresh coated bamboo flooring, made it a less than ideal color/light situation.  We used extremely wide lenses, HDR imagery, as well as our own lighting to bring this project together. We shot a variety of different types of photos inside and out, during the day and during the night. 

Although it was a challenging project from start to finish, we were able to accomplish the task at hand while furthering our abilities as photographers in general. It has definitely been a lot of fun and we can’t wait to do it again.

Oldest City in America.

RIght down the road from Jacksonville, FL lies one of the United States most historical areas. Many are familiar with the St. Augustine and more imporantly, the history of this land. Cobblestone shops filled streets right next to the intracoastal, Castillo de San Marco protecting the city, and potentially the even more popular, the lighthouse. These photos came from a quick road trip I took down State Road A1A. I frequent this area as I find it to be relaxing and a quick get away from the everyday hustle and bustle of life. 

On this particular day, it came to my attention that, though I had been to the lighthouse several times, I had never actually walked to the top so I set off on my way with nothing but a 50mm. The lighthouse was quite impressive, towering over the city. You could see all the way from downtown to the ocean and everything in between. Since what I had wasn’t close to being wide angle it was impossible to get a shot of the entire building from anywhere I could find. As for the interior, endless spiraling, narrowing, staircase provided an interesting photo as well as a workout! If your ever nearby be sure to make some time to see for yourself.

Tech Specs.
Photo Left: 
Canon 60D
50mm
1/320s
F 9.0
ISO 160.    

Photo Right:
Canon 60D
50mm
1/100s
F 1.8
ISO 1250.

Ecliptic Visuals Website Updated!

Just updated our portfolio on the website. If you haven’t looked around in a while, it may be worth a glance! Enjoy! Leave some love! http://www.eclipticvisuals.com/