Photo walk: Fillmore, San Francisco, Sunday 11:49pm
Date: Sunday, January 7, 2024, 11:49pm
Location: Fillmore neighborhood, San Francisco, CA
I recently borrowed a DSLR because I wanted to learn more about photography and get better at taking pictures! I took the camera out last night for the first time, and below are some photos I took with commentary to snapshot (heh) my thoughts.
I intentionally didn't learn much about any of the camera settings -- I used the auto mode with flash turned off -- and the photos below are unedited.
I don't particularly like how any of these photos turned out, but I enjoyed the process of walking and shooting and thinking, so I want to record some of those thoughts here.
- I took several shots similar to this one, and this was the one I liked most. Still so many things I think could be better, though.
- In real life, the buildings in the distance make a cool background, but I couldn't capture the shot in a way that shows them -- there's not enough contrast between the dark background buildings and the dark sky
- I had another shot with a composition I liked better, but in order to achieve that, there was a trash dumpster in shot, which ruined it to my eye.
- I had another shot when the stoplight was red, which gave reflection lighting that I liked more, but I liked that shot less overall.
- This photo is kinda blurry. Ugh.
- This is probably my favorite shot of the night! Personal sentimental reasons are a big contributing factor.
- I wish the cars were gone. Cars are boring. Buildings are much more interesting to me.
- I liked the way the Panda Express lights looked in real life, but couldn't capture it in a way I liked on camera.
- This series of shots really showed me that what the viewfinder shows doesn't necessarily look like the final image.
- Looking at this photo now, I would want to try again, but move physically backward and try to capture more of the buildings and looking down the sidewalk. Would have to go into the street, for this.
- This was my favorite concept of the night, but I feel like the execution could have been better.
- I would like to make the top of the palm tree stand out more rather than bleed into the darkness. Same with the background buildings bleeding into the darkness of the sky.
- I also would love if the transit map were more visible, rather than just being mostly washed out.
- Oh man, this photo looks so lopsided! And the cathedral looks so off center!
- From this vantage point in real life, the cathedral looks massive. But in the photo, it looks so small. I would love to figure out how to make the cathedral appear bigger and more dramatic.