Closed Auto Dealerships

By Tom Paiva on

About a year ago, I noticed the huge number of auto dealerships that have closed, mainly because of the economy.  I saw them in Phoenix, and San Diego, but since I live in the Los Angeles area, that would be my subject–and there are plenty out there. At first, I shot during the day taking …

The Big Valley Car Wash

By Tom Paiva on

In January while driving yet again to the San Francisco Bay Area, I stopped in the late afternoon in the Valley town of Gustine.  I’m fascinated with the small farm towns in rural California.  You might recall a couple of months ago I wrote about this town and showed images of the agricultural section of …

Twilight on Interstate-5

By Tom Paiva on

This past week I have been very busy, and I was in Phoenix over the weekend, so am posting this a little late.  Back in December, on a drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I stopped along the interstate just before twilight at an unnamed exit.  In this part of the San Joaquin Valley, …

Fuel Dock

By Tom Paiva on

Last month, I got access to a fuel dock for a major oil company, where ships offload into storage tanks (tank farm) here in the LA area.  I’ve wanted to shoot here for a couple of years, and finally got in.  I only had about an hour, but I shot as quickly as I could …

The Holidays Road Trip

By Tom Paiva on

I was gone over the holidays for a couple of weeks, one week working in San Francisco and then with family.  Afterwards, we drove into Nevada and south down highway 395 back to LA.  As with most of the country, it was unusually cold and nasty. This weather made for some nice twilight and night …

When is the right time to shoot twilight?

By Tom Paiva on

This particular post is going to be directed to the film-shooting readers.  The digital shooters have the chimp-screen and histogram graphs to check on the fly.  There are a few tricks for twilight shooting for digital shooters, and will address them in a future post. One of the most common questions that is asked in …

San Joaquin “Big” Valley Towns

By Tom Paiva on

Last week, while driving to San Francisco from LA, I decided to scout some of the Valley farm towns heading north.  I also wanted to try out a new camera in the field that I just bought. The towns are Patterson, Newman and Gustine, in central CA.  There is a lot to be shot there, …

“Hiding Lamps”

By Tom Paiva on

One question that comes up regularly is what I mean by “hiding lamps”.  This expression simply means positioning the camera in such a way to block the bright lights in a scene behind some object, such as a pole or tree. Night photography is inherently contrasty, with near black skies and lamps of some sort …

In New York/New Jersey, Part II

By Tom Paiva on

One of the best parts of traveling is visiting friends and getting a chance to shoot new locations with the “localers”.  When photographer friends come to California, I usually take them to interesting locations, based on what they want to shoot. This past trip to NY/NJ was no exemption.  I had the chance to shoot …

In New York City

By Tom Paiva on

Please note that I have created an easier way to sign up for these posts with the email sign up at right.  It is easier to use than RSS, which a few people complained about.  I don’t plan to do as many mass emails.  My goal is to update this blog weekly, so please sign …