Posts Tagged: san pablo ave
Albany Bowl Bar Entrance
San Pablo Ave, Albany CA / © Neo Serafimidis 2011
This is another shot from the Albany Streetscape set but not selected to be included, since I took about three shots of this view. This is the southern end of the bowling alley, where the bar is. I have to admit I like these in black and white, and it is making me think more and more about picking up a medium format film camera of some sort. I’m not sure whether I would produce the Streetscape project in B&W. I like rather like the color. I suppose it will depend on what kind of feel I can get with color, especially printed.
Also, one of the reasons for staying away from B&W is to stay away from overtly calling attention to the “photography” and focus on the documentary aspect of the project. And since the genesis of the project is an examination of the notion that the commercial streetscape is a 1950’s streetscape, I don’t want to prejudice that examination by suggesting something one way or the other in the treatment of the work. The B&W does that.
Interestingly, I have never really been in the bar despite living within a few blocks of it for almost 10 years now. I always end up further down the road at HTC or Mallard. I’ll make an effort to visit this year.
West San Pablo
San Pablo Ave, West Side of 500 Block
Today I began photographing the Albany commercial streetscapes. Throughout I used a Nikon D300s with a 35mm-f/1.8 lens at f/16, and ISO 200. I began on San Pablo Ave., at the northern border with El Cerrito and worked my way south toward Berkeley, shooting only the west side of the street. I paced off about 18 to 24 paces between shots.
I didn’t quite finish the side because I ran out of memory near the end. I might have ten more shots to go to finish the side. As it was I came home with almost 200 shots, and it took me a little over two hours of walking and shooting. I have already managed to edit this down to about 130 or so. I think San Pablo will end up being a set of 300 or so. Perhaps Solano will be about the same. The shot above is near the north end, and the one below is at the south end, just below Marin Ave.
San Pablo Streetscape at the Gill Tract
Documenting the Streetscape
Test Shot for Streetscape Series
Yesterday’s post had me opening my big fat mouth about the sorry state of Albany’s commercial streetscapes. The rant led up to my mention of a project to photograph the retail zones in Albany in their entirety. Once one starts talking like that, one becomes committed to undertaking the project. And if I don’t, I know somebody else will.
Today, I took a couple test shots, and here’s how my approach is shaping up. I want to have a consistent scale across all the shots, so I am going to try to do it entirely with the 35mmf/1.8 and shoot from across the street. On my D300s this ends up being a 50mm angle of view. I will at least start out using a tripod to get the sharpest and most consistent results possible.While I admit I have an axe to grind, I don’t want to intrude too much into the frame, so I hope to take a kind of documentarian “just the facts, ma’am” approach.
I plan to shoot all of San Pablo Ave from the El Cerrito border to the Berkeley Border, and Solano Ave from San Pablo to the Berkeley border. I’m going to try to shoot at regular intervals, about 12 to 14 paces, so that’s going to be a lot of photographs.
It would be nice if it were overcast for that nice even light. Not likely to get that for awhile, at least not without rain. I’ll shoot the west side of the street in the morning hours, and the east side in the late afternoon. Mutatis mutandis for Solano.
Wasn’t there an artist who did a piece where he photographed all of Sunset Blvd.? This is like that, only quainter and more family-friendly.
You must be logged in to post a comment.