Fighting Off the Homeless

There is an overpass under which some pretty cool and colorful murals are painted - ya know the whole 'beautify-your-city' kind of stuff. Anyway, I have thought for a while that it would be a good spot to take photos using a mural as the backdrop. So I took Shannon down there, shoo'd away a few homeless ladies, and set up my lights. You can imagine the looks from motorists sitting at the red light at the end of the highway exit ramp seeing us out there with light stands, umbrellas, tripods, etc. instead of the usual folks with their hands out looking for some cash.

The pictures I had in my mind were much more panned out capturing lots more of the background. However, there was massive glare on both the left and right of the murals from the light shining in from either side of the overpass. So for my first visit to this location, the composition is pretty tight to avoid the glare.

Maybe going back next time at dawn or dusk would be better to reduce the glare.

Strobist Info:
One bare Vivitar 285 fired at 1/2 power to illuminate the background.
One umbrellad Vivitar 285 camera-right fired at full power.
One bare Nikon SB800 camera-left fired at 1/64 for hairlight.

Learn how to light at Strobist