gdgt is a gadget-based social network that hosted a launch party today since I had an invite, I thought I’d stop by. Alas, the line was long!
DNA Lounge, South of Market, San Francisco, California
Nikon D3, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D
1/60sec @ f/5 iso200, 50mm
The line was so long, I didn’t go in. It was between a Costco hotdog and this, the hotdog won. (I’m sure it was a great event, and the line moved fast.) In any case, I should have known better—I guess the reason I rarely see my friends in the gadget industry is…these things are popular!
One of these days, maybe I’ll avail myself to the multiple opportunities to cut in line. No matter, I’ve seen the inside of DNA lounge before.
Shooting this event
After I threw away my coke, I waited at the bus stop. It was then that I realized I could get the entire line in frame from here with my nightclub lens (the 50mm). So why not. It took a little while to get the camera out of my bag, realize I had it white balanced for indoors, and to wait for the cars to clear. Just when I decided to frame the entire building, a car popped into the foreground—Argh!
If the two images seem nothing alike, well that’s because I decided to play with the volumetric settings in DxO Optics pro and do a lot of dynamic range recovery (as well as apply my favorite color balance for outdoor photography: Fuji Velvia.) I went a little overboard, unfortunately, so that’s why the building has a frankenhead.
The rest of it was messing with Viveza to get the shadows brightened and warmed up and recover the people caught in it. Then I decided it was too cluttered and ran it through Topaz Adjust to simplify the look.
I didn’t retouch out the electric bus wires, that way you know you’re in San Francisco. 😉
I like the architecture of the building, good luck for the next event!