3. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

While I was photographing downtown stores I noticed this woman marching towards me. I decided to include her in my image. The camera was mounted on a tripod and I used a wireless trigger to get this shot. Thinking about your hometown means that at a certain point you have to include some people into your composition to demonstrate that you are not living in a ghost town.

Enjoy and happy Friday. 

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2. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

This second hand bookstore is located in the heart of downtown Merced. It has an “old time charm” and is definitely worth visiting.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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1. June 2011 by Friedhelm.

This little mom and pop store is located at the corner of 23rd and K street. It is a jewel of a store, giving me the feeling of country in the midst of a city.

Enjoy and keep on photographing!

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31. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

Here is a good example how life has changed in our city. Around the shopping malls there used to be public phones everywhere. Today you only see the remnants. The cell phone made them obsolete. The newspaper stands are still here because people like to have the “real thing” in their hands.

Enjoy and keep on photographing!

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30. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

I am still not satisfied with my images. There is more to our community and I want to photograph another week in my community. I discovered that I have not photographed a single business so I challenge you and myself to photograph local businesses.

I went out early in the morning to photograph Bear Creek Galleria in Merced, located on G street.  The businesses here are suffering because G street is partially closed due to construction. 

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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26. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

I photographed this entry way shortly after sunrise. The light is beautiful early in the morning. I gave this flower kind of a “soft” look to support the early morning feeling. I also liked the newspaper which reveals that the owner has not peaked out of his door yet.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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25. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

As far as I know it is city ordinance that each front yard has to have at least one tree. This olive tree in front of one of my neighbors house presented a challenge to photograph for quite some time. Last night I went out with my sturdy tripod and photographed it at night. Camera setting: 70mm focal length on C-sensor camera, f5.6, 15sec., ISO 400.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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24. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

How do you make houses interesting? You doing it by overstating certain aspects of the image. In this image I “over-saturated the green colors and I allocated just about 20% space to the house. Normally the eyes go to the lightest point in the image which would be the light gray in the clouds. By over-saturating the green color the eyes are drawn to the house. In addition, the owner is standing in front of his garage. Including a person creates curiosity and people wonder who that person is. At the same time the eyes are standing on the building.

Enjoy and keep on photographing!

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23. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

After publishing my images last week I noticed that I had photographed the buildings that you could see on a postcard. Every town has those buildings but this is not the essence on your city. This week I challenge you to photograph ordinary neighborhoods. Show where the people of your city are living and develop a portrait of your neighborhood.

This is a typical street in Merced. You see the curved lines revealing that this is a newer neighborhood of Merced. Curved streets just have more curb appeal than the straight streets of the past. I was lucky that this year there are still beautiful clouds around that definitely help to create an interesting image.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

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20. May 2011 by Friedhelm.

I photographed the sunrise at Applegate park. Merced has a few very nice parks that are used for recreational activities.

Enjoy and happy photographing! 

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