One of my graffiti artist friends mentioned how artists take on new names, and dubbed me "Photo-graff-er" which I rather like! Urban art is definitely one of my favorite subjects to photograph. I'm fascinated with the color and creativity that goes into a painting. The art is ever changing, and a location is never the same twice. This first wall belongs to artist Dolla Lama, one very cool and creative dude!
This wall is incredible. The gradient from red to yellow, vivid purple stencil work, and the anthropomorphic tree are all magnificent! The scale of the art is also makes it impressive, a small photo can't capture how it feels to see it. I'm compelled to photograph graffiti/urban art as walls are painted over frequently, the art I like might not be there when I return.
I couldn't leave this location without putting together a few images for HDR. The graffiti walls were photographed early in the afternoon. HDR allowed a little leeway for creating a balanced exposure in the bright sun. Nik HDR Efex Pro was used to merge the images to HDR. To photograph this location, I used a Nikon 14-24mm wide angle lens, and 24-70mm zoom lens. Gotta be well rounded, I also used my iPhone, and a cool app called Pro HDR.
Paint isn't isolated to the just the walls, the pavement has very interesting artwork as well! So how does a graffiti wall come together? With a lot of inspiration, creativity, and hard work... see the mini time-lapse below. Have fun shooting! ~ Deb
