Here is a fun little project for you. You don’t have to go to exotic countries to take interesting photos. Take a look around the town where you live. If you pay attention, you can find great subjects for photography. I did by paying attention what I drive by every day.

I drive past the Henry County Courthouse in Georgia during my commute to work.  Typically, it is before the sun rises. One day, I noticed what looked like Christmas lights around the small windows in built into the turret on the courthouse. I also noticed that the lights were on a timer and cut off at 7:45 AM. Also, I wanted to find the best place from which to shoot.

I built some time into my morning, drove to the top of a parking deck, and set up about fifteen minutes before sunrise. I mounted my Canon EOS Rebel T3i on a tripod. I used at 70 – 300 mm lens and focused at 300mm. The camera was set at ISO 100, AV mode at f/22, and shot a bracketed set (2 stops over exposed and 2 stops under exposed).

During editing, I created an HDR image in color.

It turned out fine, but, with the overcast sky, I thought it would look better converted to black and white. I boosted the contrast, clarity, and luminescence. Also, I added a graduated filter over the sky.