Fujifilm X-T4 + XF16mmF/1.4 R WR: 10s, f/5.6, ISO160

The CoVID-19 pandemic continues in Hawaii, and with the numbers trending in the wrong direction the City and County of Honolulu has reinstated a business-friendly lockdown. How can a lockdown be business-friendly one might ask? All businesses (with the exception of bars) that had been reopened since the first lockdown are permitted to stay open for the time-being. Yes, gyms are open. Restaurants are open. Malls are open. Hair Salons are open. Beaches are closed. Parks are closed. Police are instructed that there will be few warnings, and to hand out citations. As a law-respecting, fine-averse citizen, I put on my Ten Tomorrow mask with a filter installed this morning, and set up my tripod facing East on the H1 pedestrian overpass.

Days after the new partial lockdown orders were implemented, my new, appropriately-sized filters arrived in the mail courtesy of Pro Camera Hawaii. I was determined to try them so I racked my brain for legal locations to shoot a sunrise photo. When I got to the overpass, I discovered the fence was taller than my tripod could extend. My lens is small enough to fit through the grating without the filters attached, but with them attached it would not. I settled for keeping the fence in the frame thinking it was an appropriate visual metaphor for a lockdown image. When setting up the composition, I liked the way the edges of the road lined up to the corners of my frame. I experimented with different aperture values, and decided that f/5.6 provided enough blur to the fence. I switched my camera to manual focus so that the camera would not try to focus on the fence. I found the “Waialae Ave” sign to dial my focus into. The sign was far enough into the frame that even with the wider-than-typical aperture, the horizon would still remain in focus. I also picked up a new wireless remote-shutter release (not pictured) because my old Fujifilm one no longer works with this newer model of camera.

With everything setup, I waited for the right combination of vehicles to pass through the frame before the sky got too bright. Unfortunately, as one might imagine, not a lot of vehicles are out on the road on a Saturday before the sunrise. This final edit is a composite of two images, one for the red lights and the other for the white. I am quite happy with the new filters and plan to practice a few more car-trail urban landscapes in the coming weeks! Since restaurants are still open, I still get to enjoy breakfast with my crew:

08.15.2020