Tom Ratchkauskas Photography: Holiday Lights, Black and Whites and Steel Arches

Only two weeks into using my 50mm prime lens and it has become my go to lens. The lens is lightweight and it's optics surpass my kit lenses ten fold. With a focal length mimicking my direct field of view, composition becomes second nature and each shot takes minimal effort. The key reason one would use a fast lens (in this case f1.8-f2.8 were the apertures used) is to blur the background causing the subject to stand out. This can be seen in some of the photographs from the South Shore where a tree is in the foreground or a subject is not visually flush with the background. Increased aperture sizes and longer focal lengths create shallower depth of field in turn creating "circles of confusion" essentially literally exemplified in the holiday lighting pictures. By using manual focus, I was able to allow the lights to become out of focus, causing them to become more apparent. With improved optics, the original shots do not need much work and post processing time is greatly reduced.

The following pictures were taken at Schenley Plaza, Carnegie Mellon University, South Shore (Three Rivers Heritage Trail) and the Smithfield Street Bridge. These locations never disappoint, helping create some of the best photographs of my collection.

The first, Schenley Plaza was once the grand entrance to Pittsburgh's civic park, a gateway adjacent to Forbes Field. Now surrounded by the University of Pittsburgh campus, The Carnegie Library and Museum and Phipps Conservatory and filled with food stalls and this time of year holiday lights, the plaza is working towards its former glory. In front of the Frick Fine Arts Building stands the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain,with a nymph serenading Pan the god of nature. The fixtures bold lines and unique subject matter make it my favorite fountain in the Pittsburgh area. Representing the relationship between nature and culture, the fountain is a perfect fit for it's location, surrounded by Pittsburgh's civic park and its educational centers.

Just around the corner from Schenley Plaza sits Carnegie Mellon University. Hailed for its innovative programs in technology, robotics and performing arts, the small campus is filled with wonderful architecture and lighting. The Hunt Library (pictured with rainbow colors) and the bridge between the arts and the sciences section of the campus bring together the two subjects.

The South Shore where america's first steamboats were built is one of the last remaining reminders of Pittsburgh's industrious past. The former site of mills, the area is now home to warehouses, barges and a developing section of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, connecting the South Side with Station Square along the Monongahela waterfront. Remnants of steel production line the cobblestone streets with a view of Pittsburgh's major arteries all the way down to the point. This section of the trail connects visitors to Station Square by passing under the Smithfield Street Bridge, the oldest steel bridge in the country. Steel arches and trusses criss cross in a maze of craftsmanship unseen in modern times. Once traversed by street cars, the bridge withstands the largest volume of foot traffic out of all of Pittsburgh's bridges and narrowly avoided demolition to remind us of the city's historic past.

While I have photographed most of the above mentioned locations on several occasions, use of a 50mm prime lens with a wide aperture brings a unique perspective and crisp pictures that can easily trump those of the past. With one focal length and the lighter weight of carrying just one lens forces me to think intently about each shot and discover new material I otherwise would have never shot. A more intimate view through the lens allows for more involved photographs, something that was missing in my work as of late.

Schenley Plaza