A Photographer's Dream...

Before leaving for Peru, I did a casual Google search for "Things to do in Lima." One of the returns was "Park of the Reserve." The image they showed was of a well-lit fountain at night. Done. Sold.

I immediately placed it on my list of things to do. Knowing I would embark on such a fun night photography adventure, I was sure to pack my tripod and remote shutter for the trip. On my second night in town, I ventured to Park of the Reserve, the neo-classical public space designed by French architect, Claude Sahut, and waited for the "Magic Water Tour" to begin. Lights, colors, music, and rushing water. You couldn't ask for much more. I could see the images immediately, with people walking in front of the fountain in silhouette. I couldn't set up the tripod fast enough. he Magic Water Tour includes 13 different fountains, and most of the images below are featuring the main "Magic Fountain."

It took me a little while to find the right focus and exposure, to find the sweet spot, but once I did? Oh my:

FanBoy Geek Out Moment...

Let me give the origin story very quickly. It was back in early 2009 that I realized I wanted to be a freelance photographer. I studied many professionals from many genres of photography. I was very into wedding and engagement photography at the start and American Photo Magazine was a great resource. They honor 10 photographers/studios every year as their "Top Ten Wedding Photographers" from that given year. I came across their list from 2008 and was wowed by many of the artists on the list. One studio in particular was Apertura. At the time of discovering them I was living in Connecticut, but coincidentally they are a duo of photographers based in Southern California.

First, make sure you check out their amazing work: APERTURA - Wedding and Portrait Photography

When doing a lot of wedding and engagement photography, I kept their work in mind. Very inspired by them.

Fast forward to 2017, and posting one of these images from Reserve Park to Instagram. It was the shot of the couple enjoying the fountain:

It was on Instagram for a couple of days and, like we all do, I would check to see it's popularity and like count. "Cool. People liked it." I had posted a few images after it and just kept going with life. One morning, I was over in Malibu catching some nice morning light and watching the waves, and God told me to look at the fountain image again. I scrolled down, opened it up and started reading the comments again. I blinked, and blinked again...."wait...who?" One of the comments was from "aperturaphoto." I really had a disconnect. Who is that...? I clicked on the name and "OH MY GOD, APERTURA LIKED MY PHOTO!" You see, I follow them, but they don't follow me (yet) and that's cool. I am where I am. It's all good.

I was wowed that through the hashtags they saw the photo, liked it, and commented. I responded in fanboy fashion, letting them know how much they inspired me. It was a cool moment. You gotta love social media: