Lines = Designs ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Up and Out"

This is the last reflective, sky bound, architectural shot for a little while anyway. Tomorrow I'm diving into what I'm learning about flash photography and apparently this has hit a nerve with many of you. I've gotten tweets and emails from many of you who have mentioned you'll be tuning in because of always having been confused or intimidated by flash... just keep in mind, I'm still figuring it out myself and have a long way to go, but I'll enjoy sharing the things that are beginning to make sense.

In the meantime, I love playing with mirrored effects in PSPx3 when it comes to architecture. You can focus purely on elements of design. I love that the patterns are made of walls of glass reflecting the sky. It's simple, but my screen comes to life with the pattern.

Off I go to decide which area of flash to even start with tomorrow... our jumping off point. And it would seem others have used a flash theme this week too... if you'd like to check out some tips from the master of flash himself, Rick Sammon, you can find his blog feed listed along the right side of my blog in the group of blogs I read or you can simply click here.

See you all tomorrow! Thanks for the ramble!

Manufactured Patterns ~ Exploration Thursday!

"City of Glass"

I love exploring Toronto. In fact, any big city will do when it's populated with the kinds of condos and skyscrapers that draw the eye all over the crowded skyline. Toronto has some especially cool modern architecture, and it calls my name frequently.

This was taken quite a while ago but remains a favorite. No the building was not on a tilt, that's me... but it was curved, nary a straight wall to be seen. The design established with this towering condo begged to be photographed. The patterns are like candy to the photographers eye. The fact that it's also unified in color due to all the glass reflecting the sky blues and water blues it looks out over, and in complete even shade made this shot a no-brainer. I remember how excited I got over just this shot. Which brings me to a story.

Taking this shot, I was standing inside the courtyard entrance of the building. People were coming and going, and some stopped to turn around and look up to see what I was getting shots of. Most went on their merry way. But one lady with her 7 year old in tow stopped, came back to me and asked if she could see what in the world I found so interesting. I told her I was a photographer, and that the city was full of these fantastic designs. My subject for the day was manufactured patterns. I showed her this shot I was already dying to get home and see enlarged and her comment was "I don't get it." She began to walk away, but the little guy with her took a final look at my screen, looked back up at the building they were going to enter, looked back at me and called out, "That's cool lady!"

I hope he gets a camera for Christmas.

Patterns in the city. They inspire me to look waaaaay up, for crazy lines, for great shapes, for elements of design that shine. And when I find the perfect mix of those requirements I snap a photo and say quietly to myself,

"That's cool lady."

It's one of the easiest ways to learn more about your style, your way of seeing, and your camera, so get out there with those cameras this week gang. Send me a heads up if you get something cool and we'll feature your shot here on the blog!  Seriously. For real. Ya wanna?

Have a good one folks, and thanks for the ramble!