Using Intentional Parameters...

"What Time Has Left Behind"

Today's image should speak for itself. Actually, every image should be able to speak for itself. When you read a photograph, you shouldn't need verbal help to tell you what theme, or story, or emotion has hopefully been woven through it. I'm not sure that I've considered that enough in the last year but am working to fix that. You can click on the deserted industrial shed to see a larger version. But I hope my intent for this image is clear whether you enlarge the image on your screen for better viewing or not.

The day I photographed this, I was feeling spent, mellow, I was far from the hustle and bustle of life... so I gave myself those exact emotional parameters to guide what I pointed the camera at, and all the creative decisions that followed. This was one of the photos that day that really came alive within the ideas I wanted to explore. In fact, anytime you give yourself a theme, a visual goal, or parameters of any kind, you make stronger photographs. These intentional parameters give you something to hone in on, to freely explore with the medium of photography. Consider it another tool to round out your "creative kit bag".  

Great composition is a must. A good exposure is necessary. The right light can be a bonus. But your images will always be lacking a little something if there aren't some intentional parameters to help guide your creative process. To tell the reader how to experience the photograph. 

That's my tip for the week.
Thanks for the ramble friends! Let's get out there and make purpose driven images, no matter what you raise your camera to!

Exploration Thursday!

"The Red In The Rubble"

Nothing overly bizarre done to today's image. Not that I do anything overly bizarre to any of my images, but it IS Exploration Thursday. Instead, I've posted this simply because exploring the city has always provided some interesting material. Older buildings in several stages of urban decay, getting a chance to be rebuilt and saved for new purposes interest me. Taken back to bare bones gives us a glimpse we don't usually get into the innards of a building. Surprises lurk within. Like the red door.

They've been peeling back the layers of this old defunct building for months. Nothing unusual for Hamilton. Lots of revitalization being bandied about, and some of it gets the go ahead. I keep an eye out for the tear downs, there's always something to photograph. This building hadn't shown me much promise until last week. Then, out on a photo walk, I glanced up and noticed they'd knocked back more walls and whatnot, and I had a red doorway staring down at me. There was only one. I pressed the shutter and felt relief. I wanted to photograph something on the work site. Had hovered around it on more than one occasion. There's a feeling of great satisfaction that comes with finding the approach to a shot you want. And then getting it.

All that happened with this midday telephoto shot was to make adjustments in curves back in PSPx2 and some highpass sharpening to make detail in the shadows more visible. Am wondering if I should convert this to B&W and do  selective color just on the red doorway. That may be a project for later, as I prep for some session work next week and will be lucky if I can just blog images already finished and ready to post. So we'll see.

Thanks for the Thursday ramble folks! Hope you're having a lovely one!

Limitless ~ Exploration Thursday!

"Locked In"

(1/320 sec.@ F7.1, ISO 250, 100mm fl, 55-200mm zoom vr, bright morning sun)

I love photographing the city. I've said that before. So when the chance came this week to head out with the camera I made a decision to leave my wide angle in the kit, and only use my telephoto. No matter what. Why? Because limiting myself to one lens forces me to look at things differently. That limitation brought me limitless opportunities to be creative. It was energizing!

My wide angle is my go-to lens for so many subjects and scenes, that I sometimes forget I have other lenses in my bag. I get comfy. Or perhaps more accurate is that I get lazy. So once in a while, to break out of the routine I keep placing myself in, I try exercises like this one. I either limit myself to a type of gear, or I limit myself to a central theme. I should know never to be surprised at how fun and varied the results are.

The shot above had all the things I like in a details shot. Rusty, weathered iron gates across a defunct storefront. A big ol' lock that would never turn now for a key, and difficult light adding to the urban decay feel. I pumped the color cast a bit in Nik Effx plug-in Brilliance/Warmth while in PSPx2. Then it was done. And I'm pretty pumped about the other gems I'll have for the coming weeks too.

Put a limit on how you shoot, and force yourself to think more creatively. The possibilities for great shots that express how you see things around you are limitless!

Odd Spaces ~ WideAngle Wednesday

"A TIGHT FIT FOR SURE"

(1/80 sec.@ F/8, ISO 200, 18mm fl, Pattern Metering, 18-55mm kit)

I get asked all the time, "why, when you take such inviting landscapes, and graceful florals, do you always post those grungy city shots?"... I guess the best way to answer this is to quote a mentor of mine from my early film days who once said to me after a frustrating day of shooting garbage cans on the street, taxis on the curb at the school, and someones lost gym shoe with little enthusiasm, "Every photographic subject has a pulse. Find it's rhythm and your image comes to life. That simple!" 

Garbage cans never looked the same to me again after that. Sure, landscapes can be soothing, and nature can be enchanting! But unusual spaces, difficult perspectives, and random elements found in the day to day places just have an undeniable rhythm for me in the lens. Odd places, old buildings, harsh elements challenge me. They taunt sometimes, whispering "nothing to see here..." Well, not really but you get the picture. And I love photography too much to walk away from such a challenge. In small ways what I learn about photographing the city, always gets applied later on to photographing nature too. Tricky compositions, more interesting angles, weird lighting... I've learned never to take anything for granted in that respect.

The excitement is taking an everyday space and capturing the most interesting part in such a way that anyone can relate to it, and better yet, be captivated by it if they choose. Or haunted by it. Or inspired by it. There's a thrill to finding it's pulse. And it's where I started 17 years ago with a film camera, it's a pulse I'm familiar with. And I hear it loudest sometimes... in odd spaces.

Thanks for the philosophical ramble, and have a good one folks!

This one goes out to all those students that had the inexplicable Mr.Shoveller for photography class! Cheers.

Accidental Reflection ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"Reflections of St. Andrews St"

(1/640 sec @ F/5.3, ISO 200, 160mm fl, 55-200mm telephoto zoom)

My first "Telephoto Tuesday"! I've decided for the next while to use themes here at the blog. Just to challenge myself, with my shooting, and my blogging. This way I'm not stuck in a rut at some point always using the same lens or the same style of photography. It keeps the creative juices flowing.

When I first started in digital photography, it did not take me long before I fell in love with my telephoto lens. It's a Nikkor 55-200 mm zoom with an adequate range, adequate F-stop and the much needed VR (vibration reduction) feature in case you're handholding with this heavier type lens. But the technical is not what drew me... it was the ability to get in tight on any subject. I love to take one key element, and make it the entire image. My tele zoom does exactly that. And that makes me a very happy photographer!

I chose the image above to kick off this Tuesday's post because it epitomizes why I will always keep my telephoto lenses close. REALLY close, as in sitting ready in my front pocket of my kit bag or jacket, right next to my elbow close. This image is the reflection of an abandoned red brick building in downtown Toronto, and the street sign in front of it in a warped window front. I had my trusty little Nikon D40 with me at the time, and we had just left a tour of Castle Loma. I always like to keep my camera in my lap when driving through the city, even when I think I'm done for the day. And it's a good thing I did, because there we were sitting at an intersection waiting for the green light and I turned to look out my window. Voila! I was met with an entire warped windowed wall of an old storefront across the street from me, and it was reflecting this bold red in it's framed sections. I leaned out the window and snapped this shot right before the lights turned green and my husband pulled away. No time for settings, dials, or adjusting the shutter speed... just zoomed in to crop a section with the most interesting part of the reflection, and then we were gone. This was the first image I rushed home to see. Never mind the glorious castle I had spent all day shooting... I knew this was the shot of the day. It's funky, bold, and abstract, yet for me, still smacks of the everyday ordinary city living.

This is what photography should do for you! It should excite you, it should grab you, it should bring unique details to life. A telephoto point of view can do that... it'll eliminate all the clutter, give you a bit of "tunnel vision" if you will, and make you stop and really look at what's around you. There's some cool stuff out there... even at the crowded intersection downtown.

I look forward to bringing you a new telephoto shot every Tuesday, keeping my eye trained to look for opportunities like this every week. I'd love if some of you did it with me... and if you have a shot you're particularly proud of as a result, I could ask you to let me arrange to post it here, and we can ask you how you did it too! You never know!

As always, you folks reading along with my ramblings are the best! Hope you have a great week....

The City Scene...

~Abandoned Decay~

1/30 sec.@ F/5.6, ISO 250, 55mm fl, late day

overcast light, handheld, manual

Urban Decay, Street Photography, Cityscapes... call it what you will, it's one of my favorite genres to work in during the winter. All the different textures exposed, the perfect lines and aging patterns sometimes mingle with lightly falling snow, no crowds impeding your view.

I am particularly attracted to the aging buildings, and old alleyways. Why is that? There's so many handsome, historically restored buildings within the city, but it's scenes like the one posted above that draw me. Closed in, shadowy spaces, filled with wires that crisscross through the image, poles, grids, grates, and iron steps crawling the walls. I've often kept these images to myself, thinking there won't be many like me who'd appreciate the poetry seen within the vertical lines and gritty brick patterns, chipped with ancient paint, or new graffiti. You can't say there's no character within those walls, that's for sure. If you haven't already, I urge you to explore the city limits with your camera in hand!

So what do you need to remember when you decide to take the plunge into street photography? Here's a few things I learned, perhaps they'll help someone else get excited about exploring their city if they aren't already.

1) Use light to your advantage. Early morning side light can give real definition to brick, stone, and glass patterns. Cloudy or overcast days are good for detail, stormy and sunset skies are perfect backdrops for cityscape's in a wide lens. Warm late day light is great for illuminating angles, reflections, or including people on the street.

2) Vary your perspective. Get down low on the ground, use an ultra wide lens, and emphasize the sprawl of a classic piece of architecture. Find a position that lets you photograph looking down on a busy street or deserted alley at dusk. Lean against a soaring tower or condo and distort the receding stone pattern till it looks like it never ends. Use a telephoto and zone in on one rustic detail clinging to the side of an abandoned building.

3) Be safe! Certain locations or times of day require a photo buddy. And they can double as a model in a pinch. Never step backwards into traffic... if the angle you need is in the middle of the street, find yourself a crossing guard or find a new angle. Don't carry so much gear that you'd tempt being mugged for it... I was once asked why I don't carry a tripod in the city. It screams "female photographer with her hands too full, and her attention elsewhere!" On my own, shooting urban decay, I make sure I can raise my camera easily from around my neck or shoulder, and that my backpack is strapped on well. I never stay in one spot for too long bringing attention to myself, and if alone, I shoot in well populated areas. I know this all sounds like common sense, but I've heard stories to the contrary.

I hope this has been helpful in some way. I've met many a beginner that simply shot in every tourist location, and never considered anything but composing from eye level. Add a new element and watch your street photography come alive.

The image above can be enlarged by clicking over it and I'd be ever so pleased to hear what your thoughts are on the image or the topic that accompanies it...

thanks for letting me ramble, and have a good one!



Back From The Grave

"Goodbye Goodyear"

------------------------

The image above was the result of a 7 hour photo trek of area cemeteries. Sorry, you probably just did a double take and I don't blame you in the least. But it's true. Myself and another wonderful photoger friend of mine were intent on exploring hidden back roads in search of ancient cemeteries in the middle of fields and hidden in pine tree topped knolls ... and we DID explore about 5 or six we never knew existed, full of old stones dating back to the 18oo's. In Southern Ontario, you can drive in almost any direction from a major city center for about twenty minutes and suddenly you're in the country!

What in the world does all of this have to do with the resulting image above?

Have you ever gone in search of something, and instead come back with an unexpected find that makes your day? In our search for forgotten graves, full of history, and a touch of mystery (of which I will post images in future blogs) my friend and I came across another kind of "decay". Tucked behind grassy inclines, or parked in the corner of fields close to the road looking as if they had limped over on their own to collapse one final time... were cars, trucks and old parts that on this day probably excited me far more than my photo partner, who graciously pulled over for every find and patiently explored the rusty ghosts with me on our way to our next grave discovery.

This shot was taken almost mid day, with my telephoto lens at 1/500 sec.@ F4, ISO 100. I didn't mind the harsh direct light (nary a cloud to be seen) for such a rusty, gritty subject as it seemed to suit and enhance the dismal condition of the old van parked in the dirt. And it was the first in a series of shots I couldn't wait to get home to review... and can't wait to post for your future viewing pleasure.

A special shout out and thanks to my photo buddy Kat for our fun adventures yesterday, you rock. Link to Kat's gallery to come...

Leave comments by clicking the comment option below this post :-)

Thanks for letting me ramble, have yourself a good one folks!