These two images are about the division of the image through lines. The pictures are broken into smaller shapes by the lines running horizontally, vertically and also diagonally. Additionally there is the repeating patterns of lines: the steps, railings, grill. All these lines create a certain visual rhythm.
Most of the images that I took of this debris did not have the impact that I wanted. It wasn’t until I got right down amongst it that I was able to convey the sense of being there adequately. I was then able to depict that the waste wood stretched from the foreground to the bridge in the distance using a relatively wide field of view oriented vertically.
I find I really like the 35mm focal length that the Olympus XA2 has as well as many other small cameras from the late 70’s early 1980’s. It’s noticeably wide yet gives a convincingly natural field of view. With the Xa2’s three zones of focus you might think that it would be difficult to achieve sharp results but this isn’t the case and it also frees you to work on composition rather than focus. These images where processed in Lightroom.
What goes into a photography like this, is it merely a snapshot or a considered composition? It’s a bit of both, the crow wouldn’t take directions. The image itself is divided equally between the house and sky and by their values and textures. In addition the crow now stands in contrast against the sky at the intersection of the roof lines. I held this framing until the crow turned this way just before it flew away.
When I first saw this forgotten water bottle I wasn’t to sure what to make of it but as I approached it became clear that this would produce an interesting subject against the ground of the artificial turf. The clarity achieved by this little camera never ceases to amaze me. The full size print I have of this (8″x12″) renders every blade of plastic grass clearly. The slight touch of contrasting colour and the harsh shadow created by the mid day sun all add to this image, making the water bottle stand in relief.
It’s nice when things turn out like you planned even when your pushing the boundaries of your experience. I needed to take public transit to get downtown Vancouver so I ended up on what is called the “Skytrain” which was originally built for Expo 86. I brought along my Olympus XA2 because it fits in a pocket and I like the images it produces. During the commute I considered taking a few exposures inside the train but didn’t really see anything that was all that compelling. However as I was standing up the entire time I was near the ceiling and observed that the people where smeared into a diffuse reflection above. So I turned the camera upside down and pressed it against the ceiling. This did two things, it eliminated any camera shake and recorded the reflections. Really only one person paid any attention to me and even that was for only a brief moment.
I wonder if these structures grew over time or some engineer somewhere planned this from the beginning? I have tinted the image as can be seen by the sky colour which helps to bring together all the elements
Your eye lids are getting very heavy, that’s right, now repeat after me I will not take pictures of faces in places.
These images are of the Coghlan substation in North East Langley. It was part of the B.C.E Railway and provide power to the trains that traveled from New Westminster to Chilliwack south of the Fraser River. This section was completed around 1910 and carried it’s last passengers in September 1950.
Let me explain, from around 1957 to 1963 there was a Japanese camera company that manufactured under the name Beauty. There really is very little information available so I’m relying on Camarapedia for much of it. http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Beauty_Lightomatic. This particular camera the Lightomatic, “wasn’t everything in the fifties ‘omatic?”, has a fast f1.9 45mm lens. The selenium cell is attached to a meter visible on the top and is coupled to the shutter and aperture. A unique feature of the film advance lever is that it needs to be left partially out otherwise the shutter is locked. The viewfinder has parallax correction and shows a generous amount of area outside the picture frame. It’s an attractive camera that I will need to test further to determine it’s strengths and weaknesses.
