Sometimes life gets in the way of doing the things you love. Well, not completely, but kind of. Sometimes there is a shift in focus when it comes to things that you are passionate about. As an example, last month I went looking for any excuse to go out taking photos; this month it feels like I was looking for any excuse to cook something new. Or if it wasn't something new, it was something delicious. Cheesecake. Blueberry creme brulee. Anything with honey. On the few occasions I went out taking photos, the emphasis seemed to be more on enjoying the company of the friends I was spending time with, rather than actively seeking out fantastic photo opportunities. Kind of a 'that pub/bar/restaurant looks great for photos!' attitude... But in saying that, despite work/study/sporting/social commitments, I've far from lost my passion for photography - this month I was trying to work on showing 'movement' in my photos, zooming in or out while exposing a photo, panning, longer shutter speeds, etc... Or when I wasn't aiming for some kind of blurring effect, I was trying to work on taking really nice, sharp images. Anyway, these were my six best from February:
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Location: Sydney University Sports & Aquatice Centre
(F9.0, 1/25, ISO 400, 300mm focal length) |
The National Water Polo League commences! This was our second game of the season, against the Fremantle Mariners. I learned a few things from taking these photos. Seeing as I get too much noise from high ISO photos on my camera, (which means it is near impossible to get nice, clear, sharp images when it comes to indoor sports), I decided to enhance the movement in the photos, rather than trying to minimise it. So I started panning the camera with the movement of the ball, the players, etc. Something I need to keep practicing...
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Location: Chinatown/Haymarket
(F6.3, 1/3, ISO 400, 28mm focal length) |
I have been a little obsessive with practicing both panning and zooming techniques when it comes to deliberately blurring photos. It took me a few failed attempts to get this (trying different shutter speeds, rates of zoom, etc), but this was the point where I realised how handy the flash can be when it comes to zooming out while the photo is exposing. It managed to freeze the statue, while warping all the surrounds. I'll be remembering this come Chinese New Year next year!
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Location: King St Wharf
(F11, 3.2sec, ISO 400, 50mm focal length) |
I'm really happy with how this photo turned out -particularly with the framing of the background, but mostly with the clarity of the life buoy. Everything just seems to line up nicely - the circular buoy, the figure-eight rope, the straight lines in both the reflections in the water and the pole... To me it just seems like a very 'shapely' photo :-)
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Location: Town Hall
(F3.2, 1/3, ISO 800, 25mm focal length |
This photo came out much, much better than I had first expected! It did take a bit of photoshopping to get there - darkening the shadows and lightening the highlights and midtones, with a bit of sharpenning, but the difference it makes to the sandstone is really appealing to me. Plus I think the resulting noise/grain 'ages' the photo nicely - it definitely works well with sandstone... Something I'll remember in the future!
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Location: George St, Haymarket
(F20, 1.3sec, ISO 200, 25mm focal length) |
I'll admit this photo is a little out of the ordinary for me. While there are a few things which draw my eye, the photo doesn't seem cluttered either. There is of course the trolley and bin in the foreground, with the movement of both the cars and the people crossing in the background. Funnily enough, because the asphalt, sidewalk and bin were all rather bland, the photo was almost naturally black-and-white to begin with.
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Location: Hickson Rd, Dawes Point
(F3.5, 1/3, ISO 400, 42mm focal length) |
My sixth photo of the month is one of my favourites - a truck passing the steps between Hickson Rd and High Street, down from the King St Wharf. It was a pretty narrow window of opportunity, being hand held and waiting for the truck to go past, but I think the linear pattern formed by the stairs, the street light and the lights from the truck is pretty appealing. I originally just stopped to get a photo of the doorway beneath the steps - I think this one came up trumps :-)
Once again, that brings my month of photography to an end. Towards the middle of the month, I had barely taken my camera out at all, and I was beginning to think that I may not even end up with six photos worth displaying. A novel concept for me - the idea of only showing three or four photos on my 6images blog! But then I thought back to my original premise; one of the key ideas of this blog was to force myself to be more selective in my work. Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea - if I don't feel my work is up to scratch, simply not just putting my 'best six' up; just putting up what I think is worthwhile? Anyway, unless I become my own harshest critic sometime in the next few weeks - you can expect to see six more photos next month :-)
