One very common sight in most cities and towns are car parks, and many provide great abstract photography opportunities due to their mostly rigid geomentric structures. Here is one in Fort Worth, Texas, the lines helped by strong midday sunshine.
I normally try to avoid reflections in shots such as this, but on this occasion I thought the wisp of distorted clouds seems to give a slightly ethereal feel.
I am in the process of building up a series called City Facades, and captured this one recently when in the USA. More of this series can be found in my sales gallery here
Recently while travelling for work I had the weekend free, and on saturday night was undecided where to go the next day. So what better to do than have a pint or two of beer and do some online research. While doing a reconnaisance using street view mapping, I noticed this building, and decided to drive 90 minutes the next day to find it!
I saw this building whilst driving north towards Boston on the interstate and decided it would make a good photograph to compliment my ‘City Facades’ series. However, trying to find this building once parked was another issue as, once in the downtown area, the high rise building make it very difficult much other than straight up!
I wonder…..
During the cab ride to my hotel in Fort Worth recently we passed a building that to me looked very interesting as a photographic subject. A few day later I walked four miles to find the building, but when I got there it wasn’t what I had expected, but found this instead just around the corner.
Like many larger cities, downtown Fort Worth has its fair share of glass clad buildings, and as a consequence I took many reflection photos. This one, which is a reflection of an older building, is my favourite.
I arrived at my hotel in Fort Worth at 6pm after travelling for over 12 hours from London. The sun was still shining, so rather than take an early night, I decided to take a walk in the city, camera in hand. Later, when I was walking back to my hotel, I looked up and noticed how this otherwise boring concrete building appeared to glow golden in the late evening sun.
This is an image from a series I entitled ‘Texas Colours’. It was also one of the nine included in the feature about me in Aesthetica Magazine.
I have desaturated this image to remove a slight cyan cast, otherwise this is as seen. The wood was painted grey, the window frame was white, and there was no reflection from the window, because I deliberately postioned myself to avoid such reflections.
I never set out to build a series of photographs from scratch. Rather, I usually try to build a series from one or two photos in my collection, deliberately targeting particular areas, such as I did with my ‘Industrial Minimalism’ series. ‘Colorado Windows’, on the other hand, happened quite by chance during a visit there last summer when, after a few days, I realised I had a full series without trying!
I am regularly asked this question when sharing my images. Each time I have to say yes, it is real. I walk the streets to find these unusual building and objects; that is the pleasure for me. I couldn’t think of anything worse than sitting at home on my computer making these things up. I know others do, and that is fine, but I don’t.
I have been honoured by Aesthetica Magazine with a 12 page feature. Here are the 11 images which they selected. The magazine http://www.aestheticamagazine.com is is available in hard copy and digital versions, and they have stockists worldwide listed on their page. Can’t wait to get hold of a hard copy myself!
Need I say more? Could I say more?
The simplest of façade designs.
Sometimes the best image is the first one you take. At the time I was not happy with the lighting as this wall was in shade. However, when I returned later in the day, there was too much glare from the glass, and the shadows in the windows were too distracting.
Part 2
Although I have done some editing to eliminate reflections from the glass in the window, most of the work was done when taking the shot. I often have to move around to adjust the reflection to my liking, sometimes to include it, sometimes not.
The building I was photographing here was a fairly boring, almost brutalist style concrete structure. Here I have focussed my composition on a section of the structure, just as the concrete protrusions were casting shadows, all perfectly in line with the windows.
The day I first visited this location, there were two problems. The first one was that it was a working day, and there was too much activity to feel comfortable about taking the shot, particularly as the only suitable position was in their private car park. the second problem was the sun was behind me, so I was getting far too much reflection from the steel walls and glass. Thankfully I was able to return the following morning, which was a Saturday, and the sun was in front of me!
Same idea, different city!
Most of my minimal images are straight on shots, or are straightened in post processing. Occasionally though, I can’t get near enough without getting lens distortion, so the fallback is to shoot at an angle.
I often mention in my blogs about how I try to avoid distracting objects like streetlights and trees. Well, in this example, without the streetlight it would have been plain boring. Sometimes a bit of distraction is good, sometimes it is essential!
I have been asked more than once why there is no shadow on the window. Well, if you look closely there is, but it is very faint. Why would that be when the shadow on the wall is so strong? I guess it is all about the timing.
The beauty of abstract work is that the viewer can see what they like. Someone commented that this image looked like a piano keyboard. I never saw this until they commented, now I can’t get it out of my head!
Isn’t it great to be able to wander around industrial estates when the sun is shining! Much better than those boring country walks with nothing to see but lakes, valleys, trees and grass. I much prefer steel walls, security lighting, conduit and rivets!
Compare this to an image posted by my WP friend Melinda Green Harvey last week. It is a different composition, but taken from almost the same spot in San Antonio, Texas, no more than two weeks apart. Now, I believe Melinda lives in Texas, but considering Texas is 3 times the size of England where I live, this is quite a coincidence. It really is a small world!
Sometimes converting images to black and white works, sometimes not. in this case I had little choice, as the steel structure was very monochrome. In fact, going back to the unedited file, I can’t tell if I ever converted it, although there may have been a slight cyan cast in the shadows.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends and followers!
I had just spent a few hours wandering the city streets for inspiration and I was on my way back to my hotel when I spotted this image. The first problem was I was driving along a highway so had to take the next exit, and then back to the location. The second problem was, trying to find a suitable place to stop as the location was right next to a highway exit. Having driven around a few times, I did find somewhere to stop, but then there was the third problem, finding somewhere to stand to compose my photo!
I just love how composition in photography can be used to position two otherwise unrelated objects to form a pleasing minimalist composition. The ‘incomplete’ grille, and the darkness beyond the opening add intrigue.
As a rule I dress down when wandering the city streets in search of good photographic subjects. I try not to look like a tourist, or that I am carrying around expensive camera gear. When I was asked last week by two homeless people if I was going to the (homeless) mission, I realised my deception was working!
If had been paying more attention at the time, I would have made a mental note of what the orange thing was in that window. As it was, and as it usually is, I was paying more attention to composition and to finding the right spot to take the photo. Now I am curious and must go back when I am next in that city!
This may look like part of an industrial building, but in fact this was residential. Thankfully the sun was so bright that the residents had closed their blinds, otherwise I feel the scene would have been ruined, at least from a minimal photography perspective.
…Marmite back in Tesco!
This is a reblog of my very first post on WP. Then, I felt it necessary to explain to those outside the UK what Marmite was. To best explain the relevance of this reblog today, just do a google search for ‘Marmite Tesco’
For those of you who don’t know, Marmite is a famous British branded yeast extract spread. It has lovers and haters, and not much in between. The manufacturers even use this love/hate relationship as a feature of their advertising.
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This was the first attempt at capturing this image, and really liked it. However, the wall was in shade, so I decided I needed to go back when the light would be casting a shadow. The time I calculated to be best was 7.30am, so the next day I crawled out of my bed and trekked the 2 miles to the scene. My calculations were correct, as light was casting a shadow, but the shadow was uneven and very displeasing to look at, so I stuck with my first image.
Well, certainly in minimal photography it is anyway. This wall was otherwise a random mix of shapes, colours and textures, but some close cropping brings the composition, for me, to life.
This is one of those rare images where I have re-visited a location to take further photographs. I was not happy with the first attempt. Thankfully was back in the city a year later, and actually remembered where the building was!
As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I am normally trying to avoid streetlights. Sometimes, however they do contribute very well to the composition, and no more so than in this image.
