OUTER SUBURBS 232 – A WEATHER FRONT MOVES THROUGH

 

 

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Out early, walking in the lockdown.  I’ve taken fewer photos during these walks recently, for three reasons I think.  First the sun is higher in the sky now, even during the very early hours I keep – I’ll have to wait until the very earliest stirrings of autumn before the light gets lower and more golden again.  Second, I’ve worked out a “safe” walking route where the all important social distancing can easily be achieved, but as this is mainly through suburban housing estates, I’m rather reticent about pointing a camera towards anyone’s front windows!  But thirdly, and inevitably I suppose, all of this virus turmoil is getting to me such that, as I walk, my mind is often preoccupied with things other than photography.  It can take quite an effort to re-focus the mind into real “looking and seeing” mode; having Roe Deer and Foxes around does me good!

But last Thursday the skies became a little more dramatic as a small weather front passed eastwards over Bristol.  It brought a couple of light and in fact quite refreshing showers, and as I looked at the clouds moving over from the west, this scene unfolded.

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 70mm (equiv); 200 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Portrait profile; south Bristol; 21 May 2020.

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OUTER SUBURBS 231 – PARKED CAR 14 (MONO)

 

 

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There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 3200 IS0; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Natural profile; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Smooth preset; Capture NX2; south Bristol; 18 May 2020.
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OUTER SUBURBS 230 – PARKED CAR 13 (MONO)

 

 

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There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the B&W 04 profile; south Bristol; 16 Jan 2019.

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OUTER SUBURBS 229 – SHOP WITH BLUE SHUTTERS

 

 

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Shuttered shop, and a door.  Close in with a wide angle lens.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Natural profile; Bedminster, south Bristol; 29 Jan 2019.
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OUTER SUBURBS 228 – CAR BESIDE FENCE, EARLY LIGHT 2

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown, and – deja vu – finding another car beside another new fence lit by the bright, early morning sun; this one had just been sprinkled by a light rain shower.

The earlier post is here .

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 1 May 2020.
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OUTER SUBURBS 227 – BUS SHELTER, EARLY MORNING LIGHT

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown, walking up a hill towards a bus shelter that was being visually roasted by the sun’s early light.  The was a colourful advertisement on the far wall of the shelter and, as the warm hues of the sunrise played on this poster, reflections flew everywhere and the interior of the shelter was ablaze with bright, warm colours.

Technique: a blogging colleague, Michael Scandling, recently put out a very useful post (here) discussing the quality of digital images.  Many photographers try for images that are as noise-free and sharp as possible, which can result in pictures that, to use his words, are plastic and clinical – and I know exactly what he means.  Some think that all images should be technically perfect, whereas others consider content and narrative more important – and I’m 100% with the contenters and narrators.  In his post, Michael went on to say that, in post processing, he often uses noise reduction sparingly, that he sometimes selectively softens areas of a picture and artificially introduces grain.

And so to trying out some of Michael’s points here – no luminance noise reduction; artificially introduced grain; Lightroom’s Camera Vivid profile; increased Vibrance – and I like the result, and am certainly going to bear these points in mind for future pictures >>> thank you, Michael!

And looking at all these colours brings a story to mind.  Forty or more years ago, in Kenya, I was giving a slideshow (remember slideshows?) to a group of American aid workers who were lolling around smoking pot, and I’ll always remember the almost ecstatic tones of ” … oh wow, man! …… THE  ******* COLOURS, MAN! ……”.   Halcyon days …  and no, before you ask, I didn’t take up the offer of any of their heavenly medicine … already, at that tender age, being a truly confirmed disciple of the … Electric Soup … courtesy, in those days, of the excellent output of Kenya Breweries, which even included a  local version of Guinness!

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.

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OUTER SUBURBS 226 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 7

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown, and looking at a path through modern housing.  Whenever I walk through this housing estate I glance down this little path and it never fails to visually attract me.  For sure, there are many other such paths in this area, but the others all have extraneous visual clutter, notably other objects eg houses visible in the background.  LOL! in the Lord of the Rings there is The One Ring, and here there is The One Path!

I’ve photographed this path before, and that picture is below – and they are different pictures!  First, the framing is slightly different.  The shot below has a lower aspect, and shows almost none of the sky, which was grey and featureless, whereas cotton wool clouds and blue sky are quite a feature of the upper shot.  Second – and most importantly for photographers – the lighting is different.  The picture below was shot on a grey, overcast day, so there are almost no shadows and the picture is full of clear detail – for example, the colour of the path is better seen, as are the two, closely juxtaposed inspection covers on the path.  On a grey day like this, the only real shadows are beneath vehicles.  But the upper shot has quite strong directional lighting, the sun is not far above the horizon, and there is a lot of form and shadow in the white fence and the pruned hedge – and also the curving shadow of the street light on the hedge.

And I may have processed these two images slightly differently, though I do see that they both use the Camera Vivid profile in Lightroom.

Anyway, in summary, I suppose, the lower shot is perhaps expressionless or even deadpan – this is what the place looks like, in some detail, with no visual frills.  Whereas the upper shot does have frills: its more colourful, with the strong directional lighting producing some modeling – chiaroscuro, the interplay of light and shadow – and a greater range of tones too, from the white clouds to black shadows.

So >>> do you have a preference here?  Which one – if any – do you prefer???  And why?

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Earlier pictures of a paths through modern housing are here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto each image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique for the upper image: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 31 Mar 2020.
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OUTER SUBURBS 225 – PARKED CAR 12

 

 

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Looking at a BMW, not in any envious or possessive way, but rather seeing this confection of glass, metal, plastic and rubber more as a still life, looking at its shapes and lines, seeing how it reflects the light.  And so to processing the image, and to two crops.  The one above is more conventional, whereas the one below looks at just a part of the upper image and is more Minimalist.

There are earlier images in this Parked Car series here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto each image to open a larger version in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 26 Apr 2020.
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OUTER SUBURBS 224 – WALL BESIDE PARKED CAR, EARLY LIGHT

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown, beside a brick wall beside a car.  And although built quite recently – probably with an eye more to economy rather than to quality, it seems – the wall is already stained by the weather and starting to disintegrate, shedding fragments onto the dark pavement below.  The sleek, clean lines of the car’s shadow serve only to highlight the down at heel Modernity languishing mutely beside it.

Click onto the “early morning” tag (below) to see more images from the early hours of the day.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 400 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.
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OUTER SUBURBS 223 – MODERN HOUSING 11 (MONO)

 

 

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Walking in the lockdown.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 . Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 400 ISO; spot metering; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Vivid profile; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Film Noir 3 preset and adding a light Coffee tone; south Bristol; 5 Apr 2020.
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