STILL LIFE 142 – STAIRWAY

 

 

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Outdoor stairway, with a roof to protect it from the elements but still in need of some tlc.  Also an abstract design, more or less bisected by the diagonal from the upper right corner to the lower left.  Strong horizontals on the right are abruptly truncated by a (grimy!) wall with some angular, zigzag patterning on the left.  Further up these steps, on a landing, were rough sleepers.

Did I wish these stairs sparkling, clean and conforming to the “Modern Sterile” look?  Not at all, to me they show more character, more reality, like this – and all the more so for being surrounded by the shopping centre’s gleaming and pristine retail temples.

Click onto the image to open a larger image in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it still further.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm; 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Broadmead shopping centre, central Bristol; 7 July 2017.

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STILL LIFE 141 – LOOKING AT CHAIRS 1

 

I enjoy looking at things, and seeing how light falls on them.  A lot of my photography these days consists of looking for beautiful light, and then thinking what to do with it.  I quite often photograph cars for just this reason: they can have beautiful lines, and their metal and glass bodies are eminently reflective; when stationary they are still life subjects sensu stricto – but they can also be rewarding when in motion.

To me, chairs can be rather like cars in some respects, beyond the bald fact that we use both of them for sitting on or in.  Chairs can be objects of beauty and, beyond being thrown around in bar room brawls, they mostly stay still while light flows over them, so that it is possible to really look at how they interact with it – and of course, unlike cars, it is often easy to move chairs around, to examine new light/shadow effects.

And so to a brief series of chair pictures, some from my archives, others from my propensity for peering around with a camera while I’m sitting in various eateries, waiting to immerse my snout in their delicious delights.  Many of the resulting images tend towards the Minimal, and some the abstract.

These may not be the most exciting series of images in creation. They will most probably have a distinctly calm and tranquil air, which may be a welcome distraction from today’s rushed and frenetic world.  I hope you will enjoy them.

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In Rosemarino, an Italian restaurant in Clifton, Bristol; 7 April 2017.

What I like about this picture: the massive, dark chair back, with a thin rim of backlighting around the top; the backlighting also catching the underside of the curved element; and the faint browns glowing on the left upright.  The background is diffuse, but with subtle variations that add to things.  This picture could be presented in black and white, but I value the subtle touches of colour.

There is another picture from Rosemarino here.

Click onto this image to open another in a separate window, and click onto that image to greatly enlarge it.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Classic Chrome film simulation.
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STILL LIFE 140 – LOVE

 

 

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Looking for love?  Well its here. 

The wide lens takes us into the image –  on the left, the orange letters stream in over our shoulder.  The walls and patterned floor are black, the door white, and the orange tones on the left are minutely mirrored below the door knob.  On the floor, cigarette butts (though I much prefer the Brit, dog ends).

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the larger image to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T2 with 10-24 Fujinon lens at 17mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Classic Chrome film simulation; Park Street, central Bristol; 4 Aug 2017.
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STILL LIFE 139 – CAR AFTER RAIN SHOWER

 

 

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I’m married to my 55-200 Fujinon telezoom, which mirrors the 70-300mm of my very, very favourite, full-frame Nikon lens.  I also have the 10-24 Fujinon lens that is a 15-36 full-frame equivalent, but I’ve just not been able to get into using it much – and I’ve read of others finding the results of wide angle lenses tending to be formulaic in exactly the same way.

So last Friday, having no real other photographic targets in mind, I took the 10-24 into the city again – and did get a little more into it, especially when using it close-in.  And its smaller than the 55-200 and really quite handy.  But I wish it was a little longer at the upper focal length end, say up to 50mm or 75mm equivalent.  As I’ve said before, my 24-120 full frame Nikon zoom really is an extremely useful and flexible lens, the lens I’ll always take if I’m unsure what sorts of images are going to appear.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto this version to enlarge it.

Technique: X-T2 with 10-24 Fujinon lens at 36mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Victoria Street, central Bristol; 4 Aug 2017.
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STILL LIFE 138 – GLASS OF BEER 2

 

 

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Amber nectar?  No, not really, its only Stella Artois – but its in our faces and bubbling, and I like the effect.

The first glass of beer image is here.  Thinking about it, it may even be the same glass of beer (depending on how fast I was drinking at the time), but I think I prefer this closer in, simpler version, with its more clearly seen bubbles.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that version to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: Canon G11 PowerShot at 140mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Standard film simulation, Bristol; 10 Feb 2017.
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STILL LIFE 137 – RED, WHITE AND BLUE

 

 

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High Street, central Bristol, 9 Sept 2016.

Door Handle might be an alternative title here, because that and the pock-marked wall left of it are all that is in focus.  But should we always focus on what is in focus, or focus instead (sorry, couldn’t resist the repetition!  Its a Brit thing …) on the larger scene?  Which in this case included the passerby on this warm day, and the red rubbish bin away over on the other side of the road.  There is another photo of a reflection, far more abstract than this one, here.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the enlarged image to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation.
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STILL LIFE 133 – WHITE GLOVE

 

 

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Chaos, close in, with a wide angle lens: raindrops on the bonnet, blown highlights, saturated colours and a cavalier disregard for the horizontal.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T2 with 10-24 Fujinon lens at 36mm (equiv); 200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Color Efex Pro 4; Capture NX2; outside Hart’s Bakery, Temple Meads, Bristol; 28 Apr 2017.
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STILL LIFE 132 – BLUE, YELLOW AND BLACK

 

 

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Window, Queen Charlotte Street, central Bristol; 7 July 2017.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that version to enlarge it.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film preset.
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STILL LIFE 131 – BLUE CAR

 

 

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Blue car, outside Harts Bakery (on my early morning trips into the city, where else???).

Technique: two things to mention.  This photo was captured in portrait format but, to my eyes (but maybe not to your’s!) it works better compositionally rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise.  The rotation does of course make it more abstract, something I rarely dislike, and there is a pleasing lower left to upper right orientation of many of the structural elements – with the notable exceptions of the strong, near horizontal line at the bottom, and the “splash” of white reflection that curves down towards lower right.  The edges of the window now make a more pronounced, sharp and curving feature at lower/middle left.  And the other thing here is LR’s Vibrance slider, which boosts the saturation of less saturated colours (ie rather than boosting the saturation of the more saturated colours too).  In the past I’ve either left this slider at zero, or moved to a positive value – but here, looking at its effects, a setting of -19 looks better than increasing saturation.  Less is often more with many things, and reducing the saturation of colour images can often have positive effects.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that version to enlarge it yet further.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; rotated 90 degrees anticlockwise; Temple Meads, Bristol; 7 July 2017.
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ARCHIVE 302 – BOOKLET ON WHITE TABLE, BESIDE GREEN SEATING

 

 

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View through the sunlit window of a restaurant in Park Street, Bristol; 6 Apr 2013.

The gloriously blasting sunlight is striking the white side of the table and the green seats around the table.  The top of the table is in shadow but, being white, is not quite as dark as I’ve rendered it – to me the pure white rectangle made by the table’s edge is very strong graphically.  And I wanted the booklet to be almost floating in the blackness.

There is also the unfocused shadow of a plant – looking like some large predatory insect, a mantis perhaps –  which is off left of the table.

Technique: Canon G11 PowerShot at 140mm (35mm equivalent); 200 ISO.

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