OUTER SUBURBS 61 – BUS SHELTER, WET MORNING

 

 

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I walked in the suburbs, far from home and without coat or umbrella, and there came a cloudburst.  Across the road was a bus shelter – one of those enclosed on nearly all sides – and I dived inside to escape the falling water.  There was no one else there – and so to a post that might have been entitled 10 Minutes in a Bus Shelter.  Well, you know, I was standing there, with interesting things to look at all around – the misty windows, the gleaming streets outside, the patterns on the floor, the metal struts framing the translucent perspex, the bright red seat, you name it – and I had a camera burning a hole in my pocket.

That’s one thing about photography really, if you get right into it, nowhere is visually boring, there are always things to stare at – and in this case, unless I fancied a drenching, I had the leisure to stare.

So, what to stare at?  Two worlds.  First, the confined, almost claustrophobic world of the shelter, distorted slightly by the TG-5’s wide lens – misted windows, patterned floor and red seating: bland, functional modernity, purposely designed for the have’s in our society who catch the buses, and equally purposely designed to offer little comfort for the have-not’s who have nowhere else to go and would like somewhere other than the shelter’s cold floor to sleep on.  And here we all were, at the start of November, gearing up for The Season of Goodwill.  But then, the bus shelter is in the real world, whereas The Season of Goodwill is only in our minds.

And the second world, the outside world, the view out through the shelter’s ever-open doorway: a view to wet pavements, a passing car and, in the background, an equally passing factory.  But, you say, how can a factory possibly be passing?   Well, I’m a geologist and to me everything is passing, but it is apparently the case that this old factory is on a site earmarked for hundreds of new houses; we shall see.

So I loitered there, looking at anything and everything, taking it all in.  And two women passed, better equipped for the weather than I.  And, whispering together, they gave me a long, suspicious look.  I imagined their conversation: “Here, what’s that strange old man doing in that bus shelter?  Do you think he’s a prevert?” (she’d been watching a Dr Strangelove rerun).  “Well, I expect he’d say its artistic, but I’m not so sure …”.  Actually I’ve got that quote wrong, because the most used words in our new, Politically Correct society are appropriate and inappropriate, and I have a feeling that, in their eyes, I’d have merited the latter.

But, nobody expects the unexpected, I do think. And, as Bob Dylan might put it, “”You can be in my bus shelter if I can be in your’s …” .

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 60 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 1 Nov 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 60 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 5 (MONO)

 

 

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To be more inside this image, to better imagine being there, its best to enlarge it.  To do this, click onto it to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Walking along a path, walking along a modern suburban canyon, in the early morning.

This is the path also shown, from a slightly different viewpoint, in image 1 on the next line.

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

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 58 59 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Natural film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Dynamic Harsh preset and adding a light Selenium tone; south Bristol; 13 Dec 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 58 – MODERN HOUSING 8 (MONO)

 

 

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Sunrise.

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

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 56 57 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm(equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Landscape preset and adding a light Coffee tone; south Bristol; 1 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 56 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 4

 

 

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Path between houses, in the early morning, just after dawn.

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

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 53a 55 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 43mm (equiv); 2500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Natural film simulation; south Bristol; 12 Dec 2018.

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OUTER SUBURBS 52 – MODERN HOUSING 7 (MONO)

 

 

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Modernity.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 6 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 80mm (equiv); 640 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Harsh preset; south Bristol; 20 Aug 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 48 – MODERN HOUSING 6 (MONO)

 

 

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Modern housing near the school mentioned in the previous post – number 47 in the list below.

This may possibly be meant to be a pedestrian lane, but the nearest road access to the front of the first few houses on the left seems to be by the white house in the far distance, and there is a vehicle just visible in the front garden of the first house on the left.  The stout, uncompromising metal bars in the foreground stop four-wheeled motor vehicles (at least) from accessing a green space and children’s play area behind the camera: all entrances to this green space are protected in this way.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 5 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Monotone film simulation; south Bristol; 4 Oct 2018 >>> I must be slipping, using Lightroom to produce black and white when I have Silver Efex Pro 2 available!  But Lightroom does a job for basic things like this, although I don’t rate its black and white presets at all.  I’m sure I’m guilty of a certain amount of snobbishness here, and laziness too, but for me SEP2 gives such a raft of possibilities that, in the great majority of cases, its unthinkable to use anything else.  That said, Lightroom does have the various Acros black and white film simulations for the Fujifilm X-T2 and they’re quite good.

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OUTER SUBURBS 47 – THE PATH TO SCHOOL (MONO)

 

 

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The path to school, one of Life’s Paths, one of the paths that we all tread (assuming we are lucky enough to attend a school, or are not schooled at home).  This particular path is through a rather utilitarian landscape.  Utilitarian? Google tells me it means “practical rather than attractive” which is perhaps a little hard; whereas picturesque might be a little charitable.

So what’s here for the children, on their daily walk towards learning?

Well, the wall on the right protects private properties: if they want to go in there (assuming they don’t live there already), they either have to go in for trespass and burglary (which might lead to far-reaching Life changes) or, later in life, get onto the housing ladder, as the phrase so happily puts it.  Getting onto the housing ladder?  Well, it means scrimping and saving to buy nicer and nicer homes for themselves, and thus getting themselves further and further into debt; prior to (at least partially) bankrolling their children to repeat the process.

Then straight ahead, at the end of the path, is the primary school: a state school, funded by taxes, with the wonderful aims of education, and of preparation of the young people for Life In The Outside World.

And to the left of the path, out of shot, is a church which, if at all possible, would like their souls.  Assuming, that is, that they – or indeed anyone else – in fact has a soul, which has long been a matter for speculation.  However, since the possession of an immortal soul is a cornerstone of this particular religion’s mythology, embarking on such speculation to the left of the path may become a little contentious.

So, looking at the options, I think that if I were the children, I’d stay on the path, I’d keep on walking straight ahead, at least until I’m old enough to make more informed judgements on both the worldly to the right and the divine to the left.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique:  TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 640 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Landscape preset; south Bristol; 2 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 38 – MODERN HOUSING 5

 

 

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Looking up at modern housing, and not worrying about preserving verticals; also the decision not to try to clean up the various stains on the paintwork.  I initially processed this in black and white, but now think that the blues and the (slightly grimy) cream add something.

And a problem with the TG-5 camera solved >>>in my OUTER SUBURBS 33 post, I griped about not be able to find any way to quickly change the TG-5’s metering mode from the ESP (= a sort of matrix metering) that I usually use, to the Spot setting that only meters the centre of the image – which can be useful in tricky lighting situations.  This has been solved by using one of the camera’s two Custom Modes, which enable the photographer to save frequently used sets of camera settings and switch to them instantly.

So the camera is usually in Aperture Priority mode (A), with ESP metering.  And then I’ve set up Custom Mode 1 (C1) to have identical settings, but with Spot metering instead of ESP.  Mode A is next to C1 on the mode dial, and thus I can switch back and fore between Spot metering and ESP metering almost instantly, which is very handy.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 4 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 74mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 12 Sept 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 35 – MODERN HOUSING 4

 

 

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Modern housing, with street light and sunrise.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 3 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 61mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 1 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 31 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 3

 

 

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The partly seen car – a truncated splash of bright, reflective, curved colour – drew my eye.  It contrasted with the mass of non-reflective, straight-sided shapes – the blank, utilitarian facades of the built environment – surrounding it.

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

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 .  Each will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: TG-5 at 57mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 30 Oct 2018.
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