ARCHIVE: STILL LIFE 24 – TWO WOMEN IGNORING A PIGEON (MONO)

Two women in Bristol city centre purposely ignoring a pigeon that, after all, was only trying to be friendly; photographed from the upper deck of a bus, 24 Apr 2013.

And before you ask – this outcome was not in my mind when I took the shot.

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

Technique: Canon G11 PowerShot at 140mm (35mm equivalent); 200 ISO; converted to mono in Silver Efex Pro 2, jumping off at the Silhouette EV +0.5 preset.

ARCHIVE STILL LIFE

This is a new category on this blog – Archive Still Life studies.  The Still Life definition will certainly be followed loosely – e.g. some studies may only have been made “still” by the split second opening of the camera’s shutter – and my objective will be to use as many different types / genres of subject matter as possible.  Some images will be Minimalist and, in general, I try to make simpler images, rather than cramming them with visual content.

Some new Still Life studies will (hopefully!) continue to appear.

ARCHIVE: LOOKING AT CARS 72 – DRIVER IN THE MODERN WORLD

She is at the wheel – and on wheels too – comfortably cocooned in metal, plastics and glass, all powered up and ready to go. 

But glancing around, perhaps for some human contact, for some respite from this purely blank, mechanically mobile world, the view outside – as inside – is only of endless artificiality, only of yet more, transient cocoons, passing on anonymously by.

Click onto the image twice to enlarge it – recommended.

Technique: Z 6 with 70-300 Nikkor lens used in APS-C format to give 450mm; 6400 ISO; Lightroom, starting at the Camera Dramatic profile; Bristol city centre; 29 Nov 2019.

ARCHIVE: STILL LIFE 20 – ADVERTISEMENT

A little the worse for wear … part of an advert on a hoarding surrounding a building site.

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

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 400 ISO; Lightroom, using the Velvia/Vivid film simulation; Broad Plain, central Bristol; 26 May 2017.

ARCHIVE STILL LIFE

This is a new category on this blog – Archive Still Life studies.  The Still Life definition will certainly be followed loosely – e.g. some studies may only have been made “still” by the split second opening of the camera’s shutter – and my objective will be to use as many different types / genres of subject matter as possible.  Some images will be Minimalist and, in general, I try to make simpler images, rather than cramming them with visual content.

Some new Still Life studies will (hopefully!) continue to appear.

ARCHIVE: LOOKING AT CARS 67 – CAUGHT IN TRAFFIC (MONO)

Taking her chance amongst the traffic surging along Queens Road, on the edge of Bristol’s up market Clifton suburb.

The converging cars remind me of a wolf or shark pack closing in upon her – especially the sharp and down-curved “snout” of the car at upper right. 

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

Technique: D700 with 70-300 Nikkor lens at 300mm; 6400 ISO; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Dynamic Smooth preset; 2 Dec 2016.

ARCHIVE 604 – ON THE UPPER DECK OF THE EARLY MORNING BUS

 

 

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Three travellers on the upper deck of the early morning bus to work.

The woman beside the window is engrossed in a newspaper, her expression reacting – negatively, perhaps –  to the day’s news.  But the other two people – further into the shot and less clearly seen – appear more passive and preoccupied.  And the steaminess of the bus’s window is thick, almost opaque in places, and densely textured.

Those two people at the back get to me.  First, they can only be partly seen, its almost as if they are fading into the background – which brings thoughts about the dehumanising effects of some workplaces, and of the unnaturalness of lives spent commuting and working in cities.  And second, both of these people are staring fixedly ahead.  Are they somewhere far away in daydreams, or do they see something nearer at hand, closer ahead, in either the present time or in times soon to come?

Also, this blurred image is starting to look like some sort of painting or daub (more probably the latter), and when any photo does this I feel I’m getting somewhere.

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, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended >>> come on in, the grain is lovely!

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 12,800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Provia/Standard film simulation; Temple Meads, central Bristol; 15 Dec 2017.

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ARCHIVE: LOOKING AT CARS 45 – WOMAN IN CAR

 

 

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As so often happens, a grab shot – time for only one, very quick shot –  as passing traffic momentarily slowed down.  Luckily I had the camera set to spot metering linked to the active autofocus point, something I’m using quite a lot at the moment.  And the telephoto zoom was fully extended.  I just raised the camera to my eye, it found focus on her hand almost instantaneously, and I fired.

What do I think about this image?  Well, a passing soul, a passing someone, a stranger to me as I am to her, someone going somewhere.  But now, I suppose, part of a design, resting her fingers upon – or is she helping support?! – a curving metallic blueness set in a photographically enhanced darkness.  And if I could produce more such images, of beings in artificial, abstract realities, I would.

The Looking at Cars series: looking back through the nine years of the FATman Photos archives (and some new images too), I’m posting pictures of cars in various contexts and styles.  These Looking at Cars posts are here: 1 (with context); 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 .  Each post will open in a separate window. 

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

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, including the Classic Chrome film simulation; Park Street, central Bristol; 7 Apr 2017.

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ARCHIVE 597 – POSTER

 

 

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Poster in a Truro shop window; 25 April 2007.

I don’t usually take photos of other people’s photos, pictures or graffiti – although I do like good graffiti / street art very much ->>> I am, after all, a resident of Banksy’s hometown. 

Its not so much that photographing others’ images feels like theft or plagiarising, its more that I prefer to concoct my own images.   Having someone else’s image as a part of a composition is ok – see this example –  but making someone else’s image the principal subject or all of one of mine just isn’t really me.

But this picture struck me – the pose and vacant gaze on the right and the gawping, mindless expression on the left.  Whoever took this picture deserves abundant applause!

And what should we all do?  Well, of course, like sheep, we should all mindlessly follow whatever fashion chooses to dictate ….  but that bus is overcrowded >>> anyone for the Individuality Special???

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

Technique: Nikon F6 with 24m-85m Nikkor lens; Fuji Sensia 400 colour slide film rated at 800 ISO.

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ARCHIVE KENYA 112 – MAASAI (MONO)

 

 

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Maasai woman in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya; April 1979.

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

Technique: OM-1 with 50mm Zuiko lens;  Agfa CT18 colour slide film rated at 64 ISO, converted to  mono in Capture NX2.

THE ARCHIVE KENYA SERIES

I’m re-posting photographs that I took in Kenya over 30 years ago.  You can find more context here .  Click onto the “Archive Kenya” tag (below) to see more of these film images from Kenya.

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ARCHIVE KENYA 107 – ON A FARM IN WESTERN KENYA

 

 

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Sub-Saharan Africa’s love affair with bright colour: Luo woman on a farm near Akala, in western Kenya; April 1979.

She is sitting in front of the wooden door of a mud hut with a thatched roof.

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

Technique: OM-1 with 50mm Zuiko lens; Agfa CT18 colour slide, rated at 64 ISO to further saturate colour.

THE ARCHIVE KENYA SERIES

I’m re-posting photographs that I took in Kenya over 30 years ago.  You can find more context here .  Click onto the “Archive Kenya” tag (below) to see more of these film images from Kenya.

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ARCHIVE: LOOKING AT CARS 31 – STELLA AND EUGENE SET THEIR HEARTS ON THE NICE NEW CAR OUTSIDE THE SHOP WINDOW (MONO)

 

 

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I’m trying to do different things with these Looking at Cars posts and, well, here is something different – seen while looking across Park Street, in central Bristol, on 24 Apr 2013.

A reversal of reality: the inhabitants of shop windows are now real people, looking into the shop window displays of our world and playing out their materialistic tendencies.  When reality reverses, the dummies go shopping, right?  I can only hope that, when they display me on their mantelpiece, it will be with due sensitivity and prominence, and showing my best profile too …

When I’m processing images and start to see something going right, something promising emerging in front of me, I often start to hum, whistle and even sing (try not to imagine the last of these, especially if you’re under age or have just eaten).  The volume of my ravings can increase as what I’m working on really comes together, and my wife has mentioned strange noises emanating from the FATman Photos Launch Pad … and you thought you were weird … well that makes two of us then …

Anyway, when working on this, I found myself continually humming and singing snatches from Paul Simon’s “Rene and Georgette Magritte with their dog after the war”, and maybe that’s who I see these two as being.  I’ve called them Stella and Eugene because that occurred to me earlier, and I can really see him as a Eugene, but perhaps they’re really Rene and Georgette.

The tone and contrast have been added to create more of an unreal atmosphere.  I had thought about removing the small bright area near the top left corner but, because I wanted the whole diameter of the big car’s wheel, and room to spare each side, this small, pale rectangle helps balance the composition.

The Looking at Cars series: looking back through the nine years of the FATman Photos archives (and some new images too), I’m posting pictures of cars in various contexts and styles.  Earlier Looking at Cars posts are here: 1 (with context); 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 post will open in a separate window.

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

Technique: Canon G11 PowerShot at 140mm (35mm equiv); 400 ISO; converted to mono and toned in Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Harsh preset.

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