Back to the Light

Fun With Cameras XXX

A noise barrier where one of the city’s main roads ends in an autobahn would have never been of much interest to me. But the early light paired with the bird caught my attention. Oberhausen, Germany, April 26, 2023.

The last Fun With Cameras was frosty. And although four months have passed since that cold December morning, it wasn’t much warmer when I headed out for the first photowalk of the year.

The urge of society to charge ahead, speed up life, and chase after technological advancements, which lately manifests itself in Ai content everywhere, makes it more difficult to find sources of photographic inspiration.

So, I returned to a trusty list of suggestions that’s helped me before and curated a set of objectives for those walks.

Just being out there, looking and trying to see pictures, was the most important one.

But I picked four topics that made the challenge a bit harder than that. I won’t name the challenges two to four today, even though the eagle-eyed among you may have glossed over a clue in a recent post.

Today’s theme is light, the quality or lack thereof, to be precise.

Giving myself a few simple prompts helped me to return to the flow of photography. And I needed to return, longed for it.

Unfamiliarly Familiar

Top left The Gasometer just before sunrise as seen from the banks of the river Emscher. Top right A noise barrier where one of the city’s main roads ends in an autobahn would have never been of much interest to me. But the early light paired with the bird caught my attention. Bottom left The Gasometer as seen from an observation tower at Olga park just after sunrise. Bottom right An orange beam of an observation tower at Olga park catches the first sun rays of the day (all four: Oberhausen, Germany, April 26, 2023)

Familiar surroundings. That’s what the first three walks have in common. This city is somewhat limited — in photographic terms — when one wants to make do without a car or public transportation.

But familiar surroundings did fine for those first few outings of the year. I knew what I could expect. And I was still surprised at what I found.

I was overwhelmed with keeping tabs on four types of pictures, but I adapted and learned to ignore the clutter if it got too much. I also soon realized that some concepts took care of themselves. I’ll get to that next week.

I started with an obvious stop (first picture above). I love that vantage point and could have stood and watched for much longer.

But the clock was ticking (the reason why will become clear in the next post). And a little surprise guest stumbled into my view shortly after.

I wish I had a longer lens than my 105. But even though it’s far from a perfect image, I enjoy the quiet softness that the early light created. It’s a quiet frame at a loud and busy place, the start of an autobahn.

The rest of the morning, I looked for this soft glow, for shadows, for the two sides of sunrise.

Top left The sun rises behind the church St. Pankratius. Top right An observation tower at Olga park at sunrise. Bottom left Pillars of a footbridge at sunrise. Bottom right The Gasometer as seen from a footbridge near Olga park. I included the support beam on the left because it mimics the light pattern on the gas tower, but it’s also a document to society’s dealing with the pandemic. The top graffiti reads “vaccinating kills.” All four: Oberhausen, Germany, April 26, 2023.

So Similar

The second walk still asked for a warm winter coat. I headed to the same area but concentrated on bits I hadn’t gotten to the day before.

The upcoming posts include more pictures from that morning. For today, I picked another gas tower cityscape, another one of my favorite spots in the city. I noticed that a cyclist was approaching and waited till they were entering the scene.

I returned from the pedestrian bridge across the canal and started my walk home via the promenade area of the adjacent shopping mall.

The Ferris wheel, how the sun illuminated it, and the play of light and shadow stopped me. I swapped to a 20mm lens and experimented a bit, getting closer and closer to the Ferris wheel. Below is the composition I enjoy the most.

Left The Gasometer and the Rhein-Herne canal during the hour after sunrise. Right A Ferris wheel on the promenade of the CentrO mall. Both: Oberhausen, Germany, April 27, 2023.

The Boring Goodness

A new day. A new photowalk. A dull cloud coverage joined warmer temperatures. Rain was in the air. The difference in feel was remarkable.

I do like cloudy mornings. The quietness of the first two mornings remained, but instead of glowy excitement and strong shadows, the world presents a visual harmony of its own.

Cloudy mornings can grow dull, but they can also show the good in boring, especially when rain is involved (that’s a teaser for the third post in this series).

For today’s post, I selected two pictures that demonstrate the difference in light between a sunny and cloudy morning and the mood it creates.

I had just stumbled out of a small wooded area when I saw a wide-open field with a footpath passing behind it back to civilization. At the beginning of that path, I noticed a lonely twig shooting toward the clouds.

At the end of the path, I knew again where I was and enjoyed the view of a local water tower.

Left A twig against a cloudy sky. Right The waterpower Frintrop/Bedingrade towers over the cities. Both: Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, April 28, 2023.

Architecture in the Light

The final walk brought me to an industrial park. I know the area, but I never actually visited those streets before.

I was a little later than the three mornings before, but I was still in time to observe the shadow play on industrial architecture. I tried to follow its lead: simplicity and cleanliness.

Whereas the final selects for all four walks and posts split evenly between my two most used lenses, this final walk relied heavily on the longer 105mm. That’s what it took to make the industrial park look simple and clean.

Both Industrial architecture catches the early sun. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, April 30, 2023.

I hope you enjoyed today’s Fun With Cameras. I return with a similar tone in the next edition on Sunday. And on Saturday, I have a few athletic words to share.