Fun With Cameras XV

an exercise that makes you think

The fourth location for the two dozen challenge: 24 unique pictures without moving one’s feet from a bridge near the railway tracks in Mülheim Styrum. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022.

I’ve felt a bit uninspired lately. No wonder with the state of the world and all. But no worries. I’ve always relied on creative avenues like writing and photography to turn the inspirational and motivational tides.

This time, I turned to a list of photographic exercises I was sent by a friend a while ago. I enjoyed it back when I first saw it, and I still enjoy it.

For today, I have the results of a variation of the two dozen challenge for you. The base idea is the following: you go out, pick a location, and make 24 unique pictures without moving your feet.

Now, I’m not going to make you suffer through every picture I made. I have a few screenshots of my digital contact sheets; if you want to see the complete sequences.

A screenshot of an individual sequence of pictures for the two dozen assignment, where the goal is to make 24 unique pictures without moving one’s feet.

Instead, I have picked a few examples from each location I visited.

The pictures here aren’t anything to write home about. They’re almost all pictures I usually wouldn’t even bother with. At the same time, my time with this assignment showed me a surprisingly difficult task. I spent around 10 minutes at each location — more time for thinking and trying to see than actually hitting the shutter button 24 times.

It’s also a curious sensation standing still, looking around, and seemingly staring into nothingness while people pass you. You might be in for an odd look here and there if you wanted to try this yourself.

A zoom lens would have helped. I had to make do with primes. The macro lens helped a lot, though. I allowed myself to fully turn around even if it meant my feet moved a little, and if I was in the way, I paused, gave way, and resumed.

I soon noticed a pattern emerging: looking for wide, medium, and detail pictures. I tried to include human elements when possible. And I tried to think about abstract images. At some locations, I saw pictures more quickly than at other spots. Once or twice, I was close to giving up before reaching 24.

Below, you’ll find samples from the eleven locations I committed to. I had plans for more, but weather and time restraints got in the way.

I hope there’s something that you enjoy and maybe even something that makes you curious to try this exercise yourself. It’s simple, the pictures are nothing earth-shattering, but I still found it a good exercise in photographic thinking. And I do like a few of the pictures.

Over the next few weeks, I may work on my take on ten of one, maybe four corners and double exposures. Stay tuned; we shall see where this leads.

Left The first location for the two dozen challenge: 24 unique pictures without moving one’s feet. Here, a sign on the wall of a footpath next to the motorway A 40. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022. Center Looking around, the motorway itself was an obvious motif. What I was looking for here were the traffic, the bridges, and the play of light and shadow. Right The second location was a short walk from the previous spot, it’s a footbridge across the motorway. One of the first pictures to look for here was an overview like this one. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022.

Left A closer look revealed various markings, such as this “828” on the motorway barrier. Center The walk to the third location was a bit longer. By chance I found an opening in a wall near the train station Mülheim Styrum that revealed some visual interest. Here, the packaging of an empty soft drink had been wedged in the crack of the wall. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022. Right Various pieces of litter on the ground had drawn me in as much as these two diggers parked neatly next to each other.

Left Turning my eyes away from the opening, I noticed this sticker, showing a player of a soccer club of a neighboring city, on a street light. Center The fourth and fifth location were close to one another, two bridges close to or crossing the railway tracks in Mülheim Styrum. The first bridge crosses a footpath and offers a decent view of the church St. Mariae Rosenkranz. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022. Right A less obvious choice from the same spot: a post with wiring.

Left And a second picture that revealed itself because I looked up: a wire crossing the frame with light clouds behind it and a tree coming in from the left side of the frame. Center Finally, a look down the footpath that crosses below. Not quite focused properly, but a frame with a human element. Right The fifth location was a bridge crossing the railway tracks just around the corner. The day had gotten quite long at this point and inspiration was dying down. Looking for some details, this hole in the railing and placed some passersby on the out of focus background. Not sure how happy I am with the result, but there you go. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 18, 2022.

Left A new day, a new location: a sidewalk next to a farm field. I first focused on a detail in the fencing. I didn’t notice the small creature you might encounter after looking closer until editing, though. Oberhausen, Germany, May 19, 2022. Center For the second frame, I concentrated on a house in the background and used the fencing and field as foreground interest. Right The third frame shows a patch of the field.

Left Another detail from the same spot: a fence post and some wiring against the cloudy sky. Center For the final frame from this location that I share here, I turned around and noticed a different kind of peacefulness: the facade of a building against the cloudy sky. Right Location seven was another farm field around the corner. First, a house in the peaceful distance. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 19, 2022.

Left And for something a little different, a close-up of some grass low to the ground with raindrops. Center And before I bring you to the next location, a man riding an e-scooter on the path behind me. Right The walk to the eight location was a bit longer. One spot along the way didn’t work out, but I stopped at this footpath near the motorway A 40 between the exits Dümpten and Winkhausen. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 19, 2022.

Left I love how the early evening light falls on the tree in this picture. Center On the way home, I crossed the motorway and stopped for a final time that day. Here, the graphicness of a torn sticker on one of the lampposts caught my eye. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 19, 2022. Right A runner crosses the motorway footbridge.

Left Finally, a look through the railing to the west reveals the flow of traffic on the motorway below and signs of the heavy industries on the horizon. Center The tenth location for the two dozen challenge had to wait a few days. What was designed to be a longer walk with multiple locations was cut short to one spot because of heavy rain. Meet the cemetery Styrum. Mülheim a. d. Ruhr, Germany, May 23, 2022. Right It was one of the toughest spots, to be honest. Lots of green, fairly little of actual interest. And I thought I had picked one of the more promising places. As a second example: a closeup of a tree.

Left The eleventh location brought me to the outskirts of an industrial park near the park Kaisergarten. The light was harsh, motivation not the highest that day. Time for a shadow selfie. Oberhausen, Germany, May 25, 2022. Center Then, a look up to the clouds. Right And finally, I got low to the ground and framed a church, the tower of the main train station, and a tower block building on the horizon through a branch of a bush formed like an arch.