One Hour, One Photo Location
Fun With Cameras XXXI
Earlier this week, I showed you the first set of pictures — all about quality of light — from four recent photowalks. Today’s collection is similar in many ways because its theme can’t be separated from the quality of the light: one hour of the day.
I picked 6–7 a.m. That includes sunrise and some minutes before and after this time of year, the best time for photography.
I probably do a post like this again but for a different hour of the day. And while it would show the same location transformed, it’s the quality of light that does the transforming.
6–7 a.m. was the prompt that almost took care of itself. When I chose the pictures for today and the last post, I tried to distinguish between pictures that were more about the light and those that were more about the time of the day.
That’s a subjective distinction in many ways; maybe the two are even inseparable. With the former, I’m thinking about what the light is doing, how the shadows fall, and how that makes me feel. The location is secondary. With the latter, I try to only think about the location, the place, and how it feels at the time in question (and with the light that’s there).
It’s all connected and similar, but it’s also a separate and unique task that I hope I solved decently enough for you to enjoy some of the pictures below.
Location & Composition
As I’ve written last time, the first morning was frosty. The clearest indication of that follows in the fourth post. For today, let’s say it gifted me with a clear sky and an unobstructed sunrise.
Whereas in the last post, the lighting guided me to compositions, today, I looked for compositions to express how I felt about the world around me.
I was looking for the wintry calmness and solitude of an early morning.
The noise barrier (the same that was occupied by a bird in the last post) is quite an unattractive thing. But looking up, I noticed that the lamppost and the two brushes formed a quiet trio that offset the noisy shabbiness of a motorway.
I liked the silhouetted mosque (third image) and played with a few different compositions, ending with one that included the roof structure of another building. It’s a bit messier than I hoped, but I prefer it over the quieter frames (mosque and sky).
The final picture is probably the one that could have been in the quality of light collection the easiest. Technically, it doesn’t even qualify because it was made seven minutes past the hour…
But I decided to use it here because I still remember how I felt when I turned around and looked back at that bridge. It’s a rusty, old railway bridge. But at this time of day, I could have looked at it for hours. It made me smile.
Looking Afar & Up
From the second walk, I picked three similar pictures. Railway tracks lead into the distance for the first two, and a canal does the same for the third.
The third picture fits in the allotted time period. I started the walk aiming to arrive at that location at the beginning of the hour.
The first two were bonus pictures. I walked past them on my way to the main location. I show them here to show the difference a few minutes can make.
Separated by 25 minutes, different focal lengths, different atmospheres, and reactions to the locations.
In the second half of the hour, I looked up more often. The first look-up appeared better in my mind, to be honest. The second one is among my favorites.
Clouds Make the Difference
The rain on day three created a different atmosphere. Searching for interesting compositions, I stumbled into a small wooded area.
I wish I had picked footwear more suitable for the muddy grounds, for the location had more to offer. For today’s post, I picked two images where a path forms a leading line through the frame.
And I obviously looked up again because I enjoy that perspective quite a bit.
When I escaped the mud, a wide-open field greeted me. Along its backside, a narrow footpath brought me back to territory I knew better.
But before I arrived, I took my time with the path and what it offered. There’s more to come from that in the next post.
Industrial Difficulties
The final walk showed me how difficult it can sometimes be to translate a composition from my mind to the viewfinder.
No matter where I moved, how I moved, or what lens I used, I couldn’t get the composition above the way it looked in my mind.
Either a utility pole in the background was in the way. Or one crane vanished partially behind the pipes. Or a building to the right slipped in the frame. Or the cluttered foreground introduced itself.
I loved the light, the mood of the situation, the symmetry of the cranes, and the pipes on the left. I prefer the second image, but it’s not exactly what I wanted. I still show both to illustrate that sometimes the world just doesn’t agree with a photographic mind, no matter how much that mind tries.
I hope you enjoyed today’s Fun With Cameras. I return with the third prompt next Sunday. In between, I have a special reading update and hopefully words on creative writing.
