- The first visit was primarily a scouting trip. I chose a bright day and followed the river's path through the centre of the town from north to south. I was looking for potential viewpoints, such as bridges, steps, as well as trees, bridges, and other features I could use in the compositions. I also picked up information on the kayaking club and rowing club. I took a few test photos to see how some of the viewpoints would look.
- I returned to these locations in the late afternoon as dusk fell, when the sky was clear. I wanted to take some photos of the buildings when the lit interiors would hopefully reveal some human activity. The bright sky and reflections in the water should provide structure to the pictures.
- I also visited the locations in the mornings. My objective was to photograph the buildings in bright daylight and, in addition, to photograph the car-parks whilst they were busy.
- The trickiest location to photograph was Bridge Street, a busy street on the one way system for through traffic. I wanted to show traffic congestion and/or pedestrians on the Onslow Bridge but the tall buildings on both sides of the street were blocking the light both morning and afternoon. Luckily, I found on my third visit that the midday sun shone between the buildings highlighting the pedestrians.
- Riverside buildings
- Riverside car parks and bridges
- Riverside activities
I will subsequently include a section giving my choice of six photographs for the hypothetical article.
Riverside buildings
Image 1: Office of bus depot
Nikon 18-200mm at 31mm (equivalent to 45mm): Iso 400 f7.1 for 1/4 seconds (on tripod)
The east bank of the river, north from the town centre is primarily an area of commercial buildings and warehouses. I took this photograph on a visit in the late afternoon, when the remaining afternoon light was falling on the riverside flank of the building. It was just starting to get dark and the interior lights had already been switched on.
Whilst I walked past many of these buildings, my dream of finding someone silhouetted in a window was unfulfilled. In this building, there is, in fact, a figure in the upper window, but the shape is too indistinct to have significance.
I was attracted to this viewpoint because of the two trees which seem to act as an internal frame "holding in" the sides of the image, and the ribbed texture of the building. I cropped out a strip of sky visible above and to the side of the building, just leaving a small corner of brightness in the upper left of the frame.
Image 2: Old and modern offices
Nikon 18-200mm at 28 mm (equivalent to 42mm): Iso 400 f5 for 0.4 seconds (on tripod)
This footbridge is a short distance south of the first location and this photo was taken on the same afternoon. In this area, most of the former industrial buildings have been replaced by offices. I had expected that the footbridge would be a suitable location to photograph the town's modern Odeon cinema, which is out of the frame on the left of this view. However, the surrounding trees and lack of people were not conducive to an interesting photo. Instead, I was attracted to this viewpoint by the gradient of light in the dusk sky partly obscured by overhanging branches which framed the receding curve of high buildings.
Suddenly, a lone kayaker paddled by at a fast pace up the river even though it was almost dark. He was traveling away from the kayak club, so I waited as it was likely he would be turning around and coming back. I tested the flash whilst I was waiting, contemplating a shot with him in the foreground frozen in the flash light. I realized however that using flash was potentially dangerous in this situation, as he would be momentarily blinded. Instead, I took a sequence of photos as he passed by in which he is little more than a blur. Faced with the choice of photographs with our without the kayaker, I decided that the kayaker did add a point of visual interest, even though he is just a smudge of light.
Image 3: Debenhams
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f8 for 1/2000th seconds
The Debenhams department store is a three story 20th century building located adjacent to the pedestrianized bridge at the bottom of the main shopping street, High Street. Whilst windows are visible on this side of the building facing the river, customers inside the store are not readily able to get a view of the river unless they visit the ground floor restaurant. Occasionally customers sit outside on the restaurant's terrace, but this is not especially inviting. There are no plants to make it look attractive nor heaters to provide warmth.
I took photographs of this building in daylight and at dusk, and from various external viewpoints. I also explored the interior looking for an outward looking shot. However, I chose this photograph, because it conveys the feeling of the building's size and the way it towers over the river.
Image 4: Theatre
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 1600 f5.6 for 1/30th seconds
The civic theatre (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre) is short distance from Debenhams, and this photograph was taken at dusk from the terrace of the Debenhams restaurant shown in image 3. The river side of the building is screened by trees and in daytime the building does not stand out visually. I therefore chose late afternoon for this photograph when the interior of the building is brighter than the surroundings. Whilst this is almost as high as the Debenhams building, the screen of trees and smaller size make this building far more sympathetic to its riverside surroundings.
This was one of the photographs where I made the photograph relatively dark so that the trees and undergrowth are silhouettes rather than solid forms. In lighter toned versions, I felt that the texture of the trees and undergrowth detracted from the view of the building and the relatively coarse grain was also more apparent.
Riverside car parks and bridges
Image 5: Friary Bridge and buildings on the central traffic island
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f8 for 1/640th seconds
I chose this location to show the stretch of river just north of the Debenhams store. If visitors walk down the High Street to have a look at the river, in one direction they will see Debenhams, and in the other they will see this view. Neither view is likely to encourage them to explore the riverside further.
I chose the morning light for this photograph on a bright day when the light was falling on this side of the buildings and road bridge. I wanted the traffic crossing the bridge to be a feature of the picture so I waited for lorries to reach the middle of the bridge. Cars are difficult to see as they are obscured by the roadside fence. I selected this shot as a light coloured lorry was standing out from the shaded building behind.
This is the only picture where I decided to keep a black and white conversion (triste -1 in Silver Efex Pro) which produced somewhat flattened tones. The reasons for this were:
a. In the higher contrast version, the office buildings are brighter and more prominent. This emphasis was not what I was looking for. I wanted the scene to look a little drab, rather than bright and shiny.
b. This photo does not look too out of place amongst the other images that I have selected.
Image 6: Onslow Bridge
Nikon 18-200mm lens at 105mm (equivalent to 160mm): Iso 250 f9 for 1/60th second
The Onslow Bridge is a Victorian bridge that forms the return side of the central traffic flow. It carries a three lane busy road. In addition, the bridge is used by many pedestrians heading for the shopping centre on the east side of the river. Some people are coming from the main railway station and others from the residential areas to the west of the river.
In my mind, I envisaged a telephoto shot of congested traffic and pedestrians. However, I found that at eye level, the traffic obscures the views of people on the pavements, especially as there is a high proportion of delivery trucks and buses. I tried to find a higher viewpoint, without success. I therefore concentrated on capturing photographs of the pedestrians, and tried several positions up and down the road.
In this photograph, the bridge structure itself is hardly visible. However, I think the location of the bridge is suggested sufficiently by the change in line of the pavement and the ornate lamps placed at each end of the bridge. The lamp at the right hand edge of the frame is reasonably prominent.
As mentioned in the introduction, at midday, the sun was highlighting the people as they were crossing the bridge. The number of people increases dramatically just after a train has arrived and I took this photo at one of these peak moments. In addition, however, I wanted to have a car approaching the bridge but not in a position where it covered the pedestrians. On a busy road, it took some time for this combination of circumstances to occur.
I used Lightroom to make a number of adjustments to this image, in particular to even out the lighting of the pedestrians, as some were in the shade and too dark, and others were slightly too bright. There is a bright area in the top left corner of the frame. I did not want to crop out this corner as this would mean losing the motor car and/or the top of the ornate lamp. I therefore darkened this corner substantially. I also significantly darkened the advertising hoarding on a street lamp in the middle ground, which was otherwise too bright.
Image 7: Millmead car park (27 spaces)
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f8 for 1/500th second
Guildford High Street is an important shopping centre for people in the surrounding small towns and villages. Parking is therefore an important consideration as public transport services are not well supported in these areas. It is not therefore unreasonable that four riverside areas near the town centre are utilized as car parks. Car parks are not however attractive from an aesthetic point of view, and they have little amenity value unless you need somewhere to park your car close to the town centre. (Photography of car parks is, similarly, a relatively peculiar thing to do, and I got a few strange glances.)
I took photographs of three of the car parks along the river banks. I wanted the photographs to show the car parks crowded with vehicles and, if possible I wanted a few people in the scene to add visual interest.
In this image, I found a high viewpoint of the car park by climbing onto a low wall with a wide top. Whilst this is a small car park, the space is filled with cars and delivery trucks. The Debenhams department store in the background results in a slightly busy composition. However, I feel that this picture has a number of positive points in its favor:-
- A woman is using the ticket machine in the foreground in reasonably bright light which provides an element of visual interest and asymmetry in the composition.
- The river is visible in the middle ground on the right hand side of the frame. The BMW convertible waiting for a parking spot draws the viewers eye to this side of the frame and I think this helps the viewer notice this small section of river.
- The dappled light and long shadows add to the texture and vitality of the image.
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f7.1 for 1/400th second
The Millbrook car park is located on the river bank close to the Theatre (Image 4). In this area, the river bank is lined with trees and undergrowth so that the river is not visible from the car park, nor vice versa.
I tried various compositions, for example: low viewpoints to dramatize the size of the upmarket 4x4 vehicles, waist level viewpoints looking down the space between the cars. Nevertheless, I have selected this picture looking down from the road which runs alongside the car park. In particular, I chose a position where I had a bright red car in the left foreground, closest to the lens. In order to make this car appear brighter than the other cars, I made the conversion to black and white using a red filter setting in Lightroom. I wanted this car to become the focal point of the composition. For a rather mundane photographic subject like a car park, the composition needs to be as strong as possible.
I used Lightroom to lighten some of the shadows on the roof and bonnet of this car, for the same reason. On the other hand, I darkened the foliage in the right foreground and darkened the trees in the background to minimize distractions away from the lines of cars.
Image 9: Pay and display in Millbrook car park
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f7.1 for 1/400th second
For some shoppers, including mothers with small children and the elderly, traditional car parks can often be more convenient than public transport and easier to drive around than multi-story car parks. I therefore felt that this candid shot of car park users at the Pay and Display machine was worth including as one of the potential photos for this assignment. I was also conscious of the fact that the topic that I have chosen is one where there would be relatively few opportunities to photograph people.
Whilst the two figures are in the centre of the frame, the brightness of the Pay machine provides a degree of asymmetry into the picture. I tried cropping more from the right hand edge, but I felt that the picture was better where the Pay and Display cubicle is just inside the edges of the frame.
Riverside activities
Image 10: Coxed-four turning
Panasonic Lumix G3 with 14-42mm lens at 14mm (28mm equivalent): Iso 160 f8 for 1/320th second
I did not visit the rowing club whilst carrying out the photography for this assignment as their activities were suspended because the river was in full flood. I took this photograph a few weeks earlier and have included this in case I wanted a rowing club photo.
The rowing club is located just south of the Millbrook car park (images 8 and 9). The river is only just wide enough for these boats to pass each other at speed, and there is not a lot of room when they turn around. I positioned myself so that the willow tree masked the sun, although there is still an overbright patch where the sun is reflected on the water. I selectively brightened up the rowers and the boat, which was otherwise a little too dark.
Image 11: Preparations for the kayaking competition
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f16 for 1/125th second
The Kayaking club is on the river bank in a residential area close to the Guildford council depot and a major road intersection. Developed early in the twentieth century, these small family houses have gardens that come down to the river, but the houses themselves are hidden by trees.
The club was holding an inter-club competition on this Sunday morning and there was a large crowd of competitors and their family and friends despite the cold weather. I was able to freely walk around taking photographs. I had the idea of speaking to one of the organizers to explain what I was doing, but they were extremely busy. I decided it was not important enough to bother them.
From the race briefing, I understood that it was a race over a 10 km course along the river through the town centre and back. The race was a hare and hounds race where the competitors start individually based on their handicap with the aim that they should all finish at about the same time. They would need to carry their boats for a short distance in the town to get around a lock.
This photograph was taken shortly before the start of the race. I wanted to convey the mass of boats and paddles laid out on the grass. In addition, I wanted to include some of the competitors preparing and checking their equipment.
I moved around to place a person at a suitable place in the foreground. I waited patiently to photograph someone whose face was looking up, but they were just too preoccupied. I liked this viewpoint as the tree with the paddles propped up on it at the left hand side provides a counterbalance to the figure standing on the right. The background has rather more people in it than I would have liked, but this was the best I could do at the time. In the conversion to black and white, I found that where the jacket of the foreground figure was mid-toned the composition lost some impact. I therefore chose this version where the jacket is very dark.
Image 12: Two seater kayak
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f16 for 1/125th second
Looking for a simpler composition, I looked for situations where I could isolate a small part of the scene. I had taken some photos of people paddling on the river and others of people carrying their boats around the lock in the centre of town. However, I decided that this photograph of a competitor about to launch their boat was the strongest:-
- The length and streamlining of the kayak is emphasized by its diagonal position in the foreground.
- The competitor holding onto the boat is looking up which adds some vitality to the scene.
- Unfortunately, it is possible to see another person almost completely hidden by the taller man with his back to us. I selectively darkened the visible part of this person to make it less distracting.
Image 13: Couple fishing
Nikon 28mm prime lens (42mm equivalent): Iso 200 f16 for 1/60th second
Following the kayaks along the riverbank, I unexpectedly came across this couple fishing on the stretch of the river which is bordered by industrial and commercial buildings. They were both dressed up in almost identical clothing, very necessary as it was cold despite the sunshine. I decided that this photograph where they were looking directly at me was better than the ones where they were watching the river, looking away from the camera.
I liked this viewpoint because of the way the light is reflecting on the water, against which the dark silhouettes of the couple stand out strongly.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment