Hedge Edge
Recently city crews cleaned out the hedge that bounds Ross Bay Cemetery and the east end of Dallas Road.
I liked the way it looked before, but the newly exposed tree trunks can light up nicely at this time of year.
With this image I struggled with the following questions:
1. In the original framing above is that foreground tree too much in the middle? And regardless of that
2. Should I have focused on the nearest tree, or a bit further along as I chose at the time?
3. The square crop below leaves me uncertain, and a bit cold.
4. The third version, which maintains the original aspect ratio, seems to suffer the same problems as the original.
5. How important is that last black tree trunk in the original next to the light standard? Can the light standard go?
6. Perhaps a portrait orientation is called for. With that one, Q2 is resolved, perhaps Q5 as well.
Diagonal Tower View
View Towers occupies my blog once again.
I have included the colour and black and white conversion, but for me it is hands down for the colour this time.
I see that Filmadvance has posted more of View Towers as well, also with a strong diagonal theme.
Lapping at Heels
This cyclist had been taking phone-photos with a friend and I suppose she wanted to make sure they were okay before leaving. I wouldn’t stand in here with my back to the waves. Look how wet the whole surface is.
The pictures below are the ones I took first from a bit further away and thought I was done – then this shot was presented to me. Even with the sound of waves and the white noise of rolling beach pebbles she still looked up when the Mamiya shutter and power winder went off. Taking a picture sounds like a passing train compared to most other cameras I have used.
Shatterbox
Kalen is the owner of the excellent Shatterbox Coffee Bar at 950 Yates Street in Victoria. The location is very close to my old office and I would go there from time to time. I still go there now, though not a lot as I am not often in this area.
A great thing about the shop (other than the people, coffee, tea and baked goods) is the light. Not just the light from the front windows near where Kalen is standing in this picture, but upstairs in a white-painted room with skylights and comfy chairs.
The Mamiya really gives me the urge to photograph people, and for some reason when I am holding it I am more inclined to ask. People seem more inclined to say yes as well. I think they are curious about the camera, and perhaps see it as an indicator of serious intent. Or maybe my manner is just more confident and that influences the response.
Kalen said I could use this picture – thanks Kalen!
This is the first roll of new film I have used in the camera – black and white Ilford. It is a biggish image – click through on the image to see greater detail.
Custom Pink
Victoria’s Inner Harbour has many historic buildings such as the Customs House, all dressed up in pink. In this light she was begging to be photographed.
A project I am part of has offices behind that window on the lowest left, so I expect to be in there for the first time sometime in the next few months.
This is another shot where the black and white conversion does not work as well as the colour, though again the black and white is just fine (see below).
I shot this with the Mamiya M645 on a roll of thrift-store Kodak 160VC-2 that expired in 2009.
Coffee Culture
This woman brings a coffee past the Anglican cathedral in Victoria, probably on her way to work.
The coffee culture prevails in this town, which used to be known for a love of tea.
No one ever carried around cups of tea in those days, outdoors.
I shot this with the Mamiya M645 on a roll of thrift-store Fuji NPS 160 that expired in 2005.
It is one of my favourite from the test rolls.
I had just switched the film from black and white to colour and was still thinking black and white,
so I have converted it as you can see below.
For me the colour is better – even if only because the colours are so nice.
Reflecting View IV
The View Towers puddle reflections series concludes with this shot, though there are more reflections in the queue.
It combines a shadow as a third layer since the sun came out near the end of making these photos.
The shadow and the stronger reflection both mean that a black and white conversion (below) works pretty well, though I prefer the colour.
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