Bull Ring, Steel Joint - Example 2 - 208, Theme 1 The Built Environment, Contemporary

On another fine day, travelled into Birmingham looking for photo opportunities for the second part of my 208 theme "the built environment". Was particularly looking for examples of contemporary Architecture which could align with the work of Paul White and Anthony Weller. Both of whom I have been reviewing as part of my reaserch.
Both photographers explore the shot as a detail element rather then as a whole and use the detail therein to create an abstract array of shapes, colours and textures
Tried with this shot of the node point of the glass cladding on the Bull Ring to replicate those principles.

Original picture taken with 75-300mm lens with an ISO of 100.  Aperture set at f/5 to give a shorter depth of field. Shutter speed of 1/400

The picture did not need a lot of adjustment but needed resizing and altering to orientate the main post in a vertical direction.

Once altered I then used the clone tool, to remove the white cable from the centre of the shot and remove some blemishes from the shading which drew the eye away from the main point of the picture.

I think the end result works and is a good comparison the the photographers noted above,.

Birmingham Council House Entrance - Example 1 - 208, Theme 1 The built environment, Historical

Early one fine November morning, headed into Birmingham looking for photo opportunities to add to my “ancient” group within the first set of the Assignment 208 - Theme 1a, the built environment photographs.

Saw this shot and very much liked the perspective. Seemed to resemble the images taken by Ezra Stoller if it could be converted to B&W. The creation of shapes and textures and the single point perspective all seemed relevant.

Taken with 10-24 wide angle lens with an ISO of 100. Aperture set at f/13 to give a reasonable depth of field and a shutter speed of 1/25

Tried initially to resize the image, convert to black and white and adjust the viewpoint to obtain a more interesting shot.

Was not really happy with the end result, there was far to much distraction away from the main focal point of the shot. So next I put the colour back and adjusted the tones. At the same time cloned out a number of the "distractions". The lamp post, the second person nad some of the vegetation on the stonework.

The end result still did not live up to what I was trying to achieve but now happier as the shot does resemble the shots of Ed Swindon. Where he uses the perspective and view point to focus on a single individual. Much happier that the result achieves this and especially now that all the distractions away from the main focus had been removed.

All that was needed was to zoom in further and to remove more irrelevant detail. I am happy with the end result. But could have greatly adjusted the colour tone to draw a greater comparison with Ed Swindons work.









Choosing Final Images Theme 1 - Architecture

From the numerous photos taken over recent weeks I now need to get down to the final 10 for post production. the choice is difficult as there are many photos with varied themes and compositions.

But as a start point lets remove the pics that do not sit together in any logical way and try to leave pics which do seem to sit roughly together.

The BT tower, the hands, the bull ring sign all are good but sit alone too much.

The night scenes in Lichfield do not work. I was trying to replicate the work of Ezra Stoller in the black and white pics but the AWB was not correct so they must go. 

What we are getting left with seem to fall into two distinct categories. Old and New !! The stonework of the historical buildings and the shapes they create with very ridgid lines and fairly dull colours, contrast greatly with the shapes and fairly vivid colours of the more modern buildings. 

So lets try to put into two groups. Particularly I was trying with the modern  buildings to replicate the work of Anthony Weller where he creates pictures from details rather than the whole building. He also uses vivid colours to enhance the interest in the picture

 

Birmingham City Council Offices Spire

Not sure if this is the format Steve is looking for - could use advice - but in any case here goes.

 Original copy of the photo

Early one fine November morning, headed into Birmingham looking for photo opportunities to add to my “ancient” group within the first set of the Assignment 208 - Theme 1a, the built environment photographs.

Liked the way the sun provided interesting shapes and textures on the spire and attempted to make an interesting viewpoint to add a difference to the shot.

Needed very little adjustment to the end shot other than some minor cropping and colour adjustment.

Taken with 75-300mm lens with an ISO of 100. Needed the zoom to capture the shot from street level. Aperture set at f/11 to give a reasonable focal length and a shutter speed of 1/60

Final Copy.