Developing my style

I spent another day around Chester yesterday taking shots of people and scenes that interested me, again using a distinct style which intrests me.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Shot with the K-7 and Sigma 10-20:

















I was sat on a bench watching the world go by for a little while. Its quite interesting what you see and notice. Coupled with a wide angle lens you can shoot away and grab everything in a fairly nondescript way. It was good fun.

No likey the converging verticals on photo # 2!! It would otherwise have been a nice shot. The rest I like though!

Some burnt out highlights in most shots but all in all I quite like them.
Well done.

Yes, the hazard of 10mm!

For me it actually forms part of being creative. It gives an 'otherwordly' or skewed look to reality. Almost like the beginning of the famous scene in Inception where the Paris background begins to fold on itself.

The burnt highlights is completely deliberate. I just seem to like the effect alongwith a mono conversion. When I'm using the 30mm 1.4 at 1.4 it also compliments the depth of field to really isolate the subject. In a built up area like Chester it starts to look quite surreal with people or objects.

Anyway - just a bit of a project. These are'nt intended to be photographs in the traditional modern sense.

Bob - Maybe I'll take another look at pic 2 when I get home from the pub then!!

HA HA!!! I think that's a superb idea.

the blown highlights do not detract in these images really..
in fact in number three, the effect works really well to lead the eye through the composition...
same with number two... anywhere else in the frame the blown highlights would be a distraction, here it draws the eye right down the street...
well done...

I like these and the style you have been developing - and your last set too! and I quite like converging verticals in the right circumstances... makes me want to pull out my 10-20 and go for a wander...

Regards

Ooh, errrrr!! Just make sure you don't do it in the Hammersmith and Fulham borough!!.. I hear that the police frown upon that sort of thing there!!

Thanks for the comments chaps! I do feel I'm going out on a limb in way by doing something a little bit different, and it's nice to know I'm not completely mad and people are appreciating it.

I've found this technique really inpirational and a hell of a lot of fun. It's made me think about photography in a really different way. Don said it all about using highlights as a compositional aid; its allowing me to create features to aid an image that the 'eye' could'nt see at the time. The post processing journey to get to a finished image is also fun - it's not a chore at all which it can become sometimes.

These blown highlights almost make me feel like I've just stepped out into bright sunshine, and my eye's have'nt yet adjusted and i'm seeing the world in a different way.

Anyway, i'll stop rambling!

The converging verticals in shot 2 are dynamic and help the composition. I like it! It hangs together better than the other shots IMO - the others have a tad too many distracting elements for my taste.

I enjoyed looking at them. I like the people watching element so No 3 is my favorite. It really emphasises the fact that trouser and sleeve styles seem to be very long at the moment.

#3 is my favourite, the pigeons add so much to the shot. The burnt out highlights have been used very well in #2, though would perhaps have been even better had the whole bike been in the frame.

I think these show potential. I have to agree, the blown highlights don't work, but a high-key approach might. The problem for me is that they look badly exposed accidentally, not intentionally.

Although nothing stands out I think there is promise. Keep at it and let's see what the next batch is like.

Thanks again for the comments. I also take your heed Greynolds - it can look accidental with blown highlights.

I will continue the experiments!

And therefore, here are a couple more - night shots this time: