My Kind of Landscape » - urban landscape photography

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newbies #49

So… these three ‘groups’ of photos have a little story to go with them. I decided to post them like this so that I don’t have to worry about it later!

#1 – Driving (well, my husband was. I was looking out the window from the passenger seat!) along near Stones Corner and I spotted the first photo of these two, let out a squeak and asked my ever-patient, wonderful husband (blatant flattery) to please turn around and go back because I need to take a photo. This was not an easy feat, and eventually we made it back. Have I ever told you how awesome he is (blatant flattery yet again)?! I went to go and get my photo, and nearly chickened out because there were people inside the shop that scared the living daylights out of me (well, I may have been a bit shaky already… see further down.) Determined to take it so that we hadn’t gone back for nothing I took this quickly and bolted! Strangely, I walked away from the car, so when I turned around to come back I saw the bottom photo – how much more interesting is it?! It also shows more what I wanted it to… the crates highlighted by the afternoon sun, almost glowing. I love those little blobs of the blue crate shining through… even if they do look like a black clipping warning (nerdy talk).

#2 – I’ve been eying this off for a while, and since it was a Sunday I decided to try my luck at getting a photo of it. I don’t necessarily like the wall all that much, but it certainly provides a glorious backdrop for that traffic cone! I first tried taking a photo from the other side of the road, but sadly I was too far away and I’m a bit anti-cropping too much. My camera has a fixed lens, so that meant the only option was for me to get into the middle of the street somehow – easier said than done, since it’s a busy (and major) road. So, I did what anyone would do in my position – chilled out suspiciously on the side of the road until I worked out the pattern of the traffic lights, got my settings right, walked to the middle of the street, crouched down, took a couple of photos and then bolted. That’s what you would have done too, right? Good. I thought so.

#3 – Usually when I ask my poor husband to pull over I say some useless attempt at words, or some form of noise that can be interpreted as appreciation…I guess. This time (weirdly) we drove past this and I promptly come out with ‘canyoupleasepulloverbecauseIsawaorangebinontheedgeofashadowanditishighlightedbythesun?!!’… or words close to that effect. To his credit, he did, and we went back. This is in an empty car yard… and I mean empty. No cars, no people, and a Sunday afternoon. I had been trying out a few composition options (I was kneeling down taking a photo of their fence, I believe) when I heard the sound of keys behind me. RIGHT behind me – there was someone obviously leaving the office and was locking up. I’m a wuss, I really am – I casually stood up (who am I kidding… casually probably isn’t the word!), and strolled off in the opposite direction (again, who am I kidding – I think I probably ran). My heart was exploding out my chest, I had the shakes… badly. It was utterly ridiculous. 

#4. I’m a bit funny about taking photos of security sensitive material. ATMs, schools, banks, kindergartens, police stations… you get the drift. We drove past this and I wanted to take a photo, but I chickened out because it is the entry to a shopping centre, and just outside the frame is an ATM. Those aren’t protected by security cameras, are they?! As you can see, I psyched myself up to go back – by myself with no wingman, too… go Anni! With a memory like mine, it is absolutely aggravating for me driving past somewhere I’ve wanted to photograph but didn’t. It’s a bit of a coulda woulda shoulda situation, really. For instance – I saw something on the weekend (a purple eggplant-y coloured wall with water meters lined up neatly in front of it, covered with dappled sunlight… take my word for it!) – and I thought to myself that it was strange I hadn’t noticed it before (clue #1 – it’s somewhere I have been a few times) and that I should go back to photograph it. Now, do you think I can remember where that was?! No. It’s driving me crazy, because I can see the exact bloody picture I would have taken in my head, I just can’t work out where on earth it is so I can turn it into a reality.

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