In Leeds

Mike

Hi Mike,

I like the composition, it's very powerful and leads the eye around. Being a colo(u)r shooter myself, I always wonder if it woud have gained anything from it.

Cheers,
Bart

Bart_van_der_Wolf said:

Hi Mike,

I like the composition, it's very powerful and leads the eye around. Being a colo(u)r shooter myself, I always wonder if it woud have gained anything from it.

Cheers,
Bart

Click to expand...

Bart

Thanks. There actually isn't much colour in this part of Leeds, at least not until the Cockpit opens in the evening Unfortunately I can't show you a colour version as I was using a special monchrome sensor that day!

Mike

Mike, one of your finest compositions. The stairs, the arrow directing the viewers gaze, the good treatment of light and various tones are a pleasure to see. I just miss the human element walking
wither up/down the stairs or towards/away from the directional sign.

Regards.

Mike Shimwell said:

Bart

Thanks. There actually isn't much colour in this part of Leeds, at least not until the Cockpit opens in the evening

Click to expand...

LOL, is it that bad?

Unfortunately I can't show you a colour version as I was using a special monchrome sensor that day!

Click to expand...

I figured so much. But even with B&W film one can take colo(u)r images. It just takes 3 subsequent exposures through a Reg, Green, and Blue filter pack. I remember it as something used 'creatively' as well, where motion would have stroboscopic colors, and the motionless parts normal color. It just takes figuring out the correct filter colors to do it.
I once figured out that the best Wratten filter combinations were:
Blue (1A + 32 + 44A), Green (12 + 44A), Red (12 +32).
That gives a reasonably even transmission throughout the spectrum, with only a blindspot between 580 and 600nm.

Cheers,
Bart

So what sort of bar is the Cockpit? Not for pilots, I guess!

Asher

Bart

Yes, you are right, but taking the time to set up tripod and swithc filter packs would not be wise there - I had to stand in the mioddle of the road No, it's not that bad, but this is not a colourful part of Leeds - it's part of an area known as the dark arches, where the railway is carried above the river, canal and road. Some of the arches are now used to park cars and it's a fair walk to the back.

Asher, the Cockpit is not for pilots, although some may visit. It's a fairly loud, literally underground, music and dance bar. One of my female colleagues got sucked into a bit of a brawl there once, and she is the nicest girl you could hope to meet normally... Often on a Friday night I leave work and see a queue forming to get in around 7pm.

Mike

A new shot from Leeds. Last of the daylight at the office door

Mike

Nice composition there’s actually a lot going on there in that first photo – light versus darkness, up versus down, escape versus hiding in the coolness. The angles keep one captured within the frame while simultaneously enticing one to breakout up the stairs and back into the business of the city. There are places in the city where one can find quiet and solitude and there are places were one feels isolated. This photo, at least for me, wonderfully illustrates the later. It’d devoid of life and rests in the darkness.

--Rich

Hi Mike,

Another fine image! I am taken by the geometry, the lines given by the structures and how they converge.
And, as Rich has pointed out, there's so much going on between the dark/light contrasts.
Well done!

I'll echo the previous comments because it's worth doing so- beautifully composed geometrically and tonally. Nice work, Mike.

Wendy

Mike Shimwell said:

A new shot from Leeds. Last of the daylight at the office door

Mike

Click to expand...

Mike,

You picture is a good follow on to your first so geometrical "Cockpit" picture.

What's so special about certain successful pictures is that a key empathetic element is not what gets one's attention. Here's a good example of that "bait and switch": the geometry, as Wendy points out is well composed and pulls us in. However, it's that man, huddled in his thoughts, going on his way to do his daily chores, that finally locks us in the this micro world. In fact, if we look at the man and the others, we feel for them and wonder about where they're off to today?

Asher

Wendy, Rich, John and Asher

Many thanks for your kind comments - I do appreciate them and know how everyone feels when they think their pictures have sunk...

I was one of those going about their daily chores, just turning from the street when I saw this and I agree the man makes the shot, although the first 'hit' is the geometry of the rook and the rain soaked view of the tree and far building.

Mike