Brads' Choice Pics 3 - Southport Central

Taken way back in mid 2009, this was one of the first photos I took with my then new Sony A900, the lens was a humble 35-70 f4 Minolta and this image was shot at 45mm which is pretty much the optimum setting for "mini beercan" as it is known. Aperture was f9 and shutter 1/125, just in case you wondered.

It was actually a pivotal image, why?  Close examination of the file and others taken at the same time revealed the A900 had a very noisy red channel.  No big deal you think, so did a lot of cameras back then.

Well yes they did, but my frustration with the reds and the desire to do much better led me down a path of experimentation and study, eventually leading me to developing my True Light Capture System, which I still run workshops on and also use regularly to elevate my image quality beyond the norm.

I must say I do like the composition and the final 24 by 30 inch print still looks really great, even after a few years have passed, in particular it impresses with its clarity and overall tonality.

The location was the then new "Southport Central Complex" which is located on the Aussie Gold Coast.  This is the rear entrance, but the colours you see here were used all around the exterior of the complex, though they may have been repainted since I took this image.

In may ways it is typical in feel to a lot of the architectural images I create and on more than a few occasions people have noted that my architectural images look sort of Geoffrey Smart  like, which is a nice compliment.

I really need to finish collecting my favourite architectural pics together and make a nice photobook from them, I have made a couple of starts on the project but never found the time to conclude it.

Brads'Choice Pics 2 - The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging

My mother-in-law, Ivy will often expresses a strange turn of phrase and occasionally and quite delightfully mangles the English language.  A few months back she turned the word, mesmerised into mezarized, which I kind of like. Anyway I find I am indeed "mezarized" by reflections and how they interplay with the real world, over the years I have taken many reflection images, in fact I surely have enough for a book.

The image above is one of my faves from around three years ago, it was taken during a holiday stroll in the Rodeo Drive area of LA.

The technicalities,.... I used my old iPhone 4S and ProCamera for capture, the file was pre-edited in Snapseed then post edited in Photoshop, which is my standard workflow for iPhonoegraphy that is going to be printed. The final image was flipped left to right, this achieved two things, the reflected clock appears the right way around but more importantly it improved the look of the image, I'm not adverse to a bit of flipping when it works.

This print was entered in a large bi-annual regional art comp and whilst it didn’t win it was voted the second "Peoples Choice" which was nice to hear. The 24 by 30 inch print now hangs in my wife's' office.

It's a bit of a statement piece for me, I guess I'm a trend and fashion contrarian, I see most of it as superficial and contrived, part of the all consuming, self serving commerce machine, with little true or lasting value.

Anyhow the name of the image, which just fits for me, is derived from a track off the now ancient "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" set, by Genesis. Lamb was released in 1974 and I shouted myself a copy for my 15th birthday, it was the last album that Gabriel worked on with Genesis before his departure to pursue solo projects.

Should you have some spare time, check the Double Album out, at the time of release it was quite controversial polarising opinions left right and centre, but now after many years I think it stands up as an amazing work of musical exploration and provides some pointers to the directions that Peter Gabriel would take in the ensuing years. Oh and do take your time cause you really do need to listen to it several times to get the nuance and impact.