Rippled reflections - Gas Street Basin, Birmingham
Feb, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Gas Street Basin in Birmingham soon after I got my first DSLR. I'd been a keen amateur photographer ages, but using a compact camera. I'd taken an online graphic design course on Coursera, a photography course through Future Learn and picked up some pointers from a friend who was a keen and very technically skilled photographer. I finally decided then that it was time to bite the bullet and get my first DSLR. The first task then was to get to know the camera. A weekend of photography felt like the best way to discover its potential and my capabilities using, so I headed to Birmingham to do that, as I knew there'd be new and varied landscapes and people for me to photograph.Time
This was taken on a morning stroll.Lighting
I started this morning walk feeling fairly disappointed about the comparatively grey skies. Part-way through the walk though, the day suddenly changed. The sun came out completely changing the atmosphere and making me extremely glad that I'd taken my camera with me just in case.Equipment
This was shot using the aperture setting on my Canon DSLR (EOS 750D) using the standard 18-55mm lens. I didn't use a tripod or any other specialist equipment, but I was able to use walls and bridges along the tow path to rest my camera on and/or steady my balance.Inspiration
I love reflections - in water or in mirrors. What I really wanted to capture with the photo was a vivid clear picture of the actual brickwork, with a reflection that was equally vivid yet blurred enough to suggest the water's movement and create a more painting-like texture.Editing
I didn't want to mess with this photo too much, as I'd carefully considered its position and framing when deciding where to take the shot from. I adjusted the colours on the photo afterwards using Gimp to get them closer to the way they looked to my natural eye. I then heightened this slightly as I really wanted to bring out the colour of both the actual brickwork and its reflection in the canal water.In my camera bag
I like to carry a telescopic, wide-angle and macro lens with me, along with spare batteries, lens cloth and cleaning brush. I also carry the camera instructions with me in case I need to use an unfamiliar setting, and a small notebook and pen for jotting any relevant info about that shot that might be useful later.Feedback
My advice on this as with most of my photos is to try to take the photo itself with everything as close as possible to my ideal composition - so using natural framing/applying rules of third/composing and balancing the picture at the actual time and in the actual taking of the photo rather than through editing it afterwards. But then, afterwards, not to be afraid to play with different software effects or colour-enhancing/changing until it's as striking as it can be.
