Monday
I got the scans back from my big Ektachrome send in, and overall I think I could have done better. A lot were blurry and shot handheld, or overexposed and what not. I will give myself a small amount of grace in that a couple rolls were from over a year ago, but at the same time I had a tripod. I think I was just being lazy, and I paid for it. But, there were a few good ones, and some that surprised me both in how they ended up and where they were shot.
Wednesday
For my lunch break I decided to take a little walk around downtown Richmond with my camera. I didn’t have a plan in mind, so I started off by going to the parking deck right next to the colosseum where I went to the top floor and got a shot of city hall. It was a bit overcast, so my plan was to shoot black and white.
I then walked over to one of the VCU parking decks, and as I was making my way I saw there were a few window cleaners out and cleaning. I got a few shots from the ground, but also when I made it to the top floor of the parking deck. Most of the shots I got weren’t anything too special, they just didn’t have it. Either the light was flat or the compositions were not that captivating. However, after I had left the parking deck and was about to cross the street, I saw one of the washers kick himself out from the building as he began to descend. At first I just stood there watching, but I quickly picked up my camera and let off a few frames. I am so glad I did.
The original shot itself wasn’t too crazy, but I knew I would have to crop in and make it all come to life in the edit. I went with a high contrast look, since the building is mostly in shadow, then the lone washer is out against a backdrop of all bright clouds. This was a lot of fun to edit since I haven’t really done much high contrast black and white work since my Light and Shadow project. The hardest part was figuring out the crop. I was messing with all different ones that had pros and cons, but I ended up going with a 16:9 vertical crop, while also centering the line between the building and sky. It gave the most sense of scale, while also not having too much empty space on either side and giving some room for the washer. I really like how it turned out and it is one of my favorite edits.
I then walked around for a minute and then found myself right outside of city hall. I knew that the observation deck at the top would be open, so I looked at my watch, saw I still had some time, and went in. When I got in there was a mess of people all around the first floor, it was so overwhelming at first. I later found out it was some financial event with a few speakers and many vendor booths around.
I made it up to the deck and it was so much more peaceful than I thought it was going to be. There were only a couple others there, and the only sounds were the wind and from the streets below. I walked around, looked out the windows, and got a few shots. I did wish I had my telephoto lens, but it was still a lot of fun. Then after a couple of minutes, I made my way back down, and back to work!
Thursday
I had a repeat of yesterday and took a walk around downtown for a few minutes. I made my way over to the main part of the VCU medical campus this time, and just like yesterday I didn’t have any particular shots in mind. I got a couple of some building exteriors, going for a harsh contrast black and white look, also some shots filling the frame trying to make it feel claustrophobic.
I had a repeat of yesterday and took a walk around downtown for a few minutes. I made my way over to the main part of the VCU medical campus this time, and just like yesterday I didn’t have any particular shots in mind. I got a couple of some building exteriors, going for a harsh contrast black and white look, also some shots filling the frame trying to make it feel claustrophobic.
I also made it over to the Virginia State Capitol grounds and got some shots of the capitol building by framing it up with some trees and also a fountain. There was some sort of event happening right outside the capitol building, so I didn’t want to stay around too long just in case. I then made my way back over to work and finished out my day.
Friday
I planned on doing another shoot on my lunch break, this time with my telephoto lens, but it was so hot that I did not make it far before turning around.
Saturday
A lot of photography today. First I woke up for a sunrise shoot downtown at the river (naturally). I went to North Beach on Belle Isle first and captured some great long exposure reflection shots, as well as a panorama of the whole skyline. I then quickly walked over to Manchester flood wall where I found a spot I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else shoot from. It was so good that I need to go back and work the composition just a little bit more. I did go into more detail on the shoot here!
Then, later in the day I met up with a friend of mine and we did a photowalk in The Fan. It was nice, the sun was out a couple times peaking through the clouds. We stopped and got some lemonade at a cute new cafe, and of course took lots of photos. I was forcing myself to ease it on the shutter because on my walks this week I’ve noticed I would be taking multiple shots of the same non-moving subject. It was good though, a highlight from the walk would have to be this shot I got of a bike. I love how bland the color is all around it, then the bike stands out with its bright red.
It was a great week, I'm glad I forced myself to get out during the work day, I feel like that even helped my mental state just being outside. It was also nice to walk to some parts of the city I haven’t been to in a long time, and I will for sure be doing it more as the weather continues to get nicer.
