The train ride from Belfast back to The Liberties isn't particularly exciting but you never know what you're going to see out of the window (remember
this time), so I carry a camera at the ready - particularly when we're getting close to a station. This was Ballymoney and I liked the lines, particularly good since the sun was out. We sat there for a good few minutes and as I held the Yashica T4 to my eye a couple of people walked over the footbridge. Then I saw this guy on his bike and I thought 'Yup, that's the one'. As luck would have it I caught him nicely between the uprights of the safety barriers:
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| Ballymoney Train Station, 2019. HP5+, ID-11, Adox MCC fibre paper. |
I kind of looked at this for a while & then it hit me. It's an upside-down parody of Cartier-Bresson's most famous shot at Hyeres -
this one. I know, not quite in the same league. Ah well, one can but hope and carry on...
That photo by Cartier-Bresson is one of my favourites of all time. I've done the sit-and-wait for a cyclist to come by, but it's not easy. They're either going to fast, my timing is off, their clothes blend with the background, etc. You were indeed very luck to get this guy right between the posts. I like the curve of the overpass and the curve of the stairs.
ReplyDeleteHave you thought about cropping out the vertical shadow at the bottom of the frame? Or are you with Henri when it comes to cropping?
You are good at the sit-and-wait thing, I have to say, Marcus. I need to practice that...
DeleteThe guy walking down the steps - does he spoil the scene, or make it? I can't decide...
I'm not adverse to cropping (although I do like to print the whole frame if it works). Sometimes it takes a while for that decision to become clear - just looking at the print for a week or two.
In that link I rather like that bit about 'photographs attesting to the joy of being alive'. I'm not a fan of studio work - it's too scripted for me.
Thanks for the compliment. I sat and waited for a cyclist along the river this morning but had to settle for a lady passing by with an umbrella.
DeleteI would like to do still-lifes in a studio, but I don't think I have the imagination for it. Or a studio . . . .
I don't think the man walking down the stairs spoils the scene. He makes a nice 'cap' for the stairs, helps form a nice curve consisting of the stairs, the walker, and the cyclist, and adds a little more interest to the scene.