Second Lesson: Urban Landscapes

For our first assignment, I had the disadvantage of not having access to the car, so I decided to use my local surroundings. Indeed two of the three shots were taken from my own house. The photographs have to be of an urban landscape, they must be in black and white and we have to state the shutter speed, aperture, ISO and focal length setting (whatever that might mean - so much to learn!)

The three images that I have chosen are:


I like this image. It was taken early in the morning against a stormy looking sky. I like the patterns made by the telephone wires, broken by the pieces of litter that have become snagged, and I think the silhouetted rooftops and aerials give it atmosphere.

(technical details: 1/60, F 7.1, ISO 200 - I'm sure that means something to somebody!)




This local alleyway was just what I was looking for, but the image did not come out quite as I had hoped. I have a sharp foreground and a slightly blurred background, which is fine, but I wanted the background to be more blurred. I also tried to get a sharp background and blurred foreground but failed dismally. Still, that's why I am on this course. Always learning .....

(tech details not known due to accidentally wiping the image from the flashcard)


The third photo is that of the local skyline which consists of chimneys, rooftops and aerials, complete with evidence of the local seagulls that roost there every spring. Again the sky was stormy and the black and white brings that out quite well giving a gloomy feel. I wanted to blur the background a little but could not achieve that without also blurring the chimney-stack, so i left it as it is.

(tech. details 1/80, F 5.6, ISO 125)