Layers

I was out walking through downtown Nanaimo looking for ways to introduce depth into a two dimensional image, looking for images that pulled the eye into the frame.  I am drawn to subjects that speak of urban decay, of a place that had once been brimming with life and energy but now was left only a shell.  I came across this window that wrapped around a triangular shaped building that was partly covered with paper left after the tenant moved out.  This image brought both of these things together. The portion of the window that was covered reflected the street behind me, I could see through the middle section of the window, to the street on the other side but the second window picked up more reflections at a different angle.  It all worked together to give about 6 different views of the street behind me and the street in front of me.  I had to work hard to find the right position so that I would not become part of the image.  I really like the way that the layers of glass produced and almost double exposure effect for portions of the frame.  There is a lot of see in this image but I am especially drawn to the way that the street light pole is repeated in a shadowy reflection and the vague idea of a person in the deep background.

Looking down into the pillared entry of a courtyard. Canon EOS 7D Mk. II EF 50mm f/1.4 at f/1.6 1/80 ISO 250

Earlier that same grey morning I had come across this location and I really had to hunt to find the right angle from which to shoot it.  It is near the China Steps in Nanaimo and getting above the arches gave them a more interesting appearance.  I leaned against the wall in the extreme right of the frame to anchor the image.  I used an extremely large aperture, f/1.6, to push the wall out of focus and dark out of focus portion of the right side of the frame provides a contrast to the crisp shapes of the arches and brick patio and fence beyond.  The light and the light coloured tiles pull the eye deep into the frame, away from the dark anchor on the left.  I also darkened the edges of the frame and lightened the centre portion of the arches so that your eye would be pulled deep into the centre of the frame both by what’s in focus, and by where the light is. Finding ways to introduce depth into, what essentially is, a flat medium can really add interest to your photographs.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Watch The Artist

The streets of downtown Vancouver, well any city really, are a wonderful source of some very interesting photographs.  This gentleman was doing chalk/pastel art on the sidewalk.  At first I was so enamoured with what he was doing that I was mainly taking photographs of his art work.  But yesterday as I was going through my edits of this shoot I realized that the better, the more compelling, human photograph was one that focused directly on the artist.  There was an intensity in his face and a light touch in his fingers as he worked his art.  Editing, selecting your best pictures out of your good pictures is a huge part of the becoming a good photographer.  The picture at left is the picture I chose first and eventually rejected as the best in this lot.  Let me know if you think I’ve made a mistake.  I really like the fact that this image is at eye level with the artist, I had to watch for traffic, get out in the street, squat down low and grab the image.  The only thing I am unhappy with in this frame is the over-exposed skin of the woman to the artist’s right.  It is too bright and distracting.

-Russell Berg

Celebration

The weight of the crowd is massive.  You can feel it pushing in against you from every side.  You feel it and yet there is an energy, a lightness to it that pushes back against the sheer mass of people and seems to lift you together with every other person.  There are people everywhere, for blocks and block and blocks there are nothing but streets filled with people.  The energy that rise off of each of us produces a heady mixture of excitement, anticipation, and joy.  It seems so amazing, so wonderful that all of the thousands have gathered in downtown Vancouver to celebrate and we are all, together, happy.

Getting a photograph that captured the miraculous atmosphere that pervaded downtown Vancouver throughout most of the 2010 Olympic games was a challenge. The lights of Granville St. were too large a visual monument to be left out so I knew I wanted to include them.  The crowds had to be included so I lifted my camera over my head, luckily I am tall, and prepared to take the shot.  I saw a man carrying a flag drift into view.  I didn’t want the overt patriotism of the flag completely unfurled, rather I wanted the more subtle statement that I think the partially hidden flag makes.  I waited until the guy carrying the flag was in the centre of the frame and the flag was a little lower.  I snapped and I knew I had what I was looking for.

-Russell Berg

The Banjo King

A lonely busker sits on the street, plucking at his banjo. Fuji X10 28mm f/2.8 1/1000 ISO 200

There is something that rises inside of him and pushes against the inside of his skull.  It is almost an ache, a presence there in his brain that is only relieved when his fingers are moving, when the sound comes and the vibrations pulse.  Music sits deep inside him and it must find an exit.  This creative impulse is at the centre of himself and it must needs find a way out.

Sometimes getting a good picture is simply a matter of having a camera with you.  I was driving around Victoria and stopped at a light.  I looked over to my left and saw this guy sitting on the sidewalk.  I grabbed my X10 out of my purse and quickly snapped off an image.  I wanted to put him off centre and to have a large empty space in the sidewalk so I composed and snapped before the light changed.  The amount of thought and planning I put into the image was minimal but having my camera with me and ready to go made the image possible.

-Russell Berg

Painting The City

A Victoria building covered in vibrant graffiti art. Canon EOS 7D EF-S 17-85 at 21mm f/14 1/50 ISO 400

he back of a building, hidden from view reveals an incredible trove of detailed graffiti. Canon EOS 7D EF-S 17-85 at 44mm f/14 1/80 ISO 400