The Plaka: A Photo Essay Part 2

I have never been in another place where the streets themselves, the physical roadway that you walk on is so interesting. I turned the corner after I took this shot in the Plaka in Athens and I found myself in this little alley. The water was running from a hose in the side of the building to the left and I took a few shots with that but the reflections were unclear. The water seemed to be slowing down so I waited for it to stop and I got this beautiful reflection of the apartment at the end of the alley. I am especially happy with the contrast in textures that resulted. The silvery smooth water, the rough uneven stones, the corrugated metal walls and the modern walls of the apartment work together to produce a very interesting image.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

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When streets have existed for 2-3,000 years the stones themselves take on a character that is worth exploring.

The Plaka: A Photo Essay Part 1

I had dropped my bags grabbed some supper and my wide angle lens and went to explore how this area of Athens was going to photograph. I had walked down a fairly commercial street filled with American stores and I came smack up against this beauty. When a building starts to fall down the Athenians put these upper railings/deflector walls I think to prevent the pedestrians below from getting clunked on the head. It was a building of such character and my eye got pulled down the alley to the right to continue my exploration.

Skala Evening

I am lucky enough to be spending some time in Greece with some time to do some photography.  I am working with Refugee Rescue as part of a boat crew that is doing SAR for migrants making the desperate boat trip across the strait from Turkey to Lesvos, Greece.   Last night I spent some time wandering one of the most photogenic villages that I have ever seen.  It is truly a beautiful spot.  I knew before I left Canada that I would want to be doing some night-time photography and in just about every circumstance that means a tripod.  International travel with a full size Manfrotto is never fun so I decided to give my Platypod a workout on this trip.  It’s an aluminum plate with some legs and a screw that accepts your tripod head, its an arrangement that is very compact and also offers a lot of flexibility and stability.   I really like low angle shots anyway so just setting the whole arrangement down on the road, quay, or low wall really worked for me.  I didn’t use an ND filter for any of these shots as I was working late enough at night that I could get 20-30 second exposures using ISO and aperture alone.

If there is a prettier place to sit in an outdoor cafe on a warm Mediterranean night I don’t know where it is.  Canon 7D Mk ii 10-22mm at f/10 22sec ISO 200

The church that forms the iconic centre of the Skala harbour.  Canon 7D Mk ii 10-22mm at f/8 22sec ISO 200

The low angle and the very wide 10mm focal length stretches some of the straight lines in the image but I think it emphasizes the dominance of the church.  There was a little boy playing at the top of the steps and he provides and interesting blur that increases the dynamic interest of the photograph.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Exploring The Dry Dock

The Nanaimo Boatyards is home to a remarkable old building that holds a dry dock for large boats to come in and get some maintenance done.  I don’t know how old it is but is there ever a lot of character in the building.  The textures and tones were so interesting and they were all the more so when I converted the image to black and white.  As I was looking at the image at full magnification when I began to prepare this post I realized that I may have had more than one image here.  There were little stories that the picture was telling throughout the building so I cropped in tight on some of the interesting areas.  Check them out below, you definitely give away some resolution but I think the results are pretty interesting.

-Russell Berg

www.seeingberg.com

Jumanji in Vancouver: Inspired by Callahan Part 1

I was in Vancouver and I had just been to the Vancouver Art Gallery and seen an exhibit of Harry Callahan, a dynamic and fascinating street photographer who worked mainly in the ’30-’60’s and I was feeling inspired by what I had seen.  I was at a cycling race and of course I was taking pictures of the race when what was happening across the street from me drew my focus more clearly and I realized I had something far more interesting.  The background was formed by this wonderful convenience store/hotel whose lights both inside and outside the building form a nice counterpoint to the human interaction out front.  There were two couples on either side of the frame, the lady who was drinking and the Jumanji looking guy in the centre of it all.  I noticed a little girl walking by and I waited until she was in a gap in the people and took the picture.  I lucked out in that the two couples where engaged with each other in a really dynamic way and the lady took a drink just at that moment, and of course, the star of the photo is the guy in the pith helmet and the cane.  Without him the photo would have had less of a story to tell and sometimes you just get lucky.