Gloomy London and Edinburgh

The week that i traveled to London and Edinburgh was foggy and rainy.

The photos were not really nice if i shoot in color, so i tried to shoot with black and white, 

and it turned out a really surprisingly great collection of photos 

which gives a moody and the other side of these two "glamorous" cities.

London:

Edinburgh:

With the old histories of this city, i wanted to emphasize the feeling of old and gloomy by showing the contrast of sun and old buildings, trees and people, street sign and the empty road etc,

trying to portray the emptiness and loneliness of the old city.

I love the contrast of the above photos show 

the big portion of dark buildings with just a little of bright sky.

The street sign has the power of directing people for the rule,

but they actually are neglected or even damaged by people.

So what is the meaning of people still using them and putting them alone in street?

No matter how packed of the trees and leaves around us 

to show their presence as part of the environment,

but we just never realize they are present or as part of our life,

leaving them live or die, lying all over the street.

I love the shoot the ordinary people's living to show their emotion connected to the city,

whatever alone or with someone.

When it was almost 5pm the weather turned a bit better, then i started to shoot with color.

I intended to blur the photo when i took this by using the MF (Manual Focus) instead of AF (Auto Focus).

I like the mystery of blurring a photo and the vanishing point the photo has offered.

When it was almost the sunset time, i adjusted the ISO to the lowest as 100 

to emphasize the sunlight rather than the surrounding buildings.

I really like the color of the sky and cloud here, which surrounded by the dark buildings and tree.

Brighton

These photos are taken in Brighton Pier.

It was a really sunny day and nice atmosphere around.

Practice 2: Black and white portraits

Portrait is used to attempt to reveal the person's character. With the effect of black and white, it adds a special effect in the portrait which eliminates the concentration of colors but on the details of a person. It gives feeling more than the colored photo directly from the facial expression, pose in the picture. It seems black and white can empower a portrait a stronger, dramatic feeling with its retro characteristic, more than an ordinary colored-photo. 

Full-face view portrait

With the contrast of blurred background (low depth of field),

it emphasizes the manner and details of object to audience.

They deliver a different feeling and emotion to audience by what the person has given during shooting,

intentionally or unintentionally.

Full length portrait

This is an interesting photo which shows two strangers are 

using their mobile phone at the same time in same space.

Their body, distance, direction are different,

but somehow it gives a feeling of symmetrical.

Distant  portrait

These two photos were intentionally taken of 

putting the object in central out of a big empty space.

It gives a feeling of self, loneliness by the central position and small scale of the object

 with the contrast of empty environment around them.

Practice 1: Depth of field and shutter speed

The following photos are going to illustrate the difference between great depth of field and less depth of field, 
also the difference between slow shutter speed and fast shutter speed. 

I. Depth of field

It is a term to explain the distance between the object and camera so to get a sharp,

or only to focus an object  in a photo.

The above photo was shot with lens 55mm, f/5.6 aperture, shutter speed 1/500s and ISO 400

with further focusing disdance.

The above photo was shot with lens 55mm, f/5.6 aperture, shutter speed 1/800s and ISO 400

with nearer focusing distance.

We can see that under the same lens mm and aperture, the further distance i shoot (the first photo),

 the sharper picture it is, which every elements in photo are all clearly seen.

The photo has greater depth of field.

But with nearer distance i shoot (the second photo), the background is blurred 

but with a focused object (the sign) in it.

The photo has least depth of field.

Here is another example:

Greater depth of field of clearer elements in photo.

(Lens 55mm, f/5.6 aperture, shutter speed 1/100s and ISO 100)

Least depth of field of blurred background with a focused object.

(Lens 55mm, f/5.6 aperture, shutter speed 1/100s and ISO 100)

II. Shutter speed

According to John Ingledew(2005), it is the term to explain the timing of a camera to take a photo,

and how long to let light comes in lens of camera.

(The following photos are all taken with lens 55mm, f/5.6 aperture and ISO 400)

With shutter speed 1/100s, which allowed more time to let light came in camera,

this photo illustrates the lighter effect under the slower shutter speed. 

In contrast, with shutter speed 1/320s, which allowed lesser time to let light came in camera,

this photo illustrates the darker effect under the faster shutter speed.