Abstract Black and White Photography

This image which I have yet to title will be printed for the first time in the next couple weeks. I like the reflective content running in the background offsetting the main subject. The print will initially be offered as a 15 x 10 in black and white of course.

Update. The image has been named Reflections #1 and will be the start to a new series of images.

Chasing Angles And Light

I am currently writing the content for a page on my website about architectural photography. I love finding a building with complex lines that merge in dramatic fashion. Frequently the challenge is not so much the camera setting but the composition which can make or break the end appearance of the image. 

On another note my new website Blackandwhitephotography.ca has climbed to the top of Yahoo.com and MSN.com and several others. The site has also jumped 30 pages in Google but will take another couple months to get close to the top.

Towering Giants

The lines of a building change so drastically from the street depending on the angle at which they are viewed. The angle working with the light cascading down plays such an important part in capturing the drama of a large building. I seem to spend far more time chasing light or waiting for light then anything else. Frequently I will wait for an hour or more for the ideal lighting conditions to appear and many times the wait is for nothing as the desired conditions never play out.  This photograph is the 10th addition to "The Zen Metropolis". It will be added to BlackandWhitePhotography.ca at a later date.

The Zen Metropolis

I was shooting at the exhibition grounds this week and was asked to leave by the security people. Hmmm I've been taking photographs at the CNE for years and have never had a problem. I have a couple more images to add to the Zen Metropolis collection and #8 to the left is an image from the Chinese Cultural center on Shepard Ave in Scarborough. This interesting aspect of the structure is off to the side of the main entrance. I am concentrating on this project as much as possible. It seems that tracking down the locations of unique architectural style is the hidden challenge in this project.

BlackandWhitePhotography.ca

I have started building my new website http://www.blackandwhitephotography.ca/ I am also pleased to say that my work will now be available at UpCountry, 310 King Street East in Toronto. I will start posting here a bit more frequently.

Life On The Canal

I have started my quest for images on the Holland Marsh. As mentioned on my site I will be spending time photographing the Canal and Marsh area during the summer. For those who are reading this and are not familiar with the Holland Marsh, it's a farming area about 50 km north of Toronto. The soil is almost black and the area is predominately used for growing vegetables and flowers. The Holland Marsh has a very distinct feel and I hope to capture it over the next three or four months.

Don Valley

I went out last Sunday to get a shot that I have wanted to get for some time now. Off the Don Valley there are several huge (I think they are planters) that look like elephants or large pants with 4 legs. I found the side street that would take me to them and saw that they were way up on a hill. With all my gear I climbed the hill which was extremely steep. I needed to pull myself up by grabbing trees and weeds growing on the side of the hill. At the top I saw that there was a trail about 100 feet further up that I could have just walked up...Sheeesh. Anyway I got the shot and that's the main thing.
The full image is on my site http://www.andybrooks.ca

Printing My Photographs

The fifth batch of my images are now framed and ready to go. I have started printing my images at Pikto in the distillery District in Toronto. What a great place and the image quality is outstanding. My girlfriend Darlene and I go down and hang around the District for a while after the printing is done and have a coffee or something to eat.

I will be posting a couple new places where people can view my images soon.

Memory Cards

Well for the first time ever I have had a memory card fail. I actually think it was because of the cold seeing that 2 cards failed on the same day. If you use Compactflash memory cards be sure to keep the recovery disk they give you with the card. I inserted it in my computer, then followed the instructions an there were my images. I must say I was relieved as I had been out almost all day and the only shots I was reasonably happy with were on one of those cards. One of the images that could have been lost was "Cool Night Sky" which is on www.AndyBrooks.ca