Vanishing Point in Stone

This is a pleasing perspective shot, taken on the south side of the north breakwater on the Roker foreshore of Sunderland in November, 2006. The low lighting angle was about 3.30pm. The conditions were very cold, with a stiff breeze, and I went down a flight of old boat-landing steps to capture this angle on the stonework. This engineering is 19th century, and the deterioration of stone and iron under the impact of the environment creates always-interesting images. Sharpened and colour enhanced, Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.

Vertical Symmetry

All modern cities are architectural playgrounds, but vanishing-point symmetry is visually engaging no matter where it may be found. This is Adelaide, South Australia, on a Sunday morning in April, 2009, James Place, looking south into Grenfell Street. At street level the vista is totally ordinary, but look upwards even a little and the vanishing-point symmetry appears. I can only imagine what photography would be possible in New York! Sharpness, colour and contrast have been adjusted. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic, image by Mike.

A Dizzying Perspective

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The escalators up and down to London tube stations (the "Underground") are extremely steep. You really have to hold tight to your baggage and the handrail because in the long glide, especially when moving, and looking, upward, you can lose your orientation. An indication of how steep they are, and of how far off-true your middle-ear can take you, is the orientation of the show posters that line the walls. They are genuinely upright, everything else is skewed! You can also get a sense for how low the lighting is, as the escalator and the people on it are in focus as they are moving relatively the least, while the walls are soft as they move by during the exposure time. A simple framing job, I shot one-handed while holding the rail. The normal sharpen, contrast and colour tweak were applied. Fuji FInePix S5600, automatic; December, 2006. Image by Mike.

Shooting Straight

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I remember standing below the incredible facade of the British Museum (Natural History), in London, and framing this shot for a long, long time. Arms get tired, eyes start to twitch, but eventually you can frame the shot in virtually perfect alignment with the symmetry of the subject matter. The organic nature of some subjects can mask alignment from the eye's perception, often optical illusions will guide how you align the camera and only become obvious in the image, divorced from its locality. Reflex shooting is especially vulnerable to this, such as all those shots of taxying aircraft in which the horizon slopes down to the left (due to the nervous tension of catching a moving subject and the pressure of the shutter release on the right side of the camera). Here the stonework forms a virtual grid pattern, a symmetry laid out for the eye, and the subject was standing still, I could take all the time I needed to balance the composition. The frame was sharpened, but otherwise minimally enhanced for publication. December, 2006; Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.