Maybe an obscure title like that will finally make me show up on the freshly pressed radar. 
I’m very tired and a box of hub caps happened to be in the first picture so it is mildly relevant. I’m trying something I have tried only on one other occasion, I am writing a post at 1AM and scheduling it to appear on the blog at a reasonable hour of the morning so it can greet you when you’re bright and ready for a new day instead of looking at cat pictures trying to fall asleep. This is from my shoot Friday which included the 3 crosses pictures.
I had to take a few pictures to get this shot the way I wanted. I have been cheating a bit lately. I have left my ISO set on auto so that I can do what I want with the f/stop and shutter speed then let the camera do the hard work. Fortunately, I haven’t lost my touch so the second frame here came out the way I wanted. The camera got a bit confused with the extreme lights and darks so I had to take over. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, the camera is very smart but it’s not particularly creative. If f/stop, shutter speed, and ISO are Greek to you, I have an excellent (if I do say so myself) blog post about it here.
This image is intentionally very dark. I didn’t want a lot of detail. I got just enough pattern from the table to make it interesting but this shot was a lot more about mood than content. It’s kind of similar to when you hear a song you like but you have no idea what it’s about. It’s fun to do this once in a while with your photographs; I think it makes the picture say a little less about your subject and a little more about yourself and your creative direction.
Of course it only took me a flat second to decide the detail here is so great, I wanted to take another shot to capture it. The great thing about old/rustic buildings is the imperfections. I love the visible knots in the wood. I wish more things today looked a little more like this and a little less like something off an assembly line. Functional but full of character.
I have a bit of a thing for doors. Especially if they’re barred up and locked. Even more so if the metal is rusty and the paint is peeling. The textures come together really nicely here and the brick pattern in the background does a lot to make this shot feel more structured. By that I mean a consistent pattern, whether subject or supporting element, makes a picture feel more organized and less random.
My favorite thing about using a shallow DoF (Depth of Field) is you can take something very plain, like this concrete barrier thing, and focus on the most interesting part of it to make the whole thing far more appealing than it would be if you could see all the boring details clearly. You’re mind kind of just assumes the whole thing is as cool as this little bit you see clearly.
Well, I’ve reached the point that I know I should wrap this up before I get an sleepier and say something dumb/goofy. I hope you enjoyed the pictures/narrative. Let me know what you think down south in the comments section. Social links for Facebook and Twitter are up north. If you aren’t following the blog you could miss out on new stuff so be sure to do that while you’re here if you enjoy what I’m sharing. I love getting mentioned. That notification that someone mentioned me in a blog post makes my whole day, I love it when you tell your friends about me.
Anyways, that’s it. I’m signing off. Have a great Memorial Day weekend if you’re in the US. To all my other amazing friends scattered across the globe, have a great Sunday. God Bless -Arley
