Shooting Shadows

There’s a small notebook I carry where ideas for photographs (or a series of photographs) are scribbled when they drift idly into my head. Most of the time they never go anywhere – probably because my writing is so bad I can’t read them afterwards, but this one made it and has been a theme on and off for a while now – shadows.

It’s probably because  they’re often just shapes without detail or clutter. Thinking about it, a Lensbaby or a fast lens with narrow depth of field can blur away clutter too, which is maybe why I like them so much. A pro wedding photographer once told me the key to successful photography was to concentrate more on the background than the main subject, as no matter how well everyone was posing for his shot, a cluttered background could ruin everything!

Anyway on to the shots.

This is a toy cycle bought in a junk shop just on some plain card in winter sunlight. Shot with a 50mm F1.4.

A toned Lensbaby shot of a door and window, but it’s the shadow dividing the frame which gives it something dynamic.

OK – only 1/2 the picture is shadow – this is Bournemouth Pier by the way – but the shadow gives it some symmetry.

This is the shadow of a religious statue in a church – it needed some of the statue to make sense as it didn’t work that well with only the shadow.

This is a quirky abstract which er, well, make your own mind up! It’s something to do with the middle bit of the tree missing I think, but I’m not sure!

I keep on like a broken record ‘always carry a camera’ – sometimes you just need to fetch it into the kitchen! Low winter light giving some odd diffuse shadows of nearby trees, and my morning cup of coffee.

As always these are taken for the book cover market, and all comments, critiques and questions are welcome.

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