Monday, August 22, 2011

Grids and reflections

click photo to enlarge
What I consider to be one of my better photographs shows a regular grid of glazing bars holding tinted glass that is reflecting a blue sky and clouds. Glass curtain walls have a certain fascination for me. I appreciate that they are not everyone's cup of tea, but the regularity of the rectangles contrasting with the irregularity of the reflections is someting that I find attractive. This photograph that I took at Canary Wharf, London perfectly exemplifies the appeal to me.

Such reflections, however, are often combined with a glimpse of the interior of the building and when that happens it is the complexity that I like; the difficulty discerning just what it is that I'm looking at definitely has its attraction. I've posted images of this kind of effect before too, as in this example at Imperial College, London. I took a further photograph in this vein on a recent visit to King's Lynn, Norfolk. The side of the town's municipal offices are glazed and as I passed by I saw a modern building, the pretty lead spire of the medieval church of St Nicholas, and a tree reflected in it. But the reflection was not perfect and through the glass I could see the zig-zag of stairs connecting the floors with people going up and down them. Its a shot that I find pleasingly confusing.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 70mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/80
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On