As I've said before, I'm not a photographer of people.* That is to say, I'm not naturally drawn to making people the main subject of my photographs, though I do like to feature them as part of a composition for interest or scale. However, I detect signs that may be changing a little. Over the past couple of years I've deliberately taken several shots, some of which count among my favourites, where people are the main subject or where they share equal weight in a composition with another subject. Yesterday, in the city of Kingston upon Hull, I took another such photograph.
I was framing a shot of the building in which the BBC Studio Centre is located. The composition I wanted meant I needed to use a wide angle so the zoom was at 24mm. I had placed the building in the top part of the frame so that the verticals didn't converge and I composed knowing that I would crop the bottom off later. My position was close to the rounded corner of a building. As I raised the camera to my eye and pressed the shutter a woman came round the corner into my shot. When I reviewed the image I could see two things. Firstly, she'd unwittingly spoiled my photograph. But secondly, and most importantly, I could appreciate that a figure, better positioned, where she had appeared would make for an interesting composition. So, I adjusted my position, waited, then pressed the shutter at the appearance of the next person. In these "always available" days I suppose it was inevitable that person would have a phone clamped to their ear. But it was less likely that the clothing would be dark and stand out well against the background. So I was pleased with my shot, an example of developing an idea that presented itself to me, and a further step in my drift towards "people photography".
* except for family
photograph and text © T. Boughen
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
