Recently I was in Melbourne (Australia) for four days, so naturally I took my camera along. On the last morning I had just finished taking some morning shots when I walked past the bike seen below. It intrigued me because it had seen better days but it was still locked to the railing.
I sat on the decking, poked my camera through the fence and started to create a story. Here were my thought processes.
1. Let's crop it so the scene is balanced. So I chose not to have the left vertical support but instead used the vertical nature of the lock to echo the right hand support. The trees in the background were not clashing with the foreground so the background fits well.
2. I initially used f1.4 to make the bike standout, but I had an idea to put a cyclist into the background. This would add a nice juxtaposition to the shot. I shot a cyclist as they went past, but it was too blury (due to f1.4 not the 1/100 s shutter speed). So I stopped down to f4 to give more clarity to the scene, but not wanting total clarity (not everything in an image needs to be in focus). I balanced the f4 with 1/20 second shutter speed to add that motion in the bike going past.
3. Time to wait for a cyclist moving from right to left. Early in the morning, this part of Melbourne is busy with cyclists so there was little fear of not seeing another cyclist again.
The final image now has a story to it, with elements connecting. For me, the image reminds me of aging. When young and fit, we run around with boundless freedom and energy, but when old, unwell or frail, we are tethered to machines, people, and medicine and no longer as free as we once were. What does this image say to you?
 |
| This bike intrigued me, but I needed to add good composition. |
 |
| This composition worked for me. |
 |
| I had an idea to have a cyclist in the background but I see that the f stop is wrong. |
 |
| Composition needed re tweaking to remove object in the bottom right corner. |
 |
| Composition, fstop, time and secondary subject all together. Note the placement of the cyclist. |
Next time you're out with your camera and spot something different, wait around and let a story unfold.
have fun! ☺
see more of my images
 |  |  |  |  |
