Sometimes you just know when you’ve got the one you came for – you’ve been there for (insert here however long you have spent at a location trying to get ‘the shot’ you’d envisioned) trying out different angles, heights, shutter speeds, etc and then suddenly everything just falls into place.
Flinders Station, Melbourne = photographed a ridiculous number of times each day.
Like every other photographer I wanted to capture an image that was different to all the rest. There are countless ways one can try and achieve this – but what I saw when I looked at the scene was a kind of antique look. I can’t count how many frames I went through before the crowds and cars were willing to cooperate. Eventually I was able to get some clean space in the bottom frame while still having people and some cars present in the photo without looking too messy. For what I wanted this was perfect. At post processing I ended up blending a couple of exposures together to get the line of ‘car trail’ I felt the photo needed for some interest. Knowing what look I was after it took me a while to process the black and white levels and sepia tint to exactly the antique look I’d envisioned. The final touch was a little vignetting and once that was applied I got that feeling – you know, the one in your gut when you know the photo is exactly what you’d envisioned. For me that is one of the best parts of photography, that transient happiness you feel when you realise you were able to create something you think is lovely.
So, here is my ‘Flinders Antique Creation’ – it is fast becoming a favourite of mine and I’m glad I decided to add it into my printed portfolio recently.
Sarah V
