If you shot an inanimate object every day for a month, you’d still be able to endow it with different qualities each time. Shoot it from a different angle. Shoot it at a different time of day. Shoot it in differing light. Each time, it will look unique.
I’ve shot Princes Bridge several times in the past three years, but I try and cloak it in a different guise each time. That is part of the challenge for any photographer. And trust me, being able to find a different "personality" to any object or scene brings a grin to my face.
These two frames were shot before dawn, without a tripod. The first image was taken from the south bank of the Yarra looking north and the second one (below) was taken from the Flinders Street end of the bridge, looking south from the northern end of the Yarra River.
Why do I like the first image? For more than one reason. Because there was very little wind, the surface of the river looks glassy. That was a great starting point in the composition. Because of pooling light from alongside, the water actually has an emerald-green quality to it, as if someone has spilled a giant vat of oil paint. This in turn is emphasised by the circles of reflection from the lights of the pathway.
This meld of water, reflections, concrete and roadway in the pre-dawn darkness was perfect for what I wanted to achieve. An added bonus – and a fortunate one – was that the silver paintwork had recently been refurbished by a team of contractors, so the side rail of the bridge really stands out as a strong diagonal feature across the frame.
In the image below, I tried to make the most out of the side rail again, using it as my central point of interest in creating the image. The illuminated building is the Victorian Arts Centre, boosted by its own reflection in the water. And the sense of movement in this image comes from a single moving vehicle on the left of the frame, a handy motif of a city coming to life on a workday morning.
Visit TNChick's Photo Hunt. Today's theme: "Bridge".