What inspired you to take this photo? I was driving around with a friend after attending a wedding out of town and we decided to do the scenic route. We got to a little town outside Toronto (I believe its called Couberg but can’t be sure). We were actually stopped at a red light and I was a passenger in the car. It has a sun roof. I loved the the architecture so I took a picture.
Why did you capture this photo the way you did? This capture resulted out of a few conditions: couldn’t get out of the car to take the shot; had limited angled because I was shooting from the sun roof; limited time (stopped at a red light). I didn’t know if I would get a worthy shot but I took it anyway, hoping to do some post processing.
What were you feeling? What mood were you in? My photography is usually a two step process. I usually create the mood through post processing. The odd time, I will capture something that already has the mood but for the most part, I like creating it. When I took the shot, there was no particular mood. It was a nice day to do some scenic shots and I took pics of anything I felt interesting. Once I got on the computer, I really wanted to create something interesting to go with the lovely architecture. so I spend a few hours on photoshop. That’s when the mood starts to play out. And the image often changes as I go through my moods for the few hours that I’m sitting at the computer. This ended up a by-product of byzantine music and because I tend to go towards a gothic feel in my post processing (especial! ly with regard to anything religious in tone).
How did you plan this photo? There was no planning in this. I had about 40 seconds to take the shot or the car would start driving so I took a few shots (zoom changes especially) and planned to work with what I got when I started to post process.
What sort of post-processing did you do afterwards? The post processing was a challenge. I usually start with cropping, then contrast, saturation. This one involved various layers and textures. I believe there are about 3 different textures on this one, which are all available for common use on flickr.
Do you have a connection to the subject and/or location? There is no connection to the subject/location of this shot. This was the first road trip through this town.
General Photography Questions:
Why is Photography important to you? Photography is important to me because it allows me to express something personal, a subjective way of looking at the world and creating it, since I usually create it after the shot is taken (post processing). It keeps me grounded too, as I work in a law firm.
How do you overcome creative blocks? I try different ways of shooting or new techniques in post processing. recently, I really like taking photos as mistakes, meaning shooting off the hip really. I use my SLR or I take my iphone and I take shots without even looking at the picture I’m taking. Then I sit in front of my computer and I sort out the pictures that have anything interesting in them and post process them to create interesting (to me) photos.
Where did you study photography? Or are you self taught? I did not study photographs. I’m self taught and I think that has its uses. Since I didn’t develop a style in school, I’m not boxed in to using everything to my advantage. I use SLRs and iphone (and point and shoots), I use “mistake” photos, I experiment with post processing.
What motivates you to do what you do? It’s just a cheap therapeutic technique. It allows me to step outside of things and see the world as seperate from me, which I sometimes need since I’m an introvert. I like to experiment with making myself see things differently.
