Capturing Shadows

Hi All,


Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today my theme is about capturing shadows. While in Medjugorje I would look around for different ideas to photograph. This set of three photos is mainly street photography. I like taking street photos as you always look for gestures or something that you don't see everyday.
I think with this set it is mainly about the colour, like the wall which was painted a bright yellow.
With the late afternoon sun there was also long shadows and some had a really cool effect.

I tried to isolate the people and would always look for someone that would be a colour that would stand out against the wall.
The shadows of course would be black but finding people with that certain gesture that would stand out.
The first photo that I am sharing was a guy who was walking along the street and what stood out to me was his rose coloured shirt so I had the colours of the shirt, wall and the shadow which stood out.

Rose Coloured Shirt?

It took me a couple of shots as I had the exposure set wrong. I had exposed for the highlights but over compensated so finally got this image which was the best.

The next photo was a couple with a young child that the was carrying in her arms. She had looked stressed as the child was crying but it stopped about fifteen seconds before I took the photo.

Two Shadows

Her partner was in front but you can make out the pram and the partner on the wall with the shadow.

The last photo is my favourite of the three. After waiting for about fifteen minutes with no one passing by I figured it was time to leave. Something distracted me behind and was looking at a car parking. When I turned around to face the wall I see this tall young man walking and his shadow was huge.

Long Shadow

What makes it interesting for me was he turned to his left and was looking to see if I was taking a photo which was logical seeing I had a camera in my hands.

That is my spin on shadows and photography. In all three photos I feel the shadows added a little bit of a different element to the photo.


These are My Photographic Observations and if you have any comments whether it be criticism or compliments then I would love to read them so leave any thoughts down below in the comments section.

Vedran

More Observations From Medjugorje

Hi All,

Today on My Photographic Observations I will be continuing with the theme of the last couple of posts, being Medjugorje.

Around St James Church there are plenty of places for people to pray that are relatively silent and peaceful.
My first photo as you can see which has a sculpture of our Lord Jesus hanging on the cross. It is a very silent place I guess like a shrine where people put up candles and pray. In the background you see what appears and is a huge hill with a huge cross on the top.

Prayer And Reflection Place

It is possible to get to the top of the hill and they have stations so people can pray the Stations Of The Cross and also rest at each station. The hill is called Krizevac and is one of those hills you want to leave early in the morning for. This is not Apparition Hill where the visions take place every month.    

 The second photo is the Blessed Sacrament  that has been exposed to all the pilgrims although this was a close up shot and was outside the front of the Church.

Blessed Sacrament Exposed Praise The Lord

The Blessed Sacrament was exposed especially for these Pilgrims from Poland and others who completed a 20Km Prayer and Fasting walk.

My next photo is self explanatory, and that is walking sticks that can be bought from any number of shops around Medjugorje. Although the roads are good all the hills are not sealed just rocky paths.

Some Walking Sticks

They come in very handy let me tell you as it can be full on and tiring.

My last photo is of a Cross outside where I was staying but on the road to Krizevac. I liked the sunset that was happening so I thought it would make a nice photo.

Cross Sunset

These are My Photographic Observations. I hope you enjoyed the look and the read and thank you for taking the time to have a look.

Vedran

Signs Everywhere In Medjugorje

G'Day People

My Photographic Observations theme today deals with some signs around Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
As I have mentioned in my last post thousands upon thousands of people are there week in and week out. So as with anything there have to be signs.

The first sign that is fairly common is a sign asking for people to be respectful and quiet.

Silence Please

We being the Human Race tend to forget where we are at times, and we should be reflecting and meditating regardless what religion or faith we might have.
My second photo is one thing that you find anywhere you might travel and that being information signs.

Pointing To The Information Bay

Always pointing the arrow where you should find information to help you find your way around.
These info signs are all over the place as there are people of many Nationality's that come to Medjugorje.

Finaly there are the signs to tell people where the Parish Office is so people can come and ask the Priests to pray for loved ones during Holy Mass.

To Parish Office

Of course it is not a place where people can stampede in but the sign does let people know that this is a Priests Residence as well as an Office.

I hope you enjoyed My Photographic Observations and remember to leave any comments down below.

Vedran

St James Church In Medjugorje

G'Day All,

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today I have a few photos of a place that I went to called Medjugorje. A very humbling place to be and an eye opener.
For this post will show a couple of outside photos of St James Church with alternate view points.

My first photo is from the courtyard at the front of the Church and is a basic scene of the faithful praying around a statue of The Virgin Mother Mary. It is humbling and at times very emotional when you see the faith and belief the people have.

Praying Faithful

Medjugorje itself is situated in Bosna-Herzegovina and is a very busy place with thousands of people from all over the world being there on a daily basis. I have crowd photos and scenic photos but they will come at later posts.

The second photo I decided to have a close up of the statue of The Virgin Mary with St James softly out of focus.

Close Up Of Mother Mary

I think it turned out quite nicely and was a more traditional type photo so I decided for something different. I looked around and there are plenty of little garden beds with flowers so had an idea but I was not sure if it would work. There were plenty of clouds about this day so everything was diffused but also a bit gloomy.
I saw these flowers in the flowerbed and after waiting a while for people to leave I managed to get this shot.

Flower Point Of View

Normally people take a front on or side on view of the church but I did not want to settle for the shot everyone else had altho I am sure not too many people would have this. The shot being a low angle shot. I moved out of the courtyard and went across the road and saw the opportunity for another view and this time I saw a nice purple flower.

Outside Flower Point Of View

I must say I quite like this shot as well because it has the Church at a 45degree angle. My only complaint with this shot is the green tree on the left but where I was I could not get the framing I wanted. I do know that one thing that you look for is clouds and this is what I saw as I was moving around. I walked towards the rear of the Church and all of a sudden this shaft of light hit the bell towers of the St James Church.

Storm Threatening With Ray Of Sunshine

I like this photo as it has nice contrast and it just looks interesting.

I will post more photos of Medjugorje in the coming weeks for anyone who is interested but for now These are My Photographic Observations, please leave any comments if any down below.

Vedran

The Sky

G'Day Trendsetters,

Welcome to My Photographic Observations.
Today I have a couple of photos of clouds. I tend to find them interesting and also dramatic.
The first photo I was driving on Cockburn Road heading down to Rockingham when about a third of the way down I saw what looked to be an interesting streaky cloud formation. They were very high so stopped and took a photo with my wide angle lens.

Elongated Streaky Clouds

I took the photo in a portrait orientation and what amazed me was how elongated the clouds looked and how the wide angle lens seemed to accentuate that. In reality the clouds looked more like scuz.

The second photo I was in Fremantle situated on Monument Hill and I quite liked that the clouds looked really puffy and menacing. I waited around for about an hour and a half hoping to get some good light in combination with the clouds to really get the photo I had in my minds eye.
Alas I had no such luck but I managed to get the photo below after numerous attempts for something I might like.

A More Dramatic Sky

I think the hint of the sun behind the clouds really give it a little bit of colour. It is not the exact of what I had in my my minds eye as I would have liked a bit of light where the Sea Containers are.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and hope to be posting again soon.
My Photographic Observations

Vedran

Old Boat Nice Home

Hi Folks,
I am going to write another post about my observations in Split. As you can imagine Split has a lot of water or ocean around it. One of the things that you see are the different types of boats. I wrote a long time ago about the rich people,s boats and today will look at the battler type boats that the people have for every other days activity's.

This first boat is one that I always see but it is great because to me it defines a battler.

Somebody Loves Me

I don't think it gets used to often and I guess it is somebodys pride and joy. I like it because it is wooden and old and has character.
The second photo is where the little boat lives which as you can see is in the heart of Split.

Lovely Location

It really lets you know how much people love they re boats. Where the palm trees are is where I like to sit and observe tourists and the local happenings. It is very scenic and colourful.
The third photo is a yachting regatta that was held that year 2012 and it was a wonderful spectacle.

Yacht Regatta

The blue of the water and all the yachts made for an interesting morning.
I really like Croatia and enjoy the relaxed lifestyle it affords me.

These are my photographic observations for now, just remember if you have any comments just reply below as I would love to hear your thoughts.

Vedran

Working The Sunset

Hi Folks,
As you may have gathered by now I like to walk around Split in Croatia. I live in Fremantle Australia and have done for about 95% of my life. I was born in Split so have a natural yearning for the place of my birth. I also love Australia as it is one of the best places in the world to live.
Now for my theme for this post it is called working the sunset.
One late afternoon just before sunset  I could see a nice orange colour coming from the west so what else I thought I would take a photo.

Doh Crane

I liked it but the problem was there was a crane that really stood out and it did not quite fit into what I had in mind. I thought the crane was a distraction even though it was silhouetted like the palm trees.
The second photo below I still had it as a portrait (vertical) orientation.

Rubbish Bin

I liked this one better because it seemed the crane wasn't as obvious and the building was placed in the centre between the two palm trees. The only problem was the rubbish bins were in view and it kinda spoiled it for me. I don't have photoshop so therefore it was too hard to remove in Lightroom without having tell tale signs.
I tried for one more look and this time I changed the orientation to landscape (horizontal) and really made a wider shot.

I like the Orange and Blue

The crane is still in view but there is no rubbish bin and I like the blue and the orange from the sky.
Is it a great photo, it has its good and bad points but overall I tend to think it is the best of the Three.
My main point was I did not just take just one photo and left it at that . I worked about fifteen different shots until I got the best contenders. I did not have a tripod as I did not fully understand properly of the benefits of having one, so quite a few that were better compositions were no good because of focus or blurriness.

These are my photographic observations and look forward to adding more posts soon.

Vedran