Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Bean There, Done That

In a change of pace from tackling the whack {technical term} of images from vacation, with inspiration fuelled by caffeine, I happened upon this scene with my iPhone this afternoon.  In need of some coffee I popped into my local haunt, and on my way out stopped and looked and shot.

Anyone who has an intense interest in photography will recognize the need to search out light, and be quick to point a lens in its direction when you come across it.  This of course becomes easier these days with phone cameras being much more useable.  With care, of course.  Their dynamic range is next to nothing and you need to pay extra attention to the highlights else they get blown to smithereens.

This article was linked in one of my online readers.  The author makes the following statement: "Once you become fully aware of the quality of light around you, you will become more curious with your camera."  This is absolutely true, and is what leads me to be interested in seemingly mundane scenarios like this:


Simply a woman enjoying an afternoon coffee fix.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Except for the light.

It's burning through the window and backlighting the shop's ad banner, which is what first caught my eye.  It's bouncing up off the table and the cup and lighting her face.  Exposing for those highlights presents them in stark contrast to the surrounding shadows and with that some added drama.  The warm/cool color contrasts don't hurt either.   Ideally a better camera with a faster lens would have allowed me to blur out the distracting background across the street to better isolate the subject - not a chance with an iPhone.  Regardless, for me the light shows the comfort and warmth of the coffee house.  

Or maybe it was just the caffeine sizzling through my veins.

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