Monthly Archives: June 2016

Work at the Dispensary

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dispensary_web

A dramatic black-and-white photograph of a rather grim place from the past. Dispensaries (started in the Georgian era) were charitable institutions where the poor could be treated without having to admit them to hospitals. Medical care was ‘dispensed’, so to speak. Another establishment called ‘the dispensary’ operates in Liverpool: a pub. Presumably alcohol is dispensed here purely for medicinal reasons.

There is some construction work going on. In the back you see one of two cathedrals in Liverpool, this one from of the church of England. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Little barber shop

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kapper

Another single front window shop in Liverpool, the little barber shop. Watching the barbers going about their business. This is another black-and-white and color overlay. The bright red hand-painted chair really works. You can spot the little shop from afar. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Garden of one

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violet_street_web

Spotted this solitary African violet in the crack between the kerb stones. This little guy deserved the knee fall (more like lying down) needed to take this picture. Some shots were ruined by a friendly photography-curious cat…  I opened up my lens to achieve the shallow depth of field. The unsharp fore- and background were all achieved in-lens, no digital magickery required.

I figured it was time for a nice and harmonious picture after the last few alienating posts. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Concrete and Steel

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construction_web

 

This picture is shot with the legendary Trioplan 50 mm ‘soap bubble bokeh’ lens from Meyer Optik in Görlitz, in the former eastern Germany. Funny feeling to be shooting with a lens from the 1950s. The shot was with wide open aperture (f 2.9) to maximise the bokeh effect. As a consequence, the concrete building block at the front is sharply focussed, the shed is creamily defocussed and the soap bubbles come out in the steel framework of the building. I like the substance (brick) – plan (framework) contrast. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Mirror window

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window_reflect_web

 

Chimneys and antennas, sash windows. I was staying in the Georgian Quarter in Liverpool in an incredibly lovely Bed & Breakfast: 2 Blackburne Terrace. This picture is from the neighbours’ window, reflecting the street view.

Old window panes are not as flat as modern ones, giving rise to nice wobbly reflections. More pictures from my stay are following. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Biking into existence

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biking_into_existence_cropped_web

OK, this one is a bit experimental. Evening in Liverpool, without a tripod, I shot a short time series of a biker passing. I knew I wanted to merge the images and suggest movement/time. As there were only four images, the easiest was to (ab)use color channels with the visually pleasing result above.

I like the way the CMYK and RGB colour schemes come through depending on whether the intensity is lower or higher than the background. The colours merge into the black-and-white figure that rides out of the frame. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Red-Orange-Yellow-Green-Blue

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colorsingrey_web

Also in Liverpool, I came across this window that had been decorated with colourful thumb/hand prints. The kids had obviously had fun with their colours but the descriptions  were likely added by an adult. In post-processing, I mirrored the writing, changing the perspective from the inside for the kids to the outside for us.

As I liked the dash of colours in the monotonous brick work, I decided to do some selective colouring of the black-and-white image. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Turbine bags

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turbinebags_web

Apparently turbine bags (?) and sails are not in high demand anymore. This photo was taken in the surroundings of Albert Docks in Liverpool, England, a few weeks ago. This area is full of decrepit buildings of better shipping/trading days. I spent more or less the entire day shooting with a vintage eastern-German 1960s 35 mm lens (Primagon, Meyer Optik).

More photos to come that are taken with old glass and definitely more from Liverpool. Vintage lenses have heaps of character and I thoroughly enjoy the manual ‘work’ that they demand. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters

Swift

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Mauersegler_web

The first photograph of the web site. This was taken from the castle in Erice, a medieval village in Sicily, in early spring this year. The layered rock on which the village is built is visually very pleasing and buildings were erected on precipitous sites as you can see in this example. In the back you can just about make out the skyline and waves of the sea. It took quite a number of photos to capture the one swift where I wanted it to be. Loved the screeching sound of the swifts. And the German word for these animals is quite poetic: Mauersegler, which translates to ‘wall sailer’.

I will post some more photos from this location. Photographs on this site will not be in chronological order. © 2016 Fred S. Wouters