Urban Landscape: Cultural Quarter

Following the photography session with the theme of traces, we then moved on to do urban landscape photography as we visited the Cultural Quarter in Leicester. After looking at urban photographers in class, we went out and did some photographs. My main purpose is to try to capture Leicester's urban landscape with a feeling of isolation using the principles and techniques I had learned in class.

I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II with an EF 24-70mm f.2.8 USM lens to take the images. I used manual mode throughout the shoot. In total, I took around 70 photographs. Here are the contact sheets of the photographs I took.

All of the images I took were in color, with most of them in portrait. I think that taking portrait photographs has always been the style I preferred, and the reason for adding color is because if I do want to change it into something like monochrome, I can do it later while not sacrificing the color. Not all of these photos are going to be used, some of the selected ones through curation will undergo quality control as a lot were underexposed, overexposed, or needs to be cropped, etc. I am happy that I took these photographs with a manual setting too, because it allows me more control over these photos, even if they were very underexposed which can be fixed.

I feel that I should've gotten more photographs of buildings, especially the ones in Cultural Quarter. In particular I should've gotten a photo of the Cinema for its very unique architecture. I noticed that there were also photos that were too blurry, such as the photo of the empty yard and white walls, which I can't fix in editing and I must throw out. Although my camera's screen is old, I still should have checked for all the photos result right in the spot instead of doing it later. That said, I do believe that these photos in the end shares the same intended theme of isolation from the lack of any human figure within it, and so in that regard the photo session is productive. 

I think with the theme of isolation in mind, the day felt like an exploration as I visited new sceneries that contains isolation, with some leaving behind traces of humans through graffiti. I was also focused in trying to find the image I want, particularly composition of the photographs and subject within it, which mostly is the use of lines and rule of thirds. Nonetheless, the day was very fun with classmates which reminded me of when I used to do photography sessions with my friends as well.

After this, I will do my own individual urban photography session around my area.