No Parking

Posted By Mark on Mar 11, 2012

Had a little bit of a wander into town today so that my missus could pick up some new trainers and a new bag for work (both were falling apart) and so that we could grab the next few months' worth of assorted birthday and anniversary cards in one hit. We're organised like that. Okay, my wife's organised like that. I, of course, tagged along with camera in tow but decided to not get the camera out until after we'd picked up the bit and pieces we came out for as I didn't really want to be going in and out of shops with a dSLR in hand. This, however, turned out to be a mistake as all the interesting people and things I saw on the way down – buskers and the assorted lunatics they'd obviously released for the day from the asylum – were all noticeably absent on the way back once I was ready to shoot away. Curses! In fact, of the nearly two dozen shots I did take I only kept a couple; the street ones weren't that interesting (I don't think my heart was in it) and the graffiti ones I took just didn't look that good afterwards either. This picture, though, I quite liked for the lines and rule of thirds layout (I am a bit of a geometry fiend when it comes to photos) as well as the stark colours (this is not might be a black and white conversion). For #SignSunday curated by +Gene Bowker and +walt sprinkle, as well as #SquareSunday curated by +Matt Soave. Google+: View post on...

Disposable

Posted By Mark on Mar 10, 2012

I'd love to make up something pretentious describing the X shape of the woman's legs (a powerful symbol!) and contrasting the relatively expensive taste in leather jacket, boots, and handbag with the cheap, disposable cup of indeterminate liquid she's carrying. I'd further like to add a social commentary angle by comparing the camera's focus on her (and her focus ahead) with that of the out-of-focus elderly woman in the foreground who we barely notice and who, with her thick glasses, is about to wander out of view completely to one side. Unfortunately, I'm extremely bad at making up arty stuff on the spot so you'll just have to use your imagination and pretend I did, further consolidating your view that I have a fantastic eye for these thought-provoking compositions and am not simply a guy who stands around and takes throwaway shots of strangers at random. For #StreetSaturday . Google+: View post on...

Self Portrait

Posted By Mark on Mar 10, 2012

A rare event – one to mark in your calendars – as photographic evidence surfaces that I'm not an AI designed to mimic a camera-shy photographer but am, in fact, an actual camera-shy photographer! It's not conclusive evidence, of course. I could be an AI designed to mimic a camera-shy photographer that's just evolved the ability to photoshop unrecognisable but still convincing evidence that it's not an AI at all. For #SelfPortraitSaturday curated by +Marcin Pękalski. Google+: View post on...

Woman on a Bench

Posted By Mark on Mar 10, 2012

You know when you're finishing up processing a picture and you think: I wonder if there's a theme for today that would fit this photo in any way ? Well, that just happened. It's Saturday, there's a bench… why wouldn't there be a theme called #BenchSaturday curated by +Rainer M. Ritz? Google+: View post on...

The Oldest Spy In Town

Posted By Mark on Mar 10, 2012

One thing I love about walking around Chichester during my lunchtimes is the sheer number of old spies you see. It's sometimes almost impossible to avoid tripping over a dead drop or bumping into someone who asks you if the condors are swooping majestically over the Orient Express this evening, and you learn very quickly to keep away from anyone with a pointy umbrella. Here we see Leonard Ivanovitch, a former KGB operative whose work carried him far and wide to such places as Slough and East Grinstead during the Cold War years mainly spreading disinformation in East Grinstead about just how nice it was in Slough. What a fiend! Submitted for #StreetSaturday . Google+: View post on...

Lady Shave

Posted By Mark on Mar 9, 2012