Pushing It: Photographing Cathedrals to the Urban Spirit

So here’s a typical story about what often happens to me when I grab the camera with the thought, “You can always find something.” The other day I was patiently waiting for my wife to rip through the mall and negotiate herself a few good deals. “Patiently waiting” for me involves two potential activities: hanging around in a coffee shop and reading, or taking the camera out for a stroll. On this occasion I had a couple of hours to kill so I did both.

I was at Metrotown in Burnaby, BC. If you’ve ever been there, you know it’s a big mall with all the big mall accoutrements and  little surrounding it one would call aesthetically dynamic. However, in these situations I often challenge myself to find something that I can capture that has that artistic epiphany.

I left the mall to see what I might find outside on this cloudy day. Nothing struck me as I wandered the parking lot looking at signage, colours, angles, benches, grates and tiling. I decided to wander and see where fate would take me. I headed west and was about to run across Kingsway when I noticed a pedestrian bridge spanning the roadway. “Now that looks interesting,” I thought.

I headed for the stairs. I spent at least a half hour or more shooting that bridge from many angles. Here’s three shots, which I pushed with tone mapping once I got home, but I did shoot the photos with this in mind. What inspired me was the contrast between the wood and concrete, the clouds and the sky and the chrome and glass — all very strong subjects and all of them came together. I was cognizant of the potential of this conglomeration and am pleased with the results; albeit, I have pushed them far and have only begun to start experimenting with this type of technique.

Click on the photos and they’ll open up in a larger format.

Photo Credits

All photos © chrisholtphotos.com

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