Heathcote CBA

[Mick Fagan]

Shen Hao HZX45-IIA
Fujinon f/6.3 150, 14mm rise
No Filter.
FP4+ 1/60 at f/22
D76 1:1

[Maris]

What a beaut photograph of a beaut building!

Mick, how did you get the brilliant contrast between the white accents on the facade and the subdued reddish brickwork? I would have looked for help from a filter, maybe a green, but I see that you did it straight. And it's always gratifying to see a vertical building photographed with lens rise rather than a "falling over" building done with lazy lens tilt.

This photograph hints that the bank building is in a state of gentle neglect.That power line across the facade intrudes unsympathetically. The struggling pot plant on the left doesn't inspire confidence.

But a history check shows the building as a jolly wine cellar door, an eatery, and a place of conviviality. There's even a swish video tour of all the rooms on an internet real estate site. Mick, you found a quality building. Your camera did it justice.

[Mick Fagan]

Maris, thanks for your kind words, and yes, it is a beaut building.

I did think about using a filter, and I had time to think about what, if any filtration I would or could use. I found this building after walking into Heathcote from our camping site and deciding that this would be something worth photographing, so I walked back to the campsite then fully loaded I proceeded back into Heathcote.

Forty five minute round trip, would you believe. Which did have its benefits in that there was the light pole shadow bisecting the left side windows when I first viewed it, plus there was no tree shadow on the right side of the building. With the time lapse the pole shadow disappeared, while the bland right side had a shadow added for interest

Eventually I decided on no filtration, I had the choice of a yellow/green, but didn't think it would have been strong enough, while orange and/or red I considered to be too strong. So I went with correct exposure, and very happily, correct developing, which meant I ended up having a brilliant negative sitting atop the light bench.

As to front rise, fall or using tilt, I've never liked tilt for architectural photography, unless I'm after something different. Long ago I stopped using tilt for effect on buildings, pretty interesting for landscape; sometimes. My 90mm, 150mm and 250mm lenses that I carry, all have huge coverage for this format. In fact, all of them have more coverage than the movements of the camera can do, and this camera is endowed with great possibilities if required.

I had an interesting time doing this as I was standing on the median strip of the main drag, which is the highway for Melbourne to Bendigo and is reasonably busy. Nothing like having B-Doubles or a small road train 1m from your backside when under the dark cloth to give one a sense of urgency.