Composition

[stamper]

I agree! Excellent shot, and the pedestrian balances it nicely.

Those two bolts and nuts look as if they are about to jump out and grab anybody walking by.


Eric

Thanks for the feedback. There was very little PP done on the image. The depth of field was as is and not blurred in any way. About the figure then I agree it balances the image and is an important part of it. Two focal points. Rob the new bridge is about three hundred yards downstream of the Jamaica bridge, about the same distance between the Suspension bridge and the Jamaica bridge. IMO not very photogenic so you won't see a lot of pictures on the web.

[stamper]

I used to catch the 57 bus from Clyde Street - or was that the 38? Western SMT - maybe the 38 was the Corporation? Two routes to the same beautiful destination: Rouken Glen.

Godammit! Is that a lump in my throat?  Are the brothers Fazzi still there, selling wine by the measure and hams from Parma to die for? I remember parking the X1/9 there, at the foot of the steps, as my wife would go inside and do the buying and I evaded the malice of the traffic wardens... I also remember turning left off Clyde into the street leading to St Enoch Square and a frigging great Corporation bus doing the same thing but cutting in on my right, its central entry gap catching the right rear corner of my then brand-new Humber and the driver of the bus telling me I wasn't supposed to get angry at such moments... I always knew those Council bastards lived on another planet but crapped onto ours. Does Waves still exist?

Happy memories best savoured as such. It's sad but true: you can never go home again.

Rob C

PS  I have the same two bits of stuff - mine is manual, is yours af? It's probably the cheapest, sharpest lens I have - but then, the original 2/50 was a cracker too.

I just remembered, the restaurant you mentioned disappeared a few years ago. Very few businesses left along that stretch of the river. They are renovating that area and the Catholic church has scaffolding surrounding it. Any other city in the world would have regenerated a river bankside with shops and bars and made it bustling. Not Glasgow they are doing the opposite, imo.

[Rob C]

I just remembered, the restaurant you mentioned disappeared a few years ago. Very few businesses left along that stretch of the river. They are renovating that area and the Catholic church has scaffolding surrounding it. Any other city in the world would have regenerated a river bankside with shops and bars and made it bustling. Not Glasgow they are doing the opposite, imo.

The council planning guys should be taken to Amsterdam - not only would they get an idea of what to do with water, but they could then clean up Blythswood Square and create a proper red-light zone somewhere else - it would even attract tourists. I am assuming the 'girls' still go looking for 'business' up there? It was a funny place: a great ad agency - Struthers - used to have offices near the RAC place and I remember dropping off some pìcs late evening once and no sooner had I parked the car in front of their door than there was this nightmare tapping on the passenger door asking if I was looking for business. She was huge - I was anxious to tell her no without risking her temper - I must have succeeded or I would have been killed!

I think that the problems that stand in the way of businesses in Glasgow are really very much related to the rates that get charged. They are so frightening that it must take more nerve to float a business with them in your sights than almost any other factor. It would make more sense - I think - to reduce rates and thus help people keep shops open, because you are generally better off collecting a lot of reasonable rates than almost none at the mafia level. It just takes a look at any High Street and the thrift/charity shops tell it all. Why can't the officials that govern all that understand the simple maths? Maybe they just don't like the self-employed. The tax man sure doesn't!

I always enjoy chewing the fat with you stamper, apart from the fact that anyone with a D700 can't be all bad - maybe if I'm back seeing the kids some day we can say hello?

Rob C

[stamper]

Rob,
       Blytheswood square is no longer a place for "business". In recent years I believe it was Waterloo street and down to the river. Also Glasgow Green just behind the Barrows. They claim Glasgow is a major tourist destination. I like Glasgow but I don't see the attraction. The City centre is a mess and east of the Saltmarket resembles a wasteland. The west of Glasgow around Byres road is attractive and the Kelvingrove park area is nice. If you go to Edinburgh, which I know well, it is night and day. Far more tourists and a lot nicer. We may meet up someday when you are back?

[stamper]

Actually, I really like that sort of photograph and, if anything, it requires a pretty cool eye for detail. For example, if you had missed the pedestrian, the entire balance would have been shot, probably even more so than with a fully crisp image where detail can distract from/disguise the basic feeling of balanced 'weights' which is that gut emotion that tones and compositions are all about.

Good thinking.

Oh, I was chatting about your bridge with my bro'-in-lo' on the mobile this morning and he tells me there is now another small bridge fondly called the 'wee squinty' because it eschews the right-angle approach to crossing water. Curious; maybe the same late architect from Spain that did the Houses of Parliament (I think they are called) in Edinburgh?

Rob C

Rob

the 'wee squinty'

[attachment=23309:New_squinty_bridge.jpg]

[Rob C]

Thanks for taking the time with the photograph, stamper, the shape of the thing is even more complex than I had imagined from what I'd been told about it! Must be a legacy from the City of Culture period...

Cheers

Rob C

[stamper]

Thanks for taking the time with the photograph, stamper, the shape of the thing is even more complex than I had imagined from what I'd been told about it! Must be a legacy from the City of Culture period...

Cheers

Rob C

Rob, I happened to be in the area on Friday. The problem was too many people crossing the bridge to do it justice. The next time I go I will take a wide angle lens and I think I can better the framing and composition.

[stamper]

Rob,
        the new Squinty Bridge at sunset.

[attachment=23332:Squinty_bridge.jpg]

and at sunrise.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/411438...cc4ef415e_o.jpg

[Rob C]

Hi stamper

Two vey nice shots - are you employed by the Tourist Board, by any chance? I never saw the Clyde look so clean, blue and attractive - you could almost imagine going for a swim in it!

That time of day, where you get the mix of nature and artifice makes great shots. A lot of the tourist promotions stuff is shot in those circumstances because I doubt there is any way of introducing more glamour into the imagery.

Nice work.

Rob C

[Rob C]

Rob,
        the new Squinty Bridge at sunset.

[attachment=23332:Squinty_bridge.jpg]

and at sunrise.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/411438...cc4ef415e_o.jpg

Stamper

Just a thought: we'd spoken some time ago about the Co-op building tower from where I took a shot across the Kingston Bridge (for the Clydesdale Bank, if I remember correctly). The spot shows up between the central cables of the bridge in your shot here - the illuminated bit with the cupola-style top.

My daughter tells me there is still a Daily Record building behind the one she says is called the City Inn, on the left of your image. The old place has certainly changed a hell of a lot!

Thanks again for the pic - really interesting for me to see these changes... I hear there is also a sort of cycle track somewhere along the river but nobody has the nerve to go there because of the tosser element. With a will, that could all be changed quite quickly. On the whole, she agrees with you that they have wasted a great opportunity of making the most of what the river can really offer.

Rob C