Random Brisbane City Photographs

Ended up in Brisbane (Queensland, Australia) this month for some exploration and to survey the cities mountain biking factor.

Turns out Brisbane is a pretty good bicycle city, with bike paths shooting off in every direction. (Can take your bike on the ferry too).

When I at last found the right day to shoot, the G20 was on and the city was sort of in a huge lockdown.

But managed some nice iPhone snaps using the Hipstamatic filter.

Often I’ll crank up Hipstamatic on my iPhone and think – right I’m going to spend a day just using that filter in the city and see what happens.

It’s such a beautiful filter, especially using black and white.

Rockin’ the iPhone Hipstamatic

Hipstamatic doesn’t just make life groovy. It makes you realise you can publish a sellable coffee table book on this stuff.

Choose one photo theme / topic, one city. Plug the adorable Hipstamatic filter onto your iPhone. Life suddenly becomes very surreal.

I also started shooting some city shots with a my new Sony 18200LE lens. I’ll feedback here how that lens turns out. It’s kind of heavy (compared I guess to the 18-55 I originally had on) and doesn’t like low light much.

BUT I dig how I now can play with distance – if there’s something up the street coming my way I can capture it with this lens.

The Sony 18200LE lens (left) is 27-300mm in 35mm equivalent.

But back to the iPhone snaps.

One thing I realised snapping Brisbane city (or anywhere where’s there’s people) is you need a certain degree of confidence to pursue the art.

If that means you’re the only person still standing in the middle of the street when the lights go green, so be it. Whatever it takes to get the shot, right? Of course be safe – but confidence does come from doing.

So get out there into your nearest city (or country town) and start doing (shooting).

Let the muse guide you.

Accepted by Stockimo / Alamy but the colour version wasn’t.

Interesting what people prefer. I like the colour version too.

Usually I switch to artist’s mode when I’m snapping which transfers me into a whole different world. A world full of shape, light, dynamics and all that creative magic mixed together which would be impossible to explain.

By the way, I’m reading ‘Show Your Work‘ and honestly, this is a great book with a fascinating perspective on how to promote yourself and get your work out there in a humble and honest way.

I really like what he says about being an amateur. I’m sure he’s talking about us.

I walk around the city and keep my eyes more up than down. City buildings scatter reflections and who doesn’t love a glass wall or two.

Throw in the dynamics of people moving and transportation rushing by and you end up with a modern day social-eco-system.

Our cities will become much better than this, but for now, embrace the steel, glass, express ways, bus shelters, and purpose-ness of those who flourish here.

Jeffrey Smart loved the urban dynamics. He’s the reason I chase the light, travel to remote and strange countries and photograph buses and train stations.

So do enjoy the iPhone snaps below & above (somewhat influenced by Austin’s ‘Show Your Work’ book and heavily influenced by Smart, as always) and please hit the Social buttons below to show your friends and all.

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And just so you know, all the pics on this page were shot by me on my iPhone 4S using the Hipstamatic filter.

Random Brisbane City Photographs

While you’re pondering over these, can you let me know which image you like the best? (In the comments will be fine).

It gives me an idea of what you like. I’ll then compare that with what I like. Often the two are quite different. (This could drive you nuts if you let it).

What I tend to do occasionally (maybe you already do this?) is put a snap on Facebook (or Google+) to ‘test’ how people respond to it. You can sort of gauge how much influence or sway an image has that way.

Or just do it to show off your creative talents. ☺

In that book I mentioned, Austin Kleon talks about explaining the process – ie: ‘think process not product‘ – and suggests taking people behind the scenes.

I guess one way you can do this with photography is by showing the offcuts or the shots you’d normally keep on your hard drive and not upload to sell.

By letting go of our egos and sharing our process, we allow for the possibility of people having an ongoing connection with us and our work, which helps us move more of our product. – Austin Kleon

A Random Brisbane City Bus Stop

 

Stockimo / Alamy preferred this over the colour version.

I love the dynamics of the above image. The eye bounces around a bit and it’s not as symmetrical as I’d really like. Having said that it’s a ‘street’ shot – and when you shoot street work sometimes you have to get what you can, when you can.

Before everyone notices there’s a dude with an iPhone pointing your way.

My particular focus was the student with the amazing hat, playing yo-yo gymnastics with her earphone cord (?) Everything else just sets the scene of the shot. Her shape and silhouette jumps right out at me.

People do the strangest things in front of you and any photographer could capture a similar thing. (It’s said that truth is stranger than fiction, right?)

This guy did it in New York city and everyone loved it. You next.

What a day. What a journey. And to think these cities are already here waiting for us creative sorts to come along and photograph to our heart’s content.

Plus there’s airports, docklands, express ways, ships, trains and a million other urban industrial environments to capture and share with the world.

Hope you liked my Brisbane city photographs and please say hi whenever you can, or next time we bump iPhones in Australia or Bangkok, OK?

Stuff to use to shoot iPhone photos

The IVAPO kit could be good. Or use any from PhotoJojo. (Warning: addictive site)

Guide to shooting iPhone photography. Always keep learning (and refining) your craft. This guide might help.

Upload your work to Creative Market here – A website where you can showcase your ‘non-stock’ work.

I’ll update you when I sell any of these images on Stockimo!