More Circles

Early in our look at forms and shapes I used a pair of circles, but the perfection of the imagery constantly sends us back to that eternal shape. Here are two of my favorites, one showing the all-important wheel and another suggested those 'amber waves of grain' we all care about.

Over and Under

The dance was in the lobby of a major hotel. The goal of the photography was to collect memories for the students in attendance. That job was enjoyable and I think it was handled with success. But I did take a couple of moments to relax and look up. Seeing a wonderful set of windows above the atrium, I snapped this photo. And now it goes into my Form Studies collection.
Back to circles tomorrow for one final Form Study.

Buildings

All buildings have form and shape by their very nature, but my eye was particularly drawn to several structures during our European trip. The cozy building seen here was available for sale, and the bicycle was parked in a niche in the Old Town wall, both in Tallinn, Estonia. The bike's owner was a few yards away running a tourist cart.

Church Interiors

Here we see some forms and shapes from inside two European churches. The copper rings are the dome of the Rock Church, Evangelical Lutheran, in Helsinki; the circles can be mesmerizing. The rack of prayer candles is from Trinity Church in Stratford, the burial place of Shakespeare, and the vertical candles highlight the flames above the rectangular rack.

Barricades & Gates

Two powerful images from my European trip in 2009 include the sandbags that today are decorative memories at the site of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin and from the dreaded Tower of London. The gate, called the Traitor's Gate, was the entry method for doomed prisoners back to the reign of Henry VIII.
Both photos show the strength and power that were intended to discourage people from testing them.

Books

After thirty-eight years as an English teacher, I still see amazing things in books. Naturally, reading a book is the best use of one, but I see beauty in form, whether arranged in ranks on shelves or whether open, teasing our eyes to look closer, to read, to learn.
By the way, both of these images are souvenirs of my visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK, during the summer of 2009.
Think I will close now; I have a novel to read.

Paths

Paths of all kinds fit into out category of Form and Shape. Here the path could be the walkway cut into the woods or the arcing live wires carrying power to distant towns.

Round & Round

Whether you travel all the way to Disney World or whether you pass a working windmill on a farm just beyond the suburbs, plenty of shapes go round and round, circles and globes. My Epcot image was shot in 1988 on color slide film, then shot in digital with a modern camera and a slide holder, then processed in Photoshop.

Windows

Windows often provide a frame that gives form to an image, whether by shooting through and making the window a frame, or using reflection to put a pretty face on a building.

Form Studies

One of my ongoing collections of images is my Form Studies file. Over the years, I have found myself interested in shapes and forms, be they the straight lines of the converging railroad tracks or the multiple circles of the swimming pool lane markers seen here.
Over the next several posts we will look at various Form Studies.