Keeping with the theme of showing the size of the Taj I walked around to the left hand side. As the sun was getting a bit lower in the sky it was starting to glow a warmer colour.Once again I waited until people walked in front of the giant building to give a sense of scale. I took an exposure reading off the bright, sunlit area of the Taj with the intention of turning the people into an almost-silhouette. This turns the image into more of a graphic design than if the people had been in bright sunlight, and it also leads your eye into the brightest part of the picture which is where you again have the beautifully intricate design engraved in the marble.
The telephoto lens compresses the perspective so that the people look like they are right at the base when in actual fact they are a good 50 to 100 metres away. I like this compressed perspective look that you get from a telephoto, and it's also a great way to make things look big.
So now it was time to get up nice and close to the Taj.
Before you climb the steps to the balcony that goes around the outside edge there is a big communal de-shoeing area. Everybody lines up to take off their shoes and leave them with the helpful shoe attendants.
As I took off my shoes and looked up I was greeted with this amazing sight. Some people don't like the distortion that a wide-angle lens brings to pictures but I personally love it and spend most of my day with a wide-angle on the lens.
As you can see getting up nice and close with the wide-angle certainly presents a distorted view of the Taj but it also gives a sense of enormous size, and the low angle has managed to hide the thousands of people thronging around its base.
Next time we'll enjoy the light getting nicer and move farther forward.
2 comments:
Hi paul, great blog, I will come and check it out further after some sleep!!!! Lucky you!
Thanks Tania, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I was up in Port Douglas the other day and it was looking gorgeous. Sunrise from the lookout was great.
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