I took advantage of a sunny late afternoon to head out for a short bike ride and brought the camera along. After a few kilometers I came across a small park I’ve padded by everyday day during my commute to work but never actually explored. So I parked my bike and walked around the small park

The light was just right with the worm golden rays of sun lighting the scene around me.

I noticed a basketball hoop surrounded by trees, with the light coming in from the side. I took a few steps back and included in the frame some leaves of a nearby tree to give a sense of depth. The golden greens in this image really stand out and capture beautifully the sunset light.

*Basketball Hoop - f2.2, 1/640, ISO 100*

Next I noticed a sandpit that was also interestingly lit. The colors here don’t stand out as much and there are some slightly distracting elements in the background (the bush and the construction on the right) so it’s not an amazing photo.

In the park there were also some spring horses. I looked for an layered composition by placing the top of one spring horse in the bottom right corner while keeping the main subject in the center of the frame. I think the bottom two thirds of this image work well but the background is a bit distracting also here. Editing the image I also noticed that the top of the spring horse overlaps slightly with the fence on the background and in hindsight I should have left a bit of a gap between the two.

The last image from the park is a side-light view of the leaves against the blue sky. Again I tried to include some elements in the foreground to give a sense of depth. I like the different shades of green and the worm colors but overall the image is a bit chaotic and there is no clear subject.

Overall is was still nice to go out and get I got a chance to practice creating a cohesive set of images that try to tell a story, albeit a simple one.

Golden Hour at the Park

Creative Photography