February 2021 - Costa coffee

I had a problem this month: for some reason I only had about 8 photos to choose from in my February 2020 folder; I can’t claim the coronavirus – that hadn’t hit us yet. Maybe I was just lazy. Anyway, it meant I had to go back in time to find suitable February photos. Not a bad thing to do, as it helped me rediscover some gems.

This photo isn’t a gem because of its artistic creativity: I could (but won’t) point out a whole heap of things to improve it. But I have chosen it because it illustrates something that I want to do more of – slow shutter speed photography.

I took the photo 12 years ago, in 2008, on a Samsung GX10 digital single lens reflex (DSLR) that I had won in a competition in the Independent newspaper. It was a small step up from the camera I had at the time – a Canon EOS 350D. But it was a prize, and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste. This day, I must have been taking time off work, because I had it with me, but was still in the City wandering around. 

The square where I took the photo was quite big – feels even bigger now that the office block behind has been hugely renovated – and there was a Costa in the middle. I wondered if I could be brave and try a slow speed to get the background in sharp focus and blur any people. So that’s what it is, an experiment that mostly has worked. I wasn’t too conscious of the rules of composition in those days (particularly the ones that emphasise simplicity and getting the viewer to focus on the main point), so there is a messy bit behind the Costa building with the background being a bit obtrusive. And I think it isn’t level either.

But on the whole, it was an experiment that worked and gave me a satisfying outcome. It’s always worth challenging yourself – in photography like everything else – and to learn from the result.