Brickworks of old or restored buildings continue to amaze me. They remind us a golden era of craftsmanship. Every brick was laid with care and consistent precision with no trace of sloppy work. This approach contrasts modern building processes in which craftsmanship is treated as mortal sin and money is everything.
This building is at the corner of Victoria St and Chuther St. Most large commercial heritage buildings around this area were restored and are serving now as architecture or advertisement company offices.
What I like about this building is its minimalist deco lines, especially the round corner and on it vertical frosted glass panel tracing the curvature around the corner. Large modern windows on the right have this dark bluish tint, hiding the office clutter inside, at the same time reflecting beautiful silhouette of nearby houses at the opposite side of the road.
- I took this photo in late November 2018, with Ricoh GR II.
- EXIF: ISO 250, 1/2500s, 18mm, f/2.8.
- Post-processing: DxO Clear View filter that enhanced colours on otherwise dull left side by removing the overcast dullness. DxO Clear View is a magnificent secret algorithm by DxO Optics. Unlike standard tools, like shadow, contrast, exposure, and white balance controls; DxO Clear View makes overcast areas brighter with colours popping out. It does this without introducing grain and without affecting sharpness. The catch is it needs to be applied when needed. If your picture is already clear it will break white balance considerably. I also noticed with Ricoh overcast days can introduce a bit of chrome aberration in the sky, Clear View removes that and makes blue sky areas appearing more natural.
- This picture is underexposed. I was experimenting with f/2.8 as it was an overcast day, so I did want to get as much light as possible. But in this occasion I failed. With an APS-C camera of 18mm (28mm eqv) lens I should only use widest aperture for close-by objects or nearby portrait or when there is sufficient daylight. What happened here was the wall side was dark, and my focus on the wall while the depth of field is minimum forced to camera to increase the shutter speed to an absurd level which cut down the light I needed.
- I later found out the culprit. A set Dynamic Range Compensation to Auto which needed to be Off and I did not set dynamic ISO range properly.
This building is in Mitchell Street. Again this is a large heritage workshop or a factory I presume, beautifully restored to serve today as an office. Note the interplay of yellowish and pinkish brickworks, the beautiful metal inscription (I adored the font), the art-deco pediment above the door, and indented moulding around the metal door. A also liked the postbox, and mysterious hieroglyphs on the pavement (you need to zoom). The small sunny courtyard is both cute and unexpected breaking office space in a delightful way.
I took this photo in late November 2018, with Ricoh GR II. EXIF: ISO 100, 1/400s, 18mm, f/2.8. Post-processing: DxO Clear View filter
Here are some links to Blues Point road which you may find useful:
