NZ Visual Diary - entry 417

imposing cruise ship

First, a brief critique of the composition. Even though I like the overall composition of the photograph, I probably stood too close to the foreground elements. For some years I had used a 28mm lens that, being a wide angle lens, required tighter framing than other normal (greater than 35mm) or telephoto (greater than 70mm) lenses demand.

For the past year, I have experimented with a 43mm (normal) lens but, as this image demonstrates, muscle memory of wide-angle format prevailed. I framed the photograph too tightly. I recently returned to the 28mm (wide angle) format, a focal length I prefer for both architectural and street photography.

Had I taken today’s photograph at a greater distance from the foreground subjects, the cruise ship in the background of the image might not have appeared as close, indeed ominously close, to the north edge of the public square.

That said, the Queen’s Wharf of the Port of Auckland, which serves as the principal dock for large cruise ships, is situated northernly just beyond Quay Street, a narrow road whose southern boundary is contiguous with Te Komititanga Square, the location of today’s photograph. Even if I had stepped back some to lessen the perspective compression within the image, the cruise ship would have appeared outsized.

The ships are enormous, especially when set against the low vertical profile of the square and its surroundings.

The park bench attracted people of all ages - all adults but across a significant expanse of adulthood. I take delight in the fact that the one person who appears studiously engaged with her phone is one of the oldest members of the bench crowd. She is a digital stalwart in current practice if not youthful-practiced habituation.