Picking apart a scene to create impactful images

Forsyth Park is the largest park in the historic district of Savannah Georgia. The Park covers 30 acres of land just south of Gaston Street and north of Park Avenue. The east border of Forsyth Park is Drayton Street and on the west is Whitaker. For locals and tourists, Forsyth Park is a hub of social interaction. Concerts, recreation sports, people watching, sun bathing, reading, relaxing…can all be seen going on in Forsyth Park depending on when you are there. On Saturdays there is a great farmer’s Market that takes place in Forsyth Park. If you are going to be visiting the historic district of Savannah make sure to plan an hour to head over to Forsyth Park and check it out.

The fountain at the north end of the park was added in 1858 and is reminiscent of fountains in the Place de la Concorde in Paris and in Cuzco, Peru. At this time, Parisian urban planning was centered on the development of residential neighborhoods radiating out from a central green space. The Parisian model of developing large city parks was emulated by large cities in the United States, with even smaller cities, such as Savannah, asserting their own cosmopolitan image.

Every St.Patricks Day the fountain is ceremoniously turned green in celebration of Savannah's deep Irish heritage.

The fountain and many other aspects of Savannah are clearly visible in the 1962 film Cape Fear

When I approach a scene I start by looking at it from all angles so I can capture it the way I want to take the image... I look for mood, I look for leading lines and I look how the light and the shadows create different looks.

I start by taking some wide photos and then start narrowing my focus...

Above you see the photo of the Forsyth Fountain and the path leading up to it. Its a pretty setting and the fountain looks great in the setting, but I was drawn to the individual statues inside the fountain.

Above you see four images that I took of the different statues. I used intersecting lines in the water streams, I framed some of the statues with the elements like water streams and I converted the images to black and white because I felt the scene called for a higher contrast black and white look.

The gear I used to take these images were the LUMIX GX8, the LUMIX G VARIO 35-100/F2.8, the Manfrotto 294 Carbon Fiber Tripod and the Manfrotto XPRO Ball Head