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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Nine: The Layered Image – accumulating meaning > Layers at sunset, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas, 2009
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31-MAY-2009

Layers at sunset, Lady Bird Lake, Austin, Texas, 2009

While in Austin, we took a sunset cruise along Lady Bird Lake, passing below the numerous bridges that tie the halves of Austin together. I was able to fill my frame here with four simultaneous layers of content: abstracted pedestrians walk across the bridge on the top, while a car moves across another bridge in the middle, a boat slides along a shimmering band of golden reflection at the bottom, and the setting sun itself, joined by backlit clouds, fills the background.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1
1/160s f/5.0 at 120.0mm iso160 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time31-May-2009 17:23:13
MakePanasonic
ModelDMC-G1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length120 mm
Exposure Time1/160 sec
Aperturef/5
ISO Equivalent160
Exposure Bias-0.66
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

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Phil Douglis12-Jun-2009 01:21
Beautifully said, Tim. This is not only a landscape, it is a "manscape," a tapestry of human activity. As you say, the image is intended to be about a new chapter of daily life -- that which begins as the sun slips below the horizon.
Tim May11-Jun-2009 17:10
So often sunset images are about sky - here the sky is almost an afterthought - to me this says that sunsets are about more than landscapes, they are about lives.
Phil Douglis09-Jun-2009 15:40
That was what I was trying to say here, Carol -- an evening of activity. Work is done, and now the fun begins.
Carol E Sandgren09-Jun-2009 04:57
I too see movement in many directions, including that boat that is advancing toward your camera frame. The scene is lively, probably accurate for what it was really like in Austin.
Phil Douglis08-Jun-2009 21:13
You forgot to add that the clouds seem to be crossing the river along with the pedestrians, Rose. I'll forgive you for the omission. Thanks so much for this comment. You are right -- there is a lot of activity in these layers, but such is life on a river at a busy time of day in the middle of a large city. In retrospect, I wish I had been able to get more separation between the second bridge and the bank of the river, but I shouldn't be greedy. The boat took me to a good place at a good time and I was able to get a lot out of the opportunity. More importantly, it demonstrates the cumulative power of layers to express meaning.
sunlightpix08-Jun-2009 04:18
Wow, this is like getting four great images in one! Love the colors and silhouettes. I feel the motion leading to the left of the frame via the pedestrians, then the car leads me back to the right of the frame, then the boat gives me a rocking motion, and lastly the setting sun gives a sense of vertical motion. While that could give the viewer a visual bumpy ride, all the elements come together in a pleasing composition.
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