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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Thirteen: Bringing Fresh Visions to Tired Clichés > Old Town Plaza, San Diego, California, 2004
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15-APR-2004

Old Town Plaza, San Diego, California, 2004

Another plaza, another cliché. That’s often the case in travel photography. I was able to beat the cliché here by doing three things, which hopefully might change the ordinary into the extraordinary for some viewers. First, I came to Old Town San Diego’s historic plaza at sunset, which offered rich color and warm light. Secondly, I treat the plaza as I would a landscape photograph. The essence of landscape photography is the creation of the illusion of depth to give the viewer a sense of spaciousness. I obtain this depth by using the wide-angle lens, which helps me to envelope the tree, people, and table beneath it within a field of glowing emerald grass. And third, I chose to shoot a table featuring people avidly listening to a portable radio, its antenna adorned with patriotic flags. Three “leading lines” on the grass carry the eye to the people at that table -- the long, rich shadows cast by the tree, the flags on the antenna, and the bike at lower right.

Canon PowerShot G5
1/160s f/4.0 at 9.1mm full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis01-Dec-2004 01:50
Good point, Vera. I waited for what seemed to be an eternity for the plaza to empty, and finally only these two fellows remained in view. I had studied the effect of light and shadow very carefully while waiting, and found this spot worked the best in terms of using my wideangle lens to lead the eye to that table. Meanwhile, the sun itself was moving -- another few minutes and it would vanish behind that building in the background. Although the subjects themselves were not going anywhere, I was caught in a time bind -- waiting for the plaza to empty, and watching my light source move closer and closer to oblivion. As you see, it worked out -- barely.
Guest 26-Nov-2004 09:49
What strikes me here is how deserted this plaza seems to be -- a 'cliched' photo of a plaza scene is one where you see people everywhere, where you see lots of actions. I really love how the three shadows draw our eyes to the table. Vera.
Phil Douglis22-Oct-2004 01:17
Whenever possible, I shoot light instead of subject. The light always come first, then the thing I am shooting.
Guest 14-Oct-2004 23:54
For me the abstraction made by the angled shadows, along with the off-center placement of people, balanced perfectly by said shadows, beats the cliche.
Phil Douglis24-Apr-2004 19:54
What a wonderful insight, Marek! I never considered this image as parody of the American Western myth, but the elements are certainly there. It just shows you that everyone reads pictures differently, and if I can get other people's imaginations to act to my images as creatively as yours has responded to this one, I'll be very happy.
Guest 24-Apr-2004 07:07
For me, the most cliché-beating aspect of this image, is the replacement of a horse with a bicycle. The whole image is a minature urban parody of the 'open range'; the flag, symbollic of an 'outpost', and the field surrounded by suburban housing -- the opposite of a wild and dangerous environment. You could almost entitle this scene "Once Upon A Time In The Park" ;-)
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