Momentary Awe | Travel photography blog

I don’t post commercial shots very often, but today is a bit different as I have just redesigned the main part of Momentary Awe that includes the portfolio and this image is one of the images featured in the architectural section. The new site is now using jQuery instead of Flash so it should work nicely on all those iPads (and other tablets out there). The images are bigger, there are more sections than before and best of all I will be able to easily update the site as it’s driven by a cms. So if you or your company are looking for some photography, have a look at the portfolio.

As for this image it was taken during a shoot I did for Allgood Worldwide, one of the world’s leading architectural ironmongers. They used a wider angle version of this image, but for some reason I seem to prefer this one. I like its simplicity and the way the shadows define the shapes of the buildings.

Shot with NIKON D7000 | 40mm | ƒ/8

Those of you who follow me on Instagram (the id there is momentaryawe), might have seen I was shooting these two buildings yesterday as I took my new D800 for a spin. I got the camera a few weeks ago, but I haven’t had much time to shoot with it (except for a couple of client shoots), so yesterday I wanted to go out and take some images so that I can finally post one on the blog. The D800 is a really great camera and the files it produces are huge (think over 7000 pixels on the long side!). I haven’t shot enough with it to do a more comprehensive review, but as I use it more, I will write about its features.

Now to the actual image… I’ve been looking at these two buildings for more than two years now as they’ve been close to my usual driving route and I’ve always wanted to stop and take some pictures with the buildings silhouetted against the sunset. I’m not 100% happy with it as I would have preferred to shoot from somewhere higher up, I still think this one is worth a post.

Shot with NIKON D800 | 70mm | ƒ/8

Just before we started our 3 day trip down the Tsiribihina River, we spent a lazy afternoon in a small village from where most of the river trips start. We got there early afternoon and after checking in the hotel we decided to take a stroll down the main street of the village which was bustling with activity.

Tourism is still not huge in Madagascar after all the political problems they had (and keep having) in 2009 so when you walk around in a small village you get noticed fast. Kids will come to say hello, people will try to interact with you in some way or another, which makes it really cool for taking photos.

This girl was looking at us from behind the curtain, not really sure if she should come out or not and as soon as I noticed her beautiful smile and the way the light was lighting up her face I knew I had to take a few photos. I approached the fence at which point her mom came out as well. She was really nice and had no issues with me taking a couple of images of her daughter. She was even kind enough to step just outside of the frame so I could have an image of just the girl! It turned out to be one of my favourite images I took in Madagascar!

Shot with NIKON D7000 | 70mm | ƒ/8