I have been reading again. Finally picking up a book again has been really refreshing. I think it is something that I have been missing for a while as the weather grew colder and my time outside my grew thinner. The air quality again the other day also grew worse, with a dense fog that just swallowed up the surroundings and turned everything into this cold, unforgiving Silent Hill type of environment. These were taken on the way to and from a nearby cafe in the evening, I had the Sony 35mm F1.8 lens on the camera again as I had been using it for an online project that requires a bit more sharpness than the Soviet vintage glass I tend to use when I'm running around. With the camera being a bit older, I had to bump up the ISO quite a bit, some of these being shot around 1000.
Though in this environment I think I actually liked how the added noise made the images. They felt a bit more gritty, much like the environment where light from the streetlights beamed down through the bad air. Where streaks of light were visible, creating shapes around various forms in the near distance. Snow covered everything still. Mixed with the stillness of frost that had accumulated from the stagnant temperatures. Everything had this depressive mood to it which actually felt a bit comfortable in a way. The only other lights visible would come from the nearby buildings, some warm tones from inside the homes where people remained warm and comfortable. As if only those outdoors were the weird ones. In some instances you could barely see the lights from buildings nearby. As if these tall structures of the Soviet past were never there.
I think this short walk through the courtyards was quite nice actually, despite the air quality which was hurting the lungs a bit with each breath. I wrapped a scarf around my face which I know doesn't actually do anything but increase the fibers of fabric and bad air intake, but it was more a psychological thing to tell myself it would help during that walk to and from the cafe. With this 35mm lens I tend to run the mist filter which softens light a bit more, but I chose not to throw it over the lens for this walk. I'm not sure whether I regret that or not. I do love how it softens the light. But perhaps I was running that thing a bit too much before.
I found more attraction to the simplicity of places in this environment. Where the sun had set and the streetlights had come on. Where the lights of stairways and buildings were the main things which gave that environment any actual colour. It felt limited. Almost like a game in which the most lit and colourful space in an area is clearly signifying that the player should venture closer to it and through it. Like that first image with the green lit stairway, nothing else around really displaying much colour. I think I have been missing these walks. I haven't been doing them for a while. Though the weather has since changed again. Not so icy. Not so cold. It might just be time to grab the camera and get out there into those old courtyards again and discover things.
I've been saying it for a while but I do hope to upgrade the camera soon which will really improve how I can take pictures. Especially in such weather where this one starts to freak out a bit and doesn't quite perform. Hopefully this recent work project I have will continue to provide opportunity and get that camera budget dealt with a bit more. Things are picking up!
