I’ve recently gifted myself a new digital camera, the Fujifilm TX30ii, and I’m in love! It handles very similarly to the old-fashioned analogue cameras and it looks just as stylish.

To get to grips with my new baby and to improve my photography skills and knowledge, I’ve enrolled in the Coursera course Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphone to DSLR Specialization. The course is five months long, and almost every week ends with photography assignments which are a culmination of the week’s learning. The course is great and I’m learning a lot, even though I sometimes have to rush through the material and the assignments, because… life.

So far, I’ve completed two out of the five courses and have realised that I keep returning to specific subjects and visual elements. I’m drawn to street and night photography. When I make photos, I tend to look specifically at colours and lines and how these lead the eye around the image.

Last week was all about composition, with a special focus on symmetrical and asymmetrical compositions. I talk about composition a lot in my classes, so I felt confident in my understanding of the concepts, but translating this into successful photographs is an entirely different matter. Here is the assignment: “Show what you have learned as you convey your own content interests through 1 photograph composed clearly with the principles of Symmetry, and 1 composed clearly with the principles of Asymmetry (specifically the Golden Mean, Golden Ratio, or Rule of Thirds)”. 

I adjusted my ISO, white balance, and shutter speed so I could capture the true colours and atmosphere of the station. 
Initially, I felt rather uncomfortable taking photographs in public with people in them, but no one seemed to mind or even notice much. I made many photographs, not all of them were successful, but there are a few I’m very pleased with.

So, without further delay, here are some photos I took last week!