Karen Blixens Square is a relatively new public square in the city, part of the University of Copenhagen. I went there the day after it opened, but I didn’t really get the sort of shots I wanted. Boo freaking hoo. So instead of admitting defeat, a few days ago I went back there. I had hoped for a massive success, but alas, not really. I got a few shots that are okay, but looking through my camera roll there wasn’t anything that really jostled my jimmies.
The first shot I grabbed was at the square, but on the way. I saw this little house at the end of the pedestrian crossing, and took this shot:
Fuji X-T3 XF10-24mm @ f9 1/200 sec ISO 320
It’s an alright image, but nothing to write home about. There’s just something lacking the colors, I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. So I switched to the Acros film simulation, to have a go at it in black and white. Still no dice. I have this of not spending more than 5 minutes at any given spot if I’m not feelin’ a good vibe, so I hopped back on the bike and headed for my intended destination.
I got a phone call on the way, and had to hop off to take it, and happened to do so in front of the university building. This big ugly glass covered beast reflecting the blue of the sky. I have a love/hate relationship with these sorts of building in that I hate how they look, but I love the reflections they can produce. So I grabbed this shot:
Fuji X-T3 XF10-24mm @ f8 1/280 sec ISO 400
It’s an decent shot I guess, but without a human element it just doesn’t really do it for me. So back on the iron horse again, and onwards to the square. I was looking for geometry, lines, or curves, and finally settled on trying to capture something with the curves of one of these burrows that function as bicycle parking:
Fuji X-T3 Samyang 8mm @ f8 1/1000 sec ISO 640
I first saw a jogger coming around to head over one of them and was convinced she’d be the one to supply the human element. But it didn’t work out. I wanted to have the entirety of her shadow in the frame, but then the composition just didn’t work:
I was about to move on, but then I could hear the whirring of bicycle tires, and thought why not, that might work. And sure enough, a kid came whizzing by and supplied just what I was looking for:
Fuji X-T3 XF55-200mm @ f8 1/5000 sec ISO 640
It’s not the best image, but I was reasonably happy to come away from my visit to the square with it. I wanted something that wasn’t light and airy - because I’ve seen a lot of shots from this place that has this vintage overexposed feel - and I didn’t want to just do another to add on the pile. So far, so good.
Right next to the square is one of the more interesting looking buildings in the area - the Tietgen Student Housing. I’ve taken plenty of shots of it before, but I had 10 minutes spare, so why the heck not.
My first inclination was to do a shot with the curves of the surround path, but I didn’t quite feel it. Maybe if the two dude on the path had been closer, it might have worked out better:
Fuji X-T3 Samyang 8mm @ f8 1/480 sec ISO 320
I remembered there’s a body of water just in front of the building ,so I was gonna go for a reflection shot, and that turned out pretty good:
Fuji X-T3 Samyang 8mm @ f8 1/800 sec ISO 320
I was prepared to end it there, but as I was chimping on the camera like a chump, I noticed I had a curious onlooker. I’m sure he was just looking for someone to chuck some food at him, but instead he was immortalized in my frame, in both color and black and white:
JPEG Straight ouf of Camera - Fuji X-T3 Samyang 8mm @ f8 1/800 sec ISO 320
Color version edited in Adobe Lightroom
Black and white version edited in Adobe Lightroom
I think the color version is my pick of the litter for this short little outing.