Dividing Drag

April 5, 2010

The walking silhouette of a female Muslim resident of Europe. - Antwerp, Belgium - Daily Travel Photos
(Antwerp, Belgium)
f/5 ▪ 1/200s ▪ @146mm ▪ ISO200 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
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The silhouette of a female Muslim resident of Antwerp.

I originally planned to headline with the second image of today's set but after a quick glance at the Photoshop mask I'd created, I immediately became enamored with the silhouette above. It doesn't exactly fit into today's theme but I couldn't resist because of the beauty in its simplicity. Kinda reminds of the orange cover of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" (by Khaled Hosseini).

What's a Photoshop mask? The short answer is, it's somewhat like a layer that provides protection to areas you don't want effected by an adjustment such as color correction. By painting with black, I "masked out" the woman to protect her from an effect I wanted on everything but her. As a consequence, I ended up with a meticulously detailed silhouette of our walking female.

headscarf woman silhouette
A tram waits for a Muslim woman to cross Amerikalei. - Antwerp, Belgium - Daily Travel Photos
(Antwerp, Belgium)
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A tram waits for a Muslim woman to cross Amerikalei.

Some countries have a peculiar habit of renaming the same stretch of road several times before it ends. For example, Amerikalei marks the start of a major artery that bisects the meaty part of downtown Antwerp in two. Midway, however, the street's name quickly changes to Britselei then Frankrlei then finally to Italielei before it right angles into Noorderlaan. There's limited space in my noggin to remember where an "old" street ends and a "new" street begins. I prefer the California method. For example, one stretch of road carries the name "El Camino Real" for hundreds of miles and stretches so far up and down the coast of California, I'd be surprised if even state cartographers knew its precise beginning and ending points.

muslim woman walking tram europe
Amerikalei seen from the Nieuw Gerechtshof (New Court of Justice) near Bolivarplaats. - Antwerp, Belgium - Daily Travel Photos
(Antwerp, Belgium)
f/11 ▪ 1/125s ▪ @20mm ▪ ISO200 ▪ Canon 5D ▪ Canon 17-40mm f/4
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Amerikalei seen from the Nieuw Gerechtshof (New Court of Justice) near Bolivarplaats.

From the looks of those clouds, you may be able to answer: Did I get caught in a torrential downpour? Was the wind bone-chilling enough to make me wish I were dead? Did my sneakers squish with the sound of wetness?

I knew I should've waited it out before I attempted to sprint home. And to all the gadget fiends out there, no worries, I value my gear more than my body so the jacket covered the camera and lenses while my body received the business end of the rain.

antwerp bolivarplaats