自从来到格拉斯哥大学后，在这片充满异国情调的绿色景色中为朋友们拍照一直是我最喜欢做的事情。虽然我没有正式学习摄影，但我知道如何从镜头后面寻找美。我很高兴和大家分享我在格拉斯哥找到的一些最好的拍照地点，以及一些有用的拍摄技巧。
一年只有365天，而格拉斯哥有360天都是风雨交加。
好吧，我夸大其词了:没有那么糟啦。但在这里，阳光灿烂的日子是你绝不想错过的拍照的好机会。所以，当这样一个特别明媚的日子到来时，我毫不犹豫地邀请我最好的朋友 ，一位名叫kiko的红头发女孩 ，来做我的模特 – 去一起拍照。关于拍摄的想法很简单:一夏日的阳光少女。阳光、鲜花、小草和一个充满活力的少女，这些都是拍摄所需的元素。在拍摄之前，我建议她在化妆时多用腮红，打造出晒伤的模样 (这样才可爱);就整套服装而言，明亮的布料和色彩鲜艳的碎花裙是不错的选择。然而，当我们见面时，我打量了一番，发现没有一个符合我的要求。她画着朴素的妆容，一身纯黑的长裙
好吧，拍摄还是得进行，我这么想着。没时间浪费了。
我们一路漫步到了 Kelvingrove park，这是一个离学校最近的公园了，没事的时候我们都会来这里散散步。由于这次拍摄，我这才正而八经的在网上做了下调查。这才知道，凯尔文罗夫公园创建于1852年，其设计师约瑟夫·帕克斯顿爵士同时也是格拉斯哥植物园的设计师。除此之外，公园横跨开尔文河，并且位于格拉斯哥中心地带，并且此公园十分受遛狗者和大学学生的欢迎。
晴天的时候，全格拉斯哥的人都恨不得要跑出来享受阳光。尤其是在这个美丽的公园，草地上堆满了人，一点也不奇怪。和朋友们野餐的，户外烧烤的，聊天放音乐的，穿花裙的姑娘和不穿上衣的小伙子，比比皆是。当然，拍照的话，这景象可对摄影师一点好处也没有。你可得想办法避开这人海茫茫的背景，然后找到一块难得的空地，给你的照片一个干净的摄影背景。
一个需要铭记在心的构图技巧就是，永远记得检查你的背景。拍照前，检查背景是否太杂乱，又或者是背景的颜色是否和主体相匹配 (当然，除非那是你想要的)。如果背景不合适，你则要考虑如何换个地点，或者在同一个地点如何以不同的角度来创造新的背景。
我们选择了一个低矮的大树。原因一是，树下的光线更加柔和，不会直接照射到模特脸上。二使，通过树叶缝隙可以看到有一缕缕的阳光照射进来，使照片显得更生动。我建议大家都可以在晴天是去树下拍照试试！在这个场景下，我们拍了好几张不错的照片。她的红头发和深色的树木搭配的格外好看，黑色的长裙一点也不突出，这使得她美丽的笑容更容易一下抓住人眼球。我暗喜，幸好她没听我的意见穿了鲜艳夺目的彩色碎花裙，聪明的女孩！
随后，我们四处漫步着，寻找我们的摄影计划中最后的元素 – 花朵。没过多久，我们便找到了一片美丽的花海。在很少有人去的凯尔文罗夫公园的一侧，沿着凯尔文男爵雕像的小路，沿着河岸，在大学大楼的阴影下，是一片长满了美丽花朵的花园。
(哦，我应该提一下更多的研究吗?有趣的是: “凯尔文男爵”的本名为威廉·汤姆森，是一名著名的物理学家，为了纪念他的成就，后人们以流经他大学的一条河为他命名。)
当我们开始拍摄与花，白，梅，鲜红，我不禁叹息。夏天的格拉斯哥非常美丽，到处都是缤纷的色彩。最后的结果是，少数几朵花和她美丽的侧脸的近景是最好看的,同时这次拍摄也给我留下了最美好的夏日回忆。
Since joining the University of Glasgow, taking pictures of friends in this green, exotic landscape has been my favourite thing to do. Though I don’t study photography formally, I know how to search out beauty from behind the lens. I’m so happy to share with you some of the best places I’ve found to take pictures in Glasgow, as well as some helpful shooting tips.
There are 360 days of rain and wind in Glasgow but only 365 days in a year.
Well, I exaggerate: it’s not so bad. But a sunny day here is one of those rare photography opportunities that you don’t want to miss. So, when such an especially sunny day come along, I hastily asked my best friend, a red-haired girl named Kiko, to be my model – to come out for a photo shoot. The idea for it, then, was simple: a fiery-headed girl in summer. Sunshine, flowers, grass and a young woman full of vitality, these were the elements to capture. Before the shoot, I suggested she put on makeup with a lot of blush, almost like a little bit of sunburn (how cute); for the outfit, bright fabrics and colourful floral dresses would be a good choice. When we met, however, I took a look and found that none of her matched my requests. She wore plain makeup and a long black dress.
Well, the shoot still must to go on, I thought. No time to waste.
We walked the way to Kelvingrove Park, the closest park to the university – the park on which it sits. We come here a lot when we are free. However, a bit of preparation for the shoot was my first time I looked into its history. The park was founded in 1852 by Sir Joseph Paxton, the architect of the Botanic Gardens down the road; it spans the Kelvin River and is located in the very heart of the city. Of course, what I did not need to research was the fact that it is popular with dog walkers and university students, whom we’d manoeuvre around quite a bit on the shoot.
On a sunny day, all the people in Glasgow seem to want to run out and enjoy the sunshine. Especially in this beautiful park. The grass was full: picnics with friends, outdoor barbecues, chatting and music, young women in floral dresses, and boys without coats (and old men without shirts). It is all good to see but if you want to take a picture, this view doesn’t necessarily do photographers any good. You have to find a way to avoid the huge crowd in the background, find a rare empty space, to give your model the clean focus she deserves.
A compositional technique to keep in mind is to always check your background. Before taking a photo, check that the background is not too cluttered, or that its colour does not clash with the subject (unless, of course, that is something you want). If the background doesn’t fit, it just won’t do – you have to think about changing location or, more conveniently, how to create a new background by looking at things from a different angle in the same location.
We chose a low tree, under which the light was soft and did not shine directly on Kiko’s face. In one of the photos, you can see strands of sunlight coming in through the gaps in the branches and leaves – it’s vivid. I suggest everyone take pictures under trees on a sunny day! We took some good pictures of the scene. Her red hair matches up well with dark of the tree, and her long black dress didn’t stand out at all, making her beautiful smile that much easier to catch. I’m glad she didn’t listen to me and wear a bright multi-coloured dress, smart girl.
Then we wandered around looking for the final of those elements in our photographic scavenger-hunt: flowers. And before long, we found a beautiful sea of them. On the side of the park where not too many people go, along the path from the statue of Lord Kelvin and down the banks of the river, under the shadow of the university building, is a garden patch full of blossoms.
(Oh, should I mention more research? Fun fact: Lord Kelvin’s real name was William Thomson, a famous physicist, and in honour of his achievements he was named after the river that ran past his university – not the other way around.)
After we started shooting with the flowers – white, plum, bright red – I couldn’t help but sigh. Glasgow couldn’t be more beautiful in the summer, what there is of it, with all kinds of colour blooming everywhere. In the end, a close up of a few flowers and her beautiful profile turns out to be the best shot, and my best memory, of my first summer in the city.
[Mengqi Zou – she/her – @acityshehad]
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