This edition of the Click Chronicles features the most talked-about photo from my booth at last weekend's Arbor Lakes Art Fair. Its popularity was likely due to its strategic placement in the top left corner at the entrance of my booth, making it easily noticeable to passersby. Over the years, I've observed that the top left and top right photos often attract the most attention, depending on the flow of traffic. This insight has allowed me to feature specific photos in these prime positions, and I can even predict the primary direction of fairgoers based on which photo gets more attention. You can read more about my Art Fair observations in a special Click Chronicles planned for later this week.
Now, let's dive into "Traveling Man Walking Tall," taken in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. If you're unfamiliar, Deep Ellum is a vibrant area known for its bars, music, restaurants, and artistic community, similar to Uptown in the Twin Cities. The neighborhood is home to a series of three statues collectively called The Traveling Man, depicting robots made of brushed and polished stainless steel sheets. These sculptures tell a whimsical story of The Traveling Man, who began life as a locomotive buried beneath an elm tree. When a splash of gin hit the tree's roots, the robot emerged.
The first sculpture, "Awakening," is 4.5 feet tall and depicts part of The Traveling Man's head emerging from the ground. The second, "Waiting on a Train," shows the robot playing a guitar while leaning against debris from one of Deep Ellum's old rail tunnels. The third, "Walking Tall," stands at 38 feet and is posed mid-stride next to the DART Light Rail's Deep Ellum station. All three sculptures are surrounded by metal birds.
As I previously mentioned, many of my photo subjects are discovered through Atlas Obscura, and "Walking Tall" is no exception. Armed with this prior knowledge, I aimed to capture the sculpture at different times of the day, including the blue hour, to highlight the stainless steel material and how it reflects its surroundings. One of the more frustrating aspects of shooting specific subjects is that their surroundings can change from previous location reference photos. For me, this often means dealing with scaffolding—I can't count how many times I've arrived at a location only to find my subject surrounded by it. I should create a Click Chronicles edition just to highlight how often this happens.
In the case of "The Traveling Man" statues, new construction was the issue. Both "Awakening" and "Waiting on a Train" had new buildings nearby, which compromised their backgrounds. But "Walking Tall" presented a unique opportunity due to its nearly 40-foot height, which complemented the Dallas skyline beautifully. To accentuate its height, I shot it at a wide angle (24mm) and positioned the camera on a tripod just a foot off the ground, looking upward. This low-angle composition made the robot appear to tower over the buildings in the background. A long exposure added a sense of movement to the few clouds in the sky, and as an HDR stack, it provided an enhanced dynamic range during the blue hour.
I also have a companion photo called "Walking Tall with his Buddy," taken during the daytime with great light and puffy white clouds, showcasing the statue's polished stainless steel.
You can buy this photo “Walking Tall at Night” as metal or print HERE.
Location:
Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas - N 32° 47' 10.223" W 96° 47' 18.264"
Capture Date:
April 22nd, 2018, at 9:07 PM
Camera and Lens:
Nikon D810 w/Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4 G ED VR
Settings:
24mm, HDR Stack (2.5, 10 and .6 seconds), f/4, ISO 64
In Case You Missed It:
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