Shutter Notes: Rowan Tan — Clan Jetty

Welcome to Shutter Notes, our weekly community feature. Shutter Notes gives you the chance to get to know our community members a bit better. Each member will share a little bit about themselves and their chosen image.

Rowan Tan lives in Melbourne, Australia and works in student residences for tertiary students. Photography started as a hobby in 2013 and may progress into more semiprofessional photography with a focus on travel photography.

Why and how Rowan created this image

The scene of the Clan Jetty caught Rowan’s eye because it showed character and true grit that has lasted the test of time. Yet, stood so still.

Rowan shared this image because she felt it showed strength and character through the black-and-white conversion. It was taken on a very recent journey to Malaysia. She was able to capture the image that reflected the lives of some of the locals in contrast to the wealth and sophistication of technology many of us enjoy and take for granted today.

For post-processing, Rowan used Lightroom. She cropped a little to bring the image closer. Then, she first attempted a color version but decided to convert the image to black and white. The exposure was increased and the shadows reduced as it was at dusk and it was getting quite dark. The initial plan was to try and capture the jetty at sunset but that never happened.

Rowan learned from this process that it is fine to crop the image if you are able to highlight your message in the image by bringing it closer to the audience. Also, try and work out which best suits the image — color or black and white that has the better impact on the audience. She would like the viewer to feel what it was like to live in the 1950s and ’60s in Malaysia when life seemed so simple.

Get your photo featured!

Please join us in the Photofocus Community and find the complete description and instructions on how to submit your image for consideration here.

Please only submit one image at a time and for now only one submission per person. We’ll ask for more at a later date if we need them. If you have any questions, comment here or send me a message within the community. We look forward to your submissions.

If you have any photographer friends you know would enjoy or benefit from being in the Photofocus Community, be sure to invite them!