Life : An analogy ; Is this any good ??

[Raj]

Hi,

I am trying to capture various stages of a matchstick fire & show an analogy with our life. Although there are no human subjects, I am posting it here as I am trying to show anology to our lives.
Please let me know your comments - does this theme works ? is it any good ?

Pics are here:
http://www.pbase.com/blue_star/inbox

Cheers
- Raj

[Dante King]

Nice. I woul dhave had wisdom as the match went out with a wisp of smoke rising towards the heavens.

[Raj]

Nice. I woul dhave had wisdom as the match went out with a wisp of smoke rising towards the heavens.

I would rather title this photo as Silence :-)
Interesting idea though. Thanks for your comment Dante.

[marie]

I would rather title this photo as Silence http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif
Interesting idea though. Thanks for your comment Dante.

they are beautiful shots Raj

looks very flowery, or graceful (or something)


'growth' and 'ageing' are my favourites ( I think)

nice idea and story..... as the flame settles down

[exposingmyself]

i love study and all the golden tones but i'd be careful about cropping the bursts of flames. try to get all of it in the shot. you can always crop later.

and remember what they say if you play with fire...:evil:

[Raj]

Thank you Marie. I am glad you liked them !



they are beautiful shots Raj

looks very flowery, or graceful (or something)


'growth' and 'ageing' are my favourites ( I think)

nice idea and story..... as the flame settles down

[Raj]

i love study and all the golden tones but i'd be careful about cropping the bursts of flames. try to get all of it in the shot. you can always crop later.

and remember what they say if you play with fire...:evil:

Trust me, I tried getting getting whole flame in the frame & then later crop later. I have some 50 matchstick burns at various parameters, However these one's came out to be better somehow :-)

[smittymike19]

how about a picture of the unlit match. it could be a symbol of birth, and the extinguished match could be death. the match going out could be dying)..cool shots, how did you get the match lit?

[Raj]

how about a picture of the unlit match. it could be a symbol of birth, and the extinguished match could be death. the match going out could be dying)..cool shots, how did you get the match lit?

Problem with a unlit match is that it wont show up in pitch dark unless illuminated with a external light source. This dosent goes well with the theme IMO as it looks too flat & lighting wont be in sync in all pics ...
How do you think ?

Near extinguishing match will work, may be with title "silence" as mentioned before, will try it.

How did I get the matches lit - I asked my wife to help me for some shots & did myself for others. Put the camera on tripod, iso1600, centre metered, focussed manually, switchedd off the lights, lighted the matchstick with one hand while looking thru' view finder & shot with other hand using remote release. After a while it got straineous so asked my wife to ignite the matches from top while I shot....

[Titus213]

I am artistically challenged. My spelling isn't very good either.

Nice photos, but I have difficulty with artistic conceptual head-stuff. No put down intended, just not my cup of tea. Perhaps because I can't do it? I think the photos are pretty good, but they are matches. I could never imagine them being anything but hot and bright lights on a stick. I would have never known what they were representing without a written explanation. Keep posting, I'm up for learning...:D

And I have a bigger problem because most of the time I don't know what I'm doing. Period!

[Raj]

I am artistically challenged. My spelling isn't very good either.

Nice photos, but I have difficulty with artistic conceptual head-stuff. No put down intended, just not my cup of tea. Perhaps because I can't do it? I think the photos are pretty good, but they are matches. I could never imagine them being anything but hot and bright lights on a stick. I would have never known what they were representing without a written explanation. Keep posting, I'm up for learning...:D

And I have a bigger problem because most of the time I don't know what I'm doing. Period!

Thanks for commenting Titus.
Well I dont consider myself very artistic either :-) But I could see some similirity there.
Lets say a low energy level at birth, a burst of energy at growth, some wildness in youth, a more controlled & susidised flow towards mid age & calmness towards the end. Trust me, through the view finder, in complete isolation this burst of energy & its stages @ 1:1 are so visible ! You can witness all stages. May be I havent captured them at best.

Or may be its just my idea so I can see it well & yes it may be difficult for others to visulize what I am trying to convey. But this is a learning curve & I hope I will become better some day on portrating my thoughts via my photos :-)



And I have a bigger problem because most of the time I don't know what I'm doing. Period!

LOL :lol: Ever heard the story of two blind man asking each other for directions ;)
Just a joke.

[Titus213]

LOL :lol: Ever heard the story of two blind man asking each other for directions ;)
Just a joke.

Mat 15:14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

I'll post some of my ditch shots some time...

[Michaelmjc]

Good shots, Kind of yellowy though.

[sixshot]

Interesting. Another neat idea I got from the shots.

[Raj]

Sixshot, micheal, Thanks for you comments

Good shots, Kind of yellowy though.
coz i increased the saturation in PS ...

[mr.photoguy]

Hey Raj, I got your pm, and I am going to check out the images. I will leave my comments in the gallery, as I am used to doing.

As for the post of being Artistically challenged, sometimes I think I am the same way, but I fight to overcome this. I have a scrap book, that I jot down all my ideas, and concepts in. It actually helps me, and adds some flare to my work at times.

It can be done, when you challenge yourself.

[cmM]

nice shots

As for the analogy between fire and life... it's pretty common for some reason. Maybe because of the obvious "begining" and "end". Anyway, life in itself could be compared to pretty much everything that has a beginning and an and and some various stages in between, especially those animated things (according to old philosophy it is motion without any external interferences that gives something a soul). So the analogy can very well be there and IMO is very well represented.

Titus213, light up a candle one night and sit in a dark room and watch it for a while, it can be quite entertaining. Perhaps you will see a lot more similarities between life and the animated flames of a candle (or match, or whatever else). There's no art without imagination.

[Titus213]

...
Titus213, light up a candle one night and sit in a dark room and watch it for a while, it can be quite entertaining. Perhaps you will see a lot more similarities between life and the animated flames of a candle (or match, or whatever else). There's no art without imagination.

Been there, done that. I've lived by candlelight for days and find it interesting. I don't know about entertaining. I've photographed candles, matches, sparklers, and I understand what the attempt is here. And I appreciate it. I just don't necessarily subscribe to it. The photography is something I can relate to. What I'm saying is that it takes a very powerful image to bring a mind around to an abstract connection between a series of match photos and the human condition. And if the conceptual attempt has to be explained in written word is it really photographic art? I know, probably way off topic. Suffice it to say that I subscribe to the thoughts and ideas on art presented at:

http://www.artrenewal.org/

And I enjoy the forums and the broad spectrum of photography represented. I know also that different images 'speak' differently to different people. I'm cool with that.

[Fer]

cool

[Raj]

Fer, CmM, Dave, thanks for psoting your comments.

Cmm, I am glad you could see something in the images :-)

Dave, I can see where you are coming from & see yours as a constructive comment too.

Its a learning curve in every sense.