Composition and all that Arty stuff - discussion thread.

Think of Weston and I would never say he was in a rut. No matter what he shot with whatever equipment he used it looked like a Weston. His nudes looked like peppers and his pepper looked like nudes that looked like his clouds and they looked like his nudes that looked like his shells that looked like his peppers that looked like his nudes. Ruts and having a style are two WAY different things. One of the biggest compliments you can get as a photographer is that looks like one of your photographs and that is one of the most difficult things to achieve as a photographer.

Oh Look, I really like your latest Found Still Life. Doesn't look like rut work to me.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17104725
I really like this image. As far as the framing is concerned, I don't think I would have wanted to include any more; nor would I want to exclude anything that is in there. Pretty much nailed that.

I also like the colors and how they work together. The mint green pottery adds a nice focal point, as far as color is concerned.

I think it is fine that it looks similar to your other work. In fact, that is something that many artists strive to do. Yet it is also nice to be able to step away from your "style" from time to time, and do something that has a different look and feel than what you normally create.

Tom A photographers style isn't something that one steps away from. It's the way that photographer sees and the way they put photographs together visually if that photographer has indeed arrived to that point.

Thank you, Owain. Where have you been? You ought to stop by more often, especially if you're going to post comments like that!

Ya didn't thank me for liking it

Aww. THANK YOU FOR LIKING IT!

OhLook wrote in post #17106523
Aww. THANK YOU FOR LIKING IT!

I like a lot of your work

OhLook wrote in post #17106270
Thank you, Owain. Where have you been? You ought to stop by more often, especially if you're going to post comments like that!

I've been a bit busy with other things - moving house, busier with work, and most recently a trip to Portugal where I took an immense amount of pictures.

Comment was rather simplistic but I still don't have much time. Probing a tiny bit deeper but probably repeating stuff others have said, I like the two strong horizontal lines of the rail and the (interestingly improvised, perhaps) table, opposed by the vertical line of the (I suppose) leaning wood (hurr ). The formation of three bottles, differing in material but similar in shape is also intriguing.

And yes, it looks like much of your other work, which I like. You spot some intriguing things and your photographs play with the intrigue which attracted you to them, and also don't distort it too much from what I imagine to be the moment when you spotted something that caught your eye. In this sense, yours and Ziemowit's styles are similar, they are natural, fresh and free.

Now I feel a bit more like I've contributed something proper, I'm going to leave one of my own ... it's from an afternoon at a beautiful beach in the South of Portugal, but towards the time to go, I ran up the cliff to the car to snap a bit of "beach street photography" (probably the next up and coming sub-genre/forum) and I liked the way all the people and their gazes lined up in this one.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/oxp7​Cj

Owain, that one could be titled "How not to keep your eye on the ball."

Once my initial (and superficial) reaction of wondering what they're looking at passes, I observe that a significant strength of your beach scene is quasi-mathematical, although I can't nail down the numbers. It concerns rhythm. The three figures' heights shrink from left to right, and not in a simple way; a straight line would connect the three heads, but not the three sets of feet/ankles. On the horizontal dimension, something similar occurs. Figures 2 and 3 are just a bit farther apart than Figures 1 and 2. If the three were equally spaced, it'd be boring. If 2 and 3 were twice as far apart as 1 and 2, it'd be less boring, but it wouldn't be as good as the spacing you got.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #17101862
Sweet...Love the negative space and the way you balance that vertical line from the boat mast with the reed and the way that reed distorts the scale make the image even more mysterious. No horizon line also helps break down the reality. Love the Japanese like simple comp...

Thank you very much Allen. (I've just returned from a trip north to sign up a new project, and to spend a couple of days chilling out in the bush on Coromandel Peninsular. Very nice!)

Your thoughts of how that reed or branch balanced the composition was in my original thoughts. "Scale" is always a fascinating aspect of photography...and so often a subjective thing!

@Owain: Nice one! Like the mood. I agree with OhLook about the spacing of the people, there's something very pleasing about the proportion there. You can kind of mentally place a fourth person to the right of the frame, even further away in the distance, due to how the heads and feet line up almost perfectly to form a nice triangle. If you notice, their gaze is also in the alignment of the heads. I'll admit I'm bothered by the fact there's nothing where their gaze is pointing, which is a bit anticlimatic since you've got such a powerful diagonal. The empty space to the left also seems a bit wasted. I mean, I'm all for contemplative, minimalist images with lots of negative space for a subject to walk into, but this isn't really one of them: multiple subjects, all busy.

Not sure what to do to improve, to be honest. If it were my photo I think I'd either try to crop the empty space out, or add something in the frame, a bird, a plane, where they're looking (yes, that's cheating).

@Owain: I like it too, but I would add nothing. I like the mystery of what they might be looking at, which is only part of what makes the picture work. Ohlook made some astute comments on the spacing, and I can't improve on that...except to say that to me the negative space on the left is vital. Even the vignetting seems to work, though maybe it's a little strong and makes too bold a statement. Just a thought.

Owain I like it and I like it because of first the classic triangular comp. and then the way the scale of the people get smaller and give this wonderful depth with the smallest person being the tip of the triangle. I also really like the use of the frame including the negative space. With the point of the triangle making an arrow pointing out of the frame and without all the motion moving to the left the eye would follow the arrow pointing out but instead there is this wonderful tension created by that along with the play on depth/perspective. The use of warm and cool colors is also very nice and beautifully balanced and the skin tones are right on the money. The negative space is, in my opinion VERY important. The only negative I would have is I'm not sure the vignette is working here. I would back it off some or I wouldn't add it at all. It is not needed and I find it a bit distracting.

Ricardo222 wrote in post #17108945
@Owain: . . . I like the mystery of what they might be looking at

I agree with this. The missing object of their gaze is an unanswered question and creates tension for that reason.

I also agree that the vignetting isn't needed.

airfrogusmc wrote in post #17105137
One of the biggest compliments you can get as a photographer is that looks like one of your photographs and that is one of the most difficult things to achieve as a photographer.

Okay. I get that. Well, except for the part about being one of the most difficult things. I think my photos look like mine because not many kinds of sights make me stop and consider whether they have the potential for an interesting image. You can achieve consistency throughout your work by being fussy, by having narrow tastes.

But there's something to be said for trying to stretch your comfort zone. I don't usually try large land(water)scapes because I'm seldom in places that allow them, and the G15 isn't too good at them. Yesterday we went to a more open area and I got this shot from the Berkeley marina. Golden Gate Bridge in background, breakwater in foreground. Not postcard material; something different.

Image hosted by forum (863105) © OhLook THIS IS A LOW QUALITY PREVIEW. Please log in to see the good quality stuff.