Concept Shot

I love the idea but something seems to be 'off' about it. I'm not sure exactly what, maybe one more flower in the front? What do you guys think?

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Well...I like the over all idea here but I agree...it's not quite right yet. The first question I would ask...and would suggest you ask yourself is "What idea are you trying to convey with this image?" In the words of the late, great Ansel Adams, "There's nothing worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy concept". Right now you have a light bulb plunked down in a lump of dirt with a couple of flowers against a pure white background. There is perhaps a bit of irony here but that's really about it. To use another age old adage, "A picture says a thousand words"...right now yours says "light bulb dirt flowers"...doesn't really make a whole lot of sense when you say it out loud .

This is just my own personal opinion as always but to me a picture should say something. For instance you could expand on this idea and use it to convey some sort of "green" (meaning environmental) message. Instead of a regular light bulb, use one of those funky new florescents and maybe change the background to something with some subtle shades of green. You could also take the same concept in the opposite direction...using the existing light bulb, you could use dead flowers and a bleaker background to perhaps indicate how such things are "killing the environment". You could even go for a comical sense of pure irony...i.e. "things that don't go together". Here the flowers and the dirt do go together so something else...maybe breakfast cereal would be a better base. Either way, think about what you want this image to say.

When I'm shooting critter pictures at a zoo (or zoo-like facility), I ask myself "What is this picture about?". Is it about the cage the animal is in? Is it about the people looking at the animal? Is it about the blob of poop on the floor next to the animal? In my case I like to convey how extraordinary beautiful some of those creatures are so I focus (no pun intended) on the animal itself and most often it's face. Be it zoo critters or concept pictures, your images should have a clear intent...some sort of clear meaning so that when a person looks at it, even if they have to think about it for a bit, they "get it".

As always, just my own personal opinions.
Jim

Thanks for the input Jim. I should have clarified earlier, this picture will be used for a green marketing campaign for a website. So I was going for the "green" message. The white background is there so it can easily be keyed out for use on a banner or web page etc.. I do agree with you, as I said in the op it's missing something. I'm not really sure what but I'm going to go back and reshoot with some more flowers (more colors) and I'll try using one of those florescent curly bulbs as well. Thanks for the detailed input! Any more suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'd agree that the message is too unclear, and the bulk too washed out against the background. For website use: perhaps having a couple wilted flowers closer to the bulb, and a few healthy ones at the sides, with some supporting graphics like a big arrow inwards towards the bulbs on each side - creating a sense of flow from healthy flowers through unhealthy to bulb - with a slogan: maybe "give and take" with give struck out and a second "take" written above? I'm not sure how important it is that this stand alone as a photo, so not sure how appropriate that might be to your needs... but good luck with it anyway.

Cheers,
Tony

Totally agree with Wal's comments.and instead of pieces of plants, get yourself a 4 inch potted healthy plant or two.this portrays the entire growth.

Background is too white... Would be interesting if the background was dark and the bulb was illuminating the foreground.

Interesting idea, I'd be tempted to bury a bulb holder underneath and deliberately under expose for the filament and blend with the correctly exposed compost mound.

Ok...I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet so I'm just tossing another idea or two out here for ya...

Yes, knowing the background as to why your doing this here certainly helps! LOL! I'm something of an environmentalist myself so this is certainly a project I can appreciate. Now that said, I'm going to proceed here from the positive aspect of this...the idea of encouraging people as apposed to the negative aspect showing the damage to the environment, etc..

I get the white background...you're trying to make it easier to use the image with something else. Assuming this is for a client or something, I'd still push for a "green" background...especiall​y with a white bulb (incandescent or florescent), it would give any green message a bit more impact.

As far as the quest to add something more to the picture...how about something recyclable? Plastic milk carton or pop bottle or something along those lines. Recycling is a very BIG part of green mentality...at the nature center where I do volunteer work, right in the staff lunch room there's a big sign that says, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or Do Without" (along with big cans for plastics, cans, etc right underneath). Obviously you don't want the image too cluttered but I think having something that indicates recycling would be absolutely essential. Another thought that just popped in to my head...perhaps emboss the recycle symbol right in the dirt below and in front of the light bulb (I think I like that idea).

Along those same lines, something that shoppers are seeing more and more of is the "green reusable shopping bags" at grocery and discount stores, etc.. I'm not exactly sure how you would implement that in this image but it's another thought to play around with.

An image of a wind powered generator/turbine might work too. Wind powered generators are starting to pop up all over the place here in Northern Ohio, particularly along the shore of Lake Erie...very cool indeed.

Sadly, this project would almost be easier to approach from the negative aspect of all this...having those six pack rings sticking out of the dirt along with a "disposable" diaper (did you know it takes those so-called disposable diapers up to -5000 years- to decompose?), etc., etc.. Basically a pile of trash in the dirt around 1 lone flower...now there's an environmental statement!

The idea here is to "think green" and consider some images and ideas that are indicative or iconic to green mentality. If you have a local nature or science center, a stroll around may give you some additional ideas and inspiration.

On the note of inspiration... If you haven't already, check out the work of a photographer/artist named Chris Jordan. Some of his work was displayed at Oberlin College's Allen Memorial Art Museum a year or so back and a lot of it has a VERY strong environmental message. For instance he did a "recreation" of Ansle Adam's shot of Denali National Park accept that he created the image using very small logos of GMC Denali's...almost like a stippling. He's also created similar images using plastic pop bottles, cigarette packs and shopping bags...some truly amazing and really tremendous work to say the least (in more ways than one).

Okies...like I said, just tossing some more ideas out there for ya to chew on. Hope it helps! Please feel free to PM me when you have the final product and/or the website that it's going to...again I'm rather green myself (no pun intended) so I'd like to see how this all comes out!

Peace,
Jim

Thanks for all the great ideas guys! I'm going to reshoot one of these days and post the results back here. Btw Walczak I checked out Chris Jordan's work - crazy stuff.

I love the idea and the fact your was proactive with it. Aside from the abovee mentioned, it would have been just down right killer if the bulb was lite (digitally to control effect) so that you could see a glow and the element burning!