photo composition

2020 photo challenge: patterns

winter’s greeting

Nikon D750 f/4.5 1/3200s 85mm 800 ISO

I often find myself whining during this time of the year as winter’s dormant colors…its various hues of yellows and browns…stir up a visual yearning for the greens of spring.

This impatience with Mother Earth’s slumber…this “gaikan“…this outward judgmental direction upon the external world that feeds a delusional belief, “life would be better only if you change…” has been silenced with an acceptance that it is not Mother Earth’s nature to bend to my will and an intention to open myself to the various elements of photo composition she offers to my wandering eye.

My eyes first were attracted to the repeating patterns of the building and then to the repeating patterns of the yellow strips within the curve of the trail. Then a gift…a runner whose figure completed the image. Her greeting and smile were icing on the cake.

To join in the fun of learning and applying various elements of photography hop on over to Travel’s Words and “Shoot from a different perspective. Look up, look down or shoot from a distance.”

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a photo study: Ian MacDonald’s creative composition in street photography

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Nikon D750   f/8   1/8s   300m   100 ISO

“He sought out a background with formal qualities interesting in themselves. Often it was a wall parallel to the place of the image, or a space lending perspective with defined graphic lines. Then he waited for figures to come and find their place in this arrangement of forms, in what he himself called ‘simultaneous coalition.’ His approach to composition was like a little theater with a set and actors. One part of what formed the geometric quality of his images was perfectly controlled: the other–and probably the most important-was the result of chance.” (cited: Aperture Masters of Photography Henri Cartier-Bresson)

This week I would like to introduce you to Ian MacDonald, an Official Fujifilm X  Photographer and educator living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In his first of a series of street composition blogs, he reviews:

What really matters in a photograph

  • Subject 
  • Moment
  • Light
  • Background

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Nikon D750   f/2  1/5s  35m   160 ISO

Setting the stage

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Nikon D750   f/8  1/8  135m  100 ISO

Street portraits

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Nikon D750   f/5.6  1/160   300m  I00 ISO

Detail Shots

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Nikon D750  f/8  1/100  68m  100 ISO

I hope you, also, find this to be interesting and informative. As always, I would love to read your thoughts and see your images.  Let’s tag with #aphotostudy.  Until next week…

via Creative Composition in Street Photography – Part One

a photo study: abstract photography

Photography is representational by nature in that the subject(s) within most images depict the real world and usually are easily recognizable; for example, a photograph of tree generally looks very much like a tree.

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Ted Forbes notes that abstract photography within the art world is drawn from skills that are different from other forms of art and, “It is something that we are not used to seeing in every day life…When it is done well, it stands out and it’s really exciting. When it is not done well, it is weird.”

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Fundamentally, abstract art is a visual form that does not convey a realistic depiction of the world.  This departure from reality can be partial or complete; therefore, we are often uncertain about the identification of the subject.  Photographs within this genre diverge from a realist depiction of the world through the use of form, color, and lines.

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Form is the shape of the elements within the image and is the foundation of an abstract image. When creating abstract photography, ask yourself, “is there an interesting form/shape with this image?”

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The variations and contrast of colors within art create interesting images and evoke feelings within the viewer.

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Lines within the image directs the viewer’s eye and creates a dynamic image by emphasizing movement.

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There are different techniques photographers use to create abstract image: 1) selective focus, 2) light and shadow, 3) lines and textures, 4) blur, 5) zooming, 6) moving the camera or subject, 7) double exposure, and 8) moving in close or standing far away.

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I’ve come to understand abstract/non-representational imagery as an absence of the type of discrimination and labeling process that seeks an answer to, “what is that?” to one that invites the viewer to explore, “what feelings does this image evoke?”

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Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and for the exchange of ideas and photographs.  I am inspired by the process of viewing and exchanging ideas with other bloggers and am excited about walking through your galleries of abstract/nonrepresentational photographs.   I hope you find Ted Forbes’ video interesting.