Photo Essay: Seeing Red

Looking for and finding red. Not too hard this time of year.  Isn't nature still the best! Such optimism! We should all take note. Life IS good!

Exploring with a Camera: Photo Essays

I am a fan of KatEyeStudio.

Kat has, in the past, done a series called Exploring with a Camera . I found these late in the game and participated in several. Now she has moved forward from them. I decided, however, to go back in time and capture the essence of what she was doing and work some of these topics.

One of my all time favorites is Exploring with a Camera: Photo Essays. I will stick with this topic for awhile sharing some of my essays with you.

What I like about photo essays is that it forces one to consider the story. What are you trying to say and then select the images that tell that story. The story might be simply portraiture or the street were I live or street people. Many topics. The issue is capturing through photo and word the essence of the topic selected.

I built a template. In the quilt world it would be called a four patch. It forces me to select the four images that best tell the story. This is my beginning. I will be working here for awhile. I encourage you to give it a go as well.

My first try is Little Miss Kitty: a portraiture.

I was the kitty sitter. She was the ultimate poser. I wanted the light source on her face. I looked toward the light and so did she. She preened; she posed; she was the ultimate subject. Without words, I was able to get LMK to do what I needed. In the end, we needed each other.

 Lovely!

JR_French Street Photographer

I was attracted by this image which I thought absolutely cool. I wanted to know more about the artist. He's French and is name is JR. He is a story teller in most unusual ways.

 For example, in a project called Face to Face, he took photographs of people in Palestine and Israel who had the same occupations--taxi drivers, hair stylists, teachers. Then posted these images on the wall that separates the city ,trying to show that people really are very much alike.

In another case he posted large photographs of older people in Berlin who had born witness to the transformation of the city over time.

In yet other cases, he has done work called Women are Heroes to share the plight of women in some parts of the world.

Three things that appeal to me:
1. He is an artist who is making a statement with his art.
2. His art is large and in your face.
3. His art is black and white which makes the subject the study at hand.

Read more about him here:
 http://www.jr-art.net/

and here:
http://www.ioneardaiz.com/index.php/news/2-news/38-jr.html

You will be glad you did.

Context Lost

Taking close up photos of images is fun to do. You capture detail that might otherwise go unnoticed. Sometimes, though, you lose the context. That was the case with this photo.

These rams were grazing next to the ladies tee box on the 16th hole of the Palmer course. They didn't budge when we approached. My error was going for the close up, the ram detail without regard to where they were grazing. I was very focused on framing the shot. Nothing in the image allows the viewer to see the whole story. My error. My bad! I am reminded that it is important to consider context when snapping the image. Details of all type abound.

Another Type of Perspective

When taking touristy photos of famous places, buildings and structures, I have always sought to isolate that famous place. You know, wait for the moment when there are no tourists in the scene. On a recent trip to Paris, I found that impossible. It was so crowded that in most cases, I would still be waiting for that exact moment. I did make an important discovery though.

We were at Versailles and at the back of the property is the Petit Trianon, a home given to Marie Antoinette by her husband King Louis XVI. Much less crowded, I had a chance to take this image. I loved the scene with the tile floor leading into the frame and the door opened at the far end. I loved the light shining through and the repetition of the pillars.

Here is the same image with a person just entering the scene. There was a time when I would have discarded this image because I didn't know the person, I was just trying to capture the famous place, whatever... Not so now. To me, having the person in the image increases interest in a number of ways. It adds:

• motion
• gives perspective to the size of the building
• human interest

 

Here is another example from a shop window in Paris. I loved the colors of the shop (They sell the best macaroons in Paris!) but it was raining and I didn't want to stand there waiting for the people to pass, which would have been like NEVER.  So snap I did and look at this. Two girls sharing an umbrella peering into the shop. The other pedestrians are blurred because they were walking fast and I used a lower shutter speed. I love this image. 

So my lesson here is to capture people in the images, even if you don't know them. The result is a stronger human interest story.

Changing Perspective: Down Low Squared

Possibly hum-drum to some but I love these. I am jazzed by the short depth of  field, which I can control, the sharp focus in the middle, the absolute color blast in the background and the fact that the dark spoiled edges of some are not so noticeable.

I set my camera on the ground, after fiddling with the settings and just shot away. I varied the distance from the subject and the focal length on the lens. They are not perfect but yes I am intrigued and will try some more with a new subject. Fun!

A Change of Perspective

Do you always shoot from the same perspective. Would that be eye high? Try getting down low. Yeah lay down on the ground or set your camera down and press the shutter or better get a cordless shutter release and give this new perspective a go. You might just be surprised at the results.