Critical Mass ~ Mono Monday

"Sky Inside Out"

It's a simple thing. But a necessary ingredient for photography. It's defined differently by everyone, and can change depending on the situation. Hopefully it's more of a conscious decision towards having it in a photo, than an unconscious one, but either way, when it's there... you know it.

I'm talking about impact. And photographs without it generally get lost in the shuffle. And it starts when you're out with the camera. I've been out with photographers on walks often and there's two kinds of photographers, or so it feels like. There's the photographer who only raises their camera when a scene or subject really strikes them as interesting or beautiful or dramatic or informative... and later they post them and the impact carries over to the viewer. And I've also seen photographers who simply shoot anything within range and then say, "that might look good in the computer later. Guess we'll see!"

Tell me that's not you. At least not all the time.

Impact. You find it everywhere but it's up to you how to make the most of it. Great shapes could provide it. Great light. Great lines. A cool perspective. An unexpected moment on a street corner, a burst of isolated color... the sky's the limit. But I don't know if we approach our photography this way enough.

And rarely can you create the impact needed later in photoshop if it's lacking somewhere in the image to begin with. I cringe when I hear new photographers decide that instead of honing their camera skills or compositional skills, that what MUST be lacking is more photoshop. I'm sorry, but processing is there to enhance what you already have. And if what you have isn't cutting it already, no amount of digital darkroom is going to make it fabulous. You can't enhance what isn't there. But on the flip side, if you have a great photograph be careful you don't lessen the impact it has by not processing an image carefully so as to preserve it either. It's a balancing act you learn over time. Add personal vision and you have the makings of a pretty great photograph if you make all your choices intentional ones.

Time to make a conscious decision to use impact as one of the first tools of the craft. Keep it foremost in your mind along with finding great light... and then have fun!

Thanks for the mini rant/ramble... have a fantastic week friends!

Remember To Anchor It!

"Pillars of the Community"

Today's image is courtesy of a little jaunt to the grand and expansive campus that is the University of Toronto. We wandered the grounds for a bit while my oldest child auditioned for their music programme. Since I rarely go anywhere without my camera, I was able to grab a couple images of the wonderful and diverse architecture. And today's image caused me to remember a topic I've been thinking about recently.

How are you choosing to anchor your compositions? ARE you choosing to anchor your compositions?

Looking at the pillars in the photograph it's very obvious what I wanted the focal point to be. Those grand and powerful columns leading up into the sky draw me in, with a slightly skewed perspective so I could include further angles in the peak of the rooftop too. This was a tight little area flanked with and surrounded by new, more modern buildings jutting into my line of sight so I had to be very particular. But the key was to make sure that whatever I did, I had one column within the frame spring right up from the corner. It anchors the frame. Not beside the corner. Not from way outside of the frame. But from the corner, giving it the weight it deserved, and the emphasis it needs to lead your eye into the photo and up and around it before it comes back to where you started. I made a conscious effort to anchor it well into the photograph and the composition. In fact, I know that in a final edit, I will flip this image so that it starts from the left side of the frame instead to give it even better prominance.

Here's what has prompted me to visit this topic. I receive requests a lot to visit new photographers pages or flickr streams or websites. And there's a flawed simularity running through many of them when you have a good look. All too often I see images that seem to have no definite subject, or the subject is lost in the surrounding details. In the end the photographs carry no weight. We have a tendancy to pull back, including everything in the shot whether it's nessassary or not, or will manage to fill the frame with something, but neglect to frame it up so that there is a definite point at which we start viewing the photograph. I see crops that aren't drastic enough, and in the end it just looks like they carelessly cut off part of the scene or object by mistake. I've seen compositions that if they had just cropped a little tighter, the perspective would have stood out wonderfully. Find the most powerful or the strongest element, and anchor that sucker! Make sure your composition is intentional!

Of course this all comes down to using leading lines, dynamic shapes, or interesting contrasts to bring importance to one part of your image over the rest of it. It's not hard. But we have to train ourselves to see those elements first, not the actual subject. That's what can prove difficult for the first while. But the results when we do are far more exciting and much more interesting to the viewer.

So there you have it. If you ever wonder why one image is falling flat over another one that seemed to "work" for some reason, make sure you have found an interesting or strong element to anchor the photograph, giving it weight. As DuChemin would say, "What's your intent?"

There's so much more to cover on this topic so be on the lookout for more posts in the near future.

In the meantime, thanks for the ramble today! Have a good one!

Beyond A Butterfly ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"Monarch In Blue"

I was on a mission. It'd been awhile since I'd looked for the enchanting details of our local parks and gardens. We had a great day for it yesterday, so I jumped at the idea of finding the wonderful amidst the flower beds over at Gage Park in Hamilton. Turns out I didn't have to search for long.

Several perennial flowering shrubs and bushes attract monarch butterflies in the gardens, feeding them for their long journey they're currently making. But I was a little wary. It'd be easy to simply raise the camera and let these beautiful creatures do all the work, but I've been learning about the photographer's intent lately, and this is exactly the kind of scenario I wanted to avoid. I wanted more than just a nice butterfly shot. Now, I know I can't control when and where a butterfly lands, which flowers, for how long, or the angle it sits at. And I can't tell it where the nice light is, the best backdrop, or the best time of day to stop there.

Instead, I kept my eyes peeled for any unique circumstances wherever I spotted the butterflies. I noticed that some evergreens in the shade off in the distance could fill my composition, and at the right aperture, they could be diminished to an interesting smokey bokeh. I knew I'd want this as the backdrop to the monarchs with their brilliant colors if I could get it.

I tested exposures till I got the right look, then waited for a subject to land.

No, not the most remarkable image of a butterfly ever. I can be honest. However, it's the first one for me in the last recent while, that I decided intentionally what worked and how I wanted it to look no matter how long I had to wait. I wanted the light to be the dramatic foil to a common subject. A pretty subject, but common. Now, I always take this approach with B&W's, architecture, and other subject matters... but why was I not applying it to the simpler subjects as well? Instead I'd gotten into the poor habit of letting those shots just fall into my lap. Not that those shots can't be great, and there's definitely a magic to getting those cool spontaneous photos, but sometimes I think we can get lazy with our discoveries. Instead we need to be ready to work at making them everything they could be.

This has been a good reminder for me. And I got two or three shots that proved if I want my photography at a whole new level, I'm going to have to be aware of my intention behind a shot in the first place. I'll post those later on. But for now, I'm pleased to show today's photo.

Thanks for the ramble... have a great day friends!