Conveying Space ~ Mono Monday!

"The Meeting House"

Old Order Mennonite Meeting House, Elmira, Ontario

Another photograph from my recent ramble through St.Jacobs and Elmira, otherwise known as Mennonite country. What do you do when you go hunting for a historic setting, and what you find is relatively flat, open, and almost devoid of character? This was the challenge when we pulled up to this historic and well maintained meeting house... so well maintained that at first glance my first thought was "boring!"

But upon taking a closer look, we realized the entire property held a simplistic significance that needed photographed. There was a pristine beauty and a simple story to be witnessed in the quiet countryside. I just needed to change my definition of great composition. I needed to utilize a tool at my disposal that I hadn't really relied on in a while... and when I did, my perspective corrected itself. Literally and figuratively.

Since no one detail stood out above all others, I chose to rely on the overall sense of space to anchor my composition. Gosh, when was the last time I used space to my advantage in a shot like this? After berating myself for growing lax with such a valuable element of photography, I got to work. The first thing I had to address was the most powerful vantage point from which to shoot from. I quickly decided that the repetitive shapes of the centuries old grave stones could be the element that draws the eye right into the image and up to the meeting house, and the diagonal lines add interest as opposed to aiming past them. This also adds an asymmetrical element and gives a better sense of depth to the shot. Suddenly your eye travels around the rest of the image and back once again to the main subject, shining white and pure in the sun, fitting for such a simple place of worship.

Lastly, I knew I needed to include the sky... and when I saw the clouds angled in perspective with the rest of the scene I knew the sense of space was complete. The combination of each simple element combines into a dynamic shot. After I realised what I had, I knew this would be a B&W photograph no matter what. And taking it into Corel to convert it, reducing the blue channel, pumping up the red channel, and adding some clarifying tool, I quickly had a scene I would not soon forget.

After you locate your subject, an image is never just about that subject anymore. It's then about the best principles of design and compositional approach to emphasize that subject, according to the kind of light you have and the kind of story you want to convey. Space can be a very powerful tool. Let's use it more!

Thanks for the ramble, and have a good one!

Closing In... Part 2 ~ Wide Angle Wednesday

"From the Earth to Your Table"

Picking up where we left off yesterday... composition matters. Walker Evans was quoted as saying, "Shoot whatever and however you want. Don't listen to anybody else, just go in the direction you've chosen. But you need to look before you see!" How are you choosing to look for subject matter? Are you limiting yourself? Or coming away with images that feel like they contain everything but the kitchen sink?

In the past when I've felt like this, and don't know what to work on fixing first, I've gone back to the Elements and Principles of Design and tried to pick one that seems to be lacking from my images overall. Then I go out on a shoot with that foremost in my mind as I look for a scene or subject that will help me define it. It sounds methodical but it gets the creative juices flowing and helps you target elements so that you naturally start to recognize them over time. And you start to think outside the box.

Today's image isn't a phenomenal work of art by any one's standards, but it helps me close in on the other elements and principles I couldn't cover yesterday without my brain exploding! That, and I like purple. But I digress. Now, there are elements from yesterday's chat in this image to be sure. Can you see them? I hope so. But along with those, I tried to get a shot today that helps give a visual clue as to the other elements to be discussed. They are form, value, and size. This image had some really definitive light considering I took it very late morning. Because the light was slightly to the side, it created shadow and highlight... and they help define a subject as being dimensional as opposed to flat. This is the importance of form, you realize there is depth to the basket and it contains a pile of turnips, nice and round, instead of looking rather 2D and uninteresting as a result. The light this morning also adds the element of value... a range of lights and darks, helping to define your composition further so colors and shapes are left looking stale. And let's not forget the use of size. When looked at closely, there's a variety of sizes that causes you to look around the rest of the image, taking in the few that are different or uneven in appearance.

Isn't it amazing that the brain registers all of this without you asking it to. And you may wonder if we really need to know any of this in the long run, but how else will we be able to recognize when a photograph lacks impact of any kind, or that we've been stuck in a rut? As for the principles shown here, besides a couple from yesterday, there is a very obvious center of interest here. A very tight shot of the turnips, a lot of turnips, leaves no doubt of what the center of interest is. (I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with lurnip...) And color aids in this as well, as they are all uniform in color which draws the eye. Also, there is the way I've used the principle of balance. I've composed do that you know the basket and pile of turnips are round, yet you needn't see all of it in order to come to that conclusion and my asymmetrical composition adds interest instead of centering the entire thing in my lens. Whew... dissecting a shot is harder than it looks! My head hurts.

So there we are. The building blocks that naturally occur within great compositions, and now that we know what to be on the lookout for, great compositions will be a little easier to produce. Thanks so much to all the folks who already know this stuff and are just tuning in to see the shot for the day. And thanks to the few of you i heard from that have enjoyed learning more about how design influences composition. At least how it does subconsciously somewhere in my own noggin as I frame up a shot. Scary huh.

Thanks for the lengthy ramble gang! Have a good one!

Closing In On Design ~ Telephoto Tuesday!

"The Single Rental"

(1/320 sec.@ F/13, ISO 400, 200mm fl, Exp.Compensation -0.7, late day sun)

Whew. Where to start today? 'Cause I've been challenged to take on a big topic! Composition. Now, I wasn't exactly double-dog dared or anything quite that serious, but when I say I'll do something, I like to follow through on it. So here we are, on my 100th post no less attempting to share my thought process when I'm considering composition. This might be one wild ride. Here we go.

Because of my art background, Elements and Principles of good design have been lodged in my brain from an early age. And you should become familiar with them at some point, you'll see your images improve. I tend to lean towards looking for good line, shape, texture, and color automatically as I look around me for subject matter or interesting scenes. These are the elements that people are most familiar with whether they know it or not. The other elements (to be broached tomorrow) are size, value, and form. The image today has the first four elements prominently used here. Repetitive shape immediately gets your attention, then you'll notice lots of lines taking your eyes up, down, and across respectively. Those lines on the roof allude to smooth cool textural details, and we also see texture in the wire over each dove cote, not to mention the single cote with the texture of the only nest inside in the bottom right corner. Wow, those elements are really hard at work already... and this is why. Combined, they contribute to principles of design needed to make your composition work on a new level.

You mean to say there's Principles of Design too? I warned you this could get wild, *wink*. Look again at today's image. When you really look hard do you also see balance, contrast, harmony, and rhythm? If so, that means that the combination of lines, shapes, colors and textures have worked together to utilize principles of design. Didn't see that one coming did you? You did? I knew you would.

The pattern created by the rows of dove cotes, each one the same color yellow against the slate blue/grey, gives the composition a sense of harmony and rhythm. Not to mention balance since I chose to emphasize the symmetry of the roof top, every dove cote evenly spaced. The image pops with contrast because of the shapes dotted out across the composition, and the black of the mesh fronts against the yellow. The yellow also contrasts enough against the blue roof. And the textures also contrast nicely, the roof looking smooth and cool, and the cotes textures looking more rough and warmer in hue. Tomorrow we'll try to include the other two primary principles - center of interest, and movement.

Still with me? Gosh I hope so. All of that was to say this; most of these things your eye can pick out every time you assess a scene in front of you. Why, because these are things the human brain desires and uses so it can make sense of whatever you look at. When I looked up at the roof of Dundurn Castle's tower, my brain registered that this was the prominent feature for very practical reasons... and the artistic side of my brain took over, assessing if it was aesthetically pleasing to look at over and over. Certain things began to assert themselves and I was careful to compose around them in the best way I could. Of course, you don't have to concretely think these things every time you raise your camera... after a while, from shooting and composing long enough, this all becomes second nature. The more you look around you, the better you'll see engaging compositions no matter what the subject matter or where you are.

I recommend always taking time to look through your picture files. Single out the images that stand out as being stellar compositions or just seem to have a wow factor. Compare what elements worked together well. Decide which principles had to be used to make the composition come together too or best portrayed your personal vision for that photograph. It's your personal vision that brings it all together and makes it meaningful by the way. In the end, perfect composition can only do so much. There needs to be some soul poured into each image too... perhaps more important than all the rest.

Hey, we did it! Day one on composition is done, with day two to come! Thanks for the very specific ramble gang! Hope I didn't let ya down! Have an awesome day folks... now get out there and think about seeing great compositions wherever you are.