DigaPixBlog

Last night I read an interesting comment about California’s wild mustard.  The author said that the mustard plant is not native to this part of the country and the legend was that the Spanish Franciscans spread the seed by the handfuls along the Camino Real to mark the trail.  I don’t know it it’s true but it adds a little romance to the lowly mustard plant.

There is a striking similarity in the composition and subject matter in this image and the posting titled ‘Yellow 2′.  They both use a fence in the foreground to frame the landscape in the middle ground and have hills and blue sky in the distance.  They were taken at the same time of year with the wild mustard in bloom. 

The fence in this image does not have a strong graphic impact and blends into the middle ground without much impact.  The landscape is nice but appears to be muted and washed out.  I would like to recommend working with the levels, curves and saturation.  If you are not familiar with this process you may wish to visit Darrel Priebe’s web site on www.DazzlingPhotography.com.

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There are so many ways to make a photo work and just as many ways to weaken an image that I don’t know where to begin.  Just to state a few things that make or break a photograph; interesting subject, good lighting, strong graphics, good technical skill and the list goes on.    There are also those images that break the rules that work and are so interesting as well as so strong that they are can be considered innovative and creative.    It’s like most things we have strong opinions on “I don’t always know how to explain it but I know it when I see it.”

The scene presented here has a number of elements working for it.  First the strong graphic of the fence in the foreground dominates the image but is not the subject.  The middle ground, the mustard, is the subject because without it there would be little of interest to see in the composition.  Thou this was taken after the golden hour the strong light is on the far side of the fence and this keeps most of the white surfaces in shadow and reduces their impact and contrast allowing the yellow to capture our attention.  The distant hills with the graduated blue sky are dark in tone and this traps our attention in the middle ground field of flowers.  The fence does not lead us into the image but acts as a bottom frame for the field.

You will note a potential problem this photo-artist managed to avoid.  In the lower right hand corner the edge of the fence is just above the apex of the corner, thus avoiding an intersection.   Another thing that works in this composition is that the flowers are in full bloom and the photograph is taken at a low angle which has the effect of streanthing the yellow saturation by eliminating as much of the green in the middle ground as possible.  The photographer wants us to pay attention to the yellow and in this composition he has succeeded.

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What is the subject of a photograph?  It often is not the dominate element in the scene but rather the thing the viewers attention is drawn to.  If you see a landscape image with beautiful trees, glories mountings and a reflecting lake if there is a person in the composition, no matter how small, your eye will be drawn to that individual.  I suppose it’s a survival thing.

This image has an extremely peaceful feeling.  You can almost feel the morning dew and chill just before the fog burns off.  We see the dark silhouette of the grasses framing the subject against the soft tan hues of the distant shore.  The photographer was able to positron the subject at the rim of the reflected sun in the water, one of the brightest spots in the composition which draws us into the scene.

The strong element of the foreground silhouette helps to anchor the image and because it is the same contrast as the duck it adds to the importance of the subject.

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Cropping is one of the most important editing tools in the photographer’s bag of tricks.  We may wish to crop for a number of reasons; to enhance the composition, to eliminate a distracting element or to accentuate the subject.  We must keep in mind that we are not laminated the standard size of print paper wither we are preparing a matted print or showing our images electronically.

This photograph has a number of things going for it.  The first thing I noticed was the rich saturation of the tan colors.  You can tell by the shadows that this was shot late in the day and the exposure is getting the benefit of the low light source skimming across the water and sand.  This allows the contrast between dark and light to be reduced and this lower contrast range results in a pleasing tonal range.  I also like the graphic element of the wet sand cutting across the composition and through the subjects drawing our attention to them.

The one suggestion I would make to the photographer would be to crop the frame to a longger horizontal.  This will eliminate some of the unnecessary environment and lend itself to the horizontal composition of the subjects.  I would also eliminate the white spot behind the sea gull.  It may or may not be what I think it is but I would suggest cloning it out.

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Photographing children can be fun but too often we only try to get a static likeness of the subject and lose their personality in the process.  Next time you want to shot a child (with a camera) try some candied images.  Let them playing and take your time.  They need to get used to the camera, eventually they will get used to the big eye of the lens and become children.

The little girl in this composition is not worried about the camera or smiling she just wants to have fun with her new found toy.  She is natural and charming.  The photo-artist has captured her concentration at play, the moment before she gets excited about her success in making a BIG bubble.

The outstanding thing about this image is her eyes.  The rest of the composition is soft but her eyes draw us into her concentration and joy.  The placement of her face and the toy in the upper third of the frame puts the viewer at the child’s level and in her world.

Unlike so many photos of our children or grand kids this photograph is universal and can be appreciated by anyone, not just friends and family.  This is defiantly an award winner.

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Experimenting and trying new things is one of the joys of photography.  Too often we find our comfort zone and stick to it.  Our friends tell us that they love our night photography or our horse shots or what ever and from then on out that’s all we do.  We have found one thing that people like so we keep on doing it.  That is not a photograph style it’s a rut.  Get out there, see other people’s work and try new things, experiment.  It won’t always work but you will be expanding your pallet and learning, and I hope having fun.

This photograph was shot two ways.  The normal shot is ordinary and lifeless but the presented image is alive with action and movement.  This image appears to use the slow sync flash technique to stop some of the action while preserving movement in the mask and ribbons.  The movement gives this subject more of a party atmosphere, a Mardi Gras mood.

You will note that the composition does not show the full view of the subject and is taken from a low angle.  This leaves us with a feeling of spontaneity and informality.  I would have liked to see the model less somber.    

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This time of year the wild flowers spring for what were golden brown hillsides just a month ago.  The familiar hills become fresh and alive with the yellows of wild Mustard and the lavender of Lupin.   The beauty of the arid hills makes you want to stop the car and get out too take a better look and enjoy the colors of spring.

This photographer was caught up in the excitement of the moment.  His concept of the field of flowers in the foreground and the waves of yellow across the hills was a good one.  I particularly like the yellow highlighting the rims of the hills in the distance.  The green of the dark oak trees accentuates the color.

There are a couple of things I would like the photographer to consider.  Shooting landscape during the middle of the day with the strong light of the sun is difficult.  Unfortunately many wild flowers do not open unless there is a full sun in the sky.  This shot is nicely done but the lighting is hard and makes it difficult to attract the viewer’s eye.  There is not much of interest  happening in the sky.  Perhaps this could be cropped out along with the less colorful plants in the foreground to give us a more concentrated image.

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Every type of photography has its rules.  Commercial shoe photography has one of the most unusual.  Have you ever seen an ad for shoes where the bottom of the shoe can be seen?  I don’t know why but that is one of the rules.  I’m sure it has been broken and broken successfully but I have not seen it.

The photograph presented here has nice lines to the composition.  The feet are well posed in a natural and charming way.  The model obviously has had a good pedicure and the shoes show just enough of her feet to be interesting and fashionable. 

There are a couple of items that are districting.  First the background, it may be the natural pattern of the carpet but something in the way it appears makes it look pixelized and not natural, like it has been manipulated with a computer filter.  Even if it has not it looks that way.  Another point is that the light quality is uneven.  Her legs and ankles are nicely light giving them a nice even hue but the toes on the left foot appears to be a little over exposited.

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Formal portrait photography takes more than good technical skills.  Most photographers are capable of taking a good portrait image on occasion.  But there are some photographers that have that something extra, the ability to relate to the subject and have the subject relate to the camera.  They are able to bond with the subject and get their trust and cooperation that leads to a natural composition.  Getting your subject to relax is the first step in a good portrait.

The photograph of this young woman is almost there.  The model has a pleasing expression; a nice natural smile without being forced.  Her posture is relaxed.  The first step in the process was accomplished.  It is my understanding that this was shot outdoors in the sunlight and the background was dropped in later.   It looks like a painted studio back drop; I feel it was a good selection. 

There are a few things that I could suggest.  The photo-artist selected to make this a horizontal image.  A vertical would eliminate some of the unnecessary background and bring the viewer closer to the subject.  When the background was dropped in it would have been nice to have more of the light tan behind her hair, the separation is adequate but the tan would have made her hair standout more.

A couple details you might consider next time.  Take a look at all the details on and about the model.  Her clothes are perfect but at the time of the shoot you could have moved the medallion around her neck more to the center if you prefer.  Also because this was shot out doors in bright sunlight, I would guess about noon, you could have used a scrim (a translucent panel) between her and the light source to cut down on the harsh shadows, particularly under her nose.  In the studio you will find that photographers often use a large light box to defuse the light for fromal portraits.

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Light comes in different colors caused by the wave length of the source of the illumination.  Day light produces a light in the 5200 Kenvin range, what we see as blue light.  Tungsten bulbs produce orange light at about 3500 Kemvin. And you will find that most florescent  bulbs emit a green hue.  When working with a mixed lighting situation you often have to adjust for one type of light or the other to get a natural looking exposure.  This is called finding the white point in digital photography.

The subject in this image is a Navaho woman that has posed for photographers in Monument Valley for the over sixty years, she is now 98 years old.  This is one of the best images of this subject I have ever seen.  You will note the two types of light used in this photograph.  From the front the light source is a tungsten bulb casting an orange hue and at the same time there is sunlight coming through the door of the hogan which makes the white strands of yarn look natural.  This blue light also adds nice highlights to her hair and shoulders.   The light falling on her face is harsh which accentuates the natural texture, at the same time this light falls away as it gets closer to the bottom of the frame giving us marvelous patters of red and black in her costume. 

Her hand movement has been blurred due to the use of a relatively long exposure this has added life and motion to the composition while at the same time her face and upper torso are perfectly in focus. 

This is truly a stunning environmental portrait.

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A camera consist of three elements; a lens, a light tight box and a photosensitive surface. Right? Not always.  If you want to have fun and experiment you can throw away the glass lens and use a pin hole camera.  The hole needs to be about one hundred times smaller than the distance from the hole to the photosensitive plain.  Another consideration is that the hole needs to be smaller in diameter than the thickness of the surface it is passing through.  If the material the hole passes through is to thick this will result in vigneting at the edges of the image.  But if the hole is too small you will see a reduction in the clarity of the image due to defraction of the light.  The pin hole camera uses the same pineapples as the camera obscura. 

The photographer that presented this image loves to play and have fun with photography.  This pin hole image of the San Fernando Mission was taken this week but with the sepia effect it could have been produced in the nineteenth century.  The use of the trees to frame the architecture of the old mission leads our eye to the arched portal and takes us through it to the garden beyond.  Lengthening shadows help to add texture to the grass area in the foreground. 

It is amazing how much detail there is in the shadow areas considering there is no glass lens used in the process.  Pin hole camera can have an amazing depth of field due to the small aperture of the hold.  You will note there are a few imperfections on the surface of the image.  This is due to dust on the image sensor surface in the digital camera used.

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The representation of the three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface is referred to as perspective.  It is what gives an image depth by using of diminishing relative sizes of objects in the scene.  A good example of bad perspective would be most drawings done by a second grade child.  To their eye the size of an object is proportional to the importance of the subject.  Therefore the people are larger than the house and the trees are smaller still.

This photograph is an excellent example of the use of two point perspective.  The the clear sky isolates the subject, the workers, without any distraction.  The strong leading line of the support arm takes our eye to the point where our subjects are located.  This is reinforced by the wires which cut through the image at a complementary angle to the boom arm thus trapping our eye on the workers.

The one suggestion I would make is if the photo-artist wanted to increase the feeling of height in the image it could be converted to a tight vertical.  This would have the advantage of eliminating the weight of the tree on the right side and give use a more concentrated composition.

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We speak of a photograph having a painterly quality, meaning it looks like a painting, as opposed to an illustration that has photo realistic qualities.  I have seen this accomplished in a number of way; the use of filters on the camera, computer filters and manipulation or sometimes just the nature of the light and subject will give this handmade quality.

This composition of a floral bouquet has that painterly quality.  It has the look of an old painting from the 19th century.  There is a log key mood, almost a darkness, to this work.  The colors are strong yet muted.

The photographer selected to only show the rim of the vase.  This lets us concentrate on the bouquet.  The lighting and texture of the background add to the painting feeling.

As a personal note, I feel that the addition of the photo-artists name and title are distracting form the composition and may want to be removed or done in a more shuttle color.

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Isolating our subject and finding interesting detail within that subject is one way of making a creative photograph.  Two photographers will look at the same scene and walk away with entirely different images.  This is because the more creative you are the more you define the world around you in your own style.  That is to say, a photographer’s style is taking a subject making it their own.

This photograph of abandoned signs has the look and feel of a gritty detective story.  The lighting, coming from an off camera location, is dramatic, leaving long distinct shadows as it skims over the surface of the subject.  The angle of the sign with a second message board behind it heightens the tension and mystery to the composition. 

There are pure whites with stark blacks and every shade of gray in between giving this image a strong scene of mood.  I take away the feeling of a lonely night, a time of quiet with a hint of danger in the shadows.

This is an image I would frame and hang on my wall.

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Black and white photography has been the foundation of the art form for the past 175 years.  It is vision at its most fundamental.  Printing of B&W is an art form unto itself, the print is what we see and if that is not done well the best composition and subject matter will be squandered.

The image presented here has a strong subject, the power of the sea over the stability of the rock.  I like the triangle pattern of small stones in the lower left hand corner.  This has added a strong texture element leading into the clash of our two subject elements.  The exposure time was such that the wave was not stopped but allowed to blur a little thus giving if a feeling of movement rather than frozen in mid air.

I do have some suggestions that I would like to make.  In this photograph the horizon could be eliminated.  This would bring us closer to the subject and not cause our eye to venture deeper into the composition where there is nothing to see.  The print as presented here appears to be a little muddy in the whites without detail in the shadow areas.  This can be altered by bringing up the white end of the levels graph and a little dodging of the shadows.

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The ghost town of Rhyolite has ghosts.  It is the only ghost town I know of where photographers can capture ghosts with their cameras.  These phantoms of the desert, about a half dozen as I recall, are the work of a sculptor whose name is unknown to me.  They have been there for at least twenty five years and thou they appear to be fragile they have not been damaged by the visiting public.

This unearthly image has accomplished something that is more difficult than it looks.  Photographing someone else’s work of art and making it your own.  This was done by shooting the subject head on without any frills but doing it in such a way that it appears to be deliberant and conceived by the photographer.

The use of a sepia filter, on camera or computer, adds a little more mystery to the scene.  For some reason the unusually shaped dark cloud over the sector’s head adds a malignant element as if there was a sprite being behind this inanimate object.

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Framing is a graphic technique used by artists to add depth to an illustration.  Some of the more common elements are doorways, windows, over hanging foliage, or any foreground object that helps to contain the subject of the study.

The photograph presented here is an interesting example of framing.  Normally the foreground frame is located across the top and/or sides of the image.  This example has the viewer looking through a log that extends from the sides to the bottom of the layout.  I like the three dimensional foreground juxtaposed against the two dimensional feeling background.  The setting sun has caused an interesting rim light flair across the tops of the trees and leading edge of the log.  This gives authenticity to the moment in time captured by this photo-artist.

There is a very nice cloistered feeling to this landscape.  A feeling that we are about to settle in for the night.  At the same time the sepia toning of this image adds a level of timelessness, this could have been photographed anytime in the last hundred and fifty years.

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Fantasy is a popular genre’ used in stories and imagery, it is a way of letting our imagination run wild without the constraints of the here and now, a way of creating our own worlds.  Much of legend and belief is based on fantasy applied to reality to create a more acceptable explanation for the unknown and unknowable.

This photo-artist has created a truly charming illustration of fantasy at its best.  The angle child (by the way the Bible does not say that angles have wings, that is an invention by later artists) with her instrument, playing to the water fowl, tells a story that we can expand in our imagination.  The use of the cloud like carpet in the image adds to the dream feeling seen throughout the composition.

The overhanging leaves in their multi colors provides a frame for the scene and tells us this time and place is not of our world but a reality unknown in our waking lives.

There on only one minor recommendation I would make to the author of this delightful creation.  When framed the lower half of the image tends to blend into the mat.  Perhaps a thin line could be added around the composition to contain it in the frame.  Or perhaps the artist wants to keep the open ended feeling of the design.

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In the Nevada desert on the rim of Death Valley stands the meager remains of a town that once numbered as many as 12,000 souls.  This town, one hundred years ago, was serviced by three rail roads, had schools, parks, electricity and of course 45 saloons.  This was a town built to last, but only had it a life of five years until the market crash of 1909.  By 1920 the population had dropped to fourteen people.

The three story bank building shown here was built at a cost of $90,000 in 1907 but only serviced the community for a couple years.  The photographer has taken this image at night with lighting, or computer manipulation, giving it a spooky feeling.  There is slight movement in the stars giving me the impression that this was a long exposure of a minute or more.

The photo-artist has elected to keep the left hand edge of the building vertical while allowing the street to appear sloped.  This is due to the key stoning of caused by the fixed film and lens plans in the SLR camera used.  The modified image below will show you what the image would look like if the horizon was straight and the building was allowed to key stone.  I think the photographer has made the right decision here.

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We love our pets.  Sometimes I think we love them more than our spouse.  We love to photograph them because we see them through the eyes of love.  Like pictures of our children or grand children that we show to other people that are only mildly interesting, we think our favorite animal is the most photogenic in the world.

The photo of this half asleep cat is typical of most shots of this type.  The lighting in nice natural light, I don’t think a flash was used.  The photographer has come in close enough to eliminate most of the distracting background and yet provides enough information to inform us about the cat’s environment.

My concern about this image, as a dispassionate viewer, is that I don’t know anything about this particular cat.  As a viewer why should I be interested in this particular animal?  I would suggest that a photograph of a sleeping cat is not as interesting to the viewer as an image of a cat doing something; at play, stocking pray or relating to something.  A strong image evokes strong emotions in a viewer or tells a story making them want to come back to the composition again.

You may want to crop in a little closer thus taking the face of the subject off the center line of the composition by removing the unnecessary background on the right.

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Photographing animals, like most subjects, require more than just a pretty or exotic subject.  There has to be a reason for the viewer to want to look at the photograph.  It needs to evoke some feeling or emotion other than it’s quite or alien.  The viewer wants to be interested in the subject but if they have seen the same subject photographed the same way many times before they will lose interest quickly.

The photographer of this horse has an eye for the dramatic.  The subject is captured in motion about to come at the camera over a small rise.  The lighting is dynamic while giving us sufficient detail in the shadow areas. The shadow cutting across the lower right side is the most interesting graphic element in this scene.  This photo-artist has elected to use a computer filter that gives a posterized effect throughout the image which takes this scene a little out of the ordinary.

This image is interesting but very similar to many others we have seen.

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Photography is the most common art form used in the print medium.  It gets a message across faster than the written word.  More often than not we see the image and make a judgment about the subject before reading the article or advertisement.  The photograph if the first indicator of the message and determines if we are interested in the subject or not.  It is the cover on the book.

This image was set by a person working on a design for an eco-shirt.  This is a medium like a walking bill board where the message must come across at a glance without the viewer taking time to analyze or decipher.  However the wearer will be interested in the detail and subtext of the graphics.  I find the text font to be perfect.  It is stylish and yet easy to read.  The green color is a part of the message.  The two hands holding the totem  is read easily while at the same time has enough sub-detail to add interest.

There are a couple of suggestions I would like to make.  On the left hand side to the totem there is what appears to be a child’s hand.  This is confusing to me and may be throwing the viewer off message.   I am not sure what the object is at the top of the totem, perhaps a person’s head?  It is not as distracting as the hand but I wonder what it is.

Another thing to keep in mind when working in commercial art, how is the work going to be reproduced?  In this case if it is to be silkscreen how many colors passes will they need to make to get all the hews you intend to use and can they duplicate the saturation in the rich greens of the leaf at the end of the word ‘Earth’?  You may want to get hold of a silkscreen company and show them what you are trying to accomplish.  Cost will be a factor in the success of your project.  Cost is always a factor.

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My love affair began over thirty years ago when I saw an article in the local paper about a new photography studio giving classes on basic photography.  The owner-instructor, Manny Katz, had a way of explaining the fundamentals of photography that made them a part of my life.  We all come to photograph in different ways but once you are truly hooked you would rather shoot than eat.  It can become a sickness like love.

Good photographers normally don’t start out with the eye.  They have to learn the fundamentals and basics of the tools and techniques.  I suggest to any new photographers that they do four things; takes a basic photography class, get a basic photography book, join a photography club and take lots and lots of pictures.  Don’t get discouraged if your work is not great at the beginning you will improve and develop, seeing the world in a whole new way.  What we call having the eye or seeing photographs.

This photo was submitted by a new photographer looking for suggestions on some of their first work.   First what I like about the image.  The dragon fly has a lot of potential.  The placement of the subject off center to the left is a technique that makes for a good composition.  By leaving room in front of the dragon fly it can move into the scene.  The exposure, focus (on the subject) and color are well done. 

As a new photographer you need to get away from using the auto setting on your camera and learn how to set the exposure and aperture for maximum effect.  In this scene the environment around the subject is confusing and uninteresting to the viewer.  There are a few of ways of approaching the problem of distracting backgrounds.  First you can change our angle of view such as get down on the ground and isolate the subject against the sky.  (Yes photographers will tell you that people look at you funny when they see you lying on the ground to take a shot.) You could set your aperture to a low f-stop and blur out the background.  Or you can move the subject to a different location where the background is more conducive to the final composition.  And if all else fails crop, crop, crop.

Hang in there, learn from others and enjoy photography.

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The human eye is attached to the human mind and thus sometimes makes us see what we want to see.  We all know someone who we think is good looking but we can’t get a photograph of them that meets our expectation.  This is because when we look at a subject our mind interprets what we see and often ignores the minor flaws and only sees the good.

This picture of wild flowers has a lot of potential but may need to focus in on what attracted the photographer to the subject in the first place.  I often say that you should decide what turns you on about a scene and then take everything else out. 

Perhaps the attraction that the shooter saw was the combination of the lavender flowers against the golden poppies.  If so you could try isolating that area of the scene.  This will concentrate the views attention to what you saw in your mind’s eye.

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Have you ever wondered why blank and white infrared photographs of plants cause the leaves to come out as strong whites?  Vegetation absorbs most of the visible light and reflects back the portion of the light spectrum we see.  But chlorophyll reflects back up to 50% of light in the infrared portion of the spectrum (about 700nm range) which our eyes cannot normally see.  This phenomenon is called the Red Edge effect and helps plants avoid overheating during photosynthesis.

This image was taken with a digital camera that was converted for the purpose of shooting infrared photographs.  I like the clean crisp effect of the flower peddles and leaves.  They appear to jump out of the black or near black background.  The grays in the subject are subtle and give the image a three dimensional effect.

I would like to suggest a little more interpretation of the subject.  The image is interesting but has the feeling of an experiment or example of the infrared technique.  Perhaps some judicious cropping could be used? 

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Some images cry out to be printed in color and others required black and white to achieve their full glory.  I know of no rule that will tell you which will be more successfully as a final print but with the current ease with which we can convert color images to B&W you may wish to translate some of your favorites and see with category works best in each case.

The black and white scene presented is an excellent example of a dramatic image that is enhanced by the simplicity of the gray scale without the distraction the color pallet.  The use of a wide angle lens combined with B&W presentation gives this image majesty and power.  I particularly like the low horizon allowing the wind giants to stand above the plain while at the same time they are dwarfed by the overpowering sky.

The shape of the cloud, like a fist about to strike, is powerful but might have been better balanced if it had been a little more off center.  The low lighting is wonderful adding texture to the sage brush in the foreground.

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To see a common or familiar subject in a new way is what it’s all about.  A photograph can be technically proficient but if it does not draw us in and make us ask questions it has failed on some fundamental level.  As I keep saying the photographer has to take a subject and interpret it in their own way, making it their own vision.

This photo-artist has taken a common subject, a cat, and found what was of interest to the photographer then isolated that point of interest to give us this strong interpretation.  The focus is on the primary subject, the eye, while the fur in the foreground and background are not sharp.  This forces the viewer to concentrate on object the photographer wants us to be drawn to.  You will also note the location of the subject is off center in the one third zone.

This image is simple yet strong.  No tricks, no computer manipulation, just an isolated subject of interest.

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When a viewer looks at a work of art they want to be inspired, they want to see the world in a new way.  Their first thought has to be that’s wonderful, I’ve never looked at it that way before.  If their first thought is that’s nice, but I could have done that, then the artist has not succeeded.

The image of the wild flowers presented here is nice; the contrast between the golden poppies and the white tuffs has a pleasing and natural feeling.  Flowers are one of the most difficult subjects because we have seen so many photographs of them. We, as viewers, become jaded and the pictures start to all look alike unless the photographer has done something dramatic to capture our attention and interest.

This image, thou pretty, has no single focal point that we can recognize as the subject.  Sometimes a graphic element will carry the illustration but in this case the brilliance of color has no pattern or theme that we can relate too.  I would recommend getting in closer and finding interesting details and shapes that will hold the viewer’s interest and let them see this world through the eyes of the photographer in a new and dramatic way.

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The light house was invented to repel ships, but it attracts photographers like a flame in the night.  There’s something about their majestic stature that makes us want to capture their image and shear the results.

The representation of the Pt. Lobos light house presented here is a text book graphic layout.  You will note the horizontal and vertical lines intersect in the lower right hand one quarter at the edge of the light keeper’s house.  An interesting side note is that the vertical line is also carried through to the two white vertical rope posts thus repeating the light house theme in miniature.  There are two leading lines, the path and the rope, that take us to the intersection point in front of the house.

This photograph was taken just as the morning fog is lifting and the photographer was able to capture just enough of the mist to show the blue sky starting to come through.  I like the negative space around the vertical shaft of the light house which gives it a majestic feeling.

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Symbolism has a long tradition in art; it is perhaps the foundation of art.  We as humans have the ability to read subtext and meaning into any work of creative expression.  It is in our literature, our paintings and even our television shows.  Look at such painters as Edvard Munch and William Blake for fine examples of symbolism.  Their work is often dark, often disturbing.  Or read my favorite of all writers, the short stories of Franz Kafka. 

This image is about much more than a cluster of ranunculus, more than the subjects themselves.  The photo-artist wrought me about his concerns regarding the symbolism he read into this photograph.  In part he expressed the following “a comment on racial barriers in our society”, “the white flower rising above its mixed company”, “just look at them, they’re arrogant”.   I would interpret the symbolism in a similar way except I don’t feel it necessarily has the racial overtones.  In it I see it the class struggle in society, the betters standing aloof from their inferiors.  To me the flower on the left is a loner longing to enter the group and be accepted.  If I were to name this image I would call it ‘The Outsider’.

What we see in an image is a reflection of ourselves, our experiences, our fears and dreams.  This photograph is a Rorschach test taken with a camera, an image that would make Carl Jung proud. 

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