DigaPixBlog

One of the benefits of macro photography is the ability to see what we ordinarily pass by without being aware of every day.  They let see how the world works.  This is very important in documenting a subject for educational and scientific purposes.

This photograph of a spider at work has excellent detail and depth of field.  The viewer can see every hair and fiber of this arachnid and its web.  The lighting, thou not dramatic, captures every detail.  The photographer’s selection of the graduated gray background is dark enough to allow the fibers of the web to standout in every detail.

This would be a prefect image to be included in a scientific journal or text book.  I can see this shot in ‘National Geographic’. The execution of this documentary image is excellent and brings the subject to life.

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Getting out of your comfort zone is what growth in photography is all about.  By trying new techniques and failing or succeeding expands the photographers quiver of tools and helps them to create their own style.  My advice to all photo-artists is to try something new, become familiar with all sorts of visual arts, and grow.

This image is something new for this photographer.  The image evokes the feeling of a flight through a dream or swimming in an imagined world.  The blur of the cross stocks is like a viscous material she is trying to pass through.  The cropping is interesting in the way the photographer has left so much space around the subject.  I tried re-cropping the composition but found the photographer’s original selection was the most satisfying.

The pastel tones of blue and tan with the smooth transition has a quitting feeling, completely non-threatening.  This abstract image can tell many different stories to the viewer, all of which are pleasing.

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When you think about it shooting images through a water drop is like using a filter on the camera.  It is in effect a medium that the reflected light from a subject passes through which alters the scene through the spherical contours of the surface of the translucent material. 

This water drop image was taken of a wedding photograph that appears four times in the foreground droplets.  I like the ghostly shape and texture of the white background  bride in the photograph.  I think this technique works best when the original subject matter is so far out of focus that it is difficult to determine what it is.  That makes it even more of a surprise when the viewer recognizes the resulting image held within the water drops.

The placement of the foreground subject follows the traditional rule of thirds rather than placing it on the centerline of the composition.  The sipia tome of the original photo adds a nice antique feeling.

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The use of filters, whether they are on the camera or on the computer, can be an art form in themselves.  Knowing when and what to use to alter an image can make or break a composition.  However they should not be relied on to make a week illustration strong.  They should alter the photograph to reflect the photo-artist’s vision of the subject.

The photograph we have here has had a number of computer filters applied with skill.  This photo-artist is experimenting and learning how to manipulate images so they can become a good rendition of antique photographs.  I particularly like the trace of clouds that fill the upper right of the frame.  They act as a cover holding the eye in the foreground. 

The bridge itself has nice lines but lacks drama as a subject.  With the top of the bridge cutting the composition in half a long a near horizontal line the photograph appears stagnant.  Perhaps a little different angle would strengthen the graphics and add to the interest.

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Landscape photography is one of the simplest types of image the photo-artist can create provided we understand a few simple rules.  The first is light.  Golden hour is the premium time to shoot.  The second is having an interesting subject, and the third is the rule of layers.

The rule of layers states that a landscape should have foreground, middle ground and distance.  This adds depth to the image, leads the views eye into the scene and gives scale to the composition.

The photograph presented here has an interesting layering of light and shadow.  This shot was taken early in the morning which has allowed good exposure and contrast in the fog, sun light and shadows.  The viewer gets the feeling of a day just starting in the outback.

I would like the photographer to consider that this image is missing one element, foreground.  Without something in the foreground; a rock, a tree, an element of some kind there is nothing focusing the viewer’s attention.  This is why so many shots of places like the Grand Canyon are disappointing.  Photographers forget that small two dimensional images will not capture the scale of the scene without a foreground anchor.

Also the contrast and color saturation could be bumped up on the computer to give the photograph a little more snap. 

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Night is a great time to photograph.  The results can be stunning and surprising.  Finding the correct exposure has become a lot simpler with the advent of the digital camera.  With film you had no idea what the results would be until days later when you got the film back from the lab, but now we instantly know if the image is acceptable.

I like the way this photographer has placed the vertical column in the frame giving the composition a sense of place while acting as a graphic that leads the view up to the heights of the Farris wheel.  Without this element it could have been just a record shot of the wheel structure. 

It would have been nice if this photo could have been taken a little earlier so we could have had some light in the sky for texture.  The photo-artist may wish to burn the left hand corner to lessen some of the intensity of the lower portion of the column.

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The human eye is extremely sensitive to visible light.  We have the ability of see detail across a wide range of light and shadow.  The camera however can only record about four to five stops of detail in a scene.  This means that dark shadows have a tendency to block up and highlights to burn out in other words no details at the extreme ends of the exposure when the contrast is too great.

I think the photographer of this image had a good idea using the tree to frame the lone gazebo overlooking the water on an overcast day, giving it a feeling of aloneness.  The low horizon and negative space add to the mood.

The photographer may want to consider a few observations.  The exposure for this composition is difficult with little detail in the shadows or highlight while at the same time making the center of the gray scale look flat.   Another thing to consider is the slight tilt of the water’s horizon.  This may be due to the angle of the land on the horizon but it is a little distracting.

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Postcards over the past twenty years have gone from images that looked like proletarian snapshots to sophisticated photographs.  When we see a really old postcard, from the early 20th century, there is a feeling of a simpler time when perfection was not the normal expectation.  These old images from around the world would tell the recreant that this post was from an exotic place unimaginable to the flocks back home.

The image here works on this nostalgic level not because it is technically good but because it breaks the normal graphic conventions.  It has the look of an image that may have been taken a hundred years ago for popular consumption, a time when any photograph of an out of the ordinary local would do for a postcard. 

Some of the rules that were broken that give this image its charm are; too much empty sky in relation to the rest of the scene, the buildings in the foreground with extreme tilt to the right, the boat in the foreground to close to the edge of the frame.  But these flaws are what make this image interesting and nostalgic.  When you break the rules sometimes it works.

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Composition is the relationship of graphic elements within a scene.  These can be geometric shapes and how they relate to each other, lines and how they intersect the layout or color rudiments and their comparability. 

This composition has an interesting diagonal line running from top to bottom along a sixty degree angle.  On this line rests the subject, a water drop about to run down this surface.  I find the way the blade of grass divides the frame interesting.  It is placed in such a way that the area of the background to the left and right are of equal size.  This gives a stationary feeling to the graphic.

In this image the focus in nicely placed on the subject with the background soft, however I do feel that perhaps the bright green to the left of the foreground is a little distracting.

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The quality of light changes over the cycle of the day.  In the morning (the first hour after sunrise) and late afternoon (the last hour before sunset) the photographer gets their best light.  The sun is low in the sky, the contrast between highlight and shadow is within the capabilities of the camera and the textures of the subjects are strong.  This is often referred to as the golden hours.

This image of a small river has red leaves in the foreground helping to frame the scene.  I like the photographer’s choice to crop out most of the sky and concentrate on the river and the foliage.

I would like to suggest that the photographer experiments with this scene if possible by taking the same shot at different times of day under varying lighting conditions.  The midday light has washed out much of the color in the composition.  Some increase in hues can be achieved with the use of photo software on the computer.  Another thing I would like the photographer to consider is trying to find a stronger subject.  The river by itself does not have a strong attraction for the casual viewer.

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This will be the last year for an event that has been attended by photographers from around the world for over thirty years. Wilma Roberts held the Rock Springs Ranch horse drive in Bend Oregon every year since the mid 1970’s.  The Rock Springs Ranch has sold to building contractors and will be closed as of the 15th of this month.  This year some percipients went home with more than photographs, they took a few of the last horses that need a home.

This photograph was taken at the Rock Springs Ranch last week.  As you can see the opportunities for wonderful western action images was outstanding.  The drives were held during the late afternoon when the light would be right to pick up the rim lighting through dust raised by the movement of the stock.  The men on horseback were attuned to the needs and desires of the guest photographers giving everyone an opportunity for that perfect image.

The Rock Springs Ranch drive has created thousands of excellent photographs over the years.  I should know I have had the pleasure of seeing may of them, thank you Wilma.

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One of the things photography can do is show the viewer contrasts; light and dark, big and small, near and far.  This allows the viewer to see the world through the vision of the photo-artist. 

The image presented here takes us into the world of contrasts.  The small spider appears even smaller when seen against the mass of the tulip’s sphere.  The photographer has captured this small creature as it is just about to move off the surface and into the void along its thread of web.  If the spider were in mid air we would not get the same feeling of contrast in mass.

Graphically I like the cropping with the curve of the surface indicating than the tulip is much larger that what we see, but we have no idea just how far it extends.  The bright green in the background highlights our subject, the spider, letting it sand out more than if it had been against the darker hues.

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I love a photograph that tells a story; people at play, people at work, people just living in a way we can all relate to.  When we see these images we are all drawn into the story and relate to them with our own memories and emotions.

This photograph is not just a story but a small novel.  The viewer can almost feel the blowing sand and hear the laughter of the children.  These boys are playing with the wind.  The feeling of movement in the mats demonstrates the power of the wind while the posture of the children tells us that they are having fun and enjoying life.

The lighting is low enough to give good detail in the sand while the reflected light off its surface has help to fill the shadows.  My only wish is that there was a little more separation between the blowing mat and the vegetation covered hill in the distance.  Perhaps the levels could be compressed just a little to take some of the gray our of the sand.

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The viewer’s eye likes to flow through a photograph.  It is looking for harmony and rhythm in the image like listening to good music.  Elements that distract the viewer are are noise and cause the eye to be distracted and wander. 

This street in old Europe has a wonderful feeling of age and mystery.  The way that shadows and light define the layers within the receding scene add texture to the photograph.  The slightly ‘S’ curved street takes the viewer through the arch and into the past progressing down through time.  The edges of the frame have a slight softness to them which adds to the dream quality of the story.

There are a couple of suggestions I would like to make to the photographer.  There are no vertical lines and the building appears to be leaning slightly to the right.  This may be deliberate or the part of the photographer but the image could be cropped and rotated a little to the left to create a more stable graphic.  The second recommendation is the removal of the street light.  It has been blown out and there is no detail on the surface.  This hot spot distracts the viewer from the intended subject the street and the arch way.

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Architecture is an art form like sculpture.  To photograph it in an artistic way the photo-artist must find a way to interpret it and make it unique and their own vision.  This takes it out of the realm of merely recording an object and into graphic art.

This photograph of the Jefferson Monument could have been taken from across the street showing this magnificent structure just like a thousand other tourist photos we have seen.  But the creator of this image selected to accentuate the detail and combine that with a strong graphic style.

The photo-artist elected to take this picture when the light was low on the horizon so that the shadows would be filled with reflective illumination to balance the contrast between shadow and highlight.  The strong blue sky creates a nice color contrast to the golden tans of the stone.

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We may be drawn to photograph other’s works of art, and there is a time for being true to the original artist’s work when photographing it.  However if the photographer is to create an image that goes beyond recording someone easels art form we must find a personal way of expressing our feelings about the subject.

This bronze oriental statue has wonderful potential.  I like the glow of the backdrop and the cross light that brings out the texture on the surface of the sculpture.  This would make a nice catalog photo displaying the quality of the original work of art.

The photographer probably did not have much control over the lighting or the setup of the subject.  This limits how it can be creatively interpreted.  But if the image is to reflect the photographer’s insight it needs to be captured in a way that the casual viewer would not envision.  A new angle, different lighting, graphic detail are all ways to see a work of art in a new way.

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The fundamental principle behind photography is capturing light on a recording device.  The quality of that light determines the viewers perception of the subject recorded.  The same model will be perceived differently depending on how the light strikes it on how that light is reflected and recorded.

This photographer allowed a single point source light to pass over, around and through the subject to give this plant a strong crisp feel.  Against the solid black background the subject has a three dimensional look with strong textures and subtle shifts in hues of green and gold.  The viewer will note the rim light on the edges of the leaves and the top of the flower.  If the position and intensity of the light were to change the character of this image would not be the same.

The composition is based on a diagonal line graphic which gives an uplifting feeling to the scene.  The horizontal leaf across the top acts as a stop to this upward travel like a lid, preventing our eye from wondering off the page.  This would be an entirely different composition without that leaf.

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It’s a rear talent to make other people smile through photography, particularly when the photographer has preplanned the setup and deliberately captured the hummer. 

The moment we see this image we get the point.  The placement of the bubble so close to the tip of the dog’s muzzle without touching tells the story of our friends questioning nose.  The photographer’s timing was perfect.  The selection of the pink background picks up the same color in the muzzle and around the eye of the dog.  I think it was a risky choice of color but it worked out very well. 

This image has great commercial probabilities.  It puts me in mind of the old RCA logo of the dog and the Victoria entitled “Hearing His Master’s Voice”.

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Little kids are fascinated with the world around them perhaps because everything is new and unknown.  Many photographers have this same child like wonder.  They find the world fresh and new through the view finder.  They are seeing for the first time in years.  What a wonderful feeling to see like a child.

This creature out of Alice and Wonderland may not be to everyone’s taste but it caught the eye of this photographer.  The focus is sharp on the subject while completely soft in the dappled background.  The photo-artist has elected to not show the entire length of the caterpillar.  This leaves the viewers imagination to determine just how long this little fellow really is.

A suggestion I would like to make is to crop the image so there is less of a horizontal feel to the scene.  By rotating the frame we could get a stronger diagonal graphic which may add a little more interest to the image.

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We can get some interesting effects with moving objects under low light conditions.  We have all seen photos of lines of red tail lights taken on the highway at night.  This same principle can be used to make moving objects appear transparent.  The effect is caused because a stationary object receives all the light while the moving portion is only partially exposed.

This example of movement under low light exhibits this translucent quality.  We get the feeling of movement in the flapping wings while the head and body appear to be stationary.  The single point light source has been exposed for the torso of the bird and the wings being light hues reflect enough color to illustrate their movement through the image.

I like the placement of the subject against the black background in such a way that there is room in front of the bird for perceived forward movement.  This is a very effective use of light and movement.

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Title:  Guard Parlament

Photographer: Hal Endlich

Date Submitted: August 18, 2008

Rating: 

Photographer’s Comments:  

I had fun taking this image in Athens of one of two sentries in process of changing of the guard. They march very precisely in sync with each other. They are trained to take this procedure very seriously and that is reflected in the serious expression on this man’s face.  They are not permitted even a sidewise glance which can
lead to their dismissal.

Three Runners Up Images:

Darrel Priebe:

All Aglow:  Aug. 2 

Bill Degley: 

Black&White:  Aug. 2 

Darrel Priebge: 

Scream:  Aug. 4

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