> > On 28/3/06, Boris Liberman, discombobulated, unleashed: > > >I wonder what kind of advise I would get from my fellow PDMLers if I > >were to ask you - how could I make my photography slightly > more dynamic... > > Go to the biggest book shop in Tel Aviv and start buying > books by great photographers. Spend as much as you would on a > lens. You want at least half a dozen good-sized hard back > books by well known photogs of the type you enjoy. keep them > at hand and look through them often. > Inspiration is such a sweet thing :-) >
Boris, I agree completely with Cotty. However, I have about 10 metres of shelf space dedicated to photography & art books, so it only works up to a point, otherwise I'd be Picasso, da Vinci and Thomas 'Painter of Light' Kinkade all rolled into one. I also go along with Shel's recommendation to read 'On Being a Photographer'. In particular he has a very good chapter on choosing a subject, which I think would help enormously. In addition, I would also suggest investigating the rules of composition. I will point out here, in the perhaps forlorn hope of stalling any future argument, that of course they aren't really rules but statistical observations about what has worked in the past. Dynamic composition is often the result of contrast in the photograph, of 'sharpening' which is a deliberate imbalance, or of ambiguity, where it is difficult to establish whether the picture is harmonious or discordant. Art bookshops and libraries contain many books which analyze composition, and teach how to study great paintings. Books like this are well worth reading and the lessons of great painting can easily be applied to photography. Regards, Bob
