Daniel J. Matyola wrote:
On Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 10:48 AM, ann sanfedele<[email protected]> wrote:
We dont' always show each other photos because they work for us -- sometimes
its because we are uncertain, or it doesnt or
we need suggestions to help make it work.
Well said indeed Ann.
When I posted the first "Perched," I deliberately did not say much
about it. There were things I liked about the image, and things I did
not like. (For one thing, to get that viewpoint I had to shoot from
bright sunlight into the shadows.) The subject was centered, because
I was more concerned with getting the image to come out reasonably
clearly than to frame it artistically, I also wanted the get the shot
before he decided to move. Mostly, I posted it for comments and
criticisms, and in that respect it was extremely successful. As I
said, in many respects I liked the shot from the other angle, with the
sunset lighting on his hair and back, much better, but the first post
was the one that showed the rock, which to me was a dramatic element.
The fact that no one else saw the drama or at least any value in the
drama was very meaningful to me. As often is the case, my mind added
elements of the scene that were not apparent from the image itself.
Dan,
You also succeeded in instigating some great discussion about both the
technical and the artistic aspects of photography.
Ann made some excellent points, and my comment would have been more
accurate had I said that the important question of any photo is whether
it has the desired effect for the customer or target audience.
If Dan's goal was an artistically pleasing photo that captured a moment
in time for himself, then whether anyone else sees the things in it that
he saw is of secondary importance.
There are many things that I quite liked about the original photo. One
of which was the way that it "broke the rule" about the subject in the
center, and in doing so changed it from being a photo of a guy on a
rock, to a picture of a scene with a guy in it.
I also like the way the well lit person was separated from the dark
forest background.
I don't know if such an angle would have been possible, but I suspect
that the best way to convey what Dan seems to be trying for, would be an
angle halfway between the two he shot. One where the person on the rock
was still against the dark background of the forest, and yet the ocean
far down below was visible in part of the frame.
If he still has access to that spot, he could go back an re-take that
photo with another person on the rock. It's also possible that another
time of day might work better, or using a flash to bring out the subject.
This particular image may not have conveyed exactly what Dan tried, but
I still think that it, and some of the various crops, are still
artistically worthwhile images. I also think that his concept and goal
are very worthwhile, and if opportunity presents itself, worthy of
further attempts. I am quite certain that I am not the only person in
the PDML who has made many attempts over the years to capture a
particular photo that I had in mind.
I will also note that I have found that there is often very little
correlation between what I think are my absolute best images, and which
ones other people like. Fortunately, the field can be narrowed, because
there is usually much better agreement over which ones suck.
Dan Matyola
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola
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