Yet with all my water experience, I feel a profound respect for the mystery and unpredictable ways of the current, and the dangers that could lie beneath the surface. Growing up on Lake Okoboji, Iowa with three siblings and three cousins in the upstairs dorm, we tested the limits and had our fair share of surprises during our summers at Okoboji.
I'm somewhat new at using a camera more seriously and sometimes wonder WHY do I choose the subject matter that I do and WHY do I photograph it in the ways that I do? Well, truthfully , many of my subjects have been chosen for me, alla school. Though in my travels, it's been my choice. I confess that I have not yet settled on any one subject or style, for that matter. I'm just enjoying it all! But I believe that both content and style are highly autobiographical. Perhaps if I could take the time to observe and reflect on these two things I could discern the story of my own personal development.
Here you will see several examples of my THIS and THAT that I referred to in my first post_my attempt to see different possibilities for the same subject!! And guess what_they all contain the element of water. I was primarily focusing on change in distance to the subject and in aperture and shutter speed to produce different effects. I love what the camera sees that the human eye cannot discern. And thank you Barbara for loaning your black hoodie. It made a big difference!!My only hope is that you don't fall asleep before you get through all of these.
The way you've caught the surface of the water as shaped by the rocks and over layered by tree reflections is very effective. Also striking is #8 with yellow green reflection disappearing into a black Blue hole. $11 composition is enhanced for me by the added contrast provided by reflected yellow , dark water and white ripples. . Not much different from #12 but stronger perhaps. Water is certainly your medium.
ReplyDeleteI love 1, 4, 5, 6, 9. Moss, water, movement, moss green on water. These places are degraded and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteNadine, Your commentary on how autobiography can feed into one's enthusiasms as a photographer is insightful. It does seem that the themes and subjects one pursues are informed by the experiences of childhood, and the interests discovered in growing up. After reading your note I wonder, for instance, if "street photographers" are natural-born urbanites who have never strayed too far from the city. Is "style" also autobiographical? - other than in the trivial sense that everything a photographer does must have roots in their personal histories? You are making me, at least, think.
ReplyDeleteAnyway: To the pictures. What are you doing? Well, exactly what you say you are doing: Experimenting - with distance to your subjects and basic camera controls. So then the question becomes, which of the various changes you ring appear more successful than others? You don't say which you like, what seems to work and what doesn't. I imagine though that you are inviting the viewer to, in a sense, "vote". Well then, I favor 1 & 9 - the latter being the image with the stick on the rocks, just before the four longer views of the waterfalls. In the quick-test, these are that pictures that I stopped to look at. Both of these combine Stillness as well as Motion; both have interesting variations in color (in 1, that variation is more subtle); both are good compositions; and there is a simplicity which is appealing (I don't like clutter in a picture, but that's me.)
As for the others, if you don't mind my saying so, they are, in my view, a bit ho-hum: Pictures 6-7 of the pounding currents gives a vivid sense of strength, but would benefit, I think, from a point of attraction - a couple of rocks perhaps, off center. The last four images, to my eye are too far away to capture the real drama. But in this set of four I prefer the ones shot at slower speeds, giving that much-vaunted "silky" effect.
You might want to think about cleaning your sensor. On both an Ipad and a computer screen I think I see lots of spots - and I haven't started drinking yet. Best, Farid
Nadine, Your commentary on how autobiography can feed into one's enthusiasms as a photographer is insightful. It does seem that the themes and subjects one pursues are informed by the experiences of childhood, and the interests discovered in growing up. After reading your note I wonder, for instance, if "street photographers" are natural-born urbanites who have never strayed too far from the city. Is "style" also autobiographical? - other than in the trivial sense that everything a photographer does must have roots in their personal histories? You are making me, at least, think.
ReplyDeleteAnyway: To the pictures. What are you doing? Well, exactly what you say you are doing: Experimenting - with distance to your subjects and basic camera controls. So then the question becomes, which of the various changes you ring appear more successful than others? You don't say which you like, what seems to work and what doesn't. I imagine though that you are inviting the viewer to, in a sense, "vote". Well then, I favor 1 & 9 - the latter being the image with the stick on the rocks, just before the four longer views of the waterfalls. In the quick-test, these are that pictures that I stopped to look at. Both of these combine Stillness as well as Motion; both have interesting variations in color (in 1, that variation is more subtle); both are good compositions; and there is a simplicity which is appealing (I don't like clutter in a picture, but that's me.)
As for the others, if you don't mind my saying so, they are, in my view, a bit ho-hum: Pictures 6-7 of the pounding currents gives a vivid sense of strength, but would benefit, I think, from a point of attraction - a couple of rocks perhaps, off center. The last four images, to my eye are too far away to capture the real drama. But in this set of four I prefer the ones shot at slower speeds, giving that much-vaunted "silky" effect.
You might want to think about cleaning your sensor. On both an Ipad and a computer screen I think I see lots of spots - and I haven't started drinking yet. Best, Farid