Wayne S wrote:
> Great that your mood has improved!
Tell me about it. I had a hard time being around myself.
> A question though, isn't there a similarity between this shot
> and the previous one, with regard to where the base of the
> canyon wall is? The only difference being water
> versus ground?
If I were to compare Joel's with Ansel Adams' famous
cliff/water/ice photo, the main difference between the two is
that Adams' has chunks of ice that you (the viewer) can
subliminaly place your feet on. Otherwise, I think that Joel's
is a much more powerful photo. The 4/4 photo is pretty much a
totally different composition due to a clearly defined "subject"
located in the viscinity of one of the 1/3 power positions.
It's less "design" and more "subject with background". (I might
need to define "design" as used here...)
> I'm just trying to understand, since I'm a photographer
> without a clue half the time.
We're all clueless half the time. The "great and mighty"
photographers just tend to offset those clueless moments with
brighter bright moments. Being reminded of Michangelo's
clueless moments (as well as looking at figure studies by him
and Monet) is refreshing as it's clear that for every
masterpiece, there were hundreds of test drawings that failed
miserably. Who are we to think that we can create a masterpiece
every time we click the shutter? I'm starting to call my
outtakes "figure studies".
> I'm also reminded of some of the Buddhas destroyed by the
> Taliban. They have the same shape as 4/3 shot.
When I first saw that photograph the very first word that popped
in my mind was Buddha. It is uncanny the similarity. It's not
just the shape, but the height/width ratio of the rock
formation.
> Also I'm wonder if the rule of 5ths means there should be an
> equal amount above the black rock as there is water below?
The rule of fifths would be used in a scene with a very strong
design element. In the simplist of forms, if you were to draw a
rectangle, you fill in 4/5's of it with one bold color and the
final 1/5 with the complementary color. The line of demarcation
is parallel to one end of the rectangle. In Joel's 4/3
photograph, the rock wall occupies almost exactly the upper 4/5
of the picture and the water occupies the bottom 1/5 of the
picture. If you study Fibonacci Numbers and Golden Sections,
you will not see 4/5 represented predominantly in the natural
world. This seems to be less of an "organic" rule. In an art
class I took years ago, the instructor pointed out that when the
1/5 design segment is "heavy" or "bold", it is equal to the 4/5
non-heavy or bold. For example, if 1/5 is black, and 4/5 is
white, the overall feel of the print is that of equality. Kinda
puts a kink in the old ying/yang thing.
I think the space difference between the top and bottom of the
rock and the picture edge is something entirely different.
Normally, with a portrait you want the person's top of the head
to be closer to the frame top than the chin to the bottom.
Otherwise it makes the person look like they're trying to stand
up in the deep end of a pool. With this rock formation, it's
proximity to the top of the frame without a solid footing
creates a top-heavy feel.
Why this photograph is so challenging is because it combines a
subject as well as a "design is art" componant. The Rule of
Fifths usually dictate that the composition itself is the
subject. Had the top of the black rock formation been cropped
off and allowed to escape off the top of the picture then the
rock would become a supporting character to the compositional
design and not the primary subject itself. It would then become
a study in design like Ansel Adams' famous print.
> I personally like shots that have a subconscious pull
> and invoke some mystery. Not everything is to be understood.
EXACTLY!!!! This was part of my self-effacing grouse this past
week. Too much of my work has become literal. I want to find
that mystery again. I want some of my work to take on that
Winslow Homer characteristic where the outcome is unknown. (The
Fox Hunt, The Life Line, The Gulf Stream). Even Breezing Up has
a bit of mystery to it because of the dark cloud just eaking
into the upper-right hand corner of the picture.
> Definitely 4/3 would hold my attention longer.
Well, we're still discussing it, so it has already risen above
the "nice picture" demarcation line. It's got "legs". Not many
pictures presented to the list by anybody has sparked the
compositional discussions this one has.
AG
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|