Most photographers like to think of themselves as pretty good observers, or at least... strive to be. I like to think I'm fairly decent, but I manifest my major failings on an all too regular basis. I miss not only in terms of composition (which is exasperating enough), but also in terms of content (nuance is not my cup of tea)- the latter something that can often separate a master "street" photographer from your weekend warrior. Yeah, it's all in the details, as they say...
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| Photo: © Stan Banos* |
Occasionally, I've taken rather close up photographs of graffiti, etc on various sized poles (for lack of better description) with wide angle lenses. A millimeter to the left or right can completely unbalance the background and entire composition, and that is more understatement than exaggeration. I also think that so many people crop after the fact because while they pay excruciating detail to what's going on in the center of the frame, they tend to downplay, if not totally ignore what's going on throughout its edges, almost as if they're an afterthought- they're not!
The video below is not on photography, but it does concentrate on... the details! And it's fascinating to observe how detail can be taken to such a minute extreme. I love vintage watches, at least a very certain variety- but mostly I just look (as I look at Leica M's and Q's), I don't have hundreds to throw on photography, let alone watches (or Leicas). But a certain aesthetic of vintage watches sends me into another time period, another realm of experience, another level of appreciation.
The video concentrates on the details and intricacies of spotting vintage fakes. One can fairly easily spot the more obvious, but again- it's all in the details.**
*Sure not to everyone's taste, but I like it. How close? On the edge of switching to Macro Mode close. Took me about 6 takes before lucking out to an angle that works, and I say luck, because w/o that boat on the left arriving when it did, where it did for balance- still no shot.
**Another watch aficionado was able to spot a high end fake by noticing the lack of separation in the upper half of the fives in the "55" of the minute dial.
Nice to see you talking about composition! Maybe I'm a cynic, but I consider it to be a topic that could use a little more attention in the photography universe...
ReplyDeleteComposition's probably the hardest thing to talk about since the 'rules' were specifically meant to be broken. In writing, they say make every word count. Make everything in that rectangle count- every detail, every barren piece of real estate should all be contributing to the greater whole, if not, ya gotta find a better way.
ReplyDeleteHey- you photographing, again?!? Hope so!
For some reason, Blogger's not publishing your second comment:
ReplyDelete"Clearly you're not spending enough time in the TL! Happy new year Stan, and congrats on your accomplishments!"
"Liquidus temperature, the maximum temperature at which crystals can co-exist with the melt ; Teralitre (Tl or TL), a metric unit of volume or capacity ; Thallium ..."
"The definition of TL a shortened form of timeline. An example of TL is a text post on Twitter that mentions the posts on someone's timeline. abbreviation."
I'm gonna go with door #2- never been on FB or twitterville. Hell, I got kicked off PetaPixel-
not racist or misogynist enough...
Haha, I was referring to the Tenderloin (my neighborhood)! It's nearly impossible to walk through there without stepping on a turd of indeterminate origin...
ReplyDeleteYes I'm taking pictures again as of a few months ago. Thanks for asking. I'm taking it a little slower this time around, trying to avoid my tendency on creative endeavors to go 100% full steam until I burn out.
LOL!I'm right next door in SOMA- and we'll go turd to turd with anyone!
DeleteGlad your back shooting- yes, it's a marathon not a sprint...