Conceptual Photography Day 4

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Now it is time to photograph. Shoot your concept and constantly evaluate. When you work on an idea many images will pop up. You will find images that express your drawn sketches or you will come up with totally new images. When I looked at the door this morning I stumbled over the door knobs. I decided to photograph them. In post production I changed the background to a neutral gray. In addition I removed the metal parts in the middle of the door. I did this becaus I did not want to photograph a door locking mechanism. My theme is “Balance.” I had to do something to the image to make the viewer wonder about what this image is all about.

Enjoy and happy thinking!

Conceptual Photography Day 2

“Balance” – I must admit, nothing really clicked with me and I get frustrated real fast. I learned over time that a good amount of frustration is part of life and can be actually your friend. If nothing really clicks, ask a friend and/or use the Internet. I asked David, my business partner, last night and one of his first thoughts was “bicycle.” I did not think about a bike and so I appreciated the thought.  I went to the Internet and using my search engine,  “balance sheet” came up. Early this morning I photographed an Iris and I noticed that I balanced natural and artificial light, another avenue to explore.

Also, when you do the search you can look at all the images that come up. I saw many images with balances stones. So keep on searching until something comes up in your head.

Conceptual Photography Day 1

According to Wikipedia Conceptional Photography means that and “Idea precedes the actual photograph” (See the article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_photography)  I would go a little bit further. Conceptual photography includes feelings, ideas, faith, basically anything that the eye “normally” can’t see. The art is to show these “invisible things” by showing “visible things,”  for instance showing joy by photographing a child that just received a great gift etc. This week I challenge you to create one photograph that expresses “Balance!”

Imagine a client comes up to you and want an image that says “Balance.” How would you proceed? Where would you start and how would you get a great image for your client. During this week I will share with you my “work-flow” and at the end I will hopefully have a great image that I could sell to my client.

So, let’s get started! I like to start from scratch, using my sketchbook, which I hope every serious photographer has. It is a simple notebook where I write down my thought. I sit down and brain storm the word “Balance:”

Fiddler on the Roof, scale, justice, tightrope, edge, constitution, balance of power, balanced diet, rhythm, cane, walk the talk, balanced image, static, office chair, sleep – awake.

That’s it for the first day!

  

Reflection 02

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In an image your eyes will automatically go to the brightest spot. This is important to consider because the original is many times brighter than the reflection. In order to lead the eyes onto the reflection it is necessary to use other elements. In this image I did not include the light skies in the image. I only used the red of the sunset and the dark tower that is reflected in the water. In addition I included rock on the front right side which as a single point draws attention to itself and the reflection in the water. The rock also gives the image quite a good depth of field.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

Reflection 01

If you open your eyes and look for reflections you will find them at in windows, water, metal, mirrors etc. Photograph these reflections where the reflections fills at least 50% of the frame.

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I photographed at a pond real early in the morning. There was a duck swimming in the water that created some light ripples.

Enjoy and happy photographing!