Passion for Photos

This is my final image. I photographed one of my sketches and created this image. “Balance” creates for me a “fragile” form of stability. This feeling is expressed using the three legs of this stand as a background. “Balance” itself is represented by the two screws, one is in the light the other in the shadow. Also I choose the square format as the utmost form of “Balance.” Enjoy and happy photographing. 

PS: Next weeks photographic challenge is “Hometown.” I thought I give you two extra days to brainstorm, research and doodle!

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!

After I brain stormed, asked friends and used the Internet I start drawing ideas. My drawings are everything but pretty but they serve a very important purpose: They help me clarify my vision about the image I want to create. So use this day to doodle around and see what kind shows up! Tomorrow the photographing is going to start!

“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.

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!

  

I photographed the clouds in the window of our minivan. You see part of the mirror and part of the window frame. The reflection slightly distorted the clouds on the left hand side and you see partially through the window.Enjoy and happy photographing!

I created this reflection with the help of my good old guitar. The black shiny surface is a great reflector and I used a rose that I picked from my backyard.

enjoy and happy photographing!

 

Many times glass reflects and also lets you look through it. You can create nice images with this double function in mind. I shot this image at dusk. I cropped part of the outside lamp to let the viewer focus on the window.

Enjoy and have a great day!

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!

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.

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!