Petteri's Photo Class: Lesson Zero [1/2]

Well first, thank you for the kind words. I must admit I switched up
my "best" and "leasts". I find the "leasts" are generally better, where I
cheated in one way or another. But for the "bests", I was surprised that

that I came away with anything interesting at all. Since they followed the guidlines closest, they were labled as "best".

It's amazing really, that the posts so far are so different, as you mentioned they would be. Keen to see that one's style, or "eye" shows through even in the quickest glance.

I'll do my best to keep up with the lessons, and may even try my hand critiquing although, since I've admired your work from afar, I'm not sure what I might add. And I'm not the most articulate soul, which is why I must make picutures

Wouldn't go as far to say as any of them are boring, but the wintery landscape is one of the more quiet images. The images as a group definately convey a hunting or searching, almost a lonliness.

Petteri Sulonen said:

Click to expand...

I think the first is my favorite, although I do like train for the movement (of color and subject). But the shot from behind the person pushing the cart is probably most striking; perspective and blur really
pull your eyes into the frame for what feels an alomst dangerous encounter.

Petteri Sulonen said:

Click to expand...

I enjoyed the assignment very much. At first, it was difficult , and I cheated through the first few frames. But by the last few frames, like you, I was going crazy - looking and snapping away. It reminds me that after you've composed and

shot a scene, not to leave right away, because there is probably another way to see it. I could go back to several of my shots and probably pull to or three more
views off, even though they would not be what I initially visualized.
--
Take Care!

Jerry

I took about 40 pictures and didn't really like any of them.
They look dull, drab and uninteresting.

Plus, it was snowing, which really affected the pictures.

I hope I'll be able to improve in the future.

The pictures are on ImageStation:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288036281

I went for a walk this afternoon to take pictures for the assignment, and got rather carried away: I simply kept snapping pictures of everything I happened to see, until my entire memory card was full. Since I have a half-gigabyte card, the result was a total of 155 pictures. Most of them were truly abysmal!

I've posted my five best ones and five worst ones here:
http://wabe.cs.umd.edu/2003/composition-lesson-0

Sorry for posting this a second time - last time, I replied to the wrong message!

I went for a walk this afternoon to take pictures for the assignment, and got rather carried away: I simply kept snapping pictures of everything I happened to see, until my entire memory card was full. Since I have a half-gigabyte card, the result was a total of 155 pictures. Most of them were truly abysmal!

I've posted my five best ones and five worst ones here:
http://wabe.cs.umd.edu/2003/composition-lesson-0

This was great fun. I may not have produce works of art but I did enjoy shooting from the hip without any thought of composition. I shot everything with my 10D, 24mm.2.8, ISO 400, Program mode.

I got a great kick from shooting with the camera resting against my belly because the people in the shots were not even aware I was taking pictures.

Of 101 shots I had really a tough time narrowing it down to ten. I eventually decided to pick the 10 I liked the best and then split those in 5 best and 5 runner ups that I liked less. I hope this is OK.

The best:

B1 – The warm colours highlighting the wall and table caught my eye as soon as I entered this building and I shot this from the waste without a second thought.

B2 – I was intrigued by what looks like an old metal press sitting beside a modern piece of art waiting to be hung. I think the spot lights on the wall caught my interest first.

B3 – I was walking down a wide brick-paved alley when I spotted the yellow hydrant out of the corner of my eye. I just turned 90 o and fired. I like the splash of red and yellow counteracting the larger green door and all three against the brick wall.

B4 – All the buildings in the area I was walking are mostly old reddish brown brick with dark green windows and doors. When I saw the blue bench I thought it give a nice contrast to its surroundings. To be honest I never noticed the down pipe with the ice connecting the missing section until I reviewed the photos on my computer .

B5 – Now I have to think why I like this one. Perhaps it is the strong black steel gate opening up to a world beyond and the contrast with the old brick.

Lesser Ones:

L1 – I took this one within a few seconds of B1 and just shot it because of the unusual interior ( for me ). I just love the old brickwork and heavy timber beams as a backdrop to the modern furnishing and lighting.

L2 – The soft green patterned curtain framed by the dark green window caught my eye as it contrasted with the brick pattern and colour. I just stepped 2 paces towards the window and fired. I like the softness of the fabric surrounded by the rough brick.

L3 – I like old buildings and the grey stone beside the brick appealed to me as well as the opening between the brick building on the right however the stone caught my eye first. I was also pleased that some people were walking in the scene to give some motion.

L4 – Here we go again with stone and brick. To me this has a sense of curiosity about what lies around the corner. The grey limestone foundations of the brick buildings create a tie with the stone building giving a balance to the picture.

L5 – This appealed to me because of the new architecture in the background rising up in the background. I think the people add some motion to a static scene.
Here is the link:
http://www.pbase.com/leopr/week_0_assignment

--
Leo P R
http://www.pbase.com/leopr/10d

Petteri, I see you didn't give Jim Rickards extra points for his hardship...... what about mine? (see this thread about the sacrifice http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1024&message=7251365 ) . there were some "OOF" & blown highlight shots that i did not include in my "least favorites" because that goes without saying...... all shots were taken in "auto" mode..... appx 73 shots...... i actually had alot of "favorites" (well, 12 total)...... i was really surprised.
here is the link to my assignment
http://www.pbase.com/shayfah/petteris_assignment__0_-_fav__least_fav
Fav 1 - liked the bike & building

Fav 2 - the whole "Bavarian / old world" look (at least, a "tourist town" approach to old world)
Fav 3 - this is my nephew being swung by dad & uncle... just having a good time
Fav 4 - the sign, colors, mood..... i just liked it and took a shot
Fav 5 - see explaination from "Fav 2".... and the colors.
my "favorite" of the Fav's? #3 because it was a quick "spur of the moment" shot

I think all were nice shots for "shooting" without composing (ALOT harder than it sounds....... and it seems as though i'm not the only one who thinks this now)
Least Favorites

Least 1 - this was a nice sculpture / scene...... too bad the reflection screwed it up
Least 2 - interesting sign...... too bad the lightpole is at the front paws

Least 3 - again, another interesting sign, but i would have liked to get the "stars" at the top (very cool pics of Michigan inside BTW)

Least 4 - the covered bridge, waterfalls & my nephew...... would have composed to the left further to have less pic to the right ("cropped" the support & some of the sidewalk)..... would have caught more of the waterfall & bridge on the left side of image

Least 5 - again, reflection takes this one to the "recycle bin"..... the Vase is actually quite vivid & beautiful as well as the other glass sculptures in the window.

Least Fav of the "Least", #4..... family pics are nice when candid but composed well..... i really would have liked to get a better shot.

I hope I did my assignment as per instructions AND if you notice the concrete in "Fav #4", my "hardship" happened just around the turret :-(

--
If Some Is Good, More Is Better, And Too Much Is Just Right.
I live in my own little world. But it's OK ... they know me here

Pbase supporter http://www.pbase.com/shayfah

Petteri Sulonen said:

In any case, I get a powerful wallop of genuine and rare talent
from this gallery. If you've really done them 'instinctively,' and
haven't gone through the trouble of 'learning composition' to get
to where you are now, I think you may be one of the people Ed's
concerned about.

Click to expand...

First of all, thanks immensely for the feedback Petteri. I feel like I'm totally floundering around, alone in the dark; your feedback is the first I've received from a domain expert (ie. someone who can say a bit more than "oh, a tree... that's nice").

I'm not sure if I've learned composition or not. I mean, I've browsed through the composition sections of some "learning digital photography" books (the content is usually about a couple of pages long and I found it to be a bit lacking beyond things like the rule of thirds). I have Bryan Peterson's "Learning to See Creatively" and "Understanding Exposure" books, but I haven't had time to read a single page yet (and after the discussions in this thread, I really don't know if I should). I actually felt I gained more from reading your articles (thank you ever so much, wonderful material), the content at the Luminous Landscape and just spending a lot of time browsing PBase galleries.

This could be a rather naive question, but do you know how the composition process works for "the average photographer"? Do they see a scene first and then start applying the rules they've learned to it? How long does this process take? (are we talking about a couple of seconds or minutes?). Actually, I don't even know if you could answer that question with respect to the average photographer, but what sort of thought process do you go through (if any)? Anyone else who's reading this thread, please feel free to contribute! I've found that most of my shots pop into my head almost immediately and that I actually spend most of my time just fiddling with the camera or walking to the position to achieve the shot.

Petteri Sulonen said:

Tell me, do you do a lot of "people photography?" If not, this
might be a direction you might want to get into: if you can compose
fast and instinctively at this level, you could really excel at
situationals, which are all about observation and timing; no time
for meticulous composition.

Click to expand...

I've done a small amount of people photography (literally about 4 days worth). You can see some examples at http://members.iinet.net.au/~emeritus/Samples . I have the greatest admiration for street photographers, because of late I've been having some self-imposed problems with people photography (I'm really hoping that one of your lessons might cover it). Most of my pictures in the sample gallery were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 4500. This is one of those digicams with a swivel lens/lcd configuration that lets you photograph people almost anonymously.

When I replaced the 4500 with my 300D, I realised that it became a lot harder to take good people shots without feeling self-conscious and 'obvious'. The SLR is larger; I have to point it directly at the person, and you've got the loud shutter noise. The approach that you and Michael Reichmann share is to get in close with a widish lens and make yourself 'visible' to the surrounding populace. Right now, I feel a bit self-conscious to be getting in the face of someone and so obviously taking their photo; I don't know how well it'd go down using that approach to photograph passers by facing you. The alternative I guess is to use a telephoto lens, but it feels to me to be a little too detached and 'weird'. I'm really not sure how to resolve this other than to develop a more 'in your face' attitude with a SLR (either that or buy a better "anonymous" digicam, but that's crazy new-toy-talk!)

Petteri Sulonen said:

Only six months? Wow! Have you done other graphic arts before?

Click to expand...

No, this is the first creative thing I've ever done in my life. Although that I would argue that writing programs is also a pretty cool form of creation in the non-traditionalist sense! I think I'm rather like some of the nerds you work with; I decided a few years ago to make a conscious effort to branch out from my nerdy ways!

Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback; I'll definitely be trying to find the time to keep up with the lessons.

regards,
Hin

First off, to everyone who posted work since yesterday -- I'll look at it this evening EET; I'm at work now, sneaking a peek at DPReview between tasks.

hinius wrote:
[snip discussion on learning composition]

Very interesting; I'm doubly impressed. By all means stick around for the lessons; you might pick up something that interests you -- but, as I said, don't get too caught up in it, and try to keep hold of that vision of yours. Ed would never forgive me if you finished by producing competently-executed bland cookie-cutter pictures.

hinius said:

This could be a rather naive question, but do you know how the
composition process works for "the average photographer"? Do they
see a scene first and then start applying the rules they've learned
to it? How long does this process take? (are we talking about a
couple of seconds or minutes?). Actually, I don't even know if you
could answer that question with respect to the average
photographer, but what sort of thought process do you go through
(if any)? Anyone else who's reading this thread, please feel free
to contribute! I've found that most of my shots pop into my head
almost immediately and that I actually spend most of my time just
fiddling with the camera or walking to the position to achieve the
shot.

Click to expand...

I think this varies a great deal, maybe by the personality types that Chuck discussed in his post in this thread. I guess the "average" person would be more sensate than intuitive, although intuition can develop with practice.

In my experience, most people start out "compositionally blind." They shoot pictures to capture memories -- the impressive cathedral, the beautiful mountain, the happy kid, dog, or cat. The main thing isn't the photo; it's the subject and the memories it evokes and the support it gives to telling the travel stories and such.

Some of these people step beyond this. They get interested in the pictures in and of themselves, as objects. They develop a vague dissatisfaction about their own photography, but can't really put their finger on what's wrong with them -- what it is about the pictures in National Geographic that are so much better than their travel snapshots. (Many make the mistake of thinking that it must be their camera, and get into an endless loop of buying ever more expensive gear.)

I think these are the people who can benefit most from "instruction" in composition. Personally, I'm at least two-thirds in this class -- while I think I've always had a smidgen of compositional "intuition," I've had to work hard and consciously to get my stuff closer to what I like. The progress starts with realizing that there's something to think about, then finding ways to think about it, then thinking about it and applying them, then learning ever more subtle ways of looking at it. Eventually all this stuff gets internalized, simmered inside like a stew, and comes out as an individual vision -- once more, at least at times, photography is "non-compositional" and instinctive, except now the instinct is informed by the gathered knowledge and practice. What's more, this cycle can be endlessly repeated. This is the way it works for me, anyway.

Which brings me to your actual question.

I shoot in different ways. Sometimes taking a picture feels like constructing a model of the scene: I study the scene pretty meticulously, looking at things I want to exclude and include, find a point of view and framing that makes sense for it; at times, I even go hunting for the right light. And then I take it. I've done some painting, once upon a time, and taking photographs this way isn't that different.

However, the part I enjoy most is when photography is immediate: when I see something and compose "without thinking," in no more than a few seconds. This type of photography most often involves people. I feel that this is where photography is at its strongest as a medium -- nothing else can "freeze the moment" in just this way. Landscapes and portraits can be equally powerful as oil paintings, but I think that if Degas was alive today, he'd be carrying a digital camera.

But yes, I do often find myself thinking of the composition. "Hmmm... nice color there; I need something to put in the foreground... what about that rusty Volvo?"



[cont'd]

--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

[snip]

Petteri Sulonen said:

When I replaced the 4500 with my 300D, I realised that it became a
lot harder to take good people shots without feeling self-conscious
and 'obvious'. The SLR is larger; I have to point it directly at
the person, and you've got the loud shutter noise. The approach
that you and Michael Reichmann share is to get in close with a
widish lens and make yourself 'visible' to the surrounding
populace. Right now, I feel a bit self-conscious to be getting in
the face of someone and so obviously taking their photo; I don't
know how well it'd go down using that approach to photograph
passers by facing you. The alternative I guess is to use a
telephoto lens, but it feels to me to be a little too detached and
'weird'. I'm really not sure how to resolve this other than to
develop a more 'in your face' attitude with a SLR (either that or
buy a better "anonymous" digicam, but that's crazy new-toy-talk!)

Click to expand...

I'd say... don't use a telephoto. It turns you from a participant into a spectator, or, worse, voyeur. It gives streete photos a disengaged, "cold" perspective.

Yep, I bet you're feeling self-conscious. I did, too, until rather recently. I think there's only one key to it -- keep doing it. After, say, 5000 frames of people in public, you're so used to shooting them that you won't give it a second thought. There are some tips and tricks to it, and in fact I'm planning to do one lesson about street photography during this "course," but mostly it's just getting very very comfortable with the environment and your gear. What you don't want to do is spend minutes with the camera to your eye; what you do want to do is interact, talk, smile, wave... and grab a picture as it were in passing. "Fly casual," as Han Solo said to Chewbacca.

Petteri Sulonen said:

Petteri Sulonen said:

Only six months? Wow! Have you done other graphic arts before?

Click to expand...

No, this is the first creative thing I've ever done in my life.
Although that I would argue that writing programs is also a pretty
cool form of creation in the non-traditionalist sense! I think I'm
rather like some of the nerds you work with; I decided a few years
ago to make a conscious effort to branch out from my nerdy ways!

Anyway, thanks a lot for the feedback; I'll definitely be trying to
find the time to keep up with the lessons.

Click to expand...

I really hope you stick with it. You have talent. You've probably been channeling it into programming, which, I agree, is a highly creative process. (BTW, I listened to a quite a fascinating lecture a while back, titled "The Aesthetic of the Unix Command Line." It had some pretty original insights on the relationship between aesthetics and programming.)

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

It dawned on me last night while trying to get to sleep. I found that shooting from the hip without using the viewfinder, gave me a feeling that I was not even using a camera. After about half an hour, it seemed that my mind was taking the picture and I was hardly aware of pressing the shutter with my thumb.

Weird huh.
Anyone else experience this?

--
Leo P R
http://www.pbase.com/leopr/10d

Here's my stuff. It was bitterly cold (about 50 F). But, heh, it's Florida . . . someone's got to live here!

http://www.pbase.com/wiseblood/petteris_class_lesson_zero

B1 - This was a long shot, but I think it tells a story. Actually, it's not the destruction of natural habitat, but the return of wetlands to their natural state (yeah!).

B2 - Wetlands at low tide. Kinda gloomy, but this picture makes me feel at home.

B3 - I like the color that intrudes into an otherwise grey contruction scene.

B4 - Our waterslide, shut down for winter season. Neat shapes . . . all twisty and curvy from the underside.

B5 - Putt Putt Golf, shut down for the winter season. Again, I like the shapes . . . and what it looks like with nobody around.

W1 - A picture of the town mascot . . . it seems contrived.

W2 - I thought this would "tell a story" but the chain is tiny and it doesn't seem to say anything.

W3 - I liked the colors on the playground equipment, but they are swallowed up by a grey day.

W4 - A neat, wind swept tree that only looks like a tangle of bushes in this picture.

W5 - This is a really cool old millstone. The picture just doesn't give a sense of its mass.

Wow, there's a lot of work being handed in. Please, folks -- step in and help; there's no way I can give all of these the thought they deserve: I do have a day job too. ;-)

I'm currently looking through the various galleries people have posted, and getting a bit overwhelmed.

To Jim -- I'm sorry if I came across as too discouraging in my remarks; I don't want this to become a "grading game." In any case, I can only say what rocks my boat and what doesn't, so don't take me too seriously.

I'll try to reply to as many of these as I can find the energy, which may not be as many as I'd like.

But please, I'd like to get you going on each others work as well as your own. In case you can't think of things to discuss, here are a few:

1. What is there to like or dislike about the experience of shooting pictures this way?

2. Who do you think can benefit most from it?

3. What do you like or dislike about particular pictures that come out of it?

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Iam3D wrote:
[snip]

Iam3D said:

there were some "OOF" & blown highlight shots that i did not include in my
"least favorites" because that goes without saying......

Click to expand...

Something like this, you mean? (From my shot at this exercise







Look through the soft or blown-out ones again. There's more to pictures than sharpness or exposure, you know -- you might find some there that you quite like. (I like the three above, FWIW.)

Iam3D said:

all shots were taken in "auto" mode..... appx 73 shots...... i actually had
alot of "favorites" (well, 12 total)...... i was really surprised.

Click to expand...

Happened to me too.

Again, your list looks a bit different from mine. Here's my entirely subjective top 5:

Fav 3 -- very nice, intimate feel to it; a "frozen moment" if anything.

Least 5 -- strong geometry, and the reflection gives a lot of "depth" to the image. Sit down a while and look at it: there's a lot in it that emerges.
Least 3 -- I just like this one.

Fav 4 -- nice figure/ground juxtaposition and "depth;" again, a feeling of a "frozen moment." Somehow this shot "tells a story."
Fav 5 -- OK, so I'm a sucker for S curves.

Not that there's anything wrong with the others either.

A few comments on some of your comments:

[snip]

Iam3D said:

I think all were nice shots for "shooting" without composing (ALOT
harder than it sounds....... and it seems as though i'm not the
only one who thinks this now)

Click to expand...

It is hard, even if you haven't "learned" composition (unlike you, but like some on this thread).

Iam3D said:

Least Favorites
Least 1 - this was a nice sculpture / scene...... too bad the
reflection screwed it up

Click to expand...

Actually, I like the reflection -- IMO it gives the picture a lot of interest. Without it, it would've been just a picture of a scene. The reflection and the bits of store window put you in the picture quite strongly -- it's a picture of you looking at something. It turns it into something that, again, has a lot of different meanings and tells a story.

One of mine in the same vein (actually one I spent quite some time on):



[snip]

Iam3D said:

Least 3 - again, another interesting sign, but i would have liked
to get the "stars" at the top (very cool pics of Michigan inside
BTW)

Click to expand...

I beg to differ: sometimes it's better to leave something to the imagination, and not just in glamour photography. If you had photographed the sign face-on, careful to include everything in it, it would've been just a picture of a sign. Now it's a picture of you looking at the sign, even though you're not physically in the picture like the one with the reflection.

[snip]

Iam3D said:

Least 5 - again, reflection takes this one to the "recycle
bin"..... the Vase is actually quite vivid & beautiful as well as
the other glass sculptures in the window.

Click to expand...

And again, I really like it because of the reflection.

Iam3D said:

Least Fav of the "Least", #4..... family pics are nice when candid
but composed well..... i really would have liked to get a better
shot.

Click to expand...

Iam3D said:

I hope I did my assignment as per instructions AND if you
notice the concrete in "Fav #4", my "hardship" happened just around
the turret :-(

Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't get that. You didn't hurt yourself (or, worse, damage your camera? ;-) )

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Bruce Jones said:

Here's my stuff. It was bitterly cold (about 50 F). But, heh,
it's Florida . . . someone's got to live here!

Click to expand...

Alligators... mosquitoes...

A few random thoughts:

First, I like it a lot overall -- reminds me of "American Polaroids" by Mark Maher. Most of them are visually very strong. Oddly, though, the ones that most caught my imagination are the ones in the middle of your ranking -- Best 3 through Worst 3. Best 1 and 2 require some context to "get" them, at least for me, although the idea of shooting through the branches works well on Best 1. Best 2 is to my eye a bit like a landscape shot that fell flat -- the scene has potential, but isn't really suited for an off-the-hip shot like this. Maybe you should return there before or just after dawn or dusk, take a tripod, and shoot a "proper" landscape? As to Worst 4 and 5, I agree -- the pictures don't really convey the scale and visual interest of the subject.

But the ones in-between... mm, nice. Very strong movement and especially nice color. (I never seem to find color like that in my pictures, although I'd really like to. I wonder why?)

[snip]

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Leo Reinhard said:

This was great fun. I may not have produce works of art but I did
enjoy shooting from the hip without any thought of composition. I
shot everything with my 10D, 24mm.2.8, ISO 400, Program mode.
I got a great kick from shooting with the camera resting against my
belly because the people in the shots were not even aware I was
taking pictures.
Of 101 shots I had really a tough time narrowing it down to ten. I
eventually decided to pick the 10 I liked the best and then split
those in 5 best and 5 runner ups that I liked less. I hope this is
OK.

Click to expand...

Of course.

Another very nice series; I especially like the way this hangs together as a whole -- the brick red makes a nice, unifying theme to it. Also, we seem to have similar tastes -- I definitely like your B's better than your W's. There's again a strong sense of light, geometry, and color in these pictures. Nice work!

I'll see if I can get back to them individually later, but it's getting late and I want to comment one more before going to bed.

[snip]

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Larry.

Having studied painting when I was a young man, and painted professionally for many years after that, I couldn't disagree with you more.

Other than the odd self-taught painter that appears from time to time, and whose work may be interesting, but rarely profound, there isn't a painter that I can think of throughout history that did not spring from a basic grounding in his art.

There is little difference to me between Painting and Photography in so far as their mechanics and main objectives are similar.

There is also not much difference between them and Mathematics either. In fact I would argue that, like mathematics, painting and photography as well, are nothing more than the act of solving problems - with each solution leading to another problem. This is a never-ending process, and the difference between a trained painter or photographer and a novice, is that unless an artist understands that there is a problem, and knows what the problem is, he is unable to solve it.
In other words, if you don't know you have a problem - you cannot solve it.

This idea has proven itself throughout the history of art, which until just before the latter half of the 20th century, was always based upon very disciplined solutions to problems. In the past 50 years there has been - in my opinion anyway, a sharp decline in the general levels of the creative processes in the arts because this learning process has often been ignored, and many painters today cannot even draw the proverbial "straight line".

The greatness of all important painters throughout history was determined by the personal, creative manner in which they arrived at their solutions. For example, part of the greatness of say El Greco - to mention only one, was the manner in which he controlled the "path" that your eye takes when viewing his paintings. Whether you realize it or not, it was he who was in full control, not you the viewer. Petteri's example of Picasso's Guernica is another good example of how composition and construction was used to create enormous emotional and creative impact. It is not dissimilar to listening to Bach or Mozart. They controlled the structure of their music in a very orderly way, and in so doing they controlled what you heard you how you listened to it. What could possibly be more mathematical in its structure than Bach? All of these things were calculated solutions to problems, and in each case it was their genius that separated them from the mere mechanics of their art, to rise above their contempoaries in a profoundly personal way.

It is the job of a good teacher not just to teach the mechanics of art, but also to teach how to think and solve problems. If you cannot learn to think, you cannot solve problems. That is why there is only one great artist from among many thousands of mediocre ones. The great ones use the "rules" as a spring-board from which they excel, by making very personal solutions that are far more profound and far beyond limits that the rest of us mere mortals are capable of.

You are just kidding yourself by thinking that anyone can free themselves of these structural compositional rules and create their own personal direction in any meaningful way.

That is why we see so many compositionally bad photographs, and paintings as well, which ignore most compositional rules of painting and photography. How many self-taught painters or photographers have ever considered that perhaps the shape of negative "background" areas are as important as the foreground images? Very few I would expect. In the end, it is ORDER that makes the world a richer place., not total disregard of everything that we have learned over the past several hundreds years. It has nothing to do with money or selling anything. It only has to do with the creative process.
Barry

AO said:

I took about 40 pictures and didn't really like any of them.
They look dull, drab and uninteresting.

Plus, it was snowing, which really affected the pictures.

I hope I'll be able to improve in the future.

The pictures are on ImageStation:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288036281

Click to expand...

Actually, I strongly disagree.

OK, the color range and tonality is somewhat drab, but that's to be expected in light like this, and it's certainly nothing that a few minutes of post-processing couldn't fix. However, there's a lot more to them than that.

Unfortunately, ImageStation responds awfully slowly from where I am right now, so I haven't really been able to look at all of the full-size ones. However, FWIW, here are some quick comments, based partly on the thumbnails.

There were three shots in your gallery that immediately caught my eye: Better2, Better3, and Worse2. There's one more where there's a lot to look at: stare at it for a while, and Things begin to emerge. This is Better4.

Better2 has a really nice sense of color and form; the delicate shading on the object at left looks almost three-dimensional. It's all about tone and color -- two of the most important elements in photography. In addition, the pane of glass and the snow add atmosphere and context; you get a feeling as if of someone looking wistfully at something he can't quite grasp. I like it a lot. It would make a great postcard. It's almost like a photographic watercolor painting.

I like Better3 for its strong sense of motion and "graphism" -- the sense of receding perspective given by the fence and accentuated by the alternation of the planks and gaps between them. I also like the way it's off-center: there's a feeling of pressure and motion; the fence is almost forcing its way into the picture. The receding ski tracks give a further sense of distance, almost "longing" to it -- makes you think about who it was who last passed here and left those tracks. It has a powerful atmosphere to it.

I took the liberty of playing with it a bit: I did a quick conversion to black and white. What do you think?



Better4 is an emotionally extremely powerful image; it almost brought a tear to my eye (I am an old softy, though; I cry at movies and over books all the time). If photography is about conveying emotion and telling a story, this picture is all photography... and, by the way, one that needs the snow -- it wouldn't be at all as powerful if it were nice and warm and sunny. I took the liberty of giving it a quick touch-up in post-processing too -- again, the drabness you're worried about is a simple matter to fix. And no, it's not cheating.



A quick technical tip, by the way: you'll find much of the "drabness" goes out of your "snow shots" if you set auto-exposure compensation to +1 or so (if your camera has it).

In other words, you're really too hard on yourself. Your images have lots of atmosphere. They're also a bit sad and lonely. I hope you're not too depressed by the winter.

If you want to improve your photography, in your case I don't know if it's as much a matter of learning to shoot them better, rather than learning to recognize what's good in them. You do have an instinct about it, both the pictures and your personal ranking of them shows that much. What you need is a bit more confidence. I hope you'll stick around and maybe this course will help you achieve that.

That was the last one for today. I'll try a few more tomorrow...

Petteri
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Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

ann klein said:

I would like to join in also if its ok that im a beginner. i have
taken many pictures but nothing worth talking about except one of a
court house. I dont know much about composition or any of the
manule modes on my camera but would like to learn. Its wonderful
that you are taking your time to do this thanks.

Click to expand...

Of course! Jump right in.

Looks like the "homework" is pouring in fast, though, so I might not be able to give all of it the attention it deserves; I hope people will take the cue and fill in for me. I'd really like to get you folks talking photography with each other -- it's far better than me dictating what's right and what's wrong.

Petteri
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Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

I just looked at your photos again, and finally realized why I found it so hard to make any comments on them.

I think your pictures could benefit if there was a clearer subject in them; if there was an easy way to fill in the blank in "This is a picture of ."

How about if you tried getting back to the very basics, and took pictures of things? Not scenes or views or lines or geometries, but just things: like that bench in one of the shots. They could be big things or little things, near or far, as long as they're identifiable as discrete somethings.

Petteri
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Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Petteri Sulonen said:

I just looked at your photos again, and finally realized why I
found it so hard to make any comments on them.

I think your pictures could benefit if there was a clearer subject
in them; if there was an easy way to fill in the blank in "This is
a picture of ."

How about if you tried getting back to the very basics, and took
pictures of things? Not scenes or views or lines or geometries, but
just things: like that bench in one of the shots. They could be big
things or little things, near or far, as long as they're
identifiable as discrete somethings.

Petteri
--



Portfolio: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/index/ ]
Pontification: [ http://www.seittipaja.fi/ ]

Click to expand...

--
Jim Rickards
Photo critiques are always welcome.