So, what do you think?
I just love it when one of my fellow photographers submits an image for me to take a look at and critique. If I can help out by making suggestions that will ultimately have an impact on the way they approach their next photo, then so much the better.
As always, I like to let people read what the photographer had to say. The reason being that so many out there have had a similar experience or have had identical questions. Here’s what Greg had to say:
“Joe,
In your SYFOM II class we worked on silhouettes and you said one of your “favorite ways to show a silhouette is to combine it with an environment that isn’t a silhouette”. I didn’t quite understand this at the time but as our class was ending I was at a local park trying to get a photo of this covered bridge that wasn’t just another documentary photo, like the ones in the park brochure.
I framed the bridge with the trees in the foreground and then this girl walked by with her dogs, as she walked through the covered bridge, I realized she would be silhouetted in the opening on the far side and fired off several frames before she was gone. I chose this angle to show the inside and outside of the bridge and the diamond shapes at the top of the walls, I also like the light coming through the trees. There’s two dogs but only one is visible. I also had to straighten it a little. So, what do you think?”
Harry talks about one of the three classes I teach with the BPSOP. I also share a lot of the same information in my “Stretching Your frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet. One of the lessons in my Part II class deals with the silhouette, and how to incorporate them into our imagery. The silhouette, among other elements on my Artist Palette, is a powerful tool in helping to take your photography what I call “up a notch”.
Here’s what I have to say:
Harry, you have done well ‘grasshopper’. It’s a wonderful photo that will definitely ‘stand the test of time‘.
The reason that the silhouette stands out from the environment around her is what’s called “Figure-Ground“, one of the six concepts that we work on in my third class on Gestalt. By having a dark object against a lighter background, it stands out in the composition. You also have created another concept in Gestalt, this one is called Continuance.By showing the road leading up to the bridge, you have made the viewer an active participant by moving him around your frame.
You have also framed her within a frame, one of the ways to generate Visual Tension that we also work on in my part II class.
You should pat yourself on the shoulder for creating a photograph that will indeed stand the test of time.
By the way Harry, I forgot to mention that I also love the little dab of light in the trees and on the structure, and actually wrote a post about it.
Well done!!!
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
