Did it create Visual Tension?
A past online student with the BPSOP, sent me this photo to review. Like always I like to show the actual message, since so many of my fellow photographers have experienced similar situations and have had the same questions. Here’s what tom had to say:
“Hi Joe,
Took this shot of the Sydney Opera House almost an hour before sunrise – 120 seconds at f/13, 70mm on a full frame camera.
When I’m shooting, I’m always remembering the artist palette you taught me in the online BPSOP courses – or at least trying to. In this shot, I was thinking about tension, perspective, negative space, line, texture, and of course, light. The main focus was to create tension by putting the strong, smooth, and very simple diagonal of the bow of the cruise ship close to the complexity and texture of the Opera House, leaving enough negative space to define each clearly but not so much that they become separated.
Did it do it (create tension)?
Also, I’m not sure how quickly a viewer will be able to see that the strong white triangle is the front of a ship, there may not be enough there for them to fill in the rest in their mind (closure). But also not sure it makes much difference to the overall appeal of the shot whether that is a ship or a building or a UFO. Would appreciate your thoughts on that.
I did make a few lightroom adjustments. Brought the shadows up a bit and the highlights down, as the sails of the Opera House were a bit dark but the lights around it were a bit strong. Added contrast and decreased clarity. And increased both the saturation and the luminance of the blues, but left the other colours alone..
It’s a really nice photo,beautifully lit. So many areas to look at, and besides in my BPSOP class, I also talk a lot about ways to keep the viewer around longer in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I conduct around our planet. Having him discover new things when looking at your image, and moving him around the frame are two ways to keep him around.
Here’s my only problem: Since you were there standing in your three dimensional reality, you know that it’s a very large ship. However, you won’t be around to explain what this large object (that takes up just about fifty percent of your frame) is to the viewer. It will have to stand on its own and be a ‘quick read’. My question to you is…to you think that someone living in a place that is not bordered by water of any kind will know what it is?
As far as tension is concerned, yes it does generate tension. By minimizing the negative space between the ship and the Opera House, you create Tension. The use of light, and contrast also creates Tension.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful image with us, and I’m glad you’re thinking about my “did it do it” list for good composition we worked on in our online class.
FYI, a triangle has three sides, not four.
What do you think about it darker?
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/barabanjoe. Check out my upcoming workshops at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
