This is a continuation of a previous post when I talked about showing scale in a landscape photograph. Since I’m not a Purist when it comes to taking landscape photos, I like to give the viewer a sense of how vast an area is when I look through the viewfinder. For me, it puts things into perspective. It also gives the viewer a chance to discover new elements in my images. For example, a person or object somewhere in the frame that’s not immediately seen. Since I’m a follower of the psychology of Gestalt, I want the viewer to become an active participant in my thought process, and by having him discover new things when looking at my work, he’ll do just that.
There is another way that I like to show scale in my photos, and that is to show a person or object in relation to something much larger and man made. There’s a dichotomy created when I put a person in opposition to something that’s larger and/or more powerful. Animate verses inanimate. One of the ways to create Visual Tension is to have opposites sharing the same composition, thus competing with one another. The contrast creates energy, and the formula I’ve always given both in my online class with the BPSOP, and in the “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshop I conduct around the planet is: Tension=Energy.
Besides the visual tension that’s created, the photo takes on an editorial feel by communicating some sort of story. Why is that person doing whatever it is that he’s doing. Why are they there? Where is he exactly, etc.
Here are a few examples of showing scale in a non-landscape environment.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my 2012 workshop schedule. Come shoot with me sometime.
Don’t forget to AskJoeB a question and send me a photo you would like me to talk about.
JoeB
Hi Joe,
I have a question about the image with the silos and the guy riding the bicycle. Why so much black. I’m not sure how that adds anything to the image. Couldn’t you just eliminate 3/4 of the bottom and 1 /2 of the large silo?
Ken
Ken,
You’re taking this photo out of context. It was shot for a companies annual report that had among other locations a place where CNG natural gas is brought in and stored. CHG is probably the most volatile gas out there and is very dangerous. When we arrived, our car was searched for cigarette lighters!!!.
The way workers traveled around the plant was by bicycle. What you see is a worker traveling across a protective type bike lane at sunrise towards those silos that store the natural gas. Since the side facing me was in shadow, and hid a lot of bad stuff, it became a design element as the worker became a silhouette. The point of the photo was to show the worker/bicycle and the entire silo…not 1/2 of it.
Since it was a very ugly location, with absolutely nothing to photograph, I went with a minimalistic/graphic approach to solving their problem.
JoeB
Thanks Gregory!!!
JoeB