Going Walkabout
On a well beaten path off trail in Great Falls, Va., I came across this small tarn. A steep and rocky climb down to the edge of the pool and then up again to a rocky ledge providing an overlook. For once remembering what I am supposed to be practising this week, I tried out different perspectives and attempted to achieve sharpness front to back. Here are four views. The first, from the edge of the pool seems to me now pretty blah. At the time the rock face was quite interesting containing ledges with some white and pink flowers. But all the detail gets lost. Picture 2 is pretty awful - everything intervenes in one's view of the pool. Picture 3 is better, I think, but it is awfully clutttered - what is the viewer supposed to be looking at? The photographer can't seem to make up his mind as to whether it is the foreground or the background that is of interest. Finally picture 4 achieves a simple uncluttered view of the pool and, guess what, it is pretty blah too. There was an interesting picture here, I think, just failed to get it.
1 comment:
I think your continuing commitment to your practice (getting out early and often) and your own self-analysis is truly the way to go in becoming a better photographer. Essentially you are honestly listening to and trusting your self, as you respond to the place you have come to, while remembering elements of technique. And the same afterward, in the very different process of evaluating your work.
For my taste, the third image, which you may find cluttered, is beautifully organized to reveal the complexity and integrity of an intimate environment with many parts that add up to a complete whole. This is not to everyone's taste - you anticipate a typical critique. But I think the image works as an expression of spring light, lighting up spring greens. My eye keeps moving within the image in keeping with what the image wants to be - if that makes any sense.
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