Time Machine

Some distortions of photography are unavoidable. One of them is the space compression that condenses three dimensions down to two, eliminating depth. The other is the elimination of time. Well, actually time is included in a picture. In order to make a sensible and clear picture it is often a very brief moment that is captured. However, especially at night, a long moment can be captured. Minutes to hours can be recorded if the light levels are low enough. If nothing moves things still look clear. However, when there is movement, it is the sum of all the movement which is recorded. This can produce an interesting image.

This is some bougenvillas that were waving in the breeze. The exposure is many minutes long. It is also intentionally longer than needed and this has turned night into day.

Reality is Overrated

This is a picture of a lecture hall at my work. It really looks very little like this. The effect is just a result of the lens (which flared a little and lost some contrast), the film (which is exaggerating the texture a little) and most importantly, the light. Lighting is the single most important element in any photograph and the challenge of the landscape photographer is that God is in charge of the lights.

Sometimes a photograph is striking because it looks so real. Sometimes, like this, because it doesn't.

What Strikes You?

Sunflowers are great. They have large blooms, a nice shape and lots of detail. I love sunflowers. However, this picture highlights another aspect of sunflowers. Their spikey hairiness. I highlighted this using a very thin depth of field. For this you need to get as close as possible with as wide an aperture as possible. When you do this you have a very tiny amount of the image that is in focus. You can highlight with focus, lighting or framing.

Alternate Light II

This is another example of trying out different lighting. It was taken using the LED light from a key fob to spotlight the rose bud. Don't be afraid to experiment.

Alternate Light

The definition, etymologically speaking, of photography is "light painting". You may think you are taking a picture of an item but it is how that item is framed and lit that makes the picture.

This picture is lit by the incandescent lights inside the house coming through the open door.

The Lie That Tells The Truth

Sometimes things look just as you want when you take the photo. Sometimes, however, it may take a little more work to convey what you want to convey with a picture. This is when it is essential that you have a clear vision of what you want the picture to convey.

This image is from a rusty ornate door. It was sidelit by late sun and this emphasised the warm rust colours and the texture. I wanted to convey this.

My first challenge was that the door was tall and my vertical shot of it would display so small on the screen that the texture would be lost. I decided to do a square crop of just four of the circular designs. DON'T BE AFRAID TO CROP. The best way to crop is with the camera but if a taken picture needs cropping then do it. Ansel Adams famously said, "There is nothing worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy idea."

Having cropped the picture, my second challenge was that the gate wasn't actually symmetrical. It was thicker on the hinge side and the pattern was shifted accordingly. This would be very obvious in the tight crop. My solution was to rotate the picture ninety degrees. This would not be obvious for two reasons. First, the picture included nothing outside the door which would give any context to what is up or down. Second, I rotated the image such that the sun was coming from the top rather than the side. This is still a plausible scenario. If I had rotated the other direction (so that the sun illuminated from the bottom) then the image would have looked very "wrong".

Both the crop and the rotation could be considered "falsifications" of the image but this is a falsely purist viewpoint. I start making judgements about the world the moment I take up the camera. In this case the "truth" of what caught my eye (the colour, texture and symmetry of the design) were enhanced by my actions.

Be Prepared

Last week we had a sudden cloud of fine sand blown in. It caused a wonderful golden light but only lasted for a few minutes. I saw it and snatched my camera bag. This picture shows the light coming in the window by the front door. I got outside and took a couple shots of some flowers. By the time I went in for a different lens the light was gone.

The key to getting the shots I got is being prepared. Try to always have a camera to hand. Make sure it is ready. If it is film keep spare rolls handy. If it is digital keep the battery charged and have a spare at hand. Make sure there is always plenty of room on the memory card. If you are in the habit of changing settings on the camera always set them back to the defaults before you put it away. If you use a camera bag maybe you don't need to keep the lens cap on. Do what you need to do so that the camera is ready the moment you need it.

Interesting Shapes

To me, these sunflower buds look almost like tentacled sea creatures.

Geometry and . . . Anti-Geometry?

There are a lot of things that help this picture to work. The colours are nice and there is plenty of the patina referenced in the previous post. I think one of the things that really sets this apart, though, is the zones. If you look at the geometric divisions in this image you will see that there are zones with different textures and styles of texture. Even the "lift handle" has a role to play. It is the one element in the picture that clearly stands above the rest and its shadow follows a line started by a metal plate near the top of the image.

The Power of Patina

Patina is the record of what life has dealt to a perishable object. In a harsh climate like Doha's this develops quickly. Things that may have lacked texture and interest when new can gain whole new levels of depth once time and nature take their toll. All that's left is to find a good composition.

One Man's Trash

I recently took some shots that really surprised me. I had about a roll and a half of shots I was sure were going to be pretty good. They had been carefully taken with tripod at night of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. I wanted to process the film so I stopped by some junk to finish the roll. I knew I had some decent late morning light left and but I was totally amazed when the film came back. I had trusted my instincts and found some real treasure.

Subtle is Nice Too

Whilst it's true that more colour and contrast can often improve an image there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all. This bit of sunset sky, for example, was a very soft scene. To be successful as an image required soft processing. In this case it means an image whose tones are all compressed around a small area near the centre of the tonal range. To maximise the contrast on this image would be to destroy it.

Focus is Optional

Sometimes something can be a good subject -- especially at night -- if all detail and other points of reference are taken away. The subject here is one of the light banks which light the exterior of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha and two palm trees. There forms are still just about recognisable and there is nothing else to be seen. This makes for a really -- pardon the pun -- focussed image.

Balance in The Frame

This is one of those areas that takes some judgement. There are plenty of rules of thumb. Some having to do with thirds, some with diagonals, some with logarithmic spirals. All of these are useful things to try but at the end of the day the best thing is to look at your picture in a small size and judge it for yourself. Often just a few pixels in one direction will throw the balance off of a picture. After a while you will get a sense for what works.

Find a Detail

When visiting a great architectural marvel like Doha's Museum of Islamic Arts there is a natural desire to make the building the star of the show. A great building, though, has often had so many good pictures taken of it that it is hard to come up with something fresh. Always keep your eyes peeled in all directions. I was attracted to the two large spotlight grids that light the museum's exterior. The lights are a nice shape and the shafts of light against the night sky are satisfying.

Combining Elements

Often a good picture can become a better picture if you can combine some things in one picture not often seen together. What appears in this picture is a night shot of Doha's Museum of Islamic Arts which would be a reasonable picture in its own right. By getting the moon and star and mast of the ship all loosely aligned through the centre of the picture, however, the picture has been given more interest. Always be careful that you are not detracting from the central theme of the picture. Strong pictures are usually simple.