Page
created October 16, 2009
Sitting date: May 8, 2009
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| Ever
notice that the vast majority of the images you see have
similar height-to-width ratios? There are two
semi-"standard" ratios: one
proportionate to the standard 8x10 photo-print size, and
the other proportionate to the proportions of a 35mm
sensor (or a typical digital camera sensor). I can
understand that -- photographers want to use the entire
negative or digital image size. In fact, I
occasionally see film prints where the edge of the
negative itself appear as a border for the print.
Ever
notice that the vast majority of the images you see
place the subject of interest smack dab in the center of
the image, and that the subject tends to fill the image
space. I can understand that, too -- if you are
looking at a belly button, you want to see the belly
button, and you are inclined to eliminate any extraneous
distractions.
Well,
from the very first moment that I picked up a camera, I
resisted such tendencies. I love pictures with
unusual proportions (when it works). I love
putting the subject of interest off-center (when it
works). I love the sense of space. I love
strong & unusual compositions.
Don't
get me wrong -- pulling off these kind of images is a
difficult thing to do.
I
really love this picture -- it's just wide enough to
contain the entire patch of sunlight as it hits the
floor. I love the height, because the mirror on
the wall balances out the window itself. I don't
mind that Noname Jane is looking out of the image frame,
because
- You
can get an idea of what she is looking at, and
- She
is looking up, and the extra height of the image
contains her glance.
Compare
this image with the cropped version below. I think
the tall & skinny version is much more
exciting. Don't you? |
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I
like this image, too. I like how Noname Jane's
figure practically fills the little patch of sunlight --
the light on her body is different from the light in the
rest of the image, and this highlights her figure.
I like that I kept this image tall, so you can easily
see where this strong light is coming from. I like
that I positioned the camera so that you can almost see
the entire window frame.
Below
are some artistic effects applied to this image. |
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I
like unusual proportions in both horizontal &
vertical orientations. I suppose I could have
cropped out all that empty space on the left side of the
image, but I like that sheen in the floor molding.
That extra space gives you a better sense of the space
in the image. |
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Here's
the last image we made in this glorious patch of
sunlight. The exposure & post-processing was
tricky, and we kinda ran out of ideas.
But
after working these images, cropping & editing these
image -- I've got to say that these were very
gratifying. I had noticed that I had moved away
from that which I thought was a strength of mine --
unusual cropping & compositions that worked.
I'm glad to see that I've still got that in my bag of
tricks. |
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| We
had scheduled a two hour session, and to me that means
about two different setups. I was pleased that the
weather cooperated and gave us an opportunity to do some
fun images by my favorite window. For our second
setup, I had planned to try some studio lighting, designed
to emulate some skylight lighting. Go see. |
Studio
Session #1
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(Remember -- feedback is always appreciated)
| All
images (c) 2009 Looknsee Photography |
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