Subject or Photograph
This photograph was made in May, 2009 and has been in my rejects ever since. Image sharpness is something I don't worry about too much, but this picture is unacceptably un-sharp even by my admittedly somewhat low standards. Whether it was caused by missed focus, camera shake, or both I cannot ascertain. In addition, the composition is marred by the distracting diagonal line of tree-tops against the sky on the hill behind the barn. Even worse, this was the best of a half dozen shots I took of the barn. I was not having a good day.
And yet, every time I come across this photograph, something draws me in, makes me linger. Perhaps it is the forlorn look of the barn surrounded by un-planted fields, or maybe it's the old cars scattered in the weeds. The subject speaks to me from this photograph. The subject, not the photograph, is important.
We strive to make the best photographs possible and often fail. But sometimes the subject manages to speak through an artistically and technically flawed photograph. And sometimes, a picture that is wonderfully composed and technically perfect fails to speak at all.
Pentax K10D (digital converted to black and white in Photoshop)
The most distracting element is the small white building at the left. Otherwise it is a very interesting shot. The barn I find most unusual having a sort of half exposed basement due to the sloping ground.
ReplyDeleteRegards
Diego
Diego, I think I agree with you about the building on the left, although, to tell the truth I hadn't paid much attention to it.
ReplyDeleteBarns built into slopes like this are uncommon around here but you do come across them from time to time.
Funny, I think you've done an admirable job of relating the shape of the building to the sloping hill behind. A building always sits in an environment, and a successful photograph needs to deal with that *relationship* which this one does well. OK, I can't tell anything about sharpness from a web jpg. The only thing that bothers me is that the nose is cut off the mini-suv on the right edge, and there is room to have included it while still maintaining enough of the balancing white building on the left.
ReplyDeleteCarl, thanks for your remarks. You are right that a web jpg pretty well masks the sharpness issues, but it is enough of a problem that I could never make an acceptable print.
ReplyDeleteThe tree-line still unsettles me for some reason, but you are right about the nose of the van being cut off. I try hard to make everything in the frame work together, but often fail to grasp relationships that could improve the photograph. Thanks again.