Thursday, August 02, 2007

Photo of the Week

 
Trees, California, 1999
(Click on thumbnail for full image)

To view previous photos of the week, check out my flickr site.

Let me get back to you.

Posted by Dan Greenfield at 00:01:50 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |
Comments
1 - I really like this image which prompted me to ask: a)what constitutes compelling nature photography and b)what caught your eye? I looked to Ansel Adams for insight.

Early in his career, Adams joined Group f.64 with some fellow American photographers whose mantra was "to see the thing itself is essential"- with perfect focus, clarity, and balance. As his photography evolved, he said (in response to a comment that one of his photographs was
actually abstract), "I prefer the term 'extract' over 'abstract', since I cannot change the optical realities but only manage them." The rest is history as he became famous not just for his landscapes, but for his ability to extract details of nature, abstract shapes, and 11 tones of gray from reality.

Enough of Ansel...Let me get back to you :)...Your photograph is compelling because there is still something for my eye to do (as opposed to just documenting nature). It captures the linear strength and grace, texture, abstract shapes, lighting, and tones of gray of a small nature study (which is clearly what caught your eye). "To look at little extracts of nature is, in effect, to be asked to get down on your hands and knees."
Let me brush off the dirt......
 (Comment this)

Written by: Karen at 2007/08/03 - 22:27:51
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