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Wednesday 6 May 2009

All about Composition and your Camera

All about Composition and your Camera

ILLUSION

Introduction


How people love decorating things with stolen adjectives. The colour of music - they would say. They would talk about the music of a poem, the movement of sculpture, the depth of a landscape, the speaking likeness of a portrait. Do they mean any thing ? They do. There is sense behind these figures of speech. It is the indication of the artist's ultimate goal : to do more than his technique could produce by itself.
He will recognise the limitations of his craft and - fight them. He will struggle to create an illusion in place of those qualities which his technique must go without. The composer wants you to see the colour of his music, the poet wants you to hear the tune of his words, the painter wants you to feel the depth of his world.
The photographer, too, wants us to realise colour, space and movement, while looking at a piece of black and white paper ; and not just to try to make you believe in them, while he is laboriously explaining, "The sea was deep blue and endless, and those flying sails were white as a seagulls wings." If he is any good he will compel you to see that blue - that endlessness - that flight.

3 comments:

  1. Always inspirational to read your posts of this sort. Ever consider publishing?

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  2. I think we all adore black and white photos. But taking them is another matter. There is difficulty in creating a near perfect composition and illusion.

    Question for you; have you ever approached a scene you wish to photograph where everything was "perfect", lighting, clouds, weather, sun's angle; but were not inspired to do so and simply left to photograph on another day?

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  3. The answer to your question Dusty Lens is "Yes". I can have all the perfect elements but if I can't or don't see the final composition I am looking for then no image will be taken. Not quite true, I will take the image and have a good look at it back in the office on the screen and try to find out what is wrong and how can I improve the image.

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