A few things that I have read so far in Patterson's book have really struck me- especially the things he has written about light. Perhaps the most powerful statement came early on in the book, "Photography is painting with light". I always enjoyed art class, but I'm not sure I would have turned in to a fine artist. I tended to enjoy the textile classes most, but lost touch with it when I started raising my children. When my oldest was just 2 I took up photography and all those pictures I used to see in my head but just couldn't draw finally found their way into my world. I've always been fascinated with light, so Patterson's statement really made sense.
Later on in the book he delves even further in to the interaction between subject and light source. For this shot I wanted to "think the shot" through before I took it and I also wanted to use a strong and direct source of light. So after Jeff went to bed last night, I turned off the lights and used my flash light to provide the light source in this picture. I decided to shoot in black and white as well, to further bring out the contrast between the chair, the shadows and the areas where not light is shining at all.
Patterson wrote, "Previsualizing is a form of imagining. Plan to see a result in your mind's eye and then try to capture it with your camera. It can produce some unexpected but pleasant results." In my mind I saw the beam of light, the stark white of the chair, the shadow on the wall and the black background. My pleasant surprise was the reflection of the chair on the table top.
For those of you who want to push your photos to the next level, I would recommend this book. I am paying more attention to light than I ever did before, and I do think I've stepped up my photos because of it.
This is Great in B&W, i love your explanation of how you " think the shot" as i have so many in my mind that i would love to create! I will have to check into the book also! Thanks for sharing Ann, Great shot and reflections! :)
Four chairs. I see *four* chairs. The obvious one, the reflected one, the shadow one, and... a reflected shadow? A shadowed reflection? WTH?! Fav!
I don't know if you may have missed something by shooting in b&w. I saw a similar thing at my place the other evening, got a few shots but not good enough to put up. When I got them onto the computer and converted to b&w I found the shot lost some of its appeal. Specifically, the shadows were originally more a deep blue than anything, not "black", or "grey". I couldn't see it until I did the conversion and saw what was missing. Whether it was the sunlight, the window glass it travelled through, or what, I don't know, but it might be worth having a go at this in colour, using natural light, and seeing what you get if you can.
@photo_mum Thank you Pauline! @twr Thank you Timothy! @libertylady Thank you Alice! @salza Thank you Sally! @maggiemae Thank you Maggie! @nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole! I think I am only just beginning to "get it". I have a long way to go! @mzzhope Thank you Hope! Patterson's book is making me more intentional as I photograph. I think I've always had an eye for it, but now I am analyzing why something catches my eye before I click away. @yaorenliu Thank you Yao. I do like the way the light is working in this photo. @la_photographic Thank you Laura and thank you so much for the fav!! @alia_801 Thank you Alia! And thank you for the fav! It means a lot!! @digitalrn Thank you Rick! @kerristephens Thank you Kerri! @cimes1 Thank you Carole!
@kaesebiscuit First of all thanks so much for the fav!! I appreciated your thoughtful comment because I had experimented with several different settings on the camera (the wonders of digital photography!!) and had shot a bunch off in color, but b/w was definitely the way to go. When I shot them off in color, the table top color came out more and "argued" with the reflection- i. e. you couldn't see the reflection as well. It seemed quirky to me that the color would do that, because the light and position of the chair did not change, so I chalked it up to the difference between b/w and color. Now, I did not try shooting it in color and then converting it, so I will try that and see what happens. I was watching an on-line photography piece recently where the photographer recommended doing that (or shooting in infrared and then working the colors in or out in the processing), but of course he was using a camera with all the bells and whistles and mine is an itty-bitty p & s. Sometimes all this info makes my head swim, but on the other hand the nuances of how a picture comes to be is fascinating. One approach works, another doesn't and it's all due to light. All this to say you've given me some food for thought and something worth experimenting with. Thanks again Mr. Mysterious for the fav and great idea!
Wow! This is a dramatic shot with light/dark and between light/dark contrasts. Five chairs in this shot: original chair, reflection, shadow of the reflection, shadow of the chair, and another shadow of the chair on the wall. I am very impressed by this shot. A fav.
wow! that's fantastic, ann! love the shadows and reflections at play here. and yes, black and white is the only way to go for this one. well-thought out shot, it's great!
@genealogygenie Thank you Kim! I can't take credit for the Book Club. It is actually a month long challenge that was set up by Katie @archaeofrog and is based on the book Photography and the Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson. She has done an excellent job of dividing the book up into sections for us to read and put into practice for our daily shots. I know I will be putting some of the things I've learned from this book into practice for months to come-perhaps forever! @maggiemae Thank you Maggie! I was so excited to see the new addition to our stat bar that tells you when a picture has made it to the PP! @prttblues Thank you Bev! This was a relatively simple shot- a dark room, a flashlight and a miniature chair.
@olivetreeann This is such a cool image, Ann, and I love all the explanation too! Love what we are all getting from the book club; this has been really cool! I'm thinking maybe we could try one again in a few months - Feb. always seems like a month in need of inspiration. :)
@archaeofrog Sounds like a good month for that Katie. Last year I did all b/w that month with one selective color shot on the 14th. It came out looking really cool. Maybe we could find a book on b/w with that in mind. I was thinking of doing it again. @taffy Thank you Taffy! And thank you so much for the fav! I was blown away that this showed up on the pp!
I don't know if you may have missed something by shooting in b&w. I saw a similar thing at my place the other evening, got a few shots but not good enough to put up. When I got them onto the computer and converted to b&w I found the shot lost some of its appeal. Specifically, the shadows were originally more a deep blue than anything, not "black", or "grey". I couldn't see it until I did the conversion and saw what was missing. Whether it was the sunlight, the window glass it travelled through, or what, I don't know, but it might be worth having a go at this in colour, using natural light, and seeing what you get if you can.
@twr Thank you Timothy!
@libertylady Thank you Alice!
@salza Thank you Sally!
@maggiemae Thank you Maggie!
@nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole! I think I am only just beginning to "get it". I have a long way to go!
@mzzhope Thank you Hope! Patterson's book is making me more intentional as I photograph. I think I've always had an eye for it, but now I am analyzing why something catches my eye before I click away.
@yaorenliu Thank you Yao. I do like the way the light is working in this photo.
@la_photographic Thank you Laura and thank you so much for the fav!!
@alia_801 Thank you Alia! And thank you for the fav! It means a lot!!
@digitalrn Thank you Rick!
@kerristephens Thank you Kerri!
@cimes1 Thank you Carole!
@steeler Thank you Howard!
@daisy Thank you Kathryn- and thank you so much for the fav!
@summerfield Thank you Vikki!
@pflaume Thank you Lisa! And thank you so much for the fav!!
@maggiemae Thank you Maggie! I was so excited to see the new addition to our stat bar that tells you when a picture has made it to the PP!
@prttblues Thank you Bev! This was a relatively simple shot- a dark room, a flashlight and a miniature chair.
@taffy Thank you Taffy! And thank you so much for the fav! I was blown away that this showed up on the pp!