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Author Topic: Emotion – The Magic Element  (Read 8908 times)

dreed

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Emotion – The Magic Element
« on: July 01, 2012, 04:03:03 pm »

The mud crack photo had me fooled as I was thinking it was perspective making the cracks shrink...

But whilst those those photos represent emotions at the time for the photographer, I'm not sure that I responded in any way.

To follow that meme a bit further, isn't that why it can be good to add clouds - to add drama and thereby provoke some sort of emotional response?

Which makes me wonder, can a photo provoke an emotional response if there isn't some element to it that creates drama?

p.s. you should always wear pants of some kind whilst hiking off trail, even if the they're dirty (or perhaps especially so), so that less skin is available for "rug burns" and direct contact by other nasties.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2012, 04:05:33 pm by dreed »
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2012, 02:51:23 pm »

The mud crack photo had me fooled as I was thinking it was perspective making the cracks shrink...

But whilst those those photos represent emotions at the time for the photographer, I'm not sure that I responded in any way.

To follow that meme a bit further, isn't that why it can be good to add clouds - to add drama and thereby provoke some sort of emotional response?

Which makes me wonder, can a photo provoke an emotional response if there isn't some element to it that creates drama?

p.s. you should always wear pants of some kind whilst hiking off trail, even if the they're dirty (or perhaps especially so), so that less skin is available for "rug burns" and direct contact by other nasties.



Well, I don't see any emotion either, thought I can understand the snapper's personal joy at the 'sign' in a ray of sunlight; to me, as an outsider, the best bit is that f27 has again just become an acceptable stop to use. Whew! For ages you were denied digital access to anything smaller than f9.9 - and that but grudgingly.

;-)

Rob C

dchew

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2012, 07:55:01 pm »

The mud crack photo had me fooled as I was thinking it was perspective making the cracks shrink...

But whilst those those photos represent emotions at the time for the photographer, I'm not sure that I responded in any way.

To follow that meme a bit further, isn't that why it can be good to add clouds - to add drama and thereby provoke some sort of emotional response?

Which makes me wonder, can a photo provoke an emotional response if there isn't some element to it that creates drama?

p.s. you should always wear pants of some kind whilst hiking off trail, even if the they're dirty (or perhaps especially so), so that less skin is available for "rug burns" and direct contact by other nasties.

I don't know if this attached image has an element of what you would call "drama", but I use it in a presentation to get a similar emotion point across.  Whenever I put this image up on the screen and ask what emotion people think of, either the first or second person says the word I am looking for: Lonely.  Now I don't consider it a particularly great image, but it seems to communicate an emotion.

Dave

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alainbriot

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2012, 10:20:17 pm »

Whenever I put this image up on the screen and ask what emotion people think of, either the first or second person says the word I am looking for: Lonely.  Now I don't consider it a particularly great image, but it seems to communicate an emotion.
Dave
Dave,

It certainly does convey the feeling of loneliness.  It is a visual metaphor in that it shows a single subject isolated from the other element of the image, the rock at the top.  The fact that the leaf is standing on ice increases the feeling of discomfort often assotiated with loneliness.
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LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2012, 12:30:02 am »

Quote
Whenever I put this image up on the screen and ask what emotion people think of, either the first or second person says the word I am looking for: Lonely.

Must be a cultural thing.
Most Canadians when they see some ice and a maple leaf, they would conclude there is more ice around the corner and most likely, also more dead leaves.  
Personally, when I noticed the brown maple leaf, it evoked immediately an image of freshly cooked pancakes with maple syrup.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2012, 02:24:07 am by LesPalenik »
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2012, 04:14:08 am »

No sense of loneliness in it for me, though I do understand why some see that; what I see is a sense of impending doom - of the small thing about to be crushed by the larger above it.

This could develop into an exciting guessing game where each writer tries his best to come up with a fesh interpretation... unfortunately, repeating one already played wouldn't score any points. How many kangaroos or silicone breasts can anyone take?

;-)

Rob C


P.S. Why did Meaningful Photographs morph into this Phase Two version? Was it an attempt to save on disk space on the Great Hard Drive in Space?
« Last Edit: July 03, 2012, 04:18:53 am by Rob C »
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dchew

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2012, 12:38:13 pm »

Sorry guys, LesPalenik made me hungry so I ran off to make pancakes.  Apparently I have spent far too much time in Canada the last several years.  Hmm; no scratch that. No such thing as spending too much time in Canada.

As usual, there is more to the story...  When presenting about photography I like to read from a section of Stephen King's book, On Writing.  One of his main points is that telepathy really does exist.  In fact writers and other artists use it all the time.  Writers sit at a table, type stuff, and years later someone reads it.  Emotions and other sensory perceptions come across the telepathic wires even with a moderately competent writer.  Same thing goes for photographers in my opinion.  After reading a passage from the book I put up the image to get the point across.  Always get lonely or loneliness from the crowd.  As Alain points out the image uses classic metaphors.  

If you are photographing things you love, those emotions come across without thinking.  Or maybe doing stuff you love while photographing works too:  Mountaineering - Alexadre Buisse; Watching pretty girls - Rob C; Spending time in Mexico - Michael.

None of this is rocket science and it is kind of obvious.  But I think it is a key ingredient to "talent" -  Being able to wear your heart on your sleeve in a way that comes across in your artwork.

Dave
« Last Edit: July 03, 2012, 12:47:48 pm by dchew »
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2012, 04:12:20 pm »


If you are photographing things you love, those emotions come across without thinking.  Or maybe doing stuff you love while photographing works too:  Mountaineering - Alexadre Buisse; Watching pretty girls - Rob C; Spending time in Mexico - Michael.

None of this is rocket science and it is kind of obvious.  But I think it is a key ingredient to "talent" -  Being able to wear your heart on your sleeve in a way that comes across in your artwork.

Dave


Well yes, you're right of course, but that's more easily said than done. I don't now anything about mountaineering so nothing about Alexandre Buisse, but as far as I know, Michael made his eff-off money doing many things and is now free to indulge in what pleaes him; I spent a lifetime finding the work to finance/provide what I enjoyed the most, which you accurately described, but in my case, to continue doing that without the clients around's impossible.

So, if anything, I’d have to say that choice of genre is something that you sometimes are able to decide for yourself, but quite often it chooses you, and unless you can provide the infrastructure which usually includes substantial piles of money as well as credible outlets (for professional work), you are scuppered, to be polite about it.

I know that many people are happy enough just to be able to use their camera stuff well, and their objectives are achievable on their own account; they should count their blessings!

There’s the famous (infamous?) Terence Donovan quotation which, to paraphrase as best I can, amounts to: “the problem for an amateur is finding a good reason to make a photograph.” A worse condition, in my humble, is having the desire, the ability and appetite, but not the outlet. You can lose your hair.

Doing something you love does, of course, help, but even then, with all the money, the location and the human resources you need, there are a hundred and one reasons why it can go pear-shaped on you, and it can and will. I’ve gone off (Corfu) on a two-week shoot that lasted two days because of model health problems; my first calendar shoot in Mallorca there was an extended altercation at security as we were leaving and my film bag was unceremoniously pulled out of my hands and thrust through the X-Ray and yes, Kodachrome 64 plus X-Ray produces greenish tan. My wife and I swore we’d never set foot in Mallorca again, never imagining that two years later we’d be living there. Fortunately, this time the client was with us and watched the event taking place from the inside of the barrier.

I should imagine that anyone with a great interest in anything that has a visual side to it, such as the mountain stuff you quoted as well as perhaps sailing, skiing, flying, and also surfing, can have a gloriously happy lifetime relationship both with the sport as well as the associated art.

If you love music, that’s when you can feel envious about Annie L and her Rolling Stone life (sans special chemical additives, of course, but I guess you couldn’t have one without the other in those days…).

Rob C


LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2012, 06:00:11 pm »

Quote
If you are photographing things you love, those emotions come across without thinking. Or maybe doing stuff you love while photographing works too

Well said. I love to be in and around water, with or without a paddle, and while doing so, sometimes I come across interesting photo opportunities. Just this past weekend, I was swimming in Lake Muskoka and as I was coming out from the water, I noticed a lonely seagull on a metal post near a boathouse. I framed the shot as I was I wading through the water, looking at the beach, shaking off the water from my imaging device, and enjoying life as I listened to the sound of the waves crushing against the old dock.

A strange feeling came over me, and as Peter Lik once said (actually, it could have been more than once), "I hope anyone who views this image finds themselves the same way I did when I pressed the shutter - calm, content and at total peace." I felt exactly the same way, so I did press my shutter and captured the feeling of utmost lonelines at that deserted Lake Muskoka beach. If you look carefully at the photo, you'll see that loneliness of the bird is accentuated by his position in the upper left corner, juxtaposed with the huge and dominating boathouse. The lonelines was just too much to bear even for the lowly seagull, and after a while he flew away to join his compatriots in a flock nearby.

One of the tricks of many great landscape photographers is vision and presence of mind: being able to visualize ahead of time what a particular image might look populated with the right elements, and having the camera ready when it happens. Great photo opportunities don't happen that often, and when they do, you may only have only few seconds to capture that single magic moment before it is gone. Having photographed some sunsets before, I knew that often the best opportunity presents itself after the sun has actually set down. Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to stick around and see what might happen.

As I was waiting, a brightly colored bird, most likely nesting at the southern end of the lake, flew by and landed on the perch. I was ready, and did press my shutter again, and this time I managed to capture an entirely different feeling. This is, what I call composing with color. A bright and cheerful bird slightly larger than your average seagull, stands proudly and on his own against the bullying shape of the square boathouse. This time, the feeling of lonelines has been replaced by a single, proud, and free bird, just oozing with vibrance, joy of life, and pure contentment.

Technical data:
Captured with a 35mm/1.8 Nikkor lens, ISO 200, at F8 and 1/250s, as I was standing in waist-deep water just in my stylish swimming trunks.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2012, 06:48:50 pm by LesPalenik »
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2012, 03:32:54 am »

Goodness, that's a bright kangaroo; could almost be mistaken for a parrot!

Rob C

TSJ1927

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #10 on: July 04, 2012, 12:56:46 pm »

I too got excited when I saw these Zion mud curls in 2011.  It's a small scene (front to back about 4ft.)  To me, its just part of the feelings of that day and the remembering the collections of photographs that day.  Must have struck a spark of "nice feelings"........... Emotions?
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LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #11 on: July 04, 2012, 02:04:26 pm »

Goodness, that's a bright kangaroo; could almost be mistaken for a parrot!

Rob C

Rob, it's a Canadian variety. Lately, the males have been especially colorful.
 
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #12 on: July 04, 2012, 03:14:42 pm »

Rob, it's a Canadian variety. Lately, the males have been especially colorful.
  


My God! A throwback to Carnaby Street!

Those were the G.O.D.s indeed, not just for photographers but for fashionistas of all the multiple sexes, and kangaroos too! I definitely remember having a thing about purple jeans, paisley-patterned shirts, Chelsea boots and a black Cecil Gee leather jacket/coat. I thought I was the bee's knees, going to see my clients all tarted up like that, my Samsonite briefcase swinging casually in my hand. Oh those years of innocence and belief, when one imagined oneself sophisticated and terribly cool. To tell the truth, compared with what was around in those days in the non-fashion-industry world, perhaps one really was!

Rob C

LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2012, 07:57:01 pm »


My God! A throwback to Carnaby Street!

Those were the G.O.D.s indeed, not just for photographers but for fashionistas of all the multiple sexes, and kangaroos too! I definitely remember having a thing about purple jeans, paisley-patterned shirts, Chelsea boots and a black Cecil Gee leather jacket/coat. I thought I was the bee's knees, going to see my clients all tarted up like that, my Samsonite briefcase swinging casually in my hand. Oh those years of innocence and belief, when one imagined oneself sophisticated and terribly cool. To tell the truth, compared with what was around in those days in the non-fashion-industry world, perhaps one really was!

Rob C

Fortunately, now that some camera manufacturers saw the light and started to offer their products in various color versions, you could match them to your pants.
If you are in habit of carrying three bodies, you could do it stylishly in the true RGB fashion - red Ferrari Hassy, green Panasonic, and blue Sony.  (If the Hassy is outside the budget, you can substitute it with a red Nikon D3200). We live in amazing times for photography!
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LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #14 on: July 05, 2012, 02:58:39 am »


p.s. you should always wear pants of some kind whilst hiking off trail,

Apparently, in some countries, they make you to wear pants even in the studio.
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #15 on: July 05, 2012, 03:53:34 am »

Photographer: I'd love to do some pictures of you in the nude.

Model: Well I'm broad-minded: you wear what you like - I'm keeping my clothes firmly on.

Obviously a time for a rethinking of the career path.

Regarding the spectrum of colourful clickers, Les, are they still essential for the well-dressed black/white photographer?

Rob C

dreed

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #16 on: July 05, 2012, 05:04:44 am »

Apparently, in some countries, they make you to wear pants even in the studio.

But is that to protect the person behind the camera or the person in front of the camera? Something to think about.
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LesPalenik

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #17 on: July 05, 2012, 05:46:28 am »


Regarding the spectrum of colourful clickers, Les, are they still essential for the well-dressed black/white photographer?

As long as high sensitivity is applied.
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Rob C

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Re: Emotion – The Magic Element
« Reply #18 on: July 05, 2012, 09:20:04 am »

As long as high sensitivity is applied.



That's a worry: does it imply anything about high ISO (Indeterminate Sexual Orientation) of the snapper who digs B/W (Bells & Whistles) or, on the other hand, of the viewer of this colourful spectacle who might, at root, be the cause of all this confusion, if it be confusion and not simply the status quo brought on by HH&H (High Humidity and Heat)?

A  bead of perspiration dulls my eye (and possibly my senses) and I shall repair to the kitchen to make a CTFB (Cheap Tea From Bags) instead of a proper one using LLs (Loose Leaves).

Rob C
« Last Edit: July 05, 2012, 09:21:54 am by Rob C »
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