Interesting, when I see the landscape orientation, I think
poster, when I see the portrait orientation, I tend to think
postcard.
I now see what Erik means about cropping out areas lacking information content.
This was an aesthetic blind spot for me, and maybe I was trying to be too artsy, while missing a key element.
Reading this
interview with a local Bay Area photographer turned me on to
Hisoshi Sugimoto's work, and I must have been subconsciously adding big swaths of "space" to my images when framing them.
Now, after taking a closer look at his photos, it's rare for me to see no texture at all in large seemingly homogenous areas. These are clearly not zone "1" or "9". He retains detailed gradations of texture in bright and dark areas – even when, from a distance, seemingly blank areas take up half the frame. Now, how the heck do I convincingly add this kind of Immpressionist theme to my work?
It is always great to get input from the group on this forum. Thanks!