Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Near Condom  (Read 1052 times)

GEOFFREYJAMES

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
Near Condom
« on: February 16, 2013, 09:32:50 am »

I really like Gascony -- the people are slightly larger than life,  and the food hearty and landscape unspoiled.Leica M9,  Elmarit 28mm.
Logged

RedwoodGuy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 417
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2013, 09:42:09 am »

I really like Gascony -- the people are slightly larger than life,  and the food hearty and landscape unspoiled.Leica M9,  Elmarit 28mm.
What a fortunate find - the way that car is painted is fascinating. This is a humorous photograph that is almost perfectly constructed. The basis of it is the color compliments and the quaintness of the scene (well it's quaint to me) and it works very effectively. It's pleasant, interesting and gives off a good vibe.

I do have to question the inclusion of the black hood on the right. I've tried to make it work for me, but in the end, I prefer cutting it out of the view and simplifying and unifying the subject matter to the funny colored car. Of course, you may have a reason to keep it in there - still fine. I enjoyed this and got a bit of a laugh when it opened up.
Logged

Bruce Cox

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1077
    • flickr
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #2 on: February 16, 2013, 10:12:01 am »

I find my attention drawn to the white shutters and their role in the picture.

Bruce
Logged

cjogo

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1469
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #3 on: February 16, 2013, 01:18:36 pm »

I drove one of those around -- so I would fit in better -- on many travels to France ;)
Logged

amolitor

  • Guest
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #4 on: February 16, 2013, 01:44:38 pm »

The frame feels kind of random to me, I agree that the fragment of  a car on the right doesn't belong.

I kind of like the echoing of the paint job on the car with the architectural outlining around the windows and doors, and the car's kinda cool. Still, I can't make out of this is a picture of a car, or a picture of a scene around and including a car. A little wider or a little tighter would clarify that for me, and I think would make a stronger picture. Well, for me, anyways.
Logged

GEOFFREYJAMES

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2013, 02:18:35 pm »

Thanks for the comments.  I must admit that,  while I'm almost dogmatically against cropping,  I did think of taking the car out.   For what it's worth,  I think the photograph works better as a 24 in print,  because it's not just about the car but the crazy doorway with it's punning name (pot-en-ciel) which can be a pot in the sky or potential,  and the shelf of ceramics which leads to me to believe that the householder is also the car-owner.  But it's finally a holiday snap, really. 
Logged

RedwoodGuy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 417
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2013, 05:01:28 pm »

Thanks for the comments.  I must admit that,  while I'm almost dogmatically against cropping,  I did think of taking the car out.     
Interesting comment. What is the dogma?
Logged

GEOFFREYJAMES

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2013, 06:39:55 pm »

It's an "almost" dogma.  I find it a good practice to work within the frame I am given.  I like the square a lot,  and if I am shooting with a Mamiya 6,  why would I want to start fiddling around with verticals and horizontals?  I like the 35 mm ratio,  and 4x5,  although I am not crazy about 5x7.  It's not that HC-B didn't crop (although he did crop what was probably his most famous photo, In front of the Gare St. Lazare.)  Walker Evans cropped quite a lot,  and there are no real rules,  but I like to work with my first vision,  as well as what is happening at the edge of the picture.  I also shoot either in B/W or colour,  even in digital,  and believe you to figure out what you are doing when you are shooting.   Of course, digital workflow renders everything moot --  you can do so much with an image,  but there so much stuff that looks to me artificial and over-processed.  I have been out this evening with a new Leica Monochrom.  It is liberating to be able to shoot in really low light. 
Logged

kencameron

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 840
    • Recent Photographs
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2013, 07:57:06 pm »

I have to confess I spent a few seconds looking for the condom, before the penny dropped. I like it as it is, uncropped and in between a picture of a car and a picture of a car in a location. The temptation to crop out the other car would be strong but I think there is a case for resisting it.
Logged
Ken Cameron

stamper

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5882
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2013, 05:15:53 am »

It's an "almost" dogma.  I find it a good practice to work within the frame I am given.  I like the square a lot,  and if I am shooting with a Mamiya 6,  why would I want to start fiddling around with verticals and horizontals?  I like the 35 mm ratio,  and 4x5,  although I am not crazy about 5x7.  It's not that HC-B didn't crop (although he did crop what was probably his most famous photo, In front of the Gare St. Lazare.)  Walker Evans cropped quite a lot,  and there are no real rules,  but I like to work with my first vision,  as well as what is happening at the edge of the picture.  I also shoot either in B/W or colour,  even in digital,  and believe you to figure out what you are doing when you are shooting.   Of course, digital workflow renders everything moot --  you can do so much with an image,  but there so much stuff that looks to me artificial and over-processed.  I have been out this evening with a new Leica Monochrom.  It is liberating to be able to shoot in really low light.  

It looks as if Russ has a new best friend? ;) I would definitely have cropped it. Being restricted by a frame restricts your vision imo.
« Last Edit: February 17, 2013, 05:17:28 am by stamper »
Logged

amolitor

  • Guest
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2013, 06:26:18 am »

Not cropping is just a point of discipline, like any other.

There are a lot of choices one has to make in taking a picture. Nailing a few of them down in advance helps you focus on doing a better job with the other choices. That said, when you're selling photographs, or for whatever reason you are no longer working with a picture in the realm of "how can I make myself a better photographer" then all bets are off. All tools should be considered to be applicable.

On the other hand, RSL's idea that the original framing is usually the best has some merit. There's an element of trusting yourself involved here, which is valuable enough to take very seriously.

Still, when the subject is essentially SQUARE and the camera on hand is 2:3, trusting yourself isn't enough. Yourself might choose not to shoot it, or might choose to shoot it and crop.
Logged

GEOFFREYJAMES

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #11 on: February 17, 2013, 09:32:51 am »

I am not quite sure what would constitute an essentially square subject, and why that would necessitate cropping.  I think it's the frame that makes the subject.   It's interesting to consider Diane Arbus,  who became much better when she stopped shooting 35mm and restricted herself to the wide-angle Rollei and Mamiya.   The frames are uncropped -- she kept the rebate - but oddly enough the photographs never seem to fall into the static quality of the square.  She just used what she had with intuition and skill.  She also knew how to use fill-in flash. 
Logged

RedwoodGuy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 417
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2013, 09:33:32 am »

It's an "almost" dogma.  I find it a good practice to work within the frame I am given.  I like the square a lot,  and if I am shooting with a Mamiya 6,  why would I want to start fiddling around with verticals and horizontals?  I like the 35 mm ratio,  and 4x5,  although I am not crazy about 5x7.  It's not that HC-B didn't crop (although he did crop what was probably his most famous photo, In front of the Gare St. Lazare.)  Walker Evans cropped quite a lot,  and there are no real rules,  but I like to work with my first vision,  as well as what is happening at the edge of the picture.  I also shoot either in B/W or colour,  even in digital,  and believe you to figure out what you are doing when you are shooting.   Of course, digital workflow renders everything moot --  you can do so much with an image,  but there so much stuff that looks to me artificial and over-processed.  I have been out this evening with a new Leica Monochrom.  It is liberating to be able to shoot in really low light. 
Thanks for your explanation. I understand.

I wonder though if any viewers of photographs know or care if an image was cropped?
Logged

stamper

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5882
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2013, 09:36:41 am »

Thanks for your explanation. I understand.

I wonder though if any viewers of photographs know or care if an image was cropped?

+1

GEOFFREYJAMES

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 80
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2013, 10:05:01 am »

Thanks for your explanation. I understand.

I wonder though if any viewers of photographs know or care if an image was cropped?

Not in the least.  It only matters to me. 
Logged

RedwoodGuy

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 417
Re: Near Condom
« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2013, 10:46:47 am »


Excellent. Then I take back the suggestion of removing the truck on the right. It would spoil the photographers intentions. And for me, those intentions are far more interesting than quibbling around with scissors. That's why I asked the way I did, and I am impressed with your immediate answer. It means you really know what you want to express and how.

Dogma like that can be a useful driver in your art journey. I would only offer one tiny suggestion: don't ALWAYS allow the dogma to rule. Test it out from time to time to see if it is still how you want to go. If it is, fine.

Thanks. I really enjoy the photo.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up