Matkatamiba Canyon mile 148
I wrote my last post about defining success during the interval that I teach a winter photography short course for Lifelong Learning. I talk a lot in class about what makes a successful photo outing and how that isn't the same as bagging a wall-hanger photo, especially early in one's photography experience.
I can tell who in my classes have been reading the on-line forums. They are the ones with the most anxiety about their gear. Read some of that nonsense and you'd come to believe that it's hopeless to make a good picture without a five figure investment in optics. I point out that I made this picture with a D70 and the kit lens, an outfit that has less features than any camera currently on the market. I'll make a few snide remarks about the "camera collectors" as I call them, people who spend way too much time reading specs, arguing on forums, but don't actually make pictures. Then we crack open our camera manuals (I make them bring them to class.--few of their covers have ever been creased by turning that first page) and learn how to turn on the histograms feature. The camera you know how to use is the best tool for the job, I say.
I recall an episode of a Julia Child series where she said to follow the recipe through the first time, then improvise from a position of strength. I find wisdom in that concept that extends far beyond the kitchen. Learn the rules: rule of thirds, never compose a line coming from the corner of a frame, don't put a subject in the bullseye of an image. Then break them, but deliberately and from a foundation of understanding, if it helps communicate my visual idea.
Experiments cost nothing in the field, if as beginning photographers we can give ourselves permission to fail in order to succeed. I think Julia summed it up for all sorts of creative endeavors: "The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude." Cultivating that attitude is a major part of my definition of success.
Comments (2)
I have never heard the rule about never composing a line coming from the corner of a frame. I do it a lot to put triangles into my compositions.
Why is it a bad thing?
Posted by Tommy Williams | February 4, 2010 5:32 PM
Posted on February 4, 2010 17:32
Tommy,
I think the theory is that lines emanating from the corner visually split the image and disrupt its flow. It sounds like the kind of lore expounded by "experts," particularly the kind that judge camera club competitions by enforcing "the rules." I've seen plenty of images that work fine while organized around the corners, and even one internet post that advises exactly the opposite.
Just last night in class we were looking at some photos by Charles Groff in LensWork 80 that broke another rule: leaving space around the subject. This photographer cropped the subjects right to the edges as a major design principle, and it worked well.
I told class this: it all comes down to what you like--they aer your photos.
Thanks for posting!
AT
Posted by Ann Torrence | February 4, 2010 6:01 PM
Posted on February 4, 2010 18:01