[clackers]

Good morning, everyone. I'm in trouble at work, I think.

In a safety meeting last week they asked me what steps I'd take in a fire.

Apparently, 'Really big and fast ones' was the wrong answer.

So I went for a job interview at Ikea yesterday.

The manager said, "Come in, make a seat!"

This week I want to talk about conjunction as an artistic technique. What you'll do is link together two subjects in your frame.

You might in street photography compare the activities of an old person in the scene with a young person, as if you're comparing their states of mind at their different stages of life. You might in product photography link what's being sold with another household object that suggests affluence.

Here is a shot I did below with the K-1 and Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 where the link between the ball and the sun is geometric. It's important to compose to get the proportions and distances between the objects to be to your satisfaction.

To finish with, there's the story of little Johnny who's 'playing truant' from school one day looking at stuff in his parents' room when suddenly his mother comes home with a man. He hides in the closet.

Suddenly the closet door opens, the man comes in and closes the door, just as he hears his father come into the room.

He whispers, 'Ewe weee, sure is dark in here.'

The man whispers "Shhhhh. Don't make any noise."

Johnny says, "Give me twenty bucks or I'm going to scream."

The man gives him $20 and they wait until his father is gone.

A few weeks later little Johnny is feeling really guilty about what he's done. Even though he hasn't been to confession for years, he decides to confess.

Upon entering the box he says, 'Ewe wee, sure is dark in here.'

The priest replies, "Please don't start that crap again."


Next Week in Beginners Tips: Eye Direction (Part One)

Find the rest of the series here: Clackers' Beginners Tips (Collected) - PentaxForums.com

[pschlute]

"Takes the opportunity for a gratuitous post"

[swanlefitte]

As usual I enjoyed the post and it got me thinking more about the topic. I am constantly working through ideas anyway. So some might enjoy some of my insights (or not).

I was just watching a guy talk about how communication needs to ground the audience. Doing photography, we always hear how a photo needs to tell a story, but a story is just one way to ground the audience. A situation in nature yesterday and this tip and photo worked in conjunction to get me thinking.

I really like your photo but there isn't much of a story. What your photo does is ground the audience. The geometric similarities and layout, and the light and dark is something our minds can relate to. The hands ground us to the human quality and the position shows us the ball is above. In my mind, the ball is going up and the sun is going down because the photo is anchored(grounded) to those concepts. In reality the sun could be going up and the ball dropping but the visual cues that attach me to the photo and allow me to connect say otherwise.

I mentioned my nature encounter as another reason for my thinking about this so I will tell that too. A doe and her two fawns came through the woods and were surprised by us. I wanted a shot that showed this. My first shot was wide to capture all the information. I got that. It was a "snap shot". The one fawn stood behind the mother and the mother was half obscured by vegetation. The other fawn was not very close. I had a photograph of the encounter but not of what made the encounter meaningful to me. There was nothing to ground it. There was no connection between me as the viewer to any of the deer and the brush worked to disconnect me and the deer. I focused on the single fawn and got that connection even though I lost much of the information.

Your photos has a low sun and hands, it has the shapes, it grounds the viewer, more info isn't needed. Knowing the size of the hands and the size of buildings allows us to know the sense of space. More info isn't needed. The conjunction then focus's our attention and makes the profoundness of this space tangible. The conjunction of the symmetry of the circles and the square frame also gives this. I think if it was framed in a rectangle, losing that conjunction would upset the stability. The photo contains just the info needed without extraneous info to distract. The conjunctions act as means to attract our attention to the relationship.

Thanks for getting me thinking. Beginner's tips are attached to the rest of the iceberg.

[biz-engineer]

Here is a shot I did below with the K-1 and Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 where the link between the ball and the sun is geometric. It's important to compose to get the proportions and distances between the objects to be to your satisfaction.

C'mon, just say you fired a burst and got lucky

[swanlefitte]

C'mon, just say you fired a burst and got lucky

Even if a burst was fired, why does one make a good photo compared to the rest? Every one of my best nature photos have an element of luck. Even if I had the best lens, most shots would be bad. Only when the bird, the light, and the environment work together do I get a really good shot. At best, a longer, great lens, would still give me a better shot.
In short, a great lens lets me get a better mediocre shot, or a better pre-planned shot. The "hero" shot is all about being there.

[swanlefitte]

I have photographed this bird about 500 times. I have shot it form distance and close. Unless the sun is at it, and I am in the right location it is a sparrow. Luck is the only thing that matters.
at best a longer lens would allow me to get this shot from farther away.

[csa]

I'm enjoying each and every tip! Keep them coming!

[clackers]

"Takes the opportunity for a gratuitous post"

Love your conjunction by colour, Peter!

Don't be afraid to Photoshop their hues to match even closer as is plausible, since such a picture is about deliberate artistic concept rather than photojournalism.

[clackers]

Doing photography, we always hear how a photo needs to tell a story, but a story is just one way to ground the audience. ...

Thanks for getting me thinking. Beginner's tips are attached to the rest of the iceberg.

Yeah, thanks for your thoughts, Chris.

I'll begin by saying I love narrative. And if you've seen my gallery here or Flicr, narrative, suggested or literal, is a large part of my photography.

But story telling is just a part.

For instance, I really like abstract photography, where it's not possible to even work out what we're looking at, let alone what the narrative is.

[clackers]

C'mon, just say you fired a burst and got lucky

(Laughs)

I had to create the luck, actually.

This is a beach volleyball game, and I had to move about several times and take many frames before I got a picture I liked, this is no snapshot.

It was important to underexpose, because the round shape is the only similarity with the sun, any visible details would be differences, and weaken the conjunction.