Sky (symbols)

. . . what does blanket of white, or grey, signify? . . .

Depends on what else is going on in the photo and which . . . nut . . . is projecting the significance.

HTH

 

BLANKET OF FLUFF

 

a halo of snowflakes

 

******

encircles my * crown *

*********

 

alights on brisk hair

 

f l u t t e r s on lashes

 

dusts my wool coat

 

playfully *hangs*

on my winter * scarf *

 

numb fingers inside homemade gloves

gather around the warmth of the palm

 

flake friends

compress my boots

*****

*****

*****

leaving prints

and crunch -

 

as i walk

in pure white -

newness of life

 

a camouflaged bunny

appears so opal bright.

 

is he a shovelful of snow,

or born of a cookie cutter’s press?

 

an artist spreads s n o w f l a k e s

with his bunny tail brush

 

only irises and pupils,

pink noses and cheeks,

 

p e e k out from the artist’s blanket of fluff.

 

Kim Rodrigues © 2016

Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey

A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe

 

Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston © 1943

Sky - Inevitable part of nature. As most of nature, it can be endlessly fascinating one day, and incredibly boring the next. When shooting outdoors, the sky contains the prime source of light, and if cloudy it contains light modifiers one has to take into account. So, waiting for the right sky for me has as much to do with waiting for the right light as it has with waiting for the right composition. Clouds can add texture, density, shape, so they play into the composition part heavily.

 

When I am staring at the sky, I hardly ever feel like taking a photo. When I am taking photos, I judge the sky on the light it delivers and the compositional elements it can provide me. Somehow two seperate brain activities.

the right light

 

Right? What makes it "right"?

 

the right composition

 

Right? What makes it "right"?

 

I judge the sky

 

On what criteria?

 

the compositional elements it can provide me

 

What would those be?

Julie, feel free to ignore my posting if you cannot answer those questions for yourself. I think it's obvious enough what I tried to say.

I should have included "for you" in all of my questions. Given a piece of paper or a monitor display that you might show me of one of your tonal/color arrangements (aka photographs), how do you know what, in that tonal/color arrangement, is "right" for ... whatever it is that you are doing?

Thanks for reminding me why I no longer should be visiting this forum anymore.

See, it's true. Enhanced interrogation doesn't work.

Thanks, Supriyo. :) Maybe this will help Wouter.

Funny, I didn't sense Wouter needed help. And I doubt Supriyo did, either.

 

Nice thread, Supriyo. Maybe Julie will consider submitting a picture to it and stop trying to help those who don't need it.

Nice thread, Supriyo.

 

 

Yes, it is. The title word, Backdrop, is especially useful. Hmmm ... what is a backdrop? Oops. That's a question. Sorry if I scared anybody.

No need for anyone to be scared, Julie. Google it or get out your dictionary. That ought to get you some of the "official" meanings. If you want something better . . . and photographic . . . look through the thread and you'll see all the different ways people interpret "Backdrop." Various and assorted interpretations of a theme is kind of the point of many of the No Words threads. Sometimes, very loose and creative interpretations. No need to ask for verbal definitions. Just look—it's photography. Edited May 19, 2017 by Norma Desmond

Just look — it's symbols.

OK, Julie. Whatever you say. I've had enough for one morning.

Just look — it's symbols.

 

Julie, I'm trying to see what you're wanting others to comment on about how a sky acts as a symbol. I did my best with my one comment. Your reply didn't tell me anything about what you thought of it. You don't seem to be very engaged in your own thread going by your short answers.

 

And the quotes you posted in your OP that were not your own seemed to me to come off as just eloquent, sing song writing to point out the obvious on how people interpret the meaning of sky throughout the ages. I didn't see how those quotes about the sky as symbol could be conveyed in a photograph.

 

A weather gauge was the only way I could see the sky as a symbol as I pointed out in my previous post. And the word "backdrop" doesn't necessarily mean the sky is acting as a symbol either, only something to contrast against from the foreground. How's that a symbol?

"What does sky symbolize for you? What makes you wait for it? "Julie

 

Adds some drama to the photo...easy to emulate in P/S.

 

Of course photographers will wait for months to capture dramatic skies. Sort of like fishing; capturing the bad boy in the pond: Im not really into fishing...bit of a bore to me... I prefer photography.

 

Everyone to their own.

.

Edited May 19, 2017 by Allen Herbert

Julie, I'm trying to see what you're wanting others to comment on

 

 

Tim, please stop doing that. Don't think about what I want. Just think about the ideas. If what I post doesn't do anything for you that is totally, perfectly completely okay. I mean that sincerely. Take what interests you and leave the rest. That's what I do. If I don't respond enough to your post, who cares? Many people read these threads and many of them will find what you post interesting, useful, valuable and thought-provoking.

 

It's not about me! Say what you mean and mean what you say about the ideas.

"It's not about me! Say what you mean and mean what you say about the ideas". Julie.

 

It is about what you say and about your thoughts. Otherwise it would be a cold question and answer session constructed by a machine.

 

This is not a classroom with a teacher setting out impersonal questions with an exam to pass.

Human beings are about social interaction,;emotions, feeling and imagination.

 

Just think we are the matter of the universe....the universe is now looking at itself and trying to understand what it is and why.

Tim, please stop doing that. Don't think about what I want. Just think about the ideas. If what I post doesn't do anything for you that is totally, perfectly completely okay. I mean that sincerely. Take what interests you and leave the rest. That's what I do. If I don't respond enough to your post, who cares? Many people read these threads and many of them will find what you post interesting, useful, valuable and thought-provoking.

 

It's not about me! Say what you mean and mean what you say about the ideas.

 

Julie, nothing in my reply you quoted was asking for your approval on my take on this discussion. Your continuing to respond in short quips and one liners of approval is not providing anything I can learn from. Not interested whether you think it's okay.

 

I was asking you to engage in this discussion and clarify your intent. I asked you one question on how the sky is a symbol to you and you just brushed me off and focused on quoting one line in my response. I don't find this interesting at all, but exasperatingly confusing and pointless. You think that is okay?

 

You don't seem to be very interested in your own topic. I just said what I meant and I meant what I said.

In addition to the "Big Sky Country" of Montana, as Sandy describes, my home in Idaho has great views of sky and clouds in their many manifestations. Here, I was intending to photograph the horses shown lower in the image, but my focus soon changed when I looked up, and the sky and clouds became my dominant interest.

 

Clouds interest me not only visually and photographically, but because of their display of complex interactions of physical phenomena such as condensation, evaporation, sublimation, wind, temperature, pressure and pressure gradient. Like snow flakes, no two clouds are ever exactly the same!

 

wind, temperature, pressure and pressure gradient.

 

 

I once watched an educational series (very good, too) on Meteorology where the instructor would repeat, in a sing-song monotone, at regular intervals, "Temperature differences make pressure differences. Pressure differences drive winds," from which, he would go on to explain, most of meteorology can be derived. Like "Rocks fall downhill" gets you most of geology. Eventually.

 

But I'm thinking your clouds are about more than meteorology. They don't look like the clouds I see in my meteorology text books.

Well, there are a variety of clouds in the photo. Cumulus and perhaps some stratus lower down, and cirrus at higher elevations. And perhaps cumulonimbus in the distance where it looks like it might be raining. Having an indistinct variety of clouds would not make a good text book illustration, but perhaps makes the mixture visually more appealing than solely one type of cloud.

 

It all starts with solar energy, which creates temperature differences, which makes pressure differences, as you quote. Then you throw in phase change, Coriolis and gravity forces, etc., and it starts to get complicated. But, I think that understanding even just the basics helps you appreciate what you are looking at. And, the more that you know about this or any natural phenomena, the more you appreciate it (and the better that you can photograph it?).