Photo of the Week - #3 - 10/4/21

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memorial light from Pentagon

I like the beam of light, the front-lit tree and the white diagonal threads. What I like less (however true to life it may be) is the 'clutter': streetlights, telephone wire post, vehicles, etc.

 

I can't help wondering if a few steps to the right would have made for a 'cleaner' photo that included the tree, the upper beam, part of the building and perhaps even 1 or 2 'threads'. The tree looks to be a great way of hiding 'the clutter'. As is, the things I like in the photo are marred by the (for me) distracting 'clutter'.

 

PS. Removing 'clutter' is of course entirely possible using PP software such as Photoshop. If it were my photo, I would do so.

I would have consigned this one to the trash. It has some degree of interest because of what it represents, and it may mean something to the photographer: "the view from my house", which is just fine. To me removing the clutter would not improve it, it would just make the photo a non-record, and it would not make the photo any more aesthetically pleasing.

I appreciate the critique... I actually only took the photo with my cellphone because I thought it unusual and I didn't know its source or meaning at the time. I had only considered the Phone and Mobile (Phriday) forum as a place to post this beam of light (from nowhere in my eyes at the time). It was later that I found out its original intent. The tree was actually inside a fenced area, as was my car, when I exited the building where I moonlight as a bartender/barback... likely the reason for the clutter, which I didn't consider removing in PS, though I could have. It was a casual phone phriday foto and all I intended it to be. PN has taught me over the years to take pics when I see them because the folks who regularly post here are liable to create "strange" (pronounced strawn-jey) forum categories, none of which will I mention. For PN, my motto is "be ready". That was the FULL intent behind shooting this image which was a tribute to those who were sacrificed on September 11, 2001, particularly at the Pentagon. I like PN because I enjoy the forum categories, seeing other folks "perceptions" of forum titles if they post and posting my own perceptions. I enjoy "like" for images, sometimes simply because someone posted. Wow... that's almost an autobiography:):). Thanks again gentlemen, I really do appreciate the comments.

I actually only took the photo with my cellphone because I thought it unusual and I didn't know its source or meaning at the time. … when I exited the building where I moonlight as a bartender/barback... likely the reason for the clutter, which I didn't consider removing in PS, though I could have.

The unusualness of the juxtaposition of the mundane back alley elements with the almost otherworldly beam of light seems to me where the most potential was in the scene as you found it. To my eye, the prominence/dominance of the tree distracts from that. I wonder about having framed this with much less of the tree. A more amorphous, mere suggestion of the brightly lit green on the right edge of the frame might have added to an almost sci-fi appearance. To compensate for a narrower framing below, there could be less sky, less height, and still the beam would maintain its effect. And perhaps that narrower framing, more focused on the building and truck in the alley would have avoided such strong distortion of the building and lamppost. I appreciate your instincts here and am just imagining where a somewhat different execution might have led.

Edited October 4, 2021 by samstevens

M, I agree with both Mike and Sam; their suggestions are quite helpful. My own suggestion is to crop from the furthermost left branch of the tree to eliminate it altogether. The next step would be to clone out (or use whatever other technique with which you are comfortable) the car and truck that are in close proximity to the building. In my (very) humble, the resulting contrast between the two sources of light would make the shot.

I agree with a lot of what Samstevens said. There is potential for a very sci-fi or surreal effect with the light, but the shapes and elements don't seem to work together to do that. I think I would have brought the whole picture frame down (maybe) but I'm not really sure how to fix it. Particularly the tree as framed just seems not to fit and over dominates the whole scene. It's a nice idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work for me in the execution. Also the wire by the tree is a bit distracting but not as much as the dominance of the tree.

It was a casual phone phriday foto and all I intended it to be.

Exactly the vibe I get! In the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now have the cellphone aesthetic.... a good example.

Edited October 5, 2021 by inoneeye

Exactly the vibe I get! In the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now have the cellphone aesthetic.... a good example.

Is there a difference between a photo that has a snapshot aesthetic and a snapshot, likewise a photo that has a cellphone aesthetic and a cellphone shot?

 

If I were to answer, I’d say an aesthetic has some intention behind it. It’s a tricky subject, because I think probably some snapshots have what I’d call a snapshot aesthetic even though they weren’t trying to and, ironically, some snapshots don’t. Likewise, some more thoughtful photos have a snapshot aesthetic even though they may not be snapshots. Maybe it’s because not all snapshots capture a certain flavor one associates with snapshots or at least doesn’t distill that flavor into an aesthetic.

It’s a tricky subject, because I think probably some snapshots have what I’d call a snapshot aesthetic even though they weren’t trying to and, ironically, some snapshots don’t.

I don't think mpressionz's intent was to have a cellphone aesthetic?. I as one viewer see it... the vibe, in the characteristics

Edited October 5, 2021 by inoneeye

I don't think mpressionz's intent was to have a cellphone aesthetic. I as one viewer see it... the vibe, in the characteristics

Yes. Thanks. Important distinction between what may have been intended and what might still be there if seen.

• Photo of the Week is a member-run feature.
  
• The photo is randomly chosen from a pool of submitted photos.
  
• It is posted anonymously. If photographers wish, they may identify themselves in a comment.
  
• This is not my photo.
  
• Comment on and discuss the photo or any aspect of it in whatever way you choose.
  
• If you wish to submit a photo, please PM me with either an embedded photo or a link to one. Include a title if you want one to appear. It will go into the pool and eventually be posted anonymously as a Photo of the Week.
  

* * *

[ATTACH=full]1404181[/ATTACH]memorial light from Pentagon

I like it. Nice color pallette and the composition is unique. The image lacks pretention which is a plus and it doesn't bore me.

I get! In the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now have the cellphone aesthetic.... a good example". Ion

 

Really, so a cell phone is only capable of snapshots? A photographic tool, is a photographic tool, little else, Inoneeye. Don't you think it is really about the bloke behind the tool.>? Methinks, under a previous... should we sat Avatar, you were all about Leica, suffice to say.; I use Leica, but I can promise you, they are not the be all, or end all.

 

The Photo

 

A casual snapshot,; a thought from the photographer,; what is there to realty comment on? Okay, too many trees in the foreground, need cropping, a wonky building that seriously distracts the eye

 

Choose better unless it is a mate thing.

Edited October 6, 2021 by Allen Herbert

Really, so a cell phone is only capable of snapshots?

nope

Don't you think it is really about the bloke behind the tool.>?

yep

Methinks, under a previous... should we sat Avatar, you were all about Leica,

not me

^ not just bloke.s - anybody, any gender.

"Exactly the vibe I get! In the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now have the cellphone aesthetic.... a good example,. ioneeye

 

Really.

So, a cell phone is only really about a snapshot? It has that only snapshot aesthetic, from the 60,s whatever that means.

 

Weird words.

 

Just for you.

What has this vid got to do with this thread?

 

Everything,, especially looking at the last two photos. This photographer has made the effort to help photographers to improve their photos and their vision.

 

A kindness.

 

Do not take it the wrong way.

Interesting shot- for me, in that I had not known that a light was shone up from the Pentagon on Sept 11. NYC at the so-called ground zero yes, DC, no. Funny how time flies, tho- that fateful Sept 11 of 20 years ago was my 45th birthday, this year my 65th. This pic caught my eye- but not in the way that the twin lights of NYC shine, emulating (in my mind) the number 11, the day of the month on which I was born into this life. As to the quality of the photo... I may or may not have made an effort to make it less "snap shot-y", but no matter. I like the shot- taken as seen.

"How would I have tackled this?" - is the question that immediately popped into my head.

 

The 'problem' to me would be preserving a degree of realism while showing the beam of light prominently, and in an aesthetically pleasing way. And while not abstracting the subject into just a blue-white line on a blue-orange background.

 

I agree that the 'clutter' isn't meaningful, but does add context. Then so does the tree and the wooded area in front of the light beam. So, quite honestly I probably would have looked for a location that incorporated those elements while losing the street furniture.

 

I kind of get the 'snapshot' approach; as if just turning a corner and being presented with a 'wow' moment and view. However, I wonder if that's enough beyond a momentary surprise. It's a still picture after all, there to be stared at for quite a time, and IMHO an attempt should be made to lift it beyond a quick-glance moment. Perhaps it's indicative of the Disposable Art times that we live in.

^ "in the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now [we] have the cellphone aesthetic.../I don't think mpressionz's intent was to have a cellphone aesthetic?. I as one viewer see it... the vibe, in the characteristics"

I Think that a well done mobile phone snapshot has and will have a place in the history of photography.

"I am a passionate lover of the snapshot, because of all photographic images it comes closest to truth." "The snapshooter's pictures have an apparent disorder and imperfection, which is exactly their appeal and their style. The picture isn't straight. It isn't done well. It isn't composed. It isn't thought out. And out of this imbalance, and out of this not knowing, and out of this real innocence toward the medium comes an enormous vitality and expression of life." Lisette Model

 

I kind of get the 'snapshot' approach; as if just turning a corner and being presented with a 'wow' moment and view. However, I wonder if that's enough beyond a momentary surprise. It's a still picture after all, there to be stared at for quite a time, and IMHO an attempt should be made to lift it beyond a quick-glance moment.

I agree with r_j. but understand that "It was a casual phone phriday foto and all I intended it to be."mpressionz

Edited October 20, 2021 by inoneeye

"in the 60s we had the snapshot aesthetic now [we] have the cellphone aesthetic" inoneeye

 

Way before my time the the 60's. Was it not all about flower power, hippies, Vietnam?

 

A photographic device, is a photographic device. I struggle with the concept of different aesthetics from different devices.

 

The reality is, if I photographed a image from a Leica M10/Sony something, or, cell phone/ps camera....really, would anyone know the difference between them? This has been proved time and time again.

 

Mothball ancient snobbish philosophy.