Wayne Melia Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 under the deck I took/captured this because "i liked it". But even as I did so, I had no real definition/reason why I liked it. It's presented here pretty much as what I saw, full frame, white balanced (in LR} on the white pipes. I still kinda like it, and still don't know why. I'm hoping someone with more knowledge than myself (a pretty low bar!) of image design/structure, or whatever can flesh out whatever can flesh out what's here. The only thing I can come up with is the juxtaposition of the delicate little flowers with the coarse plumbing parts and other junk. OR, and quite possibly a larger truth, there really is no appeal. Just a hallucination on my part. If so, say so. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericphelps Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 I like it, it ain't 'Art', but nothing is really. Good example of a busy, albeit sloppy life. Note the attempt at duct tape as a leak solution on several parts. Why do I say things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_rochkind Posted August 5, 2023 Share Posted August 5, 2023 Real potential here! Please post a high-contrast B&W so we can consider that version. Another version I'd like to see is one (color and B&W) with 20% taken off the right and bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemorrellNL Posted August 6, 2023 Share Posted August 6, 2023 It's an interesting random arrangement of 'junk' and I can see why it's worth photographing. The main thing I can come with is the 'structure' in this arrangement (pipes, joints, flowers, etc.). In the top half of the photo, there are a lot of converging lines: pipes, box, brickwork and also parts of the wood (top-right). So (for me) these lines give the top-half a kind of 'structure'. But there are also a few 'breaks/conflicts' which don't negate the convergence but add visual interest: the diagonal bar top-right, the diverging corner of the woodblock and the curve at the top of one of the pipes. In the bottom hald, the pipes on the right suggest a visual 'triangle'. If I look (slightly unfocused) at the top-half of the photo, I see other 'triangles' too. For example, above the top right, I see two triangles. Between the brickwork and the box another one. Between the pipes at the top, another two triangles. EVen the 3 yellow flowers seem (visually) form a triangle. The pipe joints bottom left don't (for) me have a definite form but are close and similar enough to create a 'cluster' of things that naturally 'belong together'. The variety of shapes (curved/straight) and perspectives add visual interest. TBH when I first saw the photo, I thought, OK just backyard junk. But thinking more about why you like it helped me discover a lot of interesting ' visual structure' in the photo which I initally didn't see. So (to my surprise!) I discovered some 'order' in the inital 'chaos' that I saw! Hope this helps. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Melia Posted August 6, 2023 Author Share Posted August 6, 2023 Thanks Mike, this is what I was after in my request. The sub-structures seem to be relevent. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Smith Posted August 18, 2023 Share Posted August 18, 2023 It's lost on me. Why? Preparing for a pipe catalog shoot? 1 Robin Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Melia Posted September 27, 2023 Author Share Posted September 27, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 7:17 AM, Robin Smith said: It's lost on me. Why? Preparing for a pipe catalog shoot? yeah,..."WHY" is why I made the critique request. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 46 minutes ago, Wayne Melia said: "WHY" Cuz. 1 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochetrider Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 On 8/18/2023 at 10:17 AM, Robin Smith said: Why? Why not? I admit I shoot stuff sometimes just to see if a photo matches at all, my vision for a captured image. Often, I find the shot doesn't live up to my expectations or isnt what I thought it could be. This image reminds me of this. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted October 3, 2023 Share Posted October 3, 2023 6 hours ago, Ricochetrider said: Often, I find the shot doesn't live up to my expectations or isnt what I thought it could be. Yes! Remember, a really good Major League Baseball player is thrilled to have a .300 batting average. As I understand it, they learn not only from their home runs but from their strikeouts, especially how the opposing pitcher works. I am sometimes pretty sure a shot I’m going to take isn’t going to work, but something in me kicks in and I take the shot anyway. Curiosity. Challenge. Experimentation. I may not show it to anyone, but it becomes part of my process and experience. Process and experience is what helps build vision and leads eventually to results I care about and like. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. 1 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc_rochkind Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 It would be better, I think, if we limited our critique to the photo itself, rather than going into other matters, such as why the photographer shot it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 It would be better, I think, if we allowed each other the space to participate and critique as we see fit. Just as there are a variety of ways to photograph, there are a variety of ways to critique. I suggest reading some art, movie, music, theater, and photography critiques that can be found all over the web. Much discussion of photographers’ and other artists’ motivations from critics of all stripes. Not that I’m suggesting you critique that way. Just hoping to introduce a bit more tolerance. 1 "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjoseph7 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 "But even as I did so, I had no real definition/reason why I liked it." Tell you the truth, I agree with you... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjoseph7 Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 "But even as I did so, I had no real definition/reason why I liked it." Tell you the truth, I agree with you... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochetrider Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 On 10/4/2023 at 12:07 AM, marc_rochkind said: It would be better, I think, if we limited our critique to the photo itself, rather than going into other matters, such as why the photographer shot it. So a photo is made with a click of a shutter in a fraction of a second. But what is it that leads to that moment? There’s a lot going on in the lead-up to activating the shutter. To my way of thinking, the process- thought, intent, vision… are all important elements that lead to taking a photo. Peering into all that, to gain an understanding of what the shooter was seeing in their mind’s eye, IMO is as big a part of critique as any discussion of the actual photo. I surmise that while the photo itself doesn’t hit home with me, the process leading up to taking the shot might be very close to my own processes. Hope that clarifies where I was going with my post. @Wayne Melia (and anyone else too) is of course 100% welcome to respond to anything and everything I might say here. I’ve participated in many of these critiques, as a shooter and as a viewer. There’s often plenty of discussion so why suggest limitations here & now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Smith Posted October 5, 2023 Share Posted October 5, 2023 I think we all have to accept there are many (so many) photos we do not warm to, even if we can see what they are driving at - I understand that. Some photos I have no idea why they were taken at all, so that was the basis for my question. On the other hand there are also photos that do not require us to understand the motivation, because their appeal is obvious because it chimes with your own aesthetic understanding immediately. Of course a universal answer to my question is "why not?" That strikes me really as a non-sequiter. If Wayne loves pipes positioned like that and I don't then there is not a lot more to say. If on the other hand he was to say he was documenting the installation of his house's new plumbing I could grasp that. Not sure it would make me appreciate the picture, but at least I can understand a bit why it was taken. 2 Robin Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Melia Posted October 5, 2023 Author Share Posted October 5, 2023 4 hours ago, Robin Smith said: <snip>.... On the other hand there are also photos that do not require us to understand the motivation, because their appeal is obvious because it chimes with your own aesthetic understanding immediately. <snip>... As I opened with.....the aesthetic appeal was my motive, BUT I cannot understand the aesthetic, thus the query; maybe there are visual principles in play that I am not familiar with, and somebody else might understand them. ... or maybe (likely?) .... NOT. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyelar Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 It's not very interesting except as an example of odd number of groups, each with different geometric shapes. I converted to IR black and white, still didn't make a strong composition. The flowers are such a small element, I did not focus on that as a significant juxtapositional subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samstevens Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 (edited) On 10/5/2023 at 11:42 AM, Wayne Melia said: the aesthetic appeal was my motive, BUT I cannot understand the aesthetic It’s good to check it out and even try to understand. But that may not be the end of it. Without understanding, your gut and senses might be trying to tell you something. To “get” that, you might have to listen to a different inner voice. On 10/5/2023 at 11:42 AM, Wayne Melia said: maybe there are visual principles in play that I am not familiar with Possibly, though I don’t see any either. What’s outside of or beyond principles may be something less universal and more personal. Lack of familiarity has great potential. On 10/5/2023 at 11:42 AM, Wayne Melia said: somebody else This is your ball to run with. Nothing may come of it as far as this photo or the present moment is concerned. But it can still be tucked away for future recurrence and possibility. Keep it in mind. See if it goes further … or anywhere … Edited January 17 by samstevens "You talkin' to me?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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