Untitled

Taken with a Seagull TLR 120 camera loaded with 160 ASA Fuji, f8 at

1/250......

I love film and I love twin lens reflexes. I used such equipment to photograph weddings for at least 20 years! Mine always produced square images which allowed me to crop either a horizontal image or a vertical one after the picture taking, when we planned the wedding album. Here you have a slightly vertical image, so I do not know whether the Seagull produces a non-square image or you just cropped it a bit.

You have centered your subject in the image, which some composition experts call "formal" placement. "Informal" placement is placing her somewhere other than central. Situations that are formal in nature: pictures of the capital building, pictures of weddings, etc. easily adapt to formal placement. Here, however, you have a very informal subject, dressed in jeans and casual top treated compositionally in a formal manner. If you consult any of the many web sites devoted to photographic composition, they will tell you that central placement is static and not at all dynamic. They will tell you about principles of composition with such names as "rule of thirds". "balance", "use of lines to influence mood", etc. Perhaps if you looked them up you would feel free to make your image pop out at the viewer by using such compositional ideas.

Regards,

Jerry

I really love the look and mood of this photo. You made the right choice by shooting film and a TLR. The composition is spot on. This looks like it could have been made 50 years ago. If I were the photo editor for a magazine, I would definitely hire you again. Nice work.

Matt

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