Aspen Gold

Let me start not with the image but with the lens that produced it. The fisheye lens is an art lens. It's purpose is to achieve a sensation through extreme wide angle perspective and extreme linear distortion. Forgive this somewhat risque but apt analogy: the fisheye perspective is to art photography what big breasts are to burlesque. The late striptease artist Tempest Storm once remarked, "You can't make them too big in this business." The same principle applies to the fisheye. Appreciation of the visible is predicated on the basis of it being presented in extreme form. Some people adore watching a dancer swing cement sack sized mammary glands while others, like myself, prefer ballet. Fisheye photography to some is a great art form. In my view is a vulgar art form like burlesque. But it is, nevertheless, a legitimate art form--like burlesque. Take it or leave it.

Now on to the image under discussion. All the vulgar gimmickry of fisheye photography is here. The image screams for immediate attention. There is little that is subtle about it. Extreme perspective is an end in itself. But having accepted the intrinsic vulgarity of fisheye, we need to evaluate the image on its own terms. Just as there are good and bad strippers there is good and bad fisheye photography. In my view this is good fisheye photography.

Let me make this clear. I am not saying this is good photography but good fisheye photography. What makes it good fisheye photography? The overall balance of the composition is very good. The shadow in question is not a defect but an asset because it breaks what would be the monotony of the too bright leaves. Above all, the distorted perspective brings out the communal nature of aspen. So there is an epiphany imbedded in this image.

In sum, I believe this to be an above average fisheye photograph. I feel I can go back and appreciate it for what it is worth after the obvious sensationalism has ceased to interest me. I also believe a better and more subtle effect could have been achieved with an extreme wide angle non-fisheye lens.

Let me amend something. The epiphany is pretty much in your face. Too much so at second glance. Maybe this is an okay fisheye photo.