I'm wondering how you feel about subjects that might be a bit worn, torn and past their prime. ( Hey, I've just described myself )
I have read that some feel that you should not present a less than stellar subject .
Here is to the less than perfect.
Interested to hear your thoughts and as always your suggestions are much appreciated.
As beautiful as nature is, as you have captured so wonderfully here Birdie... it is not perfect.
You're right of course that when we capture something less than perfect we cringe at first and wish it was "better." I'm guilty of always looking for the perfect.
Like Karl, you see beauty in everything, even in the imperfect... and for that I applaud you.
Looks like you have a backlit theme going in the first three and it works well... I actually really like the Dragonfly and how the light illuminates it's delicate body parts.
Great detail and beautiful color in the last... and as always I think your compositions are very well done.
Birdie,
You did a great job with these. I look for the best when I shoot
I'm guilty of that, but certain flowers or other things can tell a story or
add a little something extra to the image. The dragonfly and the flower
are my picks, for some reason I always want to see butterflies with perfect wings.
I prefer to refer to those subjects as having character or experience. It tells a story and not every story is beautiful....emotion is part of what we try to achieve in photography and if we photographed and posted only the perfect there would be so much we missed out on by doing so. These are lovely and tell of a life lived.
Eric
A good shot is a good shot. Perfect specimens may be required for most advert work, but think about all the awesome images from street and conflict photographers. Hard to say their subjects reflect perfection.
I'm wondering how you feel about subjects that might be a bit worn, torn and past their prime. ...
I have read that some feel that you should not present a less than stellar subject .
IMO, it depends upon what you intend to do with the photograph. If your intention is to print it large, frame it, and hang it on your wall, then the only person you need to satisfy is yourself. Your photograph, your wall, your vision. If you are happy, it doesn't matter what others think.
If your intention is to document something and print small to put it into an album never to be opened again, have it sit on a hard drive never to be seen again, or posted fleetingly on the web, then does it matter?
The only opinion that truly matters is your own. Your vision, your photographs, your opinion. That is what matters.
Nice theme, Birdie. You could also title it "The Survivors." The dragon fly has made it through adversity to the end of the season. The 2nd two insects look like they both escaped the same bifurcated bite of a bird? lizard? frog? And the flower is on its way to setting seed.
To me, these kinds of images carry a lot deeper meaning than some superficially "perfect" subjects.
---John
Roberta -- great subject to bring up, and nice photos to frame the discussion. I agree with Eric's comment above: if you can see the character and experience that accompanies the wear and tear you can capture something important. We're used to doing that with people and old barns, but it's not as obvious how to do it with other critters. Food for thought here...
Mark
Birdie, there is no perfect subject, however there is no doubt that torn wings take away from a butterfly if you are trying to capture its beauty. I usually delete pictures of butterflies with torn wings. Different story if are trying to capture the drama of time or how hard nature can be on animals (and people).
What makes a great picture is not what you shoot but how you shoot it.
Having said that, I believe you did a very good job with these, especially with the first one
Socrate
acjd said it best...I shoot what I like and hope others like it, if not, you can't please everyone. I just want to shoot and be around people who like to shoot and have fun with it. You can always learn something new no matter how past your prime you are, like me
As I told you in the Macro forum, there are plenty of things that look great past their prime, just like these.
Well Birdie, 1 3 4 look more than fine to me.
Guess I'm also guilty to wanna see perfect wings in butterflies.
But I do think flowers past their prime are a great subject.
Chris
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