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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · First time entering local fair, so if you were the judge.... | |
AuntiPode wrote:
There are some potentially interesting things in the first image of the pair, but as a whole, it doesn't come together in a meaningful way to me. The subject, processing and composition seem to be fighting each other. Critique of the second, later.
Conceptual issues:
How you think about an image matters. For art to be effective most folks are better served if they cultivate a coherent and thoughtful approach. Ask yourself, what do you want the image to say? Ask, how can you compose the scene to say it? For this image, how does the content of the subject scene or the way you cooked the image in post processing say "fairy tale"? A fairy tale is a folkoric fantasy and usually some sort of romance, often with a happy ending, unless you are shooting for something from the brothers Grimm. Stretching the definition, it could be legendary and epic, but legends and epics aren't normally expected to be noir or grittily realistic, are they? Fairy tales are told to children in archetypes. Is a dark border vignette foreboding? Does it say "fairy tale" or hint of something Bram Stoker? Does gritty (noisy) sky say "fairy tale" or something Dickensian about the evils of industrialization and pollution?
Personally, if I can't figure a way to make a scene say what I want, either I change the scene or change what I want to say to something the scene can say.
Composition issues:
In terms of composition for the first of the pair, the tower is basically on the center vertical axis of the frame. That makes for a static composition. Do you want a message of stasis, the slow passage of time? If you want a more dynamic statement, placing the axis away from the center makes would be a better choice. To evaluate an image, ask yourself where is the eye drawn? It will be the nexus of visual interest. There should be something interesting there usually. In a scene with darkened edges and bright brickwork, the eye is drawn to the bright brickwork. The most dominant is the bit in the central vertical axis of the image. The secondary draw, where the eye goes next, is the bright brickwork to the right. What's the interest in the these bright areas? I can't see any. That leaves the eye to wander about the image where it next sees sky through a couple of empty window openings. Do they represent eyes? Seems a stretch. Then the eye wanders around the ivy and is caught by a flagpole of some such on the left. It seems a smudged distraction at best.
What can you do to add fair tale qualities? Offhand, I don't know. My guess is a more easily accomplished meaning might be the way nature takes back from man or the way the works of back crumble to dust. But that's a rather different message than the one you wanted and it may not interest you.
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AuntiPode,
Thank you so very much! You've given me much to think about the next trip out. Thankfully this is a local landmark (it used to be a fabric mill turned fabric shop... I used to shop at and didn't recognize) so it is not impossible to reshoot... except I have no intent to tromp thru the snake infested kudzu ha ha... but you are right, nature takes back and I was going a little "dark" on my theme... more "Bram" than Cinderella in this one... I truly appreciate everything you've said and will remember when I go out again! THANK YOU!
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