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Room Portraits and Street Shots
Room Portraits
Photographers have been embarking upon some unusual projects of late. We’ve seen families in different countries with their food and children of different nationalities with their toys on this blog.
Now, Menno Aden joins the club with photographs of rooms with their . . . things! The genesis of ‘Room Portraits’ was sheer chance, explains Lori Fredrickson on Popular Photography. Nevertheless, the final concept was to “capture an overhead view of an entire room” to show the room for what it is: a space inhabited and designed to a person’s particular tastes and needs for that space.
Six of Aden’s varyingly vertiginous views are available online. Perhaps the word ‘portrait’ is not as out-of-place as one might initially think it to be: doesn’t this functional and sterile operating room have a markedly different ‘personality’ than this colourful and chaotic lived-in living room?
Street Shots
The Leica Blog has posted an article about a classic street shooter; he who moves unobtrusively and in stealth. As the photographer, Cyril Jayant puts it: “I always attempt to be discreet and not to show my presence . . . .”
Jayant captures moments in time, seeing what other persons may miss. Take the photo of a dozen-plus legs surrounding one cute pooch (a seeing eye dog, probably). If the crop had been tighter in the upper-right corner, the dog’s eyes would have been the only eyes in the frame. As it is, he pops out of the picture, given the tones (near-white amid dark greys and blacks).
Or take the photo of a pair of legs. Is he repairing something? Or just sleeping off a few beers? In any event, it’s funny! That’s not coincidental; Jayant’s interviewer noticed it too and asked him about “[h]umor and whimsy [being] strong elements . . .” in his work.
Other elements in his photography are mood, ambiguity, and story, and all three are seen to a ‘T’ in ‘Cyesta;’ an image with several possible explanations and no ‘right’ one.
Also worth a look is the vision Jayant carries on his jaunts. Would you believe that Paris’s Jardin de Luxembourg from the right angle and right time on a grey snowy evening turns into a still from the original Bela Lugosi Dracula?
Fauna and Flora Tutorials
Flora and fauna; that’s what today’s well-paired tutorials cover.
A very meaty how-to on ePHOTOzine is exactly what it says: Beginners’ Guide To Safari Photography. This comprehensive tutorial starts by advising its beginner readership to research seasonal conditions in the park they’ll visit and carries on from there.
There are also other conditions you’ll have to be prepared for. As anyone who has been to the Serengeti or Masai Mara would vouch, things can get pretty dusty and also pretty bumpy. So take care of your gear accordingly.
You’ll also have to watch our for pitfalls where photography itself is concerned. For example, “when shooting a bird on a branch,” if you rely on auto or programmed exposure, the bird will most likely be underexposed. The how-to explains how to expose correctly in such situations.
The tutorial also offers a tip or two in how to frame and compose when on safari so as to create attractive photographs with a touch of artistry instead of dull, flat snapshots.
Jeff Guyer on DPSchool offers advice on photographing a subject that is “neither moody nor volatile” – flowers.
Flower photography is all about angles, angles, and . . . more angles, according to Guyer. What’s more, experiment: take positions all around, above and under your subject and shoot away.
One unexpected ‘tip’ in the article is that you should not find yourself absolutely requiring any specific or particular gear, not even macro lenses or tripods! Guyer explains that effective flower photography is possible using even telephotos or iPhones. That said, the expected and ‘right’ recommendations are also made.
Probably the most helpful and useful section is on Light. Here Guyer goes into ‘good light’ versus ‘bad light’ for flowers and how you can put that ‘good light’ to best use.
You might think that a flower is a small object to photograph but you’re advised to get closer still: “[S]ometimes the whole is not always as interesting as its individual parts. Focus in on details.” Create a semi-abstract composition from the parts of a flower!
These kinds of tips and tricks are explained by illustration with flower photographs that are striking and different as well as others that are simple and artistic.
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