Sunday Afternoon
by Joanna J
(Charleston, SC)
Did a shoot for a friend on their marsh-front property in Awendaw, SC.
Went inside the house to get a few shots from the porch on the upper level. Saw this landing and thought it had potential for a great shot. It only took 6 shots to get what I was looking for.
I have a Fuji FinePix F700 6MP camera (nothing fancy, although it was $600 in 2003).
I enjoy taking pictures of places that look relaxing and pleasant. This is one of those places!
Joanna J.
Joanna actually submitted this photo to a different area of the site, but I wanted to add my take on it, so I've moved it to the photography tutorial section (hope that's ok Joanna).
Like Joanna I felt that there was great potential in this photo. However, there's something about it that just seems to be taking the sparkle away.
If it's a stray trash can sitting in the middle of a wedding photo it's pretty darn obvious what is taking away the sparkle.
But in many other photos it's a little trickier to figure out what's missing.
In this photo I think it's the composition. This feels as though it is a photo that's all about geometric lines - the vertical balustrades, the square window panes, the angled reflection – geometry, geometry, geometry!
The thing that gets me is that there are so many little things that are fighting for my attention that I don’t know where to look.
It’s like when it’s my turn to look after the kids. I’ve got one child nagging me for one thing, another tugging at my leg for something else, and quite often, one being a little bit sick after guzzling her milk too fast.
I just don’t know where to turn first. And I get that feeling with Joanna’s photo. Not quite the complete sense of panic, but just a little too much in the way of distractions.
There’s the lamp above the chair, the chair itself, the winding staircase, the shadows, the window . . .
I think this would have been a stronger composition if there were just three things – I’m thinking the window, chair and shadow. If the rest could be excluded by shooting from a different angle I think it would improve it.
Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I’m sure there are other opinions out there.
Many thanks for the submission Joanna,
Darrell.
Fancy a break from editing all those photos? Turn your PC into a satellite TV! It’s a one off payment and you get tons of channels. The perfect distraction!
