Photoshop in photography

Uelsmann, Jerry N.

"Untitled, 2003."

I picked this photograph mainly because it wasn't just a photograph.  When I take photos I often try to manipulate them to enhance the idea I was originally trying to show in a photograph or to warp it into my own contrasting usage.  I enjoy making images come together fluidly to produce a completely new feeling and had experience with Photoshop before photography.  This photograph/digital art has that same concept of merging pictures that I like to use.  The water ripples cupped within the hands provide an easy focus point while the light on the landscape in the background holds a force of its own that draws a viewers' eyes. The lighting on the hands doesn't match the light from the back directionally but its intensity is very similar and that really helps the picture maintain a healthy balance.  Different pieces of this photograph could stand by themselves and be decent alone but the combination creates an interesting compilation that is very pleasing to the eye.  

Gardens of the Villa Melzi, Lake Como, Italy, 1996/1997

John Pfahl

"Gardens of the Villa Melzi, Lake Como, Italy, 1996/1997" 

This picture is very peaceful for me.  I enjoy the subtle colors and light.  I usually like pictures with brighter colors or black and white and more drastic lighting whether it is a lot less or a lot more.  I like the pale grass and contrasting dark silhouettes of the trees.  They give a sense of intensity that lot of the picture tries to hold back.  The building/dome poking out behind the trees adds a sense of mystery and curiosity to the photograph as well.  The softness of the photo is also different  from what I usually like but it suits the peaceful quality as does the smooth lake that isn't quite glassy.  The water also mimics the soft but gloomy clouds.  The clouds feel like they are almost opening in the middle for some celestial being and bring another sense of mystery to the photograph.  The asymmetry also works well and provides an interesting balance for the viewers eyes as they examine the contrasting sides of the image.  

Vantage Point

David Moore.  "Book and Blindfold" 

This image caught my eye at first because it was unclear whether this figure was standing up against a wall or laying down.  The vantage point clearly has an effect on this picture.  It is giving you an odd sense of distance and perspective.  I enjoy the warped perception of vantage point and also the warped perception of what is going on in this picture.  At first I saw someone laying on a beach towel on a beach but the background is more like boards (a deck maybe?).  Also the position they are laying and lighting at first made me think of someone trying to soak up some rays but this person is very stiff and rigid.  His hands clutch at the book as if it is trying to get away.  The title also gives a little more insight since it is unclear that he is blindfolded until reading the title.  

I enjoy photographs that raise questions like this one.  I also enjoy the balance of this picture and the way it draws your eyes up and down the picture.  The hands clearly draw in your eyes but they rise up the figures body to the face which is turned at an interesting angle that makes one wonder what they are thinking.  The emotion conveyed is almost tense and suspenseful.  

Andy Grundberg's article on Richard Avedon titles him "the eye of fashion", and rightly so.  He photographed some of the most important models and fashion trends during fashion's push towards its now mainstream ties.  His work combines the direct and business aspects of fashion with the fantasy aspects of art photography to create a surreal attraction in viewers.

He passed away at the age of 81, a full and healthy life by most people's standards. His talent was recognized at an early age and in his thirties was even the model for a photographer character in a movie in 1957 called "Funny Face". He took his photography seriously and believed in showing people the true worth of someone in his art.  He talked about his work with photography all kinds of people around the world but that his main interest was photographing people of accomplishment rather than celebrities.  They were worth documenting and saving to share with the rest of the world.  

He shared support for anti-war groups and civil rights groups in the 1960s.  He even taught black photographers in the south how to photograph the different sit-ins and civil rights marches to better support the movements.  

He grew up in a household that surrounded him in fashion from a young age.  His father owned a clothing store in Manhattan and his mother came from a  family with a dress making manufacturing business.  He started reading fashion magazines at a young age and saved copies of his favorite fashion photographs.  

His work is fantastically detailed and unique.  He captures the essence of a person and their struggles.  He almost always captured in black and white and I think that gives him a very strong classic tone with his work.  He can focus on basic structure in a picture rather than worry about the balance.  The tones of the black and white give great personality and texture to his photos.  He often included black space from the negative of the image around the edges of photos in his exhibitions.  His photographs were mostly shot in an all white studio to give the subject a sense of weightlessness in the photo.

Street Photography

I found this under the heading of street photography but can't find the original photographers name which is a shame because this a wonderful photograph.

I really enjoy this photograph and the style of photography it comes from.  I think street photography can yield the most interesting results.  To capture real life you must immerse yourself  in it and learn to recognize the when the right moment to capture will happen.  Constant movement and angles can lead fantastic results of split second moments such as this.  I have only looked at black and white photography so far but I wanted to do this last one because I loved the moment that this photo captured.  Each bird is in a unique shape and moment and their wings connect and lead the viewer through the scene.  The backdrop of old buildings and a city square provides the perfect atmosphere for this photograph.

Ansel Adams! again...

Ansel Adams- Yosemite

I couldn't help doing one more Ansel Adams photograph.  This is one of his most famous shots and I think it is a great example of his excellent eye for composition.  In studying photography we learn about the rule of thirds which this photograph captures in every direction, up, down, and sideways.  I love how the tree flows across the photo pulling your eyes back and forth.  The shadows and lines on the rocks guide your eyes across the bottom of the photo and back around through the tree again.  Nothing pulls the viewers eyes from the frame and the rocks and tree form a frame for the distant and majestic peaks in the background.    This photograph encapsulates the idea of what landscape photography is.

Photoblogger first times

Ansel Adams- Rocks

For my first photography blog post I wanted to post something by a true master that captures so many essences of photography that I love.  The depth of field in this photo is amazing.  The way the rocks sit so close to the viewer and lead your eyes to the base of the mountains and then up into the sky is fantastic.  though the rocks as a whole seem to provide a uniform pattern when examining the picture as a whole, they each have their own unique personality and sit together in a fantastically random way.  

The beams of light that seem to cascade from the clouds and frame the shape of the mountains also add so much to the photo.  It gives the photo an almost surreal feeling and moves this picture beyond just a landscape picture.  Ansel Adams had such a gift for looking at landscapes and finding the right shot to capture the very essence of the land.  One day I hope to have an eye like his.