burning bush

Interesting

Mark, To me the bush is too centered.

Sometimes it's fun to be challenged by a composition. I like the saturated feel to the fall colors, but otherwise it doesn't hold together for me. I've gone back to this one several times and I always end up where I started.

I've tried looking at this one while blocking out the lower third of the photo and it still doesn't quite catch me. Sometimes a different composition challenges me and I want to figure out why I keep looking at it, but in this case, I can't bring myself back into it - I have to "reset" my eyes as it were.

I really like the bright red bush with the golden grass in the BG. The centered bush feels right for this spot, but the rocks and branches around the rest of the photo keep fighting my eyes.

But perhaps that was your goal in the first place - get us to spend time considering a composition and not "win."
-matt

my ultimate intent is not to get a viewer to pay attention to composition but i do use compositional techniques to accomplish exactly what you experienced - tension, a liitle bit of irritation, maybe even an uneasy feeling because, in this case, it's so busy.

but the scene itself is "restless". it's a rapturous riot of color, textures and shapes. that's the focal point, not the bush.

blovius wrote:my ultimate intent is not to get a viewer to pay attention to composition

That seems somewhat contradictory especially since you chose to center the red bush and offset it with these other textures and tones.

but the scene itself is "restless". it's a rapturous riot of color, textures and shapes. that's the focal point, not the bush.

I found it hard to focus on the color and textures - the centered bush was fighting me all the way. The contradictory nature of the red bush within the field of textures just doesn't pull me around the picture.

The riot of color seems quelled by the tones - mostly earthy yellows and browns - and by the "wet" feel - standing water and the saturated, overcast feel to the tonality of the work as a whole.

Again, this internal battle may be what you're trying to do here.
cheers,
-matt

matt

when i said, "...not pay attention to composition", what i meant was that the image not look "composed", but rather that it appear "casual" or "impromtu" in its presentation.

when my images hang in a gallery and are viewed by an audience with an affinity for nature, but not photography, they usually react quite positively to the non-formal appearance of the images. i believe this to be the case because the images look more like what they create when taking snapshots. most people are intimidated by art. it is much easier for them to relate to less "formal" the image.

they don't "see" composition the way you and i do. they see a red bush surrounded by a lot of other forms of grow and surfaces - just what they see everyday around here, but never really stop to notice or appreciate.

so, while you and i, as "trained" photographers, may see things in terms of composition, the general public does not.

as to the internal battle that you mention, it is exactly what i am trying to do.

a formally composed image of the bush, isolated from its surrounding becomes, to my eye, just a picture of a bush. whereas in the scene as i came upon it, the bush was a capitvatingly disharmonious element. it was that "as i found it" quality i was trying to capture.

i also feel that this "battle" also forces the viewer to become involved with the image in a manner very different from the "isn't it pretty" reaction. if one assumes that an artist is trying to make a statement with his art, then the "battle" becomes worth the viewers time as they attempt to learn something new about nature and their relationship to it.

does that make any sense to you?

thanks for taking the time with my image in a thoughtful manner. i appreciate the opportunity, while explaining things to you, to refine my own understanding of my ever developing vision. hope it was helpful to you.

Mark,
Makes sense - not the way I would approach it, but you aren't me (thank goodness). I know sometimes I just take a picture to remind myself of "being there," but I rarely put any more thought into it. It would be interesting to have this in a gallery or windowshop setting to see what happens to passersby.

-matt

I like this because of all the grasses and the fact the sharpening is good so the detail shows up well.