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I shot this image on West Fork Trail, which is near Sedona, Arizona. It shot on February 1st on a very cold morning. The log was laying on a partially frozen creek. I was trying to capture the juxtaposition of the logs “reality” framed by the reflections of the trees and canyon walls. I like the patterns and interplay of the straight diagonal of the log and free flow of the reflections. I like that most people can’t tell exactly what is going on…and might look at the beauty of God’s creation in a new way.
I took this with a Canon Rebel Xsi with a Canon EF-S 18-200 lens. It was taken at 100mm at ISO 800. The camera was set at 1/200 of a sec at f9.0
I would appreciate comments and suggestions!
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This is quite interesting! I’m usually not a big fan of the more ‘abstract’ images, but this one’s pretty great! It gets people trying to figure out what the photo is of.
I would center the log in the image more, and reduce the vignette. I love the way this looks like a painting, but isn’t!
Wow, fascinating shot, @tonydavid (and welcome to the forums, by the way!). You’ve expressed well the reasons behind the unique beauty of this shot. I certainly did more than one double take on this one!
There are three other reasons I like this shot. The analogous color scheme is ironically calm and relaxing, a bold juxtaposition to the energy emitting from the scene’s predominate diagonal lines. The textures are uncannily like that of an oil painting, further emphasizing the idea it isn’t “real”, and yet…it is. And the strict elimination of unnecessary elements does a fantastic job of accentuates the idea of perfection, another attribute of non-camera art!
All of this combined is almost too much for the brain. The photo grabs attention and holds it. For a long time. And this is exactly what you want to do.
Having said that, though, I almost get the feeling my attention is “trapped” instead of “attracted”. The log is perhaps too predominant of an element? My mind wants to feast on the less energetic aspects of the surrounding scene after looking at the log, but the log keeps grabbing me back. It dominates the composition and there’s not a strong enough counterpoint to help keep my eye “moving” instead of “staring.”
I wasn’t there, but after grabbing this shot, I might look for a more “loose” framing of the same concept.
I’ve been motivated to keep an eye out for this kind of stuff more!
WOW…Thank you James for your insightful and encouraging critique. I really appreciate your suggestion about loose framing to combat feeling “trapped”. I had one other shot from the same scene that might address the concern…or it might not. What do you think?
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I had one other shot from the same scene that might address the concern…or it might not. What do you think?
Perhaps. It’s not as engaging for some reason. Perhaps the lack of framing? The log too dark to draw enough attention? Or perhaps it’s because I’ve already been “wowed” by the first shot….
Wonder about taking out log entirely…..
No, I’d definitely say you need the log.
or blurring the log…
And I’d say it blurred just looks out of focus.
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