A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

10/04/2012 tringel 2 Comments

Against what I have been told, I am taking a second class, Digital Photography. It is a great class and I am learning a lot. I also hope that I can use some of my images for future projects in Words & Images, or at least apply my knowledge to knew photos. Besides, that I wasn't sure how the two class would relate.Last class, however, I formed a connection.Sin and Syntax has told us repeatedly  that to make our writing interesting we must be concise and choose only the best words. This is the same with photography..

Concise.If you are taking a photo of a girl in the woods but your focus is to capture her hiking boots, is it necessary to have everything in the scene you capture. No. Get close up to her boots so you can truly capture the texture, color, and feel of the boots. Similarly with writing, you would not bore the the reader with a detailed introductory of the scene and girl, that would be brief if included at all and then written imagery would focus on the boots as to get to the point and not confuse the reader, just as you do not want to have the viewer question where to look on the image and not know what the focus is.

Choosing the best word. Hale explained that you want to choose the best word that captures exactly what you are portraying. Although you may have to go through a list of words it will be well worth it. She gave the example: why say home when you mean bungalow. I have noticed with photography you may have to take 100 images just to find 2 or 3 that you like, that capture exactly what you want to portray. My professor explained in class that this is very typical. While many of the photographs that were shot probably portray what you want it to, they do not do it as well as those few images you chose as finals.Like words, why settle for mediocre when you can have stunning.

Following the guidelines. Below are photographs I have taken throughout the class. I hope you enjoy them.

We were to capture converging lines. I chose to get very close to the subject and shoot focus on the spot the lines converge. Because the lines were the topic, there was no need to have the entire subject in view.

We were to capture a portrait. Besides background space for a less cramped feel, it was not necessary since the people are the focus.

Light was the focus here, so we had to chose a subject and composition that would enhance and compliment the lighting rather then distracting it. While the subject should be interesting and look nice in the picture, it should not overwhelm it so much that the lights and shadows that are cast on it become unnecessary.