Friday, February 26, 2016

Explorations in photography: Finding lines

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am taking Ricky Tims' online Photo Challenge class.  Work has been keeping me pretty busy, so I haven't managed to complete all of the weekly challenges.  Even so, I have been learning a lot about photography and composition.  One of the weekly challenges involved finding a line.  I wandered around my father's house one Sunday afternoon, taking photos that explored line.  (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)


This is a close-up of an African mask (the twigs create the hair & beard on the face).  I liked this photo best -- the lines have a lot of wonderful movement.


This is a close-up of a spinning wheel made by paternal grandfather's grandfather (my great-great grandfather).  This is the photo I submitted for the challenge, as line is the dominant feature, though I'm not completely happy with it.  While the composition is simple and clean, I don't find it that interesting.  


This is a glass art vase.  Here I was exploring the idea of an edge as a line, though I think the colored shapes on the vase draw the eye more than the edge of the vase.  I love the beautiful color and sheen of the glass.


Again, I was looking at edges in terms of line, as well as the lines on the mask itself.  I like the composition and the way it frames the eyes and motifs on the mask.  Again, though, the composition seems less about line and more about shape, so it didn't seem to fit the challenge.  I think I could have gotten the focus a bit crisper, as well.  I have a lot to learn about working with my new camera.  My previous camera was a superzoom, but this class required a DSLR camera; I'm still figuring out how it works.  

This approach to photography is quite different from what I have done before.  Typically I take photos of things that interest me (such as vacation shots) -- I try to do a good job with composition and quality of the photo, but my motivation is to capture an experience or record something for future memory.  The photo challenges require that I go out to look for images to shoot that fit the challenge theme.  I'm finding that somewhat difficult -- it's hard to find inspiration at times.  I'm hoping that I'll get more ideas for photos as I go along.  I think the class will help me train my eye to look for interesting compositions.  

I'm linking this post up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday.    

5 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you linked to Nina's blog. I find I learn much about the art of art quilting by contemplating art in other media. Your photography focusing on line - especially as it creates positive and negative space was a great mini lesson in design concept. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting, Gwyned! I, too, find that looking at works in different media can clarify or illuminate broader principles of art and design. Even though I am not primarily a photographer, I have found photography helpful in training my eye. I'm glad you enjoyed the post!

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  2. this is a great post, and discussion. I love that you looked at life differently, and were able to show the process here. I am endlessly interested in line...
    LeeAnna at not afraid of color

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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting, LeeAnna! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

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  3. If you crop the top of the mask, it would look like the torso of a red skinned tattooed woman wearing a black corset. :-)

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