Photography is what I like to call art for scientists. There's chemistry involved and formulas. And rules. I belong to a photographic society that serves to better my work through competition, but there's even a science to the entries. The “best” entries follow a similar set of guidelines. Whether you shoot digital or film, small format or large, you are constrained by the medium... to an extent.
Knowing the guidelines in photography is important and I compare that knowledge to what I learned in an art class in college. Picasso could create wonderful abstracts because he had vast knowledge of the human form. So too, that knowing composition, the effect of contrast, aperture, shutter speed and knowing how to use your camera is very important.
With that knowledge you can create repeatable results and photographs that surpass snapshots or mundane visual records and put some energy and yourself into your works. Knowing composition, the effect of contrast, aperture, shutter speed and knowing how to use your camera is very important. With that knowledge you can create repeatable results and photographs that surpass snapshots or mundane visual records. And then you can set about breaking the rules! The best photographs are often the ones that a rule-breakers.
This portrait titled "Contemplation" breaks some rules of portraiture, but is one of my most successful efforts in photography. The subject is looking towards the left edge of the frame, only one eye is seen with the other hidden, although not a profile shot. There are lines invading the face. Yet, all of the rules that can dictate "good" portrait technique would have made a very different photograph. And one that would have been a bit boring. I encourage you to take risks.
In the photograph, “Julian, California – Winter”, you are able to view a soft scene both in color and lack of sharpness in the edges. The photograph breaks some technical rules of color balance and sharpness to the benefit of rendering this scene with more of a painterly brush. The benefit of this rule breaking is creating a memory of the day that has feeling. It’s simply more inviting and creates its own reality.
Get to know photography and then find the aspects that you enjoy to become a true artist in this wonderful medium.
Be thoughtfully rebellious,
Kevin
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