Make Photos That Are Beautiful
It’s always great when photos you create display their own intrinsic artistic merit.
Sadly, the value of such concepts seems to have far less importance in our contemporary world where, if you don’t take action to protect yourself, you’ll be inundated with massive amounts of boring and meaningless images on a daily basis.
Still, I believe that there are underlying concepts of beauty that unite subject matter, creative photographers and the viewing public all over our world.
Beauty may very well lie in the eyes of the beholder. Nonetheless, I still believe in universal concepts of beauty.
After all, beautiful art, architecture and wonders of our natural world has demonstrated the power to connect and unity us, regardless of our age, gender, race or religion.
It’s the reason why pandas are still in existence, outside of zoos, and the reason why populations of fin and humpback whales are increasing.
To delve deeper into our exploration of beauty, let’s examine the photo at the top of this post.
I was attracted to the soft, gentle light and the simple structures of the bridge and cafe, together with their reflections, in the photo of the canoes at the Swing Bridge Cafe in Lorne, on Australia’s Great Ocean Road.
The reflections, together with the reduced number of objects in the frame, make for a simple but strong composition. Which is exactly what people want to see.
Truly, it’s much easier for our overly taxed brains to engage with visually simple images than it is to make sense of overly complex scenes.
I think it’s a beautiful photo, though not one of my very best images.
I suspect it’s a potentially divisive image, due to my use of restricted or local color in the photo.
Frankly, while the light was beautiful, there wasn’t a whole lot of color in the scene. However, given the dominant shapes, lines and a good spread of tones throughout the scene, this photo was a great candidate for a sepia reproduction.
Just for fun I kept the color in the canoes underneath the cafe’s verandah.
It’s a technique I’ve only used a few times in the past and, as a way of avoiding gimmicks, it’s one I generally wouldn’t recommend.
However, in this case, I think it works and I really like the final result.
Your own opinion may vary, which is perfectly okay. In fact it’s your right and I appreciate the fact that you’re here, looking at my photos and reading my post.
Ironically, there’s a hotel in Melbourne where I’ve been staying on recent trips to the big smoke. The walls are full of photos featuring this technique. Frankly, I don’t like any of them.
From my way of thinking, just because you’re able to implement a technique doesn’t mean you should. And, if you decide to, you really ought to know how to do it properly.
At the end of the day it all gets back to taste. But I also accept that there are photographers who make a good living concentrating on what sells, rather than being concerned about concepts of beauty and taste.