The lure of “likes” – revisited

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Landscapes, Thoughts Leave a comment
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In an earlier post (The lure of “likes”) I noted how seductive “likes” on Facebook can be. In it I mentioned a picture of mine that got an unusually large number of “likes” even though it wasn’t much of a picture. I also mentioned how I was fascinated to watch the counter increasing – to see if it would exceed my previous “best liked” picture. It didn’t – but the picture above did. It’s surpassed my former best and the counter is still running, all be it at a slower rate than before.

I don’t particularly like this picture either. My wife wanted me to post it so I did. Yes, it’s an interesting structure that you wouldn’t normally expect to see in Putnam County, NY but I find the branches in the foreground to be very distracting and unfortunately I couldn’t get a better view without going onto private property (or using a different lens, which I didn’t have with me). It’s not all that colorful (I’ve noticed that many “like” extremely colorful images) and it’s not a naked woman.

So why so many likes? Although not a stunning picture it seems to have brought back pleasant memories to a lot of people who remembered it from their childhood. In addition to the “likes” I also got a number of comments, many of them along the following lines:

“It’s an old mill house. Friends owned the house until recently.”

“I remember that building growing up.”

“I know it well, I lived at Wiccopee Estates. My dad had his bait shop down stairs.”

“I haven’t been back to N.Y. in many years…I would love to have a trail bike and tackle some of the trails again.”

“Ice skated, fished, trapped and just a lot of fun growing up there as a kid. It has changed but still looks good.”

Perhaps the most extensive comment provided an answer to a question I’ve had since I came across this building: what exactly is it? The answer:

“The Bait House” They say a “picture is worth a thousand words” this picture has also a thousand memory’s. There many other pictures (that I dont have) of Wicopee when Frank Smith of Western Electric first built it in the 1920″s, when Eva Feinburg and her husband bought the property and built 24 summer bungalows, swimming pool, tennis court, handball, baseball field, social hall and summer camp known as Wicopee Estates. I moved there when I was 3 years old and not long after became friends (brother) with Glenn Niese who still lives up the road. The road was just dirt back then. My dad, to make some extra money would sell live bait, shinners and night crawlers. The tanks to keep the bait where down stairs where fresh water would flow the tanks to keep the fish alive. Glenn is still there but the pool, bungalows, are gone. So its good to see this picture my Dad and I once call the “Bait House”

This little piece of local history made me glad that I posted the picture even if it’s not going to win and photograpy prizes.

The lure of “likes”

by Posted in Black & White, Thoughts, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment
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A while back I joined a Facebook group: The Hudson Valley in Pictures. One of the first pictures I posted got what seemed to me to be a very large number of “likes” (probably because the groups I usually belong too are much smaller than this one). This was pleasing. However, as I looked at the group more I noticed that while there are some extremely good pictures, there are also many that are quite mediocre – including some that got more “likes” than mine. This was a bit of a “downer” and I stopped posting to the group for a while. Recently I saw a picture of a few deer at the side of a road. It wasn’t particularly well exposed, or composed but it had a large number of “likes”. So I thought I’d post the color version of the above picture, a not too startling shot I’d taken at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – just to see how it would do.

Now intellectually I know that the number of “likes” has little to do with the intrinsic worth of the photograph. However, as the notifications started coming in fast and furious I couldn’t help but feel my enthusiasm getting going. Would they keep going up? Would it surpass my previously best “liked” picture (it hasn’t done so far. After a fast start it seems to have stopped short of my record).

Silly isn’t it?

There are no rules of photography – merely guidelines

by Posted in Photography, Thoughts Leave a comment

Source: 10 Myths About the Rule of Thirds. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

If what the the author of this post is trying to say is that there’s more to composition that blindly following the rule of thirds then I’d agree with him. I too have tended to over-rely on this rule. It’s a simple concept to follow and I believe can improve your photographs if you are just starting. The problem is, as the author suggests, that you for ever afterwards tend to see the world through rule of thirds gridlines and never get beyond that.

The difficulty I have with this article though is that the author attempts to replace the rule of thirds with yet another rule: dynamic symmetry, which seems infinitely more complex than the rule of thirds itself.

I would have thought that the message should have been “don’t rely on rules – they’re only suggestions” not “Ditch the rule of thirds and use DYNAMIC SYMMETRY”.

I very much agree with one of the comments: “Interesting article. One of the things i notice most is, if you draw enough lines everything is bound to line up with something.”

There is, indeed, more to composition that following rules. I’m still trying to understand what it is.

My name is Tavis Leaf Glover, and I’m an artist just like you, trying to create art that I can be proud of and share with the world. Though, something really hindered me in the beginning… the Rule of Thirds.

I want to shed some light on the Rule of Thirds Myths we’ve all been forcefully spoon fed during our creative infancy, which continues to linger as our compositions mature.

Perhaps we can change the future of art together if we help other artists abandon the rule of thirds and introduce them to the invaluable design techniques demonstrated throughout this article. I need your help because I can’t do it alone!

Like many other artists, I was brainwashed into thinking that the rule of thirds is an acceptable method of composing an image. I guess that depends on the standard of art you’d like to produce. Art at the Master Level, like Da Vinci, Bouguereau, Degas, Rubens, or art like a Sunday painter whose goal is to hang their painting in the local antique store… not the prestigious gallery or museum.

 

Not sure why this made it to The Guardian

by Posted in Thoughts Leave a comment

Source: Balloons, dildos and shagpile carpet: empty porn sets – in pictures

By day, Jo Broughton was a cleaner at a porn studio, making the tea and ironing sheets, but after dark she turned her camera on the suburban boudoirs, hospital beds and ice-caves, capturing the eerie bathos of these empty fantasies

I’m really not sure why someone thought this was worthy of a place in “The Guardian”. OK, it’s a quirky idea but beyond that what did the photographer actually do. The sets were already in place. The lighting had already been taken care of. All she really had to do was point a camera and press the shutter release. Maybe take a few shots just in case? Maybe she deserves credit for just thinking of doing it? If I’d been in her place would this have occurred to me – probably not!

1000th post on this blog

by Posted in Black & White, Thoughts Leave a comment
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This is the 1000 post to this blog. The first post is dated 5 October 2011 and the 500th post is dated 28 December 2014. So it took me about three years to do the first 500 posts and a little over one year to do the second 500. Since my main objective in starting this blog was to make me keep taking pictures, I suppose I’ve been successful. In the 500th post I noted:

Sometimes I wonder if I’m just feeding the blog. Am I taking pictures just so that I can keep the blog up to date – i.e. am I just taking pictures for the sake of it rather than thinking through why I’m taking the picture? I also enjoy the post production part and from time to time wonder if I’m more of an ‘editor’ than I am a ‘photographer’. Am I just taking snapshots and then slightly improving them in post-production? Maybe time will tell.

I still have these concerns and I continue to search for a subject that I’m passionate about (I have yet to find one). All things considered I enjoy taking the pictures and maintaining this blog. It keeps my brain from ossifying and fills my time. So I see no reason not to continue with it.

Incidentally the picture above is of shoots on a potato. I saw it sitting on our kitchen counter and was struck by the strange forms – almost alien like.