Results and Feedback for the "Folk Art" Assignment

[keithsnell]

Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Folk Art" assignment.  The guidelines for this assignment were to submit images of folk art, defined as "art made by people who have had little or no formal schooling in art...with traditional techniques and content, in styles handed down through many generations, and often of a particular region."  Most definitions of folk art specify that the art is produced by "common folk" with little or no academic art training, using styles and materials from where they live.

There was a three-way tie for People's Choice, with viewers selecting Sue Pepin's Chainsaw Bear, Rick Pepin's Holoween Skeleton, and my Hublle's Rubble image as their favorite images.  Congratulations Sue and Rick, and thank you to everyone that voted for Hubble's Rubble.  Both Sue and Rick picked the perfect time to photograph their subjects, since both the snow in Sue's image and the lighting in Rick's image (both "transient" conditions) greatly enhanced the success of these images.  Great job getting out and photographing at the right time.

Chain Saw Bear
Tied for People's Choice
Photographed by Sue Pepin

Holoween Skeleton
Tied for People's Choice
Photographed by Rick Pepin

Hubble's Rubble
Tied for People's Choice
Photographed by Keith

Many of you have read my comments on "working a scene" in the past, and I thought this might be a good time to show an example.  Here's one of the first shots I took of Hubble's Rubble:

Hubble's Rubble, Take 1

I liked the angle on the primary subject, but the background was very distracting.  Here's Take 2:

Hubble's Rubble, Take 2

I changed to a vertical composition and moved in closer.  I like the way the wider angle setting on the lens emphasized the mule (my favorite part of the sculpture) but the background is still too distracting.  Here's Take 3:

Hubble's Rubble, Take 3

Almost there, but the 2nd "sculpture" in the background is still distracting, and even worse it lacks separation from the primary subject, which makes it even more distracting.  Now let's go back to the image I selected for the assignment:

Hubble's Rubble

For this version of the image, I moved in as close as I could and still provide enough space around my primary subject, and I used the widest setting on my zoom lens.  By moving in close and zooming wider, I was able to make the foreground objects larger in relation to the background objects.  This not only allowed me to emphasize the mule a bit more, it also allowed me use the aluminum "blinder" on the mules left eye to "hide" the object behind it.  It's still there if you look, but I think I was successful at "hiding" enough of the background that it isn't distracting.  It would be great if I was good enough to "nail" the composition on the first try, but I usually find that "working" the scene will eventually allow me to find a better composition than my first attempt.  Enough practice at doing this will eventually allow you to get closer to "nailing" the composition with fewer tries.

I thought Tanya did a wonderful job "framing" her Creepy Guy image.  It also looks like she might have added a bit of vignetting around the extreme edges of the frame?  If so, this is a wonderful technique to strengthen the "framing" effect.

Creppy Guy
Photographed by Tanya Mackenzie

And as usual, Dave submitted a wonderful image.  I loved the "connection" between the carving and the artist in his Woodcarver image.  It looks like Dave also added vignetting around the periphery of the frame.  Either that, or he had very controlled lighting.  Either way, his technique helps to focus the viewers' attention on the carving, and allows artist's glove and hand to fade into the background while still serving their role as a "supporting" elements in the composition.  Very effective!  I chose this image as Editor's Choice for Artistic and Technical Merit.

Woodcarver
Editor's Choice for Artistic and Technical Merit
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Thank you to everyone that participated in the "Folk Art" assignment.  This was intended to be one of our "fun" assignments, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Viewers are encouraged to respond to this thread describing why you like a particular image, or think it was particularly successful at meeting the guidelines of the assignment.

Keith