Results and Feedback for the "In the Dirt" Weekly Photography Assignment

[keithsnell]

The guidelines for this assignment were to compose your images from a kneeling height or lower, instead of a standing height, and observe the changes in perspective and additional sense of depth you can achieve from placing the camera closer to your foreground elements.

I loved the whimsical feeling of Lars' Down to the Rug image.  I think Lars nailed this assignment, and this viewpoint definitely suited his subject, giving it a life it wouldn't have had from a more traditional perspective.  I liked the soft light and vignetting, which perfectly set the scene of a dog howling (or singing) at the moon, and the long shadows enhanced that feeling even more.  What a wonderfully creative image!  Like Dave, I wonder if this image would have worked with a little more "space" at the top of the frame, but over all the composition works very well.  Excellent image Lars!  The low angle of view is a key component of this composition, and is responsible for making the image such a creative success.  I've awarded this image Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit.
 

Down to the rug
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit
Photographed by Lars

Rick's Great Dane from a Chihuahua’s point of view! image definitely capitalized on low positioning of the camera to accentuate the dog's size and height.  With a wide angle lens like this, (Rick shot the image at 18mm) even a small change in camera-to-subject distance of only a few inches can make a significant difference in the perceived size of your subject.  I would liked to have seen a version of this image photographed from an even closer position which would have enhanced the feeling of having the Great Dane tower over the chihuahua.  (But maybe Rick was concerned about getting slobber on the lens.   )  Great job Rick.

Great Dane from a Chihuahua’s point of view!
Photographed by Rick Pepin

Michele's two snail images were another whimsical series that made me smile.  And Dave's comment about the snail looking for his keys in the grate just made me laugh out loud.  Michele's images are a great illustration that getting down to the level of our subject helps us "relate" to those subjects much better, as evidenced by all of our comments that gave human characteristics to the snail.  They also illustrate how important it is to wait for the "action" and catch our subjects doing something interesting.  (Good job not blinking so you wouldn't miss the action!)  Great job Michele, my knees hurt just thinking about what it took to capture these images.

A snail's pace...
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder

I think I can...
Photographed by Michele Bollhalder

Although my two Lotus Blossom images weren't really "in the dirt,"  I had fun trying to get down low to get an interesting perspective on the blossoms.  I concentrated quite a bit on the position and focus characteristics of the foreground and background elements, in an attempt to design an overall composition that provided context for the blossom.  It was great practice using my tilt/shift lens to control the plane of focus.

Lotus Blossom
Photographed by Keith

Floating
Photographed by Keith

Dave did a great job of conveying the tall flowers reaching up toward the sun in his Wild Blackeyed Susans image.  It can be very challenging to control exposures in a backlit image like this with the sun in the frame and Dave did an outstanding job.  This image really gives a sense of being immersed in the tall grass and wildflowers of the prairie.  This was one of my favorite images of Dave's series, because I felt it gave an engaging and faithful impression of the subject.

Wild Blackeyed Susans
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Dave's Grass blades image was another wonderful composition that celebrated the simple beauty of the sunlight backlighting the seed heads of the grass.  It was a great choice to highlight the height of the grass and make the image a bit more dynamic by arranging the grass diagonally in the frame.  This image was the well deserved winner of the vote for People's Choice.

Grass blades
People's Choice
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Dave's Wildflowers 1636 image was one of the images that made it so tough for me to pick a favorite for this assignment.  This image is a beautiful celebration of summer, and just radiates the vibrancy of a profusion of summer wildflowers.  Dave again capitalized on backlighting from the sun to highlight the vibrant yellow of the flower petals, and composed the image beautifully.  The composition is "full" enough to convey the profusion of wildflowers, but is well balanced and simple enough that the viewer isn't overwhelmed by busy detail.  Excellent, beautiful composition that just sings "Summer!"  Technical execution is perfect, and capitalizes on the extreme depth of field provided by a 12mm lens.  I've awarded this image Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.

wildflowers 1636
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit
Photographed by Dave Leiker

Marilyn's Waiting to be played image is a great exploration of the depth that can be conveyed by getting "wide and close" to your subject.  The perspective from using a wide angle lens close to the subject accentuates perceived size difference between close and far objects and reinforces our perception of depth.  Marilyn made the interesting choice to use a relatively large aperture for this composition, and I think it works.  The higher contrast of the middle keys (both from the sharper focus and from the way the light falls on the subject) helps to draw us into the scene and imagine that we are sitting at the keyboard.  Using a narrow depth of field like this can be a very effective tool to focus the viewer's attention on a specific area of the scene but must be done with care so that the out-of-focus elements don't distract the viewer.  In this image, the technique works very well.  Marilyn also did a very good job balancing the fill flash in this image.  Very nice composition Marilyn.

Waiting to be played
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney

Marilyn again did a great job balancing fill flash to compensate for a high contrast scene in her In the Prickly Pear image.  This image wasn't quite as successful at drawing me into the scene as her other images.  I think this is because the subject is primarily all in one plane perpendicular to the camera lens and doesn't have any prominent leading lines or other compositional features that will work to draw me into the scene.  The inclusion of a leading line, or a progression of near, middle, far elements might have been more successful at providing a sense of depth and drawing the viewer into the scene.  That said, this image is very strong technically.  The well balanced fill flash helps to bring out the subtle color gradations in the cactus and accentuates the "sharp" detail.  Very nice job controlling the exposure and balancing the flash Marilyn.

In the prickley pear
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney

Marilyn did a great job getting down "in the dirt" for her First Tomato image.  Close-up or macro shots can be challenging with a wide angle lens because they include more of the background than would a similar composition with a longer focal length lens.  When using a wide angle lens we need to be even more careful about including distracting background elements in the scene.  Subjects or compositions that are primarily all in one plane are often better suited to use of a longer focal length lens that can be used to isolate the subject from the background; while compositions that include near, middle, far elements are more suited to the use of a wide angle lens that can provide enough depth of field to keep all the elements within the depth of field.   Photographing this subject while down in the dirt definitely provided a more interesting and effective composition than would have been possible from a normal shooting height.  This was a great scene to experiment with the strengths and weaknesses of a wide angle lens.   The image It was technically well executed from an exposure and focus standpoint, and suffers only slightly from the inclusion of distracting highlights in the background.

First tomato
Photographed by Marilyn McKinney

Lars' Flower Breeding image is another good example of how getting closer to our subjects with a wide angle lens can enhance our perception of depth in an image.  This if further reinforced by the linear perspective of the diminishing sidewalk and curb progressing into the distance.  Great study of depth Lars.

Flower breeding
Photographed by Lars

Rebecca's Butterfly House image was a technically competent composition that just didn't grab my attention or draw me into the scene.

Butterfly house
Photographed by Rebecca

Lars did a wonderful job bringing out the possibilities in this image in his "fresco" rendition of the image below.  By cropping in on the scene, Lars helped focus our attention on the two primary (and complimentary) elements in the scene.  His "fresco" treatment of the image accentuated the lush greens and the textures in the leaves and flowers.  Together Rebecca and Lars produced a beautiful image.

Butterfly house
Photographed by Rebecca and modified by Lars

Thank you again to everyone that participated in this assignment.  I hope you all enjoyed being encouraged to photograph your images from a different perspective.  Your beautiful creations continue to inspire me.

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