Wow, another set of amazing images submitted for this assignment! The
guidelines for this assignment were to to take an image of a normal scene, and then flip that image upside down in order to judge the image based on how well the abstract shapes, forms, colors and light come together to form a pleasing composition.
I think Lars enjoyed the assignment, and his creative
Levitation Guitar image was selected as
People's Choice. What a fun, whimsical image. The more I looked at the image, the more I discovered interesting and creative touches. So much so that I've selected this image as
Editor's Choice for Artistic Merit. It's images like this that provoke Rebecca to say, "someday I want to meet Lars, what an interesting and fascinating person he must be."
Levitation guitarPeople's Choice and
Editor's Choice for Artistic MeritPhotographed by Lars
Lars'
Falling Down image was nicely composed as well, and captured a bit of the personality of the cat. It didn't grab and hold my attention quite as well as the
Levitation Guitar.
Falling Down IIPhotographed by Lars
Dave's
Froggy Flip image was very well executed, and super sharp with wonderful color. This image definitely worked right side up or upside-down. There's lots to like about this image, but it didn't quite engage my mind as well as Dave's other image.
Froggy FlipPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Flipping Lars'
Somewhere over the rainbow image upside-down was definitely helpful for judging the balance of this image. It looks balanced to me. The cool cloud formation became the center of interest in this image, and with a little imagination an animated creature...
Somewhere over the rainbowPhotographed by Lars
I thought Rick's
Old Stump image was an interesting study in how our brains determine perspective. He asked "is it right side up, or upside down?" Actually the image holds our attention a little longer than normal because when we look at it we intuitively sense that something is "different" about this stump. The shadows don't quite fall where we expect them to. Because of that we almost see the stump as an abstract object instead of just an old stump, and we start to examine the form in a little more detail. Very interesting Rick.
Old StumpPhotographed by Rick Pepin (TrvlRick)
Michele's
Sous la Cloche (
Under the Bell?) image was a wonderful rendition that reminded me of classic daguerreotypes from the early days of photography. They were almost impressionistic in their representation of the world. Like Dave I loved the tones and feeling of this image. It invited me into a fairy-tale world where my imagination was the limits... (This image took on more meaning when I looked up the phrase "Sous la Cloche" and read the Google reference to the poem
The Fond Heart by Maurice Maeterlinck.) True artistry Michele.
Sous la ClochePhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
Michele's
Evening Stroll was another amazing, intriguing image. I impressed by the way Michele captured this image (using one camera to fire the flash and another to capture a long exposure), and selected it as
Editor's Choice for Technical Merit.
Evening strollEditor's Choice for Technical MeritPhotographed by Michele Bollhalder
I (and many others that commented) really liked Lars
Flower Spider image. It takes quite an artistic mind to be able to visualize and then create such an ominous looking creature out of a house plant. If I hadn't already selected Lars'
Levitation Guitar as my choice for artistic merit, then I would award it to this image. Great job visualizing and then creating this image Lars!
Flower spiderPhotographed by Lars
I find it fascinating that Dave's image of the
Feeder Stream was so much more captivating upside down than it was right side up. I think the fact that we intuitively sense that something is "different" about this image tends to pique our interest and keep our attention a bit longer. There are other things that make this image a success though, including the sense of motion the bare tree branches and debris add to the image (and the mystery), the beautiful (but somehow disconcerting) light, and the way the dip in what we perceive as the far bank leads us through a small valley into the distance. That's what I find most fascinating, that this "dip and valley" aren't really there, but our mind is so attuned to using these types of depth cues that we interpret these features as depth cues even though they really aren't. You can see what I mean by comparing the image Dave submitted to the "flipped" (right side up) image I've posted just below it. Notice how our path into the distance is now cut off, and the image therefore lacks the depth of its upside down counterpart and therefore isn't as successful at drawing the viewer into the scene. Fascinating...
Feeder StreamPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust)
Feeder StreamPhotographed by Dave Leiker (prairiedust) (flipped over by Keith)
I love the fact that by turning her
Fire Dragon image upside down Rebecca abstracted the subject and allowed us to imagine dragons, wildfire tornadoes and brains on fire.
It is a fascinating image primarily because it does provoke our imaginations. Now if only we could figure out a way to do that on a regular basis with our right side up photography...
The fire dragonPhotographed by Rebecca
Thank you to everyone that participated in this assignment. I know this assignment forced me to examine compositional elements from a different perspective, and I hope you found that it helped you exercise your compositional skills as well.
Keith
