In a prior post, I spoke about and described what I call “The Twin Jewels Project”. Today I thought I would talk about another of the images that I think has ‘made the cut’ for inclusion. It is also the last of the three for the project that I have used in prior different discussions in this blog. Future images I discuss for this project will be new to the blog.
“Water Painting” began as a motion study and ended up as a study in both motion and color. As I was walking by an area of the river that runs through one of the “Twin Jewel” parks, I noticed that there was a lone stone that was disturbing the movement of water going by and I thought it might make for some interesting images if I used a slow shutter speed to blur the water. I stayed at the spot for about twenty minutes or so taking shots at various shutter speeds, hoping that some of them would prove to have interesting shapes captured in the moving water to contrast with the stationary rock.
Several of the photographs did prove to have abstract shapes in the water, but the ones that I found most eye-catching were the ones that portrayed the water in an ‘intermediate’ fashion. By this I mean not totally smoothed out so that the overall sense of motion is lost and yet not so frozen in time that there is no sense of motion blur. My favorite one came right out of the camera like this:
"Water Painting" In Its Most Basic Form
Copyright Howard Grill
I was quite attracted to the preservation of both the shape of the swells as well as the tonal variation. But, in my mind, the image still lacked something; I didn’t feel as if the viewer was drawn into it. It didn’t seem to have that something that makes one want to dwell on and examine all of its nuances.
Boosting the contrast was a start, but I felt that what the image really needed was strong color with associated variations in the color tones to go along with the motion. Despite the fact that the color I was introducing was more ‘surreal’ than ‘real’, I felt that it nonetheless transmitted the feeling I was trying to convey when I took the shot. As I worked with the image, I felt that the linear motion blur of the water seemed like paintstrokes that called for the strong color (and hence the image title).
In addition, as I have also previously discussed in regards to this image, I rotated it since it seemed more peaceful with the rock in the rotated position. And so, I ended up with a final image as seen here, which I think I will likely include as part of the project:
Water Painting
Copyright Howard Grill
Do the saturated colors go to far.......?
9 comments:
Too far? I think the second photo fits the idea of a water "painting".
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Personally, I prefer the original. I like the muted tones; they match the soft look of the flowing water. But, I do prefer the 'rotated' position of the rock. But of course, at the end of the day, which one says the most to you?
Thanks Leon..
Chris, I have to admit, when I was done with the image I went back and forth on the issue, so I can certainly see why the original might well be preferred by some, or many, people. As you suggest, though, in the end, the saturated one 'spoke' to me more.
Second photo is great!!!!
Took me a while to contemplate the two, but I think the second pic is definitely better. That being said, it might be stronger if that black area of the waves were opened up a bit as it detracts from the painterly effect (at least to my eyes).
I wonder if the second one has more appeal because of the left to right movement, coinciding with our natural comfort in reading left to right?
I definitely like the impact of the second, primarily because of the color. Blue simply implies clean and refreshing - a good fit for a stream image I think! The inverting the position of the rock contributes to a more calming affect and becomes more part of the theme of the entire shot.
Nice work Howard. I really enjoy reading the thought patterns of how people approach composition, thank you for sharing yours.
Great idea to flip left and right, as Mark notes. I think the blue color works very well with your title "Water Painting" and your previous Twin Jewels image. They also fit well together in terms of simplicity. Personally, I prefer a monochrome version of the original (after flipping), but I know that puts me in a distinct minority.
I think I like the first one best but flipped. The second one seems to commercial, to illustrative to me. But YOU gotta go where you gotta go.
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