how do you make boring stuff look, like ... interesting ?

eli griggs · Jan 10, 2021

I happen to be rather fond of the Peppers by Edward Weston, both for the back story, technique, lighting and image itself, which I see as another version of his nudes, with his niece, et al.

My wife just gave me a tiny, 'LED Studio', 7 in. side to side, and I have some pears, etc, to play with, using it.

I won't me making Edward's quality photographs with this, as I play with it (it should be a great travel unit, with a portable supply or DC LEDs also installed) and see what works best in front of the cameras.

Below is a link to this foldable kit on Amazon, and you can get it in larger sizes as well, so get one and have some fun, too.

Godspeed to all and all your Loved Ones.

Stay Warm,
Eli

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Lightbox-Photography-Backdrops-Lighting/dp/B081LW9TXP/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=7+inch+portable+LED+studio,+folding&link_code=qs&qid=1610301618&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-2&tag=mozilla-20

Sirius Glass · Jan 10, 2021

A photograph is boring, the problem is lack of a good composition. One can read about composition. I learned about composition as a child being dragged though ever art museum in the Washington Baltimore vicinity repeatedly. In the end it was good for me. My point is look at the works of others and learn to see your subject different ways. Above I suggested basic things to do, to instead of snapping away take time to look at the subject from different places as a starter.

Pieter12 · Jan 10, 2021

eli griggs said:
I happen to be rather fond of the Peppers by Edward Weston, both for the back story, technique, lighting and image itself, which I see as another version of his nudes, with his niece, et al./QUOTE]
?

Andrew O'Neill · Jan 10, 2021

Sirius Glass said:
A photograph is boring, the problem is lack of a good composition. One can read about composition. I learned about composition as a child being dragged though ever art museum in the Washington Baltimore vicinity repeatedly. In the end it was good for me. My point is look at the works of others and learn to see your subject different ways. Above I suggested basic things to do, to instead of snapping away take time to look at the subject from different places as a starter.

Composition is important. Really important. I had a drawing instructor who grilled that into us. Art history courses, gallery visits all help a great deal.

NB23 · Jan 10, 2021

I am not pretending that my shot is interesting but it seems that fire hydrants are the star of this thread, and what do you know, I was printing one as I was reading this thread... serendipity.

eli griggs · Jan 10, 2021

Well, think about one Weston nude, wrapped tightly with her own arms, legs drawn in, at an angle, rounded and posed with her dark hair head, down and to the viewers right hand.

Now look at the curves, contorted, twisted, and the mystery of the combination of the lighting, the pose and especially the subject and the man who took the photograph and the questions that arise.

Then look at the pepper, contorted, folded, rounded, mysterious and with the same basic questions on the topic, the photographer and composition.

It may be that you are analyzing life with the articulated Left Brain side, which is always in a hurry, fills in data with it's own shorthand and leaves your ability to "see" from the creative side of your mind, the Right Brain, silent, tied up in a dark corner, as the Left side doesn't want to slow down and listen to anything more than what IT can see.

As to my perspective, you may never see what I see, but that's OK, because we were never meant to be anything else but Individuals with our own view points.

I hope this helps, you or someone else to understand my points.

Cheers

Cloudy · Jan 10, 2021

eli griggs said:
Well, think about one Weston nude, wrapped tightly with her own arms, legs drawn in, at an angle, rounded and posed with her dark hair head, down and to the viewers right hand.

Now look at the curves, contorted, twisted, and the mystery of the combination of the lighting, the pose and especially the subject and the man who took the photograph and the questions that arise.

Then look at the pepper, contorted, folded, rounded, mysterious and with the same basic questions on the topic, the photographer and composition.

It may be that you are analyzing life with the articulated Left Brain side, which is always in a hurry, fills in data with it's own shorthand and leaves your ability to "see" from the creative side of your mind, the Right Brain, silent, tied up in a dark corner, as the Left side doesn't want to slow down and listen to anything more than what IT can see.

As to my perspective, you may never see what I see, but that's OK, because we were never meant to be anything else but Individuals with our own view points.

I hope this helps, you or someone else to understand my points.

Cheers

are you seriously comparing a woman to a pepper?

eli griggs · Jan 10, 2021

focus_on_infinity said:
Jan Groover did a whole series on her kitchen sink. http://janetbordeninc.com/artist/jan-groover/

I'm going to one-up her and do my sock drawer. But I'm going to have to get some better socks first.

How about instead, you first consider the socks of the homeless and buy a few bags of warm tube socks to pass out in exchange, just keep your mask on and wear gloves when collecting and styling your shots.

Normal and long, cooking chop sticks will come in handy.

A touch of Vapor Rub inside a disposable/washable mask will give some relief from the chronic oddors some folks generate with their feet.

After that, shoot your own sock drawer with your socks, after a long application or two of Lysol.

IMO and Cheers!

eli griggs · Jan 10, 2021

Cloudy said:
are you seriously comparing a woman to a pepper?

I've compared what I see in two Weston Photographs, either of which I would love to own.

Just because you do no see the possibilities and abstract though process, does no mean they are no there and viewable, as well as valuable by/to others.

Tomorrow, if you like, we can discus the cut Cantaloupe and the evocation of the feminine genitalia, if you like, or perhaps make a comparison between the many penis shaped cacti species, vs. Misogyny in the Male AND Female Being and photographic representations.

Cheers.

Pieter12 · Jan 10, 2021

eli griggs said:
Well, think about one Weston nude, wrapped tightly with her own arms, legs drawn in, at an angle, rounded and posed with her dark hair head, down and to the viewers right hand.

Now look at the curves, contorted, twisted, and the mystery of the combination of the lighting, the pose and especially the subject and the man who took the photograph and the questions that arise.

Then look at the pepper, contorted, folded, rounded, mysterious and with the same basic questions on the topic, the photographer and composition.

It may be that you are analyzing life with the articulated Left Brain side, which is always in a hurry, fills in data with it's own shorthand and leaves your ability to "see" from the creative side of your mind, the Right Brain, silent, tied up in a dark corner, as the Left side doesn't want to slow down and listen to anything more than what IT can see.

As to my perspective, you may never see what I see, but that's OK, because we were never meant to be anything else but Individuals with our own view points.

I hope this helps, you or someone else to understand my points.

Cheers

My question/point was Weston never shot his niece, either nude or clothed. I don't even know if he had a niece.

Pieter12 · Jan 10, 2021

I stand corrected. Weston did have a niece, and this is the only photo he shot of her that I could find.

focus_on_infinity · Jan 10, 2021

eli griggs said:
How about instead, you first consider the socks of the homeless and buy a few bags of warm tube socks to pass out in exchange, just keep your mask on and wear gloves when collecting and styling your shots.

Normal and long, cooking chop sticks will come in handy.

A touch of Vapor Rub inside a disposable/washable mask will give some relief from the chronic oddors some folks generate with their feet.

After that, shoot your own sock drawer with your socks, after a long application or two of Lysol.

I would, but I try to avoid political material. It doesn't really go over with my audience.

fdonadio · Jan 10, 2021

Cloudy said:
I don't think that's true, where did you read it?

Sorry, it’s been a long time ago, I don’t remember. It was something along those lines, though, not exactly word for word.

fdonadio · Jan 10, 2021

jnantz said:
I think you are right. things that might seem boring to me might be novel to someone who has never seen it.

Glad to be useful! I’ll be sending you an invoice.

cliveh · Jan 10, 2021

MattKing · Jan 10, 2021

Cloudy said:
are you seriously comparing a woman to a pepper?

Other way around, I expect.
One of the things I've noted is that people who gravitate toward photographs of people tend to be less interested in photographs without people.
And it works the other way as well. Some people are totally bored by photographs of people.
It is merely a tendency - there are a significant number of photographic polyglots - but it still interests me.
Weston's peppers are, I believe, actually photographs about perceptions of women.
Personally, I have a compulsion to photograph trees.
Purists might argue that this isn't a photograph of a tree, but rather a photograph of light.

eli griggs · Jan 10, 2021

focus_on_infinity said:
I would, but I try to avoid political material. It doesn't really go over with my audience.

True enough, but I wasn't thinking beyond the visual interest of worn socks and different types.

If you do no put a lable/cause on it, it could be one more mystery for viewers to mull over.

I generally avoid politics in photography as well.

Cheers

Arthurwg · Feb 10, 2021

Tilt the camera dramatically.

Maris · Feb 10, 2021

If you wanted a high points score at the old camera club slide night the mantra was:
"If you can't make it good make it red."

Andrew O'Neill · Feb 10, 2021

MattKing said:
Other way around, I expect.
One of the things I've noted is that people who gravitate toward photographs of people tend to be less interested in photographs without people.
And it works the other way as well. Some people are totally bored by photographs of people.
It is merely a tendency - there are a significant number of photographic polyglots - but it still interests me.
Weston's peppers are, I believe, actually photographs about perceptions of women.
Personally, I have a compulsion to photograph trees.
Purists might argue that this isn't a photograph of a tree, but rather a photograph of light.

View attachment 263479

Tree, light, whatever... it's a beautiful image.

ChristopherCoy · Feb 11, 2021

MattKing said:
You aren't really photographing the "boring" something. You are photographing the interaction between the light and the "boring" something.
And light is rarely boring.
A picnic table, that some might find boring:

This something that I would probably totally miss. I'd walk right by it and not give it a thought because, well it's just a picnic table and a shadow. But the way you've captured the interplay between the table itself, and it's own shadow is great. I find a lot of visual interest in that photo.

Michael Firstlight said:
I remember taking a photography class years ago at a major university called Mindful Photography. It might sound flaky, but it was really good. We learned techniques such as using basic meditation to change our own perception of a scene. It might sound silly, but try it. If you are looking at a subject stop and take a break, maybe sit down, close your eyes, clear you mind, focus on your senses - breathing, smell, hearing, environment etc for a few minutes then re-open your eyes and pick up where you were.

What you're speaking of is exactly what the book "The Tao of Photography" is all about, and exactly why I read it. Unfortunately I have yet to put it into practice. Taking a break, sitting down, closing my eyes and thinking about the scene never occurs to me. For instance I went out to the local nursery two days ago to shoot a test roll in a new camera. I found a plant that I thought was extraordinary. It was sort of like a variegated aloe-vera plant. Long pointy succulent leaves with a green center and white edges. It caught my eye, and I composed a shot. I had an idea about what it would look like, but my idea was much more grand than the image came out as. After I developed it, I thought about how I could have made it better, and realized that I should have pulled back some, put on the longer 210mm lens and gotten closer in. These are the things that really get to me. I have an image in my mind, but I don't slow down long enough to capture it. I just see something, think "oh that's interesting" and click the shutter. It's only LATER that I realize what I could have done to create more interest.

ChristopherCoy · Feb 11, 2021

Prest_400 said:
Going around some more casual networks (reddit) where a lot of the newer and younger demographic of film shooters bring some interesting observation. Such scenes with the Pastel Palette of Kodak Portra are highly regarded, then adding a Girl (as others noted) steps up the accolades. Gas stations on cinestill are a thing as well.

But are they enough to stand the test of time. Will they demand such accolades 3, 5, 15 years from now? Or are they just a passing fad like the latest fashion trend? And are those younger demographics just producing things other people like to look at, or are they producing things that they truly and honestly like?

ChristopherCoy · Feb 11, 2021

Pieter12 said:
A boring subject is subjective...what bores you might interest me. I don't think its is a universal concept.

I think the cliché of "what one finds interesting, another one finds boring" is old and very tired. I think it's one of those things that one artist came up with millennia ago to make themselves feel better about what they are producing and its just stuck around, and we've all adopted it as an excuse for not creating our best work. I know that there is some truth behind it, because not all of use like the same thing, and as hard as we try we can never please everyone all the time, but it's still a saying that bothers me.

ChristopherCoy · Feb 11, 2021

MattKing said:
Weston's peppers are, I believe, actually photographs about perceptions of women.

I think a lot of Weston's works were struggles with his own sexuality.

Michael Firstlight · Feb 11, 2021

There are many ways already discussed, but simply changing perspective almost always results in taking something boring and making it interesting. Try this: Go out and take a photo of a street electric pole - your basic pole - boring! Pick another one maybe with two or three transformers hanging off of the top = still boring! Now get on the ground on your back with your head by the base of the pole looking straight up - now you have something interesting - maybe a radial composition. Give the viewer a perspective they typically don't see.

MFL

how do you make boring stuff look, like ... interesting ?

eli griggs

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Pieter12

Andrew O'Neill

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eli griggs

Cloudy

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eli griggs

Pieter12

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MattKing

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eli griggs

Arthurwg

Maris

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how do you make boring stuff look, like ... interesting ?

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