Monthly Shooting Assignment - Nov & Dec 2006 - “Face + Laughing Face”

I PM'd davidb to see if he was going to return to run this MSA forum and his reply was that he would be away for a while and so he would be unable.

I volunteered to lead the last one just to fill the space left by davidb, but all joking about coups aside, if anyone else wishes to be the forum leader, I certainly won't resist being overthrown .

Regardless who leads, we need suggestions for the next two months. I would suggest that we take suggestions for a week or two, then vote/poll/make a decision so that we can take photos and submit them before the end of December.

Any ideas? Maybe some of the same ideas that were suggested and not used previously?

cheers

How about ... transportation...?

Bromo33333 said:

How about ... transportation...?

Click to expand...

Interesting, could be something!

Just pitching in a crazy idea: for the people shooting B&W: express the subject "colo(u)r" using B&W; for the people who insist on shooting colour: express "Black and White" using colour.

Anyhow... I hope I do have some time and inspiration to join the assignment this time. It's certainly not due to a lack of interest that I didn't join last time.

(edit... ah, post number 100! I should really start thinking about a post in the "introduce yourself" thread...)

Two good ideas!

Some ideas from previous months ::

1.--School Buses!
2.--Old barns

--Jeffrey
__________________
--Jeffrey Steinberg, K2MIT
Scarsdale, NY

Click to expand...

looking up
at my feet
what i saw today
check this out

Ray Heath

Click to expand...

car washes at night
liquor stores at night

Jeremy Moore

Click to expand...

The Old and the Young

Donald Miller

Click to expand...

How about parallels

Hmm.... there seems to be a trend here. All the assignments seem to be "micro" oriented - objects, buildings, etc - but nothing grand, like beaches, mountains, lakes, etc. Just an observation.

How about street photography?

roteague said:

Hmm.... there seems to be a trend here. All the assignments seem to be "micro" oriented - objects, buildings, etc - but nothing grand, like beaches, mountains, lakes, etc. Just an observation.

Click to expand...

Good point Robert. Marko has broadened things a bit with "street photography". Would you like to have one of your topics added as a suggestion for the list?

cheers

You can't find parallels in the grand landscape?

mark said:

You can't find parallels in the grand landscape?

Click to expand...

You're absolutely correct, they certainly could be found in a landscape and almost anywhere else too.. (cityscapes / factory floors etc)

We have a few good suggestions so far. We'll keep taking them for a few more days and then start either a discussion or a poll to decide unless someone else would care to suggest a different/better course of action.

cheers

How about "In My House", or "In My Yard"

The reason for my observation is that I see that most here on APUG always look towards the macro, like mud cracks, rocks, trees, any small item they can single out with their lens. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that approach, it seems that very few even try to look at the things in any other way (look at the gallery).

One thought, however. When you look at the work of the masters, like Ansel Adams, you see that they also mastered the grand landscape (or it could be any other grand scene). Take a look at this image, by one of our own APUG members: (there was a url link here which no longer exists). How many here would feel comfortable taking this kind of shot?

Perhaps, it is time to stretch the comfort zone a bit and look outside the micro box many have placed themselves into.

Just my .02c worth,

roteague said:

The reason for my observation is that I see that most here on APUG always look towards the macro, like mud cracks, rocks, trees, any small item they can single out with their lens. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that approach, it seems that very few even try to look at the things in any other way (look at the gallery).

One thought, however. When you look at the work of the masters, like Ansel Adams, you see that they also mastered the grand landscape (or it could be any other grand scene). Take a look at this image, by one of our own APUG members: (there was a url link here which no longer exists). How many here would feel comfortable taking this kind of shot?

Perhaps, it is time to stretch the comfort zone a bit and look outside the micro box many have placed themselves into.

Just my .02c worth,

Click to expand...

I think the key here is not to merely step back and make a picture of a big scene but to apply the same level of organization used in "macro" work to larger areas. This organization of visual relationships on a grander scale, is in my opinion, one of the hardest things to pull off. I'd say Michael A. Smith would be one of the masters of such photography... I would site the following photograph as a breakthrough in my photographic seeing

Dead Link Removed


Simply stepping back isn't enough, but to step back and make something more than a representation of what's in front of you is the real challenge.

Just my .02c

Shawn Dougherty said:

I think the key here is not to merely step back and make a picture of a big scene but to apply the same level of organization used in "macro" work to larger areas. This organization of visual relationships on a grander scale, is in my opinion, one of the hardest things to pull off. I'd say Michael A. Smith would be one of the masters of such photography... I would site the following photograph as a breakthrough in my photographic seeing

Dead Link Removed


Simply stepping back isn't enough, but to step back and make something more than a representation of what's in front of you is the real challenge.

Just my .02c

Click to expand...

Good points Shawn. Michael's work is a good example, butI would also suggest Jack Dykinga, Joe Cornish or Ken Duncan (for panoramic format) as well.

I didn't want to make my comments too tied to landscape photography, since I am aware that not everyone likes that kind of work, but I think the same principles apply. A grand landscape, is one where the viewer is led from the foreground through the image into the distant background. Many here seem to have trouble with seeing the image as a whole - they tend to see just a single object (however that may be defined), and while they do look at the object's surrounding, they never really give consideration to how that object interacts with or is part of the overall landscape itself.

Your Palm and Poles image is an excellent image (one that I would love to see hanging on a wall), but I see it as more of an intimate landscape; I can't find the relationship of the palms to the distant mountains (this is tough to do in a panoramic format).

Once again, this doesn't mean that the intimate landscape itself is bad. In fact, I have much more trouble photographing this concept myself, than I do the grand landscape (and I see it as something I need to work on).

I understand your position and am familier with Jack and Joe's work, thought not Ken Duncan's. I think the difference between the type of land scape photography to which you refer and that that I prefer comes down to a matter of taste. Of course, doesn't everything?



Thanks for the compliment, it is appreciated. As far as the relationship between the mountains and palm trees in my photograph, it is primarily visual. You have the overlapping and receeding triangles of dark trees and light mountains set over the trianlge of grass below, the palms and poles fill the frame in a different way and provide vertical and horizontal movement as well as texture.

"A grand landscape, is one where the viewer is led from the foreground through the image into the distant background. Many here seem to have trouble with seeing the image as a whole - they tend to see just a single object (however that may be defined), and while they do look at the object's surrounding, they never really give consideration to how that object interacts with or is part of the overall landscape itself."

Once again I don't think people have a problem so much as they simply have different asthetic tastes than you. I also think the grand lancscape can mean many things and to try and pin it down with such rules is a little silly. I guess it's neither here nor there and reguardless of what the assignment turns out to be I'm sure there will be many different types of vision represented, thankfully!

I don't mean to sound confrontational, I'm really just pissed that you're in Hawaii! Best. Shawn

How about an assignment that could apply to any subject matter, like:

Triangle or Three.

Shawn Dougherty said:

I don't mean to sound confrontational, I'm really just pissed that you're in Hawaii! Best. Shawn

Click to expand...

No worries, I didn't see your comments as confrontational at all. I rather enjoyed discussing the difference between the intimate and grand landscape.

As for Hawaii, well it has been pouring rain here all week, with flooding, landslides and road closures. Today, it has finally cleared up a bit.

roteague said:

No worries, I didn't see your comments as confrontational at all. I rather enjoyed discussing the difference between the intimate and grand landscape.

As for Hawaii, well it has been pouring rain here all week, with flooding, landslides and road closures. Today, it has finally cleared up a bit.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that, I enjoy it, too! Most of my friends couldn't care less about photography in general let alone have an opinion about this subject...

We have our share of rain, snow(does this make up for the landslide?), flooding and road closures here in PA, I'll bet when it clears up you've got the better end of the deal! I like the seasons, here, I shouldn't complain too much. The real problem is cloud cover. The airforce built a base nearby because this is one of the most cloud covered areas of the country... What a great distinction. Nothing a red filter can't fix I suppose. Best. Shawn

As seen through a normal lens (pick your format), focused at infinity?

snowymtphotos said:

As seen through a normal lens (pick your format), focused at infinity?

Click to expand...

But what about LF?

Markok765 said:

But what about LF?

Click to expand...

I'll have to defer to someone with alot more empiricl knowledge of LF than me!!

Ok folks, we have to decide what the assignment is going to be. Following is a suggestion for making the choice easier in coming months so here it is.

1) We start by having someone choose the subject from among the suggestions posted so far (For this session, I'll select a victim to make the first choice )

2) Once that subject has been chosen, we all photograph, scan and post until the last day of the session.

3) During the week following the end of posting, the person who chose the current subject will decide which photo they either like best, or fits the subject best and the poster responsible for that photo becomes the new topic selector, nagging motivator for contributions and judge for the next round.

I can't take credit for this idea as it is in use at another forum, but it works well there, so maybe we could try it here? My thinking is that it eliminates the debate about the choice of subject and gets things under way quickly and positively.

Please tell me what you think ?? We need to get started on this round.

cheers

Are the shots posted to the gallery or attached to a reply?

Thanks

Stew Squires said:

Are the shots posted to the gallery or attached to a reply?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Hi Stew,

The pictures are posted to the "Monthly Shooting Assignment" gallery.

cheers

John,

You are a saint for taking this on - it must be worse than herding cats!

So, compliments delivered - what's the subject (or is it subjects, since you're doing two months)?

Oh, and does "neatness count"?