Early, close up and late
The world is a mere photograph away, as demonstrated by three of our readers.
Bullseye
He considers himself a beginner, but there’s nothing wrong with the ‘photograhic eye’ of Fanie Kruger from Dana Bay.
“I took this photo one early morning after I decided to go for a walk on the beach. So I didn’t have my camera with me, just my cellphone. The round stone caught my attention.”
You can sum up the success of Fanie’s winning photo with one word: simplicity. The stone – which is, so to speak, in the centre of the photo – just about hits you between the eyes. You know where to look and you know what you’re looking at.
The seawater seems to have receded from left to right as you look at the lines around the rock where it flowed. It feels as though it just happened, because the stone is wet and reflects the brightness of the light above it.
Again: if colour doesn’t play a significant role in a pic, there is no reason not to get rid of it. So, if you don’t mind editing your photo you could turn it into even more of an artwork.
For example, you can also crop the frame so the stone is 100% in the middle of the photo. In this case, it works well because the stone’s oval shape complements the passive composition. You can further increase the contrast to get more definite blacks in the photo, which in turn further highlights the texture – including those on the stone itself. When you up the contrast, the highlights also become more burnt out, which means you can lose detail in the clear sky. Don’t overdo it, that way you preserve some of the detail (as in the example). Even though you can’t see the sun, your subconscious mind interprets the white as the source of the light.
The photo also has further depth: in the background is another stone on its own, and behind it there are seven piles of sand in a row that look just like separate molehills. The dark section to the left behind that is, of course, part of the landscape. All these elements – together with the stone in front – are apart from each other, but work well.
On track
As the sun set on Petrusburg, Betsie Venter stood ready with her cellphone.
“I took this photo after we returned from the farm to Petrusburg. The farm lies 20 km outside the town, but we live in the town itself. I saw the sunset over the train tracks and immediately took a picture. I always see a deeper meaning in a photo, and the same is true here: there is light at the end of the track – which means there is hope.”
This is a classic composition in which the lines lead your eye to the focal point. Because the sun is the brightest point in the pic, you’d think you’d look at it first. But the reflection on the railway tracks that run like two signposts to the sun, is more prominent.
Because the Samsung’s software cleverly compensates for the sharp light, the photo is slightly overexposed. This means that some detail in the highlights is lost. As a result, there is less black in the shaded areas. Coupled with this, there is a large flare in the middle between the two tracks which also reduces the contrast in the photo. It therefore helps to darken the photo to see more detail – and is also a more accurate representation of the circumstances when the photo was taken. Remember, when you darken the photo, the colours also become more saturated. You can reduce it with photo-editing software for a natural version.
Finally: The lost detail in the highlights is a plus. The farthest point of the tracks almost seems to glow and gives life to this atmospheric photo.
Come closer
They live in Brackenfell, and Delicia van Rooyen and her husband, Nicky, love the country’s dirt roads. That’s when she focuses on the finer details around her.
“I took this photo on a foggy morning on the way to Malmesbury. We pulled over to drink coffee when I saw the flower next to the road. I like close-up photos and took this one without a macro lens, but with my 1855mm lens on my Nikon D3000. I was really surprised how clear the detail is in the photo.”
Macro photography is a whole field in itself – it is a poignant way to look at the ordinary world around us differently. Morning dew on a flower in the field is nothing new, and many of us would simply get back in the car after a coffee and drive on.
But Delicia opens up a new world next to the road simply by looking at the flower really closely. The detail on it stands out because the flash was used. Firstly, it illuminates the flower, which means the background appears darker. It also makes the dew drops stand out.
Because there is virtually no focus depth in macro photography, the subject you’re focusing on is easily isolated. All the negative space – the background – in the original photo is superfluous. It helps to crop the frame closer to the object where your eye can jump from one drop to the next.