Light, Shadow, and Texture.

Hand by Alleah

There are  few simple truths to photography- photography  literarily means "writing with light," so without it or with poor light, the images will be poor as well.  That light produces shadow, which in many cases becomes the secondary point of interest in a photograph.  That same light also accentuates texture, another element of art that is so crucial in photography.

In this image by high school photographer Alleah, all three of those photographic elements are demonstrated to a successful degree.  The subject matter, whether one decides is the hand, the light, the shadow....is up to the viewer.  The interpretation of the image is also up to each individual-loneliness? Darkness? A touch, a loss?  We all approach a photograph from our own past, our own experiences, which is why photography can be so powerful.

When I first saw this image, I looked at it from a technical perspective-perfect light, shadow, texture and composition.  It was only later when re-visiting it that I started to look deeper into it-what does it mean to me?  What did it mean to the photographer?  The test for me is can I go back to a picture over and over and still like it...a lot.  I do.

Hundreds and hundreds of photographs are made in this class......it's refreshing to come across a few that really stand out-and touch our visual being.

Revisited Textures

Being outdoors a lot provides opportunities to experience nature in a personal way.  The camera is usually close by and when I see something that peaks my interest, I try to make a picture of it.  Georgia O'Keeffe once said that unless art is good in an abstract way, it doesn't matter what the subject is.  Okay, so that is a more-or less quote.  What she meant is the building blocks of art need to be present in order to have a decent work of art.

Textures, of course, are an element of art and one photographers really need to pay close attention to and can, by itself, be an interesting subject.  (just as color and pattern are).  So all this rambling is leading to two images from a while back, but photographs I like which feature the above mentioned elements.  Maybe that's why I still like them, even a coupleyears later.

Barley Texture

Barley, our favorite hunting lab, is always by our side and about as good as they get.  Cold wet weather doesn't seem to phase here one bit.

Rooster Feathers

The rooster pheasant has to be about the beautiful bird in North America and one of the hardest to harvest at some points.  I'm always in awe of  when holding them in my hands.