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Post by herron on Oct 20, 2005 11:54:00 GMT -5
Not far from us is a really nice hiking trail (decades ago, it was a railroad spur)...it's really a pretty walk this time of year (and walking is something my wife thinks I need to do more of)!! These were shot with one of my Mamiya NC1000's on Kodak 200 print film...I didn't record exposures...  ![]() www.mamiya35collectors.com/fall leaves11.jpg[/img] ![]() www.mamiya35collectors.com/fall leaves4.jpg[/img] |
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 20, 2005 13:09:07 GMT -5
Hi,
That first one is a lovely shot. I particularly like the way the colours get more subdued as you move into the distance. Gives a nice sense of depth, almost 3D.
And, as a nice change from the rule of thirds Ron's used one of the 'perspective rules' of composition often abbreviated in text books to SCVP, or Single Central Vanishing Point. This is very effective here, and also often works well on things like railroad tracks (now there's a coincidence, it used to be a railroad spur!) and sometimes on long straight roads, especially looking out of small towns where the buildings end and the vanishing point of a road or trail is way out on the plains somewhere. This has been used in many a Western film, and in the good old 'walk into the sunset' final scene of many old two-reelers.
You can learn a lot by looking at well photographed films. Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns have lots of superbly composed scenes. And, if you get a chance, look at the composition of almost any scene in 'The Third Man', especially the composition of the closing 'cemetary walk' scene where Alida Valli walks up to and straight past Joseph Cotten. This was a black and white film, no chance to use colour perspective. If you like credits, credit for most of the camera work was given to Robert Krasker, but that final scene was shot by an uncredited German cameraman Hans Schneeberger, and IMHO it's one of the most effective in the film.
If you want to read more about using perspective, look in almost any book on drawing and painting landscapes. Some of them also deal with the perspective effect of colour (effective in Ron's fisrt shot). You'll also find dealing with perspective in some books on cine camera work. For some reason many books on 'still' photography seem to leave these subjects out.
But sorry, I've wandered away from the topic here which was Ron's picture. So to bring things back on topic ... well done, Ron! I love it.
Peter
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Post by vintageslrs on Oct 20, 2005 15:03:27 GMT -5
Ron
2 beautiful shots!
Love 'em both!!
Bob
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Post by herron on Oct 20, 2005 21:00:15 GMT -5
Thanks, guys.  I really did consider the "Rule of Thirds" for the first shot. If the sky had some clouds, or late evening color, I might have shot from lower to the ground, looking up, and made the sky my 2/3 area of interest...but the sky was just so bland and overcast...! I originally stood near the right side of the trail, so the path came in from the extreme bottom left of the frame, but it just didn't "feel" right. I tried from the left, too, because I really wanted to get the neat reds of whatever those plants are (my wife would know, but beyond a few simple trees like maple, oak, ash, poplar and locust, my knowledge of flora gets pretty thin, and I didn't think to ask her!)  ....but that spruce tree kept dominating everything I tried, and that didn't feel right either! I suppose I could have backed up a few steps...but this SCVP (Peter reminded me of the term...I don't think I have conciously thought about it since my college days! -- wasn't DaVinci's "Last Supper" one of the often-used examples of that?) ;D ...anyway, what I saw worked really well in my viewfinder! And the second shot, I was fiddling around a lot, trying to balance where things were in the frame and establish that strong diagonal, but I have to confess my real interest was just the color! |
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Post by Randy on Oct 20, 2005 21:37:23 GMT -5
The rails were there before the trails. The rails were around before the towns. Where the mighty iron horse once sounded it's bell. They are gone now, their story for no one to tell. The whistle no longer calls it's sad tone, and now I stand on the trail to gaze at it's vanishing zone.
That first picture gets me where I live Ron...Thank You...
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Oct 21, 2005 17:56:28 GMT -5
What looks right to a good photographer usually is right.
A quote from somewhere, but I can't remember where.
Peter
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Post by herron on Oct 22, 2005 21:38:45 GMT -5
What looks right to a good photographer usually is right. A quote from somewhere, but I can't remember where. Peter, I will take that as a very nice compliment. Thank you!  |
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Post by Rachel on Nov 3, 2005 18:12:42 GMT -5
Really lovely colours Ron. I do like those red leaves. We just don't seem to have had the autumn colours here this year. Perhaps it's the mild weather but trees have stayed green until the current windy spell when they've mostly been blown bare  |
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Post by herron on Nov 3, 2005 22:51:18 GMT -5
Thanks, Rachel:
Our color seems to be later arriving this year than I remember. There are still some trees with spectacular color (although there are also those that are practically bare already). Regardless, I love this time of year.
;D
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....but that spruce tree kept dominating everything I tried, and that didn't feel right either!
