ViSuaLLyMiNDeD

New Year's Resolution

Thanks to all of you for visiting my site and for giving me so much feedback - it has really been helpful to me. I will be away for a week, but I'd like to leave you with a request for general comments on my photography as a whole. As my New Year's resolution I'd like to diversify my photography, to branch out - because I feel my photography is getting boring and repetitive. If you have any general suggestions about how I could improve in this area that would be wonderful. Do you notice any way in which my photography is limited? Perhaps it's subject matter, or compositional choices, or some kind of shooting style bias...

In case the repetition has more to do with the photos I choose to post (rather than photos I choose to take in the first place), I've decided to post some recent photos that I wouldn't usually consider worthy of posting. I'm curious how you think these compare to the photos I have posted.

Thanks again for your comments and Happy New Year!

Posted by Gaja at December 31, 2004 11:34 AM

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Comments

I like many of these, namely ginger running, grey window, faucet, red blur, and sepia ring.

I also agree with much of what VF and Tamara have said. My favorites of yours are the pond ripples, the reflections, and the red steps. To me, these images still have a lot of the abstract quality and simplicity that defines your style (which I like very much), but they also have a touch of romanticism which makes them even more appealing.

Happy new year! Keep up the great work and good luck with your resolution. It's funny, while you're resolving to diversify your style, I'm trying to figure out, "what the heck is my style?" :)

Posted by: chiaroscuro at January 3, 2005 12:09 PM

Hm, well, I don't really feel qualified to tell you where to go with your photography, but I can tell you which ones I like...

As Visual Field pointed out, you have a very clear style - simplicity and lines. But I also think you have a "romantic" side (in the artistic sense), and this comes through really nicely in pictures like the one you showed me (but haven't posted here) of the reflection on the water that you threw the stones into - the one with the concentric ripples. I really loved that photo and ones like it that you have taken. I would put Gerbera I, Fall Reflections, and Red Steps in this category.

Or... now that I look at the three photos of yours I've chosen to focus on, maybe I just really like the way you manage to find bits of red in the world and make them really stand out brilliantly.

Anyway, I think your style is really still developing, and I certainly don't think I can tell you where to go. So I do hope that it helped for me to at least say which of your photos I've especially liked. This is not to say that I don't like your abstract/geometric style - I also have several favorites of those (e.g., Blue and Strange Land).

Incidentally, I think you should submit "Blue" to the Lensday Challenge this week (a new challenge will be posted this coming Wednesday).

Posted by: luminouslens at January 2, 2005 8:14 PM

Many of these are very nice, and I love the panning shot of your dog running.

Here's a more general comment: Most of the photos you've posted exhibit a very recognizable style, characterized by simplicity, a good sense of composition, strong lines, and vibrant colors (in the color images). I like this style very much. The pictures of your dog, however, are different. If I hadn't known, I wouldn't have guessed they were taken by the same photographer. These images are much more personal, charming, and sometimes humorous; your affection comes through clearly. I'd like to see you extend this approach occasionally to other subjects.

Posted by: VISUAL FIELD at January 2, 2005 9:11 AM

Happy New Year to you, too :-)

Keep up the excellent work!

Posted by: leigh at December 31, 2004 12:02 PM

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