Will be very interested in some response to this, as it may represent an oncoming trend in my work. In a few weeks, I'll share Even If You Win, one of the most personally satisfying works I've ever done, but quite aware that many people just won't get it. So let's get this one out here to test the waters.
Shot August 2008 in al-Rakah, with the 10D and 50mm f1.4 lens, 1/200th at f/2.8 and ISO 100. 24" print.
And some print detail of "Mr. Bill" here.
Now, far from a "random shot," this one is actually among the least random shots I've ever taken.
No, I didn't arrange any of this, other than in my eye and frame. But did take weeks to let this one come together.
Am normally a spontaneous "wandering eye" shooter, inspired by new sites and subjects, and then finding the gems when reviewing the day's work later. (Sometimes years later. Been working on a sensational 2004 shot this week that just grabbed me like it had never struck me before.) Even my model shoots are simply exercises in lining up some variables, and then exploring the spontaneity that occurs thereafter.
But I was walking by "Mr. Bill" here on a daily basis last summer, and he quite intrigued me. Shot him spontaneously a couple of times (often while lens testing), but didn't feel the results amounted to very much, little more than a visual gag.
Until one day, I noticed how the weeds had been growing up in front of him. Knelt down and began arranging the composition in my eye, creeping left and right somewhat while adjusting the height of my view. Until finally, I saw it. A context for his expression.
Carefully noticed where my feet where, and then went to fetch my tripod. Wasn't sure which aperture would be best, so I wanted to lock that single best view in place and shoot on a lot of different settings. Still had my second (and best ever) 50mm f1.4 lens then, so even the f/1.4 wide open shots turned out quite usable, barring some halation. (Unusually, I shot them all in Av mode, rather than manual, so the exposures stayed consistent easily.) Fortunately, it was a rather overcast (i.e., dusty) day, so the light wasn't too harsh.
Actually ending up shooting full f-stop runs (from f/1.4 to f/5.6 in thirds of stops) from three slightly different angles, but the first one was best, though it needed slight cropping. Which brings up the value of this little story to any other creative types: even slight differences in the top border crop made substantial differences to his expression.
What I found was that raising or lowering the top border significantly altered his implied eyebrows, and thereby his look of alarm. Even just a millimeter of adjustment was quite discernible.
Ultimately, probably spent nearly an hour gaming this out. And then would go through the same process while cropping Manama in Progress months later, because that devilish tower's stance to the right was strongly affected by the same phenomenon.
So, point being, you'd be amazed how much lift or squat can be created by the top border's distance from the subject, so make sure to notice if you've ever got to crop anything unusual yourself.
Oh, should I offer a method?
I set up a frame of my desired size and proportions on a different layer, selected the Move tool, and then used Shift and the arrow keys to move my frame up and down (without looking at the keyboard). Keep your eyes right on your subject that you care about, but notice with your peripheral vision that your subject is lifting or squatting as the top threshold moves up or down. (You've got to focus tightly while remaining peripherally aware of the whole composition at once. A very valuable skill worth learning - I actually use it to make a lot of my tonal decisions as well.)
If you want to actually crop your file: Once you've got your frame in the perfect place, Control-click the frame layer to load its contents as a selection, and then Shift-Control-I (letter i) to invert the selection, and then Edit > Crop.
Of course, you don't need to use an independent framing layer, and may even find some advantages to using the Crop tool. I've just gotten to the point where the frame layer method works better for me, on those rare occasions when I do crop, which aren't often. (Because I'm so obsessive about it that I usually don't want to go there.)
Anyway, sound off sometime if you find all this useful in one of your own images. I'd love to see your result of thinking about cropping in this way. It probably would apply to even more subjects or situations than I've considered myself.
Didn't get this one at first, so your explanation was helpful. Now that I can see 'him', I really like it. Do my words still matter if I like them all?
Posted by: Alyssa Morris | 21 December 2009 at 08:35 AM