The Art the Crop

Going back through a set of images after a certain amount of time has elapsed, I'll often discover new compositions hiding in plain sight within old frames. Pictures within pictures, in other words. For me, for some reason, extensive cropping has always been something that I've tended to avoid. Over time, I've taught myself to be more free in altering the frame. At the end of the day, it is the final image that matters. In this connection, I always think of that famous portrait of Igor Stravinsky by photographer Arnold Newman. 

Real Art

My wife posted an image of one of Eva Hesse's works on her Instagram Stories, and a follower commented, 'Ah, so you're out looking at real art!' Ha! 

It is a terrific idea to get out and look at real art from time to time. We made the slog to Richmond to see the concurrent Ansel Adams and Man Ray shows at the VMFA. Both were well worth the small price of admission. Regardless of your opinion of Ansel Adams, there is plenty to learn from a close examination of his prints in real life. It was a remarkable experience. Likewise, the portraits made by Man Ray during his time in Paris were fascinating. He literally met everyone. I particularly appreciated seeing examples of full frame and cropped images, such as the one here. Alas, too bad solarized portraits have gone out of fashion!

Going down

I was waiting for the elevator and saw this scene out of the corner of my eye. I had a 35mm lens on the Leica R8 but I took the shot anyway. Anyway... I mean because I knew I would have to crop heavily, and that is a no no in certain photography circles. Ah well, whatever, not the circles I travel in. The shot works for me.

A congregation of crows

I was out photographing in the light rain yesterday afternoon around dusk. Birds of all kinds were active, but a group of crows were fighting with each other for the best position on the dead branches of this tree, and the action caught my eye. I could not discern their strategy, but I knew I wanted a classic ‘birds on dead branches silhouette’ image, if you know what I mean. I had a fast 50mm lens mounted on my professional rig, a digital camera with a boat load of megapixels. The focal length was kind of short, but I knew I could crop like hell in post, so I shot away.