On composition, part 33: Impressions


Recent tasks brought this one to mind, an aspect of composition that can have significant effect but often remains entirely subconscious, so let’s talk about the subtle and tricky topic of impressions.

First off, I’ll say that from my own perspective, I more often stumble upon an image that provokes a certain impression, more so than I’ll actively aim for it, much less create it read more

Other ways of getting the results you want

Every once in a while, you will get to hear the phrase, “other ways of knowing” – almost invariably, it will be in defense of some topic that is sorely lacking in demonstrable evidence or repeatable results. But this doesn’t matter, because science isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, since there are other ways of knowing. While, not surprisingly, read more

But how uncertain do you feel?

I have very mixed feelings about emotions [now, there’s a sentence of remarkable profundity.] As manifestations of internal functions to provoke behavior that benefits our species, they are distinctly important, but too often, they’re not specific enough, or they’re too easy to fool, producing behaviors that don’t really benefit us and are sometimes quite detrimental. I hate read more

On composition, part 12: Mood and metaphor


Moods and metaphors are present in a lot more images than many suspect, and in many cases they’re recognized only subconsciously. Being able to induce them in the viewer is one thing, but simply noticing when the opportunity presents itself to your camera is a directly related skill.

Sometimes it’s simple. When I say, “Dawn on the beach,” you automatically get a visual impression read more