It’s late, the trick-or-treaters have stopped ringing the door bell, and the zombies have left for the evening….
Happy Halloween from the FocalPower Team.
(The above image was a remix that I did a few days back based upon some images from Sam Javanrouh. Felt it was the perfect thing to post tonight!)
Mark Graf, a member of the FocalPower community, posted this wonderful picture recently to his blog Graf Nature Photography | Notes from the Woods. This image struck such a note with the FocalPower team that we asked Mark if he would allow us to share it with you. The color and lighting of the sky is just amazing. In particular, I like the way the sky that you can’t see is reflected in the still water of Lake Superior. And the way the foreground interest carries you deeper into the photo works wonderfully. Read his posting for the story behind this shot.
Great job Mark!
As photographers, it goes against our grain to think that a photo would need assistance from words. The photo should stand on it’s own.
However, there are times when photos need the assistance of words, when the image by itself is not enough. At least, not enough to ensure complete comprehension. (Listen to LensWork Podcast LW0326 Internet Photography Docent - Where Art Though? for another view)
As an example, check out this wonderful photo taken by Rafa, a member of the FoalPower community, and published on his blog Why Yet Another Photo Place.
This photo, by itself, is a wonderful image of an individual silhouetted in a window opening in some type of wall. However, when Rafa adds a more detailed description of the story behind the image, you realize that this image is of an Israeli solder in Jerusalem and the window is from an ancient bell tower within the city. This small set of additional details adds so much more to a viewer’s appreciation, understanding, and enjoyment of the image. (one of the things I enjoy about Rafa’s blog is the background details he gives with each one of his photos).
But, why has photo sharing on the Internet not evolved to include a more elegant and less intrusive method of including text along with one’s images to help tell the story? Yes, there are times when the image should be able to stand alone, but what about the images that could benefit from it?
Perhaps Bill Jay said it best:
If you cannot think of anything to say that is useful or enlightening about your images, then don’t say anything. There are plenty of other people who would love to put words in your mouth.
I think we all should be able to think of something useful and enlightening to say when it is needed. Now the question is how and with how much effort?
One of the FocalPower Quote Widget users is the blog Images of Belize. Tony Rath, one of the Blog writers, posted a great photo a few weeks back showing him in action during a dive. A whale shark found his dive group interesting and kept hanging around them. Martin Spragg, another diver/photographer snapped a great shot of Tony diving down in front of this whale shark to get a heads on view:
This is one of the best underwater shots that I have seen in 2007. Make sure you check out the entire story on the Images of Belize posting (Also check out other photos by Martin Spragg). Great effort to get your shot Tony and great timing on Martin’s part to catch you in action!
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