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Tilt-Shift World. May 23, 2011

Posted by littlebangtheory in Art and Nature.
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Here are a couple of shots I snagged on Saturday, down in the Connecticut river valley.  The weather was unsettled, with passing thunderheads and intermittent winds, but toward evening the air grew still enough to break out Elliot and my big rubber boots and head out into the wet fields of Hadley.

Here’s some wild mustard beneath a big cumulus cloud:

It wasn’t really planar enough for a great tilt-shift composition, but I took it anyway and cropped it square.

I know, that’s cheating, but hey.  I’m a cheater.

And this one I really like, and will probably make a print of; it came out crisp front to back, and the composition, albeit not classical, appeals to me:

The light was getting low, and I thought the shadowed foreground lent a measure of symmetry  to the sky.

Both of these involved hand-holding a reverse-grad filter to get the balance the way I wanted it, the latter one with very limited polarizing to get the irrigation ditch to light up.

Anyway, I hope you like them.

G’night, now.

Comments»

1. beatgrl - May 23, 2011

I like these very much. Cheers!

2. littlebangtheory - May 24, 2011

Hiya beatgrl, good to hear from you – and thanks!

3. susan - May 24, 2011

The technical aspects of photography defeated me long ago. I imagine tilt shifting having something to do with focusing on one area and then a second without the film noticing. Both pictures are wonderful but I particularly like the second. Classic or not there are a number of fascinating things happening all at once. That part is all because of you.

4. littlebangtheory - May 24, 2011

susan, thank you for that – I’m trying to bring something to this table besides expensive equipment, and it’s gratifying to hear when that actually happens!

I like your conception of T/S photography – it’s very humanistic, and very nearly literally correct, except that the camera notices everything we do, whether we notice it or not!

5. Pagan Sphinx - May 25, 2011

Wow! These are amazing! You’ve been practicing!

Do you run ads on your blog now or is it automatic with wordpress now? You’ve got all these google ads running at the bottom of this post.

6. littlebangtheory - May 25, 2011

Gina, thanks! Yes, I’ve been practicing my butt off!!! 😆

And no, I don’t do ads; in fact, I don’t see any ads anywhere on my blog, so maybe it’s got something to do with your end – if anybody else is seeing ads here, please let me know!

7. Randal Graves - May 26, 2011

Sweet merciful crap, almost makes me like warm weather.

8. littlebangtheory - May 26, 2011

Don’t go there, Randal. There are ticks.

😉

9. Steve Emery - May 28, 2011

I like both of these (I don’t think cropping is cheating – the camera can’t be made to take a square image, you have to deal with that later…).

The second one, though, is stunning. I love the composition on this one – the shape of the sky reflecting water in the foreground is the fulcrum for the whole piece. There are some really lovely things happening with angles, masses, and contrasts all around that focal point, too. And, having put up hundreds of landscape shots for long-term viewing in various windowless offices over the years, I can tell this one would have a long life-span for me. I would continue to be interested and excited to see it for months. Very few photos or paintings can do that for me.

10. littlebangtheory - May 29, 2011

Steve, I’m so pleased to have your detailed take on what works for you here. I agree on all points, and while the weather and cloud forms were serendipitous, the composition and capture were very conscious and intentional.

WHEN (not if ) I get these images on a secure site in their full-file form, you’ll be able to enlarge this one enough to see the details which abound in every part of the photo; that’s when it really becomes a piece which can be viewed over a long period without becoming boring.

Yeah, I’m kinda proud of this one.


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