DISQUS

Kevin Hawkins · 1 year ago

Alec, I prefer the one on the left. The darker, more imposing sky adds an ominous and foreboding sensation. The larger, more significant view of the branch is needed to balance the dramatic upper portion of the image. nnWhat f-stop were you using? How long was the exposure?

Kimberely · 1 year ago

I prefer "b"...by a large margin. I enjoy the movement of the water and the spiral that is created with the retreating wave around your core subject. Nice repetition of shape in the sky and subject. Nice job getting a different perspective from the low camera angle. I could look at this image for some time. n

Wes · 1 year ago

My choice would be made on my mood, Alec. If I am in a dark mood, which I am momentarily, I like the left one because it gives me a place to hide so that no one can see my dark side. I can still look out of the shadows and see the beauty of the waves coming in and the great clouds overhead.nnIn a different state of mind, I would choose the right one becaue it is more open and is calling me into a peaceful place. The wider perspective allows me the freedom to roam witout, first, hiding.nnHow's that for a bit of pscychology?nnWes

Megan Uhan · 1 year ago

Wow Alec, both of these images are remarkable. I find myself gravitating to picture A. I think it is because of the way you opened up the sky in the upper right corner and the stillness of the water beneath your feet. It is as if you feel like you are literally standing within the picture. What time of day was this taken? Beautiful work!nMeg

Beth · 1 year ago

Hi Alec,nnThis is a very hard choice, because I like both very much. nnIf I really had to pick, though, I think I like the first picture, justnbecause I tend to like close-ups of anything...faces, architecture,nanything. And the stump should be the focal point since it is so unusual. nnI love the second one, but I find myself focusing more on the water, too,nwith the wave curling over in the background and swirling around the rightnside of stump. It is a bit lighter and friendlier. It has more going onnaround it, as in a landscape picture, where the first one just makes such anstatement.nnI love the way water is flowing over the left side in the first one as well.nThis is not as noticeable in the second. I also love how the dark skyncoordinates so well with the dark parts of the stump. It looks kind of likenturmoil with the darkness in the sky and the complicated stump. The twonpieces sticking out look like bones. Maybe when life is dark andncomplicated, you need to hang on to a wish bone? I would surely grab on tonthis if I were out in that swirling water!nnThis would be great in a large size, like a poster. Great Work!nnBethn

Alec · 1 year ago

Hi Kevin,nnI was using a pretty hight f/stop, I think f/18 to f 22...the exposure was around 2 seconds...this was hard, late afternoon light

Alec · 1 year ago

Hi Meg,nnThanks for the comment. It was late afternoon, but in late June...so there was quite a bit of hard light to manage.

Alec · 1 year ago

Kim, you're alive! Good to have you back...where have you been? Did they send you out of town building cell towers again?

Alec · 1 year ago

Kevin, I also shot my sky frame on a Tungsten white balance setting, driving blues into the exposure. This allows me to develop a black and white image with a more dramatic sky without introducing a bunch of noise in the post processing stage.

Lisa Marks · 1 year ago

Alec...what a pleasure to be a part of the "experience"! Thanks for all the kind comments you made on TBD...and now it is my turn!

Well...of course the shots you post are always brilliant...(Ok...that was the kiss up comment! Sorry...but I did mean it.) And while I do like both of these, there are other black and white North Shore shots of yours I've enjoyed even more. And for someone like me who is intimately familiar with the fickle nature of Lake Superior...I am captivated by the still waters you were able to photograph. I am still in awe of the still waters with the boulder and falling stars. And then the L-shaped pier that stretches into the beautiful horizon. Ahhhh...

That being said...a appreciate several elements of the first shot you posted. First, the contrast is amazing. And while the sky is ominous in many respects, note that there is a clearing in the distance...something brighter to come. But for me...even more interesting is how calm the water in the foreground is despite the skies. The stillness still exists. The water gently moves over the driftwood root as it reaches out toward me...there is peace even in the midst of the immediate chaos that hovers above. Hmmm...seems as though your summertime photo was a predictor of current realities. :-) Thanks for the constant inspiration.

Deb · 1 year ago

Hmmmmm.... this one is a toss up for me. Neither one really stands out to me over the other. I like how the swirling water and sky almost mirrors each other in "b" and I like the contrast in "a". Sorry I am not more decisive.

Alec · 1 year ago

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for stopping by to leave an excellent comment :) It gives me an opportunity to chat here a minute about the creation process.

The most important dynamic I've learned about photography is that NOT EVERYONE (if anyone) is going to appreciate what you do. And certainly not all the time with everything. Therefore, YOU need to appreciate it. And I would encourage anyone in the business of creating to focus on the process more than the outcome.

I LOVE these images, not so much for their athstetic quality as for HOW they were created. I, on a whim late in the day, drove from Two Harbors, MN to the mouth of the Brule. When I got there 2 hours later, it was late in the day, there wasn't much to the shoreline where I was at, there were some college kids with a bus full of kayaks and beer (should have joined them) and I WANTED TO SHOOT...anything, something. So I muddled around a bit and found this log. I was drawn to it but there was nothing happening in the sky. But I could see there was potential so I waited. While I waited I watched my dog run up and down the beach, play in the surf, chase seagulls. And then the right clouds came. Then I was on my belly, in the water and sand, soaked, dirty, gear dirty, making images. I was personally connected with the subject, the moment, the water, the sand. The clouds faded, I made my way back to Two Harbors, half a sleep, but very very happy. That's a great process, in my opinion.

Often I will get disconnected from that. I'll set out with pressure on myself to make a great image...that can be really damaging. I start judging every moment, every scenario without taking time to stop and be with the place, the process. Yes, this is starting to sound like a newagey Tony Robbins moment...and maybe it is, but....there it is.

Thanks again for giving me a moment to rant.

Alec · 1 year ago

Hi Deb,

I think your response is genuine. You have a feeling, you're sticking to it. No more explanation needed!

Cheers,
alec

Tiffany · 1 year ago

I am captivated by the first one. When I first viewed 'a', my initial reaction was,'OMG'! Then I scrolled down and saw 'b'. I liked it a lot, but immediately went back to the first one. I love being right down at the level of my subject. Like many of the others, I feel to different emotions and comfort levels with each. It is amazing how two almost identical images, in the respect of time, location, subject, can bring about two different feelings. The first image makes me feel a little uneasy, and I want to take cover, but at the same time I want to stay and see what is going to happen or what is coming. My eyes move more rapidly down and then up, from the 'root' to the sky continuously. Occasionaly I find myself making the shape of an x while the lighter areas of water to the left and right grab my attention. Now with the second image, the movement of it forces my eyes to make a continuous circle again and again. I feel a little more free when I look into this image. So, although I am more at ease with the comforts of the circle, I more captivated and moved by the one that stimulates me more.

Alec · 1 year ago

Hi Tiffany,

Thanks for the comments. You explicitly acknowledge what a few others were getting at, and was absolutely the point of this post. What can we learn from this? Composition MATTERS. Reacting to what you see in the viewfinder MATTERS. Its connecting with what you like and don't like, and you've just expressed it. Between all the weddings and portrait work you're doing, go out and shoot some landscapes, working with what you were drawn to here.
cheers,
alec

Kimberely · 1 year ago

Seems I am in the minority in being drawn to the second one...I have always followed a different path though. ;) Yes, I was in Duluth and parts north for some work last weekend. I did so some shooting and hiking and found it restorative. Enjoyable. Really looking forward to Zion. When are we shooting together again?

kg

Bob Clark · 1 year ago

Alec: I do like them both but I tend to find my eye gravitating to the left hand image. In the first image the strength is found in the size of foreground element which I think is needed to balance out the strong depth in the sky. But the horizon line is split almost in the middle of the image which just kills it for me. In addition there is a disconcerting dark wave line intersecting the top of the wood. The second image is softer which in this case I like. I also like the size of the wood as it appears more lonely in the vast landscape. But what makes it for me is the dynamic movement of the water which is mirrored in the clouds beginning to swirl overhead. The lower horizon line really works better and utilizes the "rule of thirds" for a more dynamic image. I am brought in by the clouds, rotate my eye down to the wood and then catch the water up again to the clouds. Fabulous.

Bob Clark · 1 year ago

Alec: Sorry, I don't seem to know my left from right. I gravitate to the right hand image. as describe above.

Alec · 1 year ago

HI Bob,

Thanks so much for stopping by and joining the blog. First, I love the thoughtfulness of your response. Second, I couldn't agree with you more about that wave merging with the stump...every time I look at the image I go right to that...I have yet to say anything about my position on these images, so I will now. I'm amazed at the variety of comments and what people gravitate towards and away from...

I too favor the image on the right. :)

Thanks again for being here...I assume you found your way via TME....we're all excited.

Cheers,
alec

Bob Clark · 1 year ago

Alec:
I did indeed find my way through TME by way of Radiant Vista. Though disappointed that RV has moved on I see new doors have opened which have brought me to TME and now your site. I go back a ways with Craig. He taught me how to use my 4 x 5 and I had the great fortune to assist him for a time. I have since moved away from Atlanta and generally lost contact with him. But I have been keeping up with him through RV. Would love to talk with him again but know he is busy. He was and still remains a great influence on my own work. I really like your site and your work and look forward to expanding my abilities.
Bob