On sketching images
The idea of sketching was, and most of the time still is, a novelty to me. What he means by that is working the subject. Explore different angles, and points of view, and try horizontal or vertical. Change the lens for different effect. go back at different time of the day for different light, different season. This this requires time. At the same time, it gives you the chance to get the best photograph there is, showing exactly what drew you to the scene.
I read about it for the first time in the “Inspired eye III” by David DuChemin, where it was even illustrated with a spread of those early tries leading ultimately to the finished image, matching photographer’s intent. This idea is also in David DuChemin’s newest book, “Photographically speaking”.
Most of my picture taking is snapping. I look around for scenes drawing my attention- by shape, color, texture. Mostly color, color contrast is my favorite subject. And then I just record what I see. Hardly ever would I spend more time on it, sketching. But it happend a few times, and I liked the results.
In a sense, my summer spent photographing wild flowers I planted in front of my house this year was working the subject. But the truth is, the changes in my flower bed were so quick, that every evening I was coming to something different. Another example where I really took time with the subject was previous year, where I had probably close to an hour, waiting for my ride, to photograph this modern fountain in the downtown Rybnik. Water fascinates me, and the shape of the fountain was just perfect for the abstract. I came back with over 130 images. I think I showed some of my favorites from the day (check posts here and here), but there are many more. But here is few more- from overview to the abstracts. There were two colors dominating the images, so I decided to use only those two colors and created a duotone (for Lightroom suers, Highlights settings are 171,7 and for Shadows 41,36). Click on any image, to see the larger version and scroll through gallery.
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