Idea Photography
One of my assignments this month is to capture efficient yard tips for a landscaping website. It’s a bit of a lark roving around to find the best ideas that various minds have arrived at as a solution to common and acute garden and landscape problems. I like to see creativity and some new uses of basic materials. Sometimes a very practical solution has a whimsical appearance. It’s surprising what basic elements can be used to master common garden and landscape problems.
People are invested emotionally in their homes. The funny things they do reveal this to a startling degree. Whether it’s a palm tree whose leaves have been wrapped by a frond tight to the trunk to prevent surface paint on the exterior of the house from tainting the plant, or a trellised cover for the recycling bins placed to conform to the aesthetic whole, there is always something to “see”.
Sometimes you have to be prepared when hunting the microstock beast that some people do not enjoy being aware that a photographer is around. Or, just when a picture taking stranger is willing to discuss what you have questions about, someone else walks into the scene and steps in the way. Or a shadow falls by the time you’ve asked permission to photograph the coiled ladder holder made from balsa wood.
These image files must demonstrate an idea about keeping back yards or front yard flowers and gardens efficient. But the challenge from straight photographic image captures is the composition requirements. This is harder than I thought it was going to be. The topic can be made more interesting with surprisingly photographic exposition.
The idea must be attractive and clear cut, taking precedence, yet remain interesting. This keeps some photography tricks in mind. The above picture was the result of a review of the “straight” compositional images. The rocks are used to keep the beautiful purple plant from beating its long trailing branches against the house during Santa Ana winds.
The sample shots I grabbed looked “blah”. The vivid purple was a great image asset. I rarely work the diagonal frame angle because it can shift values in a confusing manner. But getting the rope central was perfect for this assignement, because it oriented the viewer to “action” a vertical image absorbed almost into the background.
But the angled diagonal changes signficantly and may not work when tilted to fit the horizontal and vertical requirements of modern microstock image placement. In this case, a curious change took place when the diagonal was captured and examined. The photo makes the relationship between the rope ends central and the main subject of the photo.
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