Lovely Girl, Perfect Weather and Beautiful Setting
Picking Blueberries at Old Orchard Creek
Swansie Shepherd Rd in Little Horse Creek comes alive each summer during blueberry season as people from all over come to pick their own. On July 4th Bernard took advantage of the occasion by capturing his niece in this casual portrait using only natural light. Rather than list here the photographic components that come together in this shot and since all will probably attempt to take similar shots at sometime in the future, it might be a worthwhile exercise for each member to list his/her own ideas as to the various elements that make this shot work. And since the perfect photo is rare (if there is any such), at least one change that would have improved the shot. This could be a mental exercise but it might be better to write your thoughts on a piece of paper or, better yet, put them in a comment for all members to read.
The camera was a Kodak Z915, the shutter 1/320 sec with an aperture setting of f/4.2 zoomed in to 18.8mm (35mm equivalent of 106mm) and the ISO used was 80.
You gotta love Count Kosinski’s comments! Even if I don’t understand what he said, his poetic way of saying it is worth the read.
The elements that make this photo work for me are the position of the arms and the right angle where they cross and the space between the hands, the soft light, the framing of the face by the floppy hat with the pinholes of light passing through, the tension in the long, stretched neck of the girl and the constant deep green of the background. Improvement? Yes. Lower the camera 6″ to reduce the excessive headroom and include more of the bright red bucket and increase the distance below her right arm, thus allowing a little more of the lower body to show. There’s much to consider when framing any shot.
Thanks Bernard!
Mine is an opinion, which may be discarded at leisure. I think the subject matter is less the pleasant face than the actual hush-moment and anticipation in squeezing the blueberry, testing for ripeness, in those few seconds available prior to the actual plucking of the succulent focus of our attention. That critical moment was captured in a tiny fraction of time, otherwise lost to oblivion!
That is what I like about the photograph and you might have a completely different take on it, but the connectivity between all the mechanical pivots in the structure makes this an exciting composition. For example;
– the geometric lines of her arm on the left, frames a youthful face, further softened by the floppy hat which emphasizes her razor sharp attention for the little berry.
– the above point connects through to the other arm which gently pulls on the branch, reinforcing the focus in the image. By doing so she is introducing a little tension into all the relevant limbs, her own as well as the branch laden with fruit. That mechanical tension can be easily felt, as gentle as it is, and extends to the bucket tugging for attention at her elbow.
– that red bucket is doing a lot of important business here and I like the way the colour glows under her arm. If it wasn’t for that bucket, much of the photo would be lost. It provides a balance to the distraction coming from too much space in the upper part of the image. The red is further enhanced against it’s complementary colour, green. There is just enough red visible to make it work. I like that bucket.
– the manner in which colours relate and the way they effect our emotions is quite a mystery. The green with the few speckles of blueberry are relatively ‘analogous’ and any receding colours in these unique relationships have the effect of ‘smoothing’ our emotions. That soothing effect is consistent with the overall quality projected and it should be framed and hung in someone’s home.
otherwise, please excuse my rattling …….
Natural light has both pros and cons…it looks good as there is just enough light under the hat to make out the females face. I might would have slowed the shutter one stop to bring a tad more light to the girls face, but perhaps the shadow adds mystery to the shape of the face. All in all good composition and subject matter, interesting light effects coming thru holes in the hat.