Image #6
The idea for this post came from my friend Ray. We spent two days photographing together in the tulip fields but we also enjoyed time just talking about art and life. I imagine this might have been what it was like in days gone by when artists would get together, smoke, drink loads of coffee, and just shoot the breeze. In our case, there was Pepsi and no smoking but the ideas were flowing freely. I’m grateful for Ray’s willingness to spend time with me as it has helped me gain a new perspective on some aspects of my journey. I don’t often share more than one photograph per post mostly because the conventional wisdom is to share only your best images. Ray mentioned he would be interested in seeing some of the images that don’t make it to my blog because he thought I might be censoring my work based on the voices of others in my head. In today’s post, I’ll walk you through how I decided on the image above including my creative process in the field and some images I wouldn’t normally share.
Image #1
These six images were taken over the course of 20 minutes. Image #1 was taken at 7:05 am shortly after the workers arrived in the fields. I was playing with the lines created by the rows of tulips but they were too literal for me. While I like simple compositions, I don’t like simplistic use of compositional elements. Also there was no focus or central point of interest for me in this image.
Image #2
Image #2 was taken at 7:06 am. I changed my perspective to isolate one worker in the field somewhat along the vertical third of the frame. The background was too distracting with the tree on the left, and several buildings and another person in the frame. I worked this angle a little bit more but eventually decided to change lens from my 50mm to my 70-300mm.
Image #3
Image #3 was taken at 7:17 am. In between Image #2 and #3, I realized that there was a strong colour element with the clothing the tulip picker was wearing and the field in which he stood. That’s when I really got excited and started to work my subject. With the longer lens (at 300mm) I was able to blur the distracting background and bring the tulips more strongly into the frame.
Image #4
Image #4 was taken at 7:18 am. Here I lowered my perspective to raise the horizon line and get more of the tulips in the frame. They provide much more context to the image and are an integral part of the story-telling aspect I wanted to emphasize. The background colours lined up nicely but I decided against this image in post processing because the gloves were the brightest part and I found that my eye was pulled to that part of the frame.
Image #5
Image #5 was taken 4/100th of a second later. I was on burst mode to make sure I was catching all the action of the tulip picker. Now this one I like quite a bit. The gloves are less of a distraction but the main issue I have is the bulls-eye composition. For me there isn’t enough symmetry in this composition for it to work with the focal point in the centre.
Image #6 is the image you see above. Taken at about 7:23 am, the morning sun had come out from behind a large cloud and warmed up the entire canvas for us. Everything took on a pleasant glow but the yellow and orange were especially attractive in this light. I like that there is a person in the frame but you may not know it at first. The curve of his body is juxtaposed to the straight lines formed by rows of tulips in the background. The kicker for me are the tulips tucked under his arm as if they are pointing to something outside of the frame.
P.S. I must acknowledge my good friend David W. in the making of these images. David is the kind of guy who gets things done and makes things happen. He is now affectionately known as “The Fixer” for his undeniable skills in arranging for us to photograph the tulip fields in the early morning. Thank you David!
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ray Ketcham. Ray Ketcham said: New post on self censorship by @SabrinaHenry http://tinyurl.com/y5oykbh [...]
Thanks for sharing, I liked reading about your process and I agree with your selection, it’s a wonderful shot. I also select only the better shots for my Blog, the lessor shots stay on Flickr where a few photographer friends can comment sometimes with suggestions on how to improve the shot (I do the same with their shots), it’s all part of the learning process for us. Of course some shots don’t make it on-line but that too is part of the process.
That’s interesting Ken. I don’t post images on Flickr but I do post in Google where my group from the Freeman Patterson workshop has a monthly folder of images. We provide comments for each other but we post mainly our first tier images.
I really appreciate this post, Sabrina! Thank you.
You’re welcome Erin
I, too, have had the pleasure of spending a day walking, talking, and photographing with Ray and agree how pleasurable it is. So, I have a question: the thinking-out-loud you have captured above, were they the thoughts in your head as you walked around in the field or were they the thoughts as you edited the images afterwards?
Hello Chris, welcome.
The thinking is a mix of my thoughts in the field and during post-production. The decision to exclude Images #4 and #5 was made after I saw them in LR and they are two of several that I took in burst mode. All the other thoughts were part of my process in the field.
There were other images in the 20-minute time frame but I just selected these six to tell the story.
Hope that answers your question.
Yeah, it does, and listening to your process, I think Ray might be right, those voices sound pretty insistent. I really have to look at more of your work. I’ll comment as I go.
I have to agree with your selection although I keep coming back to look at #4, the curves that lead your eye in #4 are really good and there ‘gesture’ in the movement. The brightness of the gloves could be toned down in a sec in post but the curve of the arm, back and direction the subject is looking would still pull the eye to his hands.
I have a ton of questions that don’t need answers but will put them into an email as soon as I turn them into English. Thanks for the kind words Sabrina, I want to do this all again soon. The conversation was the highlight of a great day for me.
It is nice to know what the voices say and to analyze as you go but I believe it is more important to make images you think look cool and say what is in you. Trust in your own vision not the accepted ‘rules’ and formulas. I guess I advocate shooting more with your heart than with your head, if that makes any sense.
I understand what you are saying, Ray. I am working on what my own vision is and I know that it takes time.
For me, I’m not sure that my head and heart are so separate. More often than not, my heart rules my head and sometimes my head finds a comfortable place in my heart. It’s just the way I think.
In learning this craft I’ve found things that have made sense of what I already think. For example, my motto of “Simplify to Amplify” has connections to what I discovered through reading Freeman Patterson’s books. I’ve always felt that way about many aspects in my life but never put words to it so clearly. I don’t believe that makes it less my own voice. Image #6 is a visual example of this thinking. Two colours, straight lines, a curved line, and a surprise: the tulips under the arm. To me, that’s cool. Does that make sense?
I really appreciate your comment, not just for what you’ve said but also because it gives readers an opportunity to eavesdrop on what our conversation was like
Makes Perfect sense to me. I am in full agreement that the one you chose is the ‘best’ image, I also see #4 as worthy for many of the same reasons.
I like the “Simplify to Amplify” motto. That idea is what has guided most of my art work and photography. It is a large task to take on, to tell a story or create a response with simplicity is always much more difficult.
Many of the artists and ‘styles’ I have admired most over the yrs are masters of this. Bird in Space by Brancusi is the first that comes to mind. Simple is always harder to make, what to keep-what to exclude, what is important to the story- what is extra and all of this in a fraction of a second.
I would guess the real question is ‘what is the story? then to simplify to tell that. Sometimes slowing down to see the story before you shoot is the fastest way to good images. I think you succeeded.
#4 is also one of my favourites. I agree that the real question is “what is the story?” and what we should ask ourselves when creating images.
Man, this conversation needs to happen in person!
Ho Sabrina
I love reading your analysis – and I agree with the selection – the photo is beautiful and it takes a bit of thought to realize that it is a person. Nicely done. I am sorry I wasn’t there…. Plus I am jealous that your FP grouy is still going – ours never got off the ground.
Hey Maureen,
I think the fact that you don’t at first realize there is a person in the frame reflects what I learnt about tulips. When we buy them at the market, we may not know about the human element that allows us to enjoy them.
I vote for a FP workshop just for you, me and a few of our friends. That’s a group that would rival the Duracel battery!
ok – sounds good. In the meantime November storms in Tofino are OK too.
Beautiful series, Sabrina! Envious of these gorgeous tulip fields. Nothing like that around here.
[...] more detail. Sabrina Henry, if you’re out there, you set the bar for me. Your photographs of tulips, for example, take my breath away. So I studied the lacy cast-iron balconies but never quite [...]