An album is greater (or poorer) than the sum of its parts

[Donald]

It's taken me a while (some things take a while to penetrate), but I've just realised that a photographic album is just like a music album. Not every track or image that makes up the album will be a No 1 hit in its own right. Some will and be released as singles (or posted as individual images), whilst some will help strengthen the overall impact of the album.

I've just compiled images from my recent holiday/vacation into an album. If you want to, you can go here to see it. If you do, I'd welcome your thoughts as to whether it adds up to a complete 'whole'. Do the images 'fit' and make it a decent album?

Like I say, it sometimes takes a few years for me to get there!!

[flashback]

Donald,
Are you referring to just 'Latest Stuff' or all of the galleries inter-relating?
Regarding all of your galleries...uh, wow? You have some absolutely amazing photos. If I may make two observations:
1) I think you will do more than justice to Yosemite AND Ansel Adams
2) Maybe this is just me but...what Adams did for Yosemite (and the West and other National Parks in the U.S.) you appear to be doing with equal skill for those bits of Scotland you visit. I don't know...would calling you the Ansel Adams of Scotland be presumptuous of me?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Donald,

If I comment, it might be little more than the blind leading the blind (and I'm not sure I'm doing you any favours there!), anyway, you did ask (without excluding me).

My overall thoughts were to query the order, if it were me, I might have been tempted to group say, all the fence shots together, all the hill shots together, etc. (in Latest Stuff)

Hmmm, I'm not sure that's helpful - is it?

Sorry, Dave

[Shadowman]

To me Clashnessie Bay and Line, Shape...Achnahaid Bay don't fit with the other images, although Clashnessie Bay and Braes of Achahaird have a similar composition and reversed contrasting tones. Nice series. How many different rotations did you consider before choosing this one?

[Donald]

Are you referring to just 'Latest Stuff' or all of the galleries inter-relating?

Just the 'Latest Stuff'.

...would calling you the Ansel Adams of Scotland be presumptuous of me?

I wouldn't presume to put myself in such exalted company.

My overall thoughts were to query the order, if it were me, I might have been tempted to group say, all the fence shots together, all the hill shots together, etc. (in Latest Stuff)

Hmmm, I'm not sure that's helpful - is it?

Yes, it's extremely helpful (see below)

How many different rotations did you consider before choosing this one?

To answer this and Dave's point above - I tried many different arrangements. I was sitting with, as Dave suggested, fence shots together, hill shots together, etc. Then shuffled around as I thought it might be a bit boring to have them together. Which is why Dave's comments are so helpful. They make you (me) think. We probably need a gallery curator to come in an explain what the accepted 'rules' are for displaying works, be it in gallery or online.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi again Donald,

Reading your thoughts has prompted more from me ...

I think a series needs to have a recognisable beginning, an end - and a 'story' to flow between them.

The flow could be geographic, if starting in one recognisable place and ending in another (say, a traverse of Hadrian's wall).

Or it might be seasonal of one place, or it might be the light in a landscape across an entire day - I'm sure you get the idea without me labouring it any further.

As such, this suggests that you shouldn't have two (or more) of the same type of shot (unless the whole series is of that type of shot - IOW - a series of fences (walls, etc.) would be OK, but just two odd fence shots included with other unconnected shots gives you the problem you have - a difficulty in defining the series structure.


After thought

However, these are in an album called "Latest Stuff", so the structure is that they are all recently taken - which is perfectly OK as far as it goes, but an album with a Name that contains images that suit the structure we imagine (from the name) before we open the album, would be better.

HTH, Dave

[Donald]

Hi again Donald,

Reading your thoughts has prompted more from me ...

NB - Anyone reading this thread after the appearance of this post should note that I have changed the order in which the images appear in the gallery, more in line with Dave's comments in his first post (#3) above.

[Shadowman]

NB - Anyone reading this thread after the appearance of this post should note that I have changed the order in which the images appear in the gallery, more in line with Dave's comments in his first post (#3) above.

Totally different flow, nice rotation.

[Dave Humphries]

NB - Anyone reading this thread after the appearance of this post should note that I have changed the order in which the images appear in the gallery, more in line with Dave's comments in his first post (#3) above.

That certainly starts and progresses more logically (for my mind), although I do find the beach+birds shot a bit of a 'shock' after the houses, I almost wonder whether it might be better as #1, leaving the final two as they are, because there's a similarity in shape between the houses and the rocks (in the penultimate shot) which ties them together.

[William W]

. . . I'd welcome your thoughts as to whether it adds up to a complete 'whole'. Do the images 'fit' and make it a decent album?

Confirming these comments relate to "Latest Stuff" comprising 11 Square Format Images.


The 'album', especially if it is to be viewed on line, requires that the Thumbnails are provided just as much artistic consideration as each image. That means their NUMBER and their ARRANGEMENT should be considered. In this regard I would collate either 9 or 16 images for that album. That would be my first step.

My next step would be to arrange the Thumbnails so that the overall 'thumbnail image' was balanced AND created a logical internal story line: that story line does not necessarily mean a 'time-line'.

My next step would be, (like most music), the First and Last images to have particular meaning, not so much for the Thumbnail Viewing, but for the viewing of the Album in sequence. In simple terms the First image must be a attention grabber and promise of things to come, and the Last image must have The Resolution. In this regard the current Image #11 indeed has 'Resolution'. But there are more subtleties to that internal arrangement which might relate to a line of the thumbnail and or a cluster of unity meaning withing the slideshow viewing.

These (Album) compositions traits were some that we employed when we built (print) Wedding Albums from Negatives, it was not just a matter of putting 'the best' photos in a timeline and binding it in leather. But when digital came along our (and some other Studios), began to produce Client Viewings from a screen - and that presented us with different challenges and many more opportunities.

Additionally, because, in this particular Album you have chosen to make each singular image the same Aspect Ratio, the overall initial viewing experience (the Thumbnail set), is not too dissimilar to creating a Picture Story.

If you read my Bio Page here, I pay particular note to a few Photographers who aided my education and knowledge in the recent few years of digital capture. Neil Ambrose coached me in the technique of Picture Stories: I think that there would be benefit in researching that particular genre of the Craft.

WW

[flashback]

Having had time to view and digest your 'Latest Stuff', I would offer the following:
I don't see "Line, Shape, Tone and Texture: Achnahaird Bay" fitting in all that well with the other images; the beach/ocean images are linear whereas the aforementioned image is curvilinear. Also the blue cast to the image doesn't seem to harmonize with the other images.
In terms of the images inter-relating I might suggest placing them in an order of, either going from the mountains to the water or vice versa, so there might be a continuity of travel, as it were.
Finally, in the image "Achnahaird Bay" I swear that distant shoreline tilts down towards the left, needing a skosh of CW rotation (unless there's an optical illusion going on on the distant shore.)

[Donald]

For me, this is a fascinating discussion and I thank everyone for engaging in it. I have always given thought to how I arrange a gallery on my website, but not in the way nor to the extent that the comments in this thread have prompted. As Bill suggests, this is indeed part of the craft of photography and well worthy of study in its own right, which I will do.

To repeat what I said above, those coming to this thread after these posts and who choose to go to my gallery currently sitting in the 'Latest Stuff' section of my website (that will change over time), will realise that I have been editing and moving images as my learning has developed as a result of the contributions above.

[Donald]

Further to my post immediately above, I started researching Bill's reference to Neil Ambrose and came across some stuff in a master lesson he gave on Reportage Wedding Photography in photo.net. An extract from the article is:

"What makes a story? Any story - even a visual story - must observe a narrative flow. It needs a beginning, middle and end, and requires description of the environment and characterisation of the cast. All of these things must be present in the pictures. The story also requires a narrator and a point of view. In the case of a photographer, their presence as the narrator is felt in their treatment of the pictures - how they framed the shot; what they left in or out; whether they used color or monochrome; whether they printed it dark or light; the lens, aperture and shutter speed they used.


My approach
One of the main differences in approach between reportage and traditional wedding photography is shooting for the story and not the print. The traditional photographer is interested in saleable pictures. As a reportage photographer, I'm certainly interested in good pictures, but I'm also looking for ingredients that will tell a compelling story. To achieve that, I have to shoot for myself and not for the client. While that may seem counter-intuitive, it's an important quality control because it helps ensure coherency of the end product. If I were to photograph anything or everything I thought the client might like, I'd probably end up with a jumble of images without a clear viewpoint and no underlying story. More than likely, it would be a collection of random snaps."

One thing this made me realise is that, without consciously planning or working for it, what I do is apply that approach he refers to in the second section above; i.e. shoot for the story and try to tell a compelling story. In the case of the subject of this thread (my album), that is about a place.

Realising that this is so makes it even more imperative that I gain a good understanding of and skill in, the craft of presenting a gallery.

[Dave Humphries]

Yeah, that's what I meant, but expressed so much better!

[NorthernFocus]

As it currently stands, I think the slideshow flows pretty well. As someone with no knowledge of the location whatsoever and only your photo "story" to go by, my impressions are of an intimate little village dominated by the surrounding geography and the weather.

Some excellent photography at any rate.

[IzzieK]

In a story, in my opinion, I sort of tell the audience about where it is located or just by title alone can tell a lot too. Shooting for yourself without a second thought as to whether it will sell or not makes you more of a creative and good photographer (according to me) because you are not catering to anyone's taste but yours. A blank untitled images in an album to me is also blank as to what do I think of an image. Sometimes, one has to be creative in a title and it gives it more meaning, even for an unsuspecting audience. Just for instance, when you uploaded that mountain view, you stated a few words about it...it makes me, as your audience, think of that image as something more special because it tells me something. The view with the village with it, is a story teller as it is but still needs some input one way or the other...Just my point of view because it is the way I think. I hope I did not offend.