A place to think thoughts

[Donald]

Recently (here) I was reflecting on how our mood impacts on the images that we make.

Whilst that discussion was taking place in the context of an image that was captured and made whilst I had very dark clouds bearing down on me, today proved to be somewhat different. Today, with the sun shining and my heart full of joy and hope .. and a personal issue with someone very, very dear to me sorted out after I behaved very stupidly, I took myself off to a place that has a particular meaning for me because of that person.

Kingsbarns Beach in Fife (just along the road from St Andrews, for the golfing enthusiasts) is, now, for me, a beautiful place. It was here, with my recently deceased dog, that I walked on Christmas Day just past - the first Christmas Day since my wife, Sheila died. But as the leader of the group I attend at Maggie's Centre in Dundee said, cancer killed one person, not two. I am still alive and have a life to lead.

That I may do so with someone else who has become very special to me is a matter for the future. Kingsbarns Beach is a place with special, joyful meaning to that person also.

So, I can celebrate the joy that being on Kingsbarns Beach brings. And today I did so.

I always think that a 16:9 format lends itself particularly well to beach scenes. It gives that sense of panorama but still allows enough vertical space to capture key elements in a composition.

This was captured with the Lumix DMC-LX100. The lovely thing about it is that it allows you to set ratios so that you can view the composition before capture. This allows you to compose precisely using the back screen or viewfinder. So, in post processing there is no 'trying things out'. You know your composition from the outset.

Any comment you wish to make about the image or about how mood affects our image-making will be welcomed.

[NorthernFocus]

Well there's no doubt that this image is brighter and happier looking than the last one. Lovely puffy white clouds and who doesn't like a beach?

Regarding the effect of mood affecting imagery, IMO that is highly subject dependent. In my typical subject matter mood may impact the volume of shooting that I do (I tend not to shoot when in a funk) but can't say that it has any impact at all on the imagery itself. On the other hand, if one is wandering about with a camera looking for subject matter, then I'd say no doubt frame of mind would have to impact decision making and therefore the resultant imagery.

Well I, for one, hope you stay in a good mood during your Yosemite trip

[flashback]

Let me say first of all, no trees!
Second, while I never interpreted your earlier image as dark or moody, this one is definitely upbeat and cheerful. Like Dan said, who doesn't like a beach.
There is a post out there just about dead center but it doesn't bother me in the least. I know that the 'rules of thirds' police will want to suggest lowering the horizon but for the life me, I simply can't understand why that would have to be. (it is below the mid-point but may not be low enough for some.) Well ok that pole mid-image does kinda bother me a bit...and you know why, because when I see an image like this (as well as your last one, 13 Trees) I really want to see a pristine view with little or no visible influence of man. This image here strikes me as an image I'd rather not see any humans or human interference, it just makes the image more pleasant for me. All the aforesaid is simply my opinion, that and a couple of bucks may (most likely not) get you a cup of coffee, but there it is. So great image!!

[Mike Buckley]

The characteristic that I like most about this image is that there are so many ways to view it; I might concentrate on the reflection, the clouds, the lone pole, or perhaps something else that I haven't yet noticed.

If this was my image, I would eliminate the dark formation where the horizon and left frame intersect and the driftwood in the lower left corner. They pull my eye mostly by making me wonder what the first item is and how large the second item is.

[ionian]

I'm a big fan of your pictures Donald - this one works well for me, it has simplicity of lines and form but detail in abundance if you take the time to look. There's a small dark patch on the edge of the frame in the bottom left corner that I may choose to clone out personally, it drags they eye away from the reflection in the centre.

With regards to mood affecting your image at the time of capture - your intention as an artist is only one part of the exchange of information you share with your audience. You lock meaning into your image as you see it; in photography, this often means acting like a sculptor, removing the unnecessary from the frame and allowing our audiences' eyes to be drawn to the message or purpose in our frame. Of course, what the audience brings with them in the way of mood has a greater effect on how they decode that image.

Taking just one overarching element of your image as an example - the black and white conversion - could be decoded by your audience in myriad ways. Some may see it giving a timeless quality; others, that the sucking of colour from the image suggests sombreness in an otherwise pleasant scene. Yet again, it could highlight the textures within the image, focussing the mind on the interplay of light and dark - and onwards, throughout every semiotic in the image until the viewer has, often unwittingly, decoded a message that is personal to them.

This idea of pluralism - a mainstay of postmodern art - is a really interesting side to audience theory, and could drive you up the wall worrying about trying to lock the "correct" emotions into an image. Allow the image to have meaning for you, and whatever meaning your audience wants to give it. Hold their attention with your intentions, and hang on to it for as long as you wish.

I knew that degree in the arts would come in useful sometime

[flashback]

I think what I meant to say was, with regard to the issue of content, the disjunctive perturbation of the spatial relationships brings within the realm of discourse the distinctive formal juxtapositions.

[Mike Buckley]

I knew that degree in the arts would come in useful sometime

Also true about your apparent degree in writing.

[Mike Buckley]

I think what I meant to say was, with regard to the issue of content, the disjunctive perturbation of the spatial relationships brings within the realm of discourse the distinctive formal juxtapositions.

At risk of subjecting myself to them, your puns are better. So please limit them to Donald's threads.

[ionian]

Also true about your apparent degree in writing.

You should see what I can do with my degree in barbecuing!

Seriously, I hope that doesn't read too much as art-student gobbledegook; but there's a whole world of writing on theory of audience and intention of artist, and for anyone creating images that try to encapsulate something greater than just a visual record of what the eye saw (which, let's face it, is most of us) it makes for some though-provoking reading.

[IzzieK]

Back to Donald's image, I like the mood of this more than your 17 Trees. Big blubby clouds, the sand, the reflection of the cloud on the wet beach all contributes to the feeling of joy -- and it shows here very well. Sometimes a photographer's image is a show of how one feels and if his intent is to make his/her audience feels how he feels too, not just look at an image like as if it was contrived to be one that will just merit one or two looks and then forgotten. You have done very well here...a wallhanger for sure.

[Donald]

Thank you all. Wonderful posts.

Regarding Simon's critique, I am also aware that my thinking is being informed and affected by my participation in the BA (Hons) in Photography programme that I have started with the Open College of the Arts. As I've written before, I am very much coming into contact with artists who use photography as a medium for creating art, as opposed to people who define themselves as photographers. That is true also in terms of my personal relationship. It undoubtedly opens up new and exciting ways of think about what we do with a camera and of how act/behave with a camera in our hands.

[John 2]

I think what I meant to say was, with regard to the issue of content, the disjunctive perturbation of the spatial relationships brings within the realm of discourse the distinctive formal juxtapositions.

I'll second that, or I will do when I understand it.

That's more like it Donald. I like that. As some have suggest, it could tidied here and there but nothing really offends. For me, the horizon could be on the centreline because the composition lends itself to the symmetry that it would produce.

As for the impact of mood, my experience reflects that already expressed by Dan. I don't think that it affected what I produced but photography very definitely was a place to lose myself during the storm. The result was a very definite increase in the number of images I made and I would get a corresponding increase in hit rate. Glad to hear that you are the upward slope BTW.

[Manfred M]

Thank you for sharing this image and your thoughts about it with us.

The clouds and the sea, with associated sea air and the wind are certainly something to clear the mind. I find it interesting how different environments allow us to clear our minds and get the cob-webs out. I think the local environment in some ways influences us.

For me, the obvious place to "get away from it all", will be a walk in the woods, as these are reasonably close to home, and of course the small northern lakes, rivers, streams and hills all make up part of this environment. The closest large lake that one can't see right across is Lake Ontario; a two hour drive away. We do head down that way on occasion as well for a bit of an escape. Getting off to the mountains is also a two hour drive, off to the Laurentains, and that makes a fine get away too; but these are an ancient mountain chain, that are eroded and weathered; a far cry from the younger peaks like the Alps (an 8-hour flight) or the Rocky Mountains (a 4-hour flight) so we don't get to those all that often.

Regardless; thank you for sharing this and your thoughts with us.

[Wavelength]

i was really moved by those words of yours and for a while remained sentimental; yet i noticed there is a poetry in your expression....... and this image of yours is really inviting one to be there....

[bnnrcn]

Very nice image Donald

[DEAN01]

Donald, thank you for posting this thread. Your thoughts and the replies have given much to think about. Good photo too.

[KimC]

Donald, on 2/6 my family suffered the sudden and tragic loss of my younger brother. I adored him and have been looking for light among the dark days. This was sent to me last night by a friend. As your words moved me, I wanted to share it with you:

“In order to marvel and experience awe, we need to practice seeing things as my mother’s death taught me to see them: with eyes not jaded by our habitual exposure to life’s wonders; with a heart not numbed to the miraculous just because it’s always around us; and with our soul wide open, inviting everything to vibrationally vanquish us, embrace us, and thrill us”
Excerpt From: Dr. Barbara De Angelis. “Soul Shifts.”