The First Order of Composition - Frame

Classic use of objects within the frame to frame other objects, creating layers of frame-subject relationships

 

One of the defining characteristics of a photograph is that it is two dimensional. Being two two dimensional means that there has to be an edge to the picture as an object. This is very succinctly put by Stephen shore who wrote that “the photograph has edges, the world has not” (Stephen Shore -The Nature of Photographs: 1998). Part of the photographer’s goal is to delineate their experience of the world within a frame and so depict their ‘view’ of the world to a viewer in another time and place.

A Brief Rant About Lenses

2021 started with the announcement of a new lens. It started with a whole lot of other stuff besides, but the lens is what I am going to concentrate on. The lens in question comes from the Chinese optical filter manufacturer, Nisi. On paper it looks fantastic. A really great option for mirrorless (it only comes in mirrorless mounts at the moment) admittedly, and one which I would no doubt be considering if I weren’t still shooting from behind a mirror. So why am I irked?

Shooting in the Cold

Landscape photography often entails having to work quite hard to get to the actual landscape itself. As a result a lot of landscape photographers are also keen hikers and trekkers, since this is what is often needed in order to find interesting compositions. After a recent hike into the Drakensberg with another landscape photographer, Carl Smorenburg, to chase some snow (which didn’t materialise unfortunately) someone suggested on post that I write about the equipment required to get the shot (thanks for the suggestion Jeff Dell).

Brave New World

So much has changed in the last few months. People keep asking each other, is this the new normal? Not to rehash the millions of words that have already been written regarding the state that the world find’s itself in, but this too shall pass. Back in 1918 it must have felt like the world was truly coming to an end. As horrific as the coronavirus is, it pales into insignificance next to the truly terrifying disease that was the Spanish flu. Still, Covid-19 is here and it is upended the way we work, and the way we live. At least for the time being at any rate.