3 requirements to get "outstanding" views

[Mark_Poole@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Mark Poole)]

     [Pardon me while I crawl up on a stump, here, but I've been ruminating on 
     the material we have been discussing lately.  I present this as a theory 
     that probably has been presented in a better fashion, but I can't recall if 
     I've seen it...]
     
     How do you get superior views?
     
     You must have:
     The Eye of an Artist, Heart of a Poet, and Mind of a Student of Science.
     
     You need to be able to compose the image in an artistic fashion. 
     You must feel that the image will inspire an emotional response.
     You must have the technical proficiency that comes from a fundamental 
     knowledge of the limitations of recording the image on a particular 
     film, the mechanical workings and optical properties & limitations of 
     the camera, and keep in consideration how the image is to be 
     presented.
     
     It's that easy.
     
     Lose one element and the image falls short - two or more should 
     probably never be shown, but used as a stimulus to strengthen yourself 
     in an area.
     
     A few examples:
     [1] I've got a great shot of a burning building, but I underexpose the 
     image incorrectly by about two stops.  The image is dramatic, but the 
     graininess of the film and the loss of foreground detail detracts 
     greatly when someone attempts to view it.
     
     [2] I take a picture of kids at a relative's birthday party.  I have 
     all the settings right on the camera, but I just "fire away."  Well, I 
     have satisfied two requirements, the emotional and technical - but the 
     artistic is lacking.  My family will treasure the image for 
     generations to come, but it's not going to be called art.  Maybe years 
     later it would be useful for historians to document the dress and 
     furnishings of people of my era, but it satisfies only an intellectual 
     curiosity.  Let's say the mother leans over to help the child cut the 
     cake, and I happen to catch a close-up of the two of them sharing a 
     look that conveys the tenderness between them, something that normally 
     would be lost in an instant; Boom! This image now is an expression of 
     all the caring and love that has passed between mother & child since 
     prehistory.  It now goes far beyond the "Sally's 5th Birthday" shots 
     forgotten and gathering dust in shoeboxes on closet shelves worldwide.
     
     [3] O.K., so I have this perfectly composed image of a waterfall, and 
     again the settings are right on the camera, but the image evokes no 
     feeling.  People might comment "pretty" and reach for the next slide. 
     A sudden storm breaks out, and I have to sit in a shelter while it 
     pours down rain.  The storm blows past - I look up just as the sun 
     punches a single beam through to illuminate the waterfall as a 
     cascade of crystal shards and make all the leaves on the trees 
     sparkle and give off a bright green glow, contrasted against a dark, 
     foreboding sky in the background.  This is a dramatic image.  It 
     fulfills all of the requirements. When viewing it, people catch their 
     breath and revel in this slice of reality frozen in a magic moment of 
     timeless glory...yadda, yadda.
     
     You ask, 'Do you, Mr. Poole, have all of these qualities working for 
     you at all times?'  At which I fall out of my chair and exclaim 
     "Bwaaaaa HA, haaa haaa, ha HA."
     
     No, no.  But sometimes I get "lucky;" everything clicks and I get a 
     good one...
     
     One last thought:
     All of the above applies to "flat" photography as much as stereo.  I 
     must say that the technical issues with 3-d become more complex, and 
     new limitations must be discovered and internalized.  The artistic and 
     emotional remain constant, but are enhanced by this novel method of 
     presenting the product of your self-expression.
     
     [End of sermon.  Let the flaming begin in earnest...] 
     ------------------------------------------------------------------- 
     Mark Poole               |  Mark_Poole@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
     The ants find kingdoms in a foot of ground -William Rose Benet 
     ------------------------------------------------------------------- 


------------------------------