Stillness: frozen motion or serene scene?

krismillerl

Hi all. I'm new to smugmug and even newer to dgrin... first day, in fact. I'm thinking about entering this challenge, but I wanted to get a few opinions on which direction I should go with my entry.

Option 1: "frozen motion". This picture looks like I captured the first leaf of autumn falling. In reality, a spiderweb caught the first leaf of fall falling, and I happened to walk by with my camera. But I think it captures the "frozen motion" aspect of stillness.

Date: 8/29/06
f/3.2 @ 66mm for 1/80s




Option 2: "a calm, placid, or still subject that conveys the theme." I took this shot earlier this week of a dock that was swept away during a spring flood. But it was a perfectly calm and still morning when I took it, in stark contrast to the storm and flood that ripped the dock from its moorings, and I think the picture captures that.

Date: 8/25/06
f/13 at 28mm for 1/160s



Which do y'all think?

anwmn1

I like the 1st one better you did a great job on catching the leaf. The second is a little confusing with the pilars that are in front of the dock.

krismillerl

Thanks for the comment... question though - what pillars are you referring to? That entire partially submerged structure is the pier... the part that I think you're confusing with pillars was a platform with steps down to the pier. Most of the platform is underwater and you are seeng the steps leading down to the pier. It's a relatively large structure. What I like about this picture is the peacefulness (stillness) juxtaposed with the violence that ripped it off its moorings in the first place. A poor man's flower growing out of the rubble... Course if a picture requires this much explanation, it must not be very obvious...

anwmn1

krismillerl wrote:

Course if a picture requires this much explanation, it must not be very obvious...

Exactly- the part in question is the steps. Without knowing the story they are simply large sections of wood that seem out of place.

I like the dock and the calmness of the water but I would recommend re shooting and maybe waiting a little longer or going earlier (sunrise or sunset?) so the background is not as washed out. If you can catch the sun behind the trees in the distance you should get better dof in the trees on the right and the tree 3/4 back on the left. You can probably get better reflections in the water as well.

Best of luck-
Aaron

krismillerl

anwmn1 wrote:

I would recommend re shooting and maybe waiting a little longer or going earlier (sunrise or sunset?) so the background is not as washed out.

Yeah, that gets to the heart of why I'm not completely sold on the picture myself... I got the sunrise that morning at a different spot and didn't find the dock until the sun was in a bad spot. I went and reshot yesterday a little earlier, but it was a duck hangout... interesting pictures but not exactly "stillness". I'll probably try again tomorrow morning, weather permitting... ernesto might screw my plans a bit...

-Kris

Nick Morgan

I prefer the first picture. I love the shape and position of the leaf. It's almost a human shape, maybe of a dancer -- I don't know, there's something elegant about it that suggests that it's not being overthrown by the wind, but rather is embracing the wind and using it to express something.

dkoyanagi

Hi Kris, and welcome.

I prefere the second photo. Nothing wrong with the first one, but I think #2 captures "stillness" better. I especially like how you caught the morning fog on the water. Very nice.

hugz

dkoyanagi wrote:

Hi Kris, and welcome.

I prefere the second photo. Nothing wrong with the first one, but I think #2 captures "stillness" better. I especially like how you caught the morning fog on the water. Very nice.

I agree #2 captures stillness better, and who cares about the stairs they are there, old weathered and broken. Works for me. I also like pic # 1 but not for stillness.

Zahid Niaz

The calm and sad looks in # 2 makes it more within the theme whereas slight out of focus fall of leaf shows it in motion ... perhaps, leaf in sharp focus agaist blur background could have met the theme. Hence, my choice is # 2.

ultravox

#2 is for me.