The Wilmington area is one of my favorite places for winter photography, and yesterday I was able to re-visit three locales there, including Harriman Reservoir, shown above. Bare patches of ground are already showing up on south facing slopes compliments of the (unexpected) lack of snow as well as the (expected) solar gain, but it’s a welcome sign of spring nonetheless. The temperature was in the mid teens, with a brisk wind – the perfect excuse for taking my big blue parka out for its yearly spin.
With the emergence of digital photography, it doesn’t cost much these days – other than in time and attention – to fully explore a scene with your camera. And it’s no surprise that some compositions in a series will be “better” than others, that is, (warning: arguable definition ahead) ones more apt to initially engage a viewer, and sustain their interest over time.
My friend Dennis Stock, well versed in the art and business of photography, used the term ” visually articulate” to describe what he felt to be good photography. Not that he particularly defined what that meant – but I think most of us who heard him say it probably got the drift. (the top hit in a google search for “articulate” brings up these synonyms: “eloquent, fluent, effective, persuasive, lucid, expressive, silver-tongued; intelligible, comprehensible, understandable.”
Which brings me to these two images of a stream bed. Though quite similar, this one is probably more “articulate”, in the sense that the complexity and detail of the subject matter was easier for me to grasp at first glance than the one below. Originally I found this one a less appealing composition, as I was put off by the relative size of the log on the bottom right, but now it strikes me as more relaxed, better balanced and less nuanced than the other, and for those reasons, perhaps more able to engage a viewer. Maybe having less detail on the right hand side of the image functions as a sort of pause in the visual story, giving the viewer a chance to rest a bit. In any case, this is my preference of the two – well, for now anyway.
