Yup - I'm back with my usual "extended" postings - but what-the-hey. I just responded to a "which do you prefer" post, and at the risk of ticking someone off - "preference" changes hourly - it does not mean that either image is "better" than the other. The link I'm referring to is: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?Form.ShowMessage=1424897 The question and responses got me to thinking - why do we take photographs anyway? The question (at least, inside my head) is, is the photograph a shot of a subject you want to display - or a feeling you got from seing the image to begin with. let me clarify: If I see a perfect specimen of a horse - and I want to capture that in a photo, then the composition of that horse needs to incorporate what makes that horse a "perfect" specimen - i don't need to incorporate the barn, the field, etc. to do that. If, on the other hand I wanted to convey the feeling I got from seeing this horse in a particular environment, I need to incorporate that environment in my photo to communicate the feeling. Which photo is better/ The empirical shot of the horse - or the "feel" of the environment? depends on the message and where it's displayed. I may not be stepping out of bounds when I say that a lot of us have difficulties expressing ourselves in public situations - it's a big reason we've found a method of expression in photography. It is also my opinion that, knowingly or not, our photographs reveal a little piece of ourselves. (They have to - take ten photographers to the same location - and you will get ten distinct different perspectives of that location). If that is that is the case, then there is a drive within every photographer to communicate what he/she sees - and unless it a purely empirical reason for the shot, the photographer is trying to tell a story and let a piece of himself/herself out. I've always thought that during the process of composing a photograph, eliminate everything that distracts from your message and include everything that supports it in order to convey that message. Which brings me to the question - why do YOU take pictures. If you're involved in this forum, it's evident that your reasons are a bit more than "recording family history". My (for lack of a better term) concern, is that we get too wrapped up in the "rules" and "procedures" of photographic technique and presentation that we're forgetting that there is a story to be told - the rules of "composition" and "exposure" and others get in the way of presenting our story - and the communication is, sadly, lost. This being the case - I'm gradually getting off the "technique" bandwagon, and that the "message" of the photograph needs to be communicated first - with the given that "technique" NEEDS to be a never ending quest - if for no other reason than to communicate our vision with more efficiency. Compositional rules are "suggestions" to assist us in the presentation of our images - and they are there to be bent, broken or completely shattered - and it has become all to easy to "dismiss" a composition, successful as it may have been, based on these "rules". To me, there is one compositional rule: "Does this composition convey my message?" Just a couple of cents worth. Wolf

Personally I shoot because I want to show what it is that I see when I look around. As I have hinted towards many times, I am a recovering alcoholic with a few 24 hours under my belt. In my time sober I began to see the world in a different way than I did looking through the bottom of a bottle. As the fog in my head began to clear I saw the world differently than I ever did before, even before I started drinking (which for the record was a VERY long time ago!). I wanted... no, NEEDED to show what it is that I see. I wanted others to understand how special this place is that we live. I wanted to show the world how a certain visual image affects my life. Not so much as how it affects me but how it makes me feel. I tried Bryce renderings(which is how I found Renderosity) but though I was good at creating them, it still left the realism out of my images. No matter how well an image turned out, it did not convey the feelings I had. Then Digital Cameras came on the scene. I had not only the chance to capture what I felt and saw but a chance to shoot them as often or as many times as my feelings changed! Almost for free! I vaguely remembered trying photography back in the late 70's and early 80's but it was too expensive and digital was only the cost of the camera. I bought my first digital while in San Fransisco on a business trip, I was off to the races! That camera lasted less than a year I used it so much, but it let me show the world as I felt it. So I saved as much money as my patience would allow and I bought my Sony. Over 8000 images later it is still going. So am I! I got back into shooting 35mm because a friend of my mothers was selling her husbands equipment for very cheap; he had passed away the year before. I helped her buy a car and she cut me a break on the equipment to return the favor. So why do I shoot? Because I have a need, a need to show the world how I feel. Yeah Wolfy, I felt both of those feelings while shooting that tree. Magick Michael

very eloquently said Wolf :] why breath? because i have to, like Magick yes, they were only our preferences & certainly not rules, just what pleases the viewers eye, but ultimately it should first please the artist's eye i agree, sometimes we get too wrapped up in technique & lose the feeling of what is being expressed as for commenting i like to work off first impressions, instinct, if i try & analyse it too much the initial intention may get lost in the viewing... either i like it or i don't & why it's only an opinion & doesn't really mean much when it comes to art but life is full of it & the fun is finding out what it is others may see & if they see what you see, see? :D

i'm not sure really. i've not really analysed my reasons for taking a photo. it varies from photo to photo, i think. sometimes it's a feeling i get when looking at a scene or it could be that i like the subject or i'm taking photos to try and improve my ability or i've made a decision in an instant that something looked interesting. i don't put too much thought into the "why". all i do know is that i like doing it...lol

I make photos because Im into pictures. I love to create pictures and i like to have some around me. No matter if they are photos, pencil drawings, oilpaintings, 3D renderings, airbrush or what ever. They only have to touch me in some way. This might be because they are colorful or dark, exciting or calm, harmonic or provocative. And here come the rules: there are some rules concerning human senses. That means for example you can gain a certain effect with a certain composition. You can gain the opposite effect if you break the rule. But you have to know it, before you can break it. As far as I experienced. So "rules" in this case is nothing to follow (or break ;))like a man made law, its more like " the apple always drops down". Following or breaking the rules is no guarantee for a good picture. But they might help you to understand, what you are doing. Breaking them might help us to understand what you are thinking. Like zhounder i came to renderosity because i started working with 3D-Apps and was searching for some resources. Then i saw the photoforum... I started to make photos about 13 years ago, and still its my favorite way of creating pictures. Like any other technique its got its own rules. I dont think i follow more rules than 13 years ago, but i think my pictures became better, because now i know some of them. Dont let he rules get in your way, use them how you feel. And if you want to break some, give me a call! ;)

for some reason i had to come back to this... after working on some photos late into the night, i kept thinking... have i expressed what it was i felt... & even after i was through adding the crazy borders, i knew what i had done was not conventional but i was satisfied with the images... thanks guys! :]