Door View
December 2006
My iTunes: Let It All Out by Relient K
One of my morning rituals is checking my emails to read the comments my friends in the Blogosphere leave for me as I sleep soundly. When I opened up my email this morning, I had the email below in my inbox. John is a blogger friend whose site I visit DAILY to get a dose of his wonderful photography. He also hails from NC, where I was born. He had some questions about my style of shooting. Click here and here for some examples of what he is talking about. Actually he isn't the only one to mention it...MARK! I made sure to get his permission to share this email with you and also my response. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!
Thanks John for spurring me to think a bit about the perspective God gave me as I look through my lens! And everyone...make sure to go visit John's blog and be sure to be nice! :)
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Hello Anna
I'm emailing this comment instead of putting it in the comments section of a post on your blog so as not to upset your many fans. I don't want that army to turn on me! But here it is: Your choice of framing drives me crazy sometimes. Why do you like to chop off the edges of things like the flower in "Looking For Details", and the traffic lights in "Signs All Around"? I've seen enough of your work to know it has to be a deliberate creative choice, but why? Fill me in.
(Signed)
Puzzled in NC
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(My response...)
Wait, I am getting myself up off the floor with laughter. My husband and I so enjoyed reading your email John.
You are right, it is deliberate. And you are also right, it is creative. I think I am so off center when it comes to taking photos. I can't totally explain it. When I see something through my viewfinder, in my head the last thing I think to do is to snap it head on. I think for me it may be a bit TOO tidy to be seen by me the way someone else may shoot it. I dont do it all the time, but every now and then. If you look through my archives you will see a lot of both.
I wish I had more of an explanation for you.....
Bottom line. I think God made me see things the way I do on purpose because he loves me.....and the same goes for every talented photographer in Blogland and their unique eye. I am sorry if it drives you crazy sometimes....really...I am somewhat of a people pleaser! :)
Hope you are less puzzled and more intrigued now,
Signed,
WAY OFF CENTER in the UK
PS...I so want to post your comment and my answer...it
is killing me! :)
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What a great email! Some of you may reconignize the shot for today. I took it back in December in our neighborhood and thought I would share it since it had to do with this post.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
4.28.2007
A Bit Off Center
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23 comments:
"There you go again!" - Ronald Reagan
Anna,
Very interesting post.
Your "cropped off" images remind of "teaser" style images. You know, the kind that link to a whole view of something.
As a graphic designer and fellow photographer, I definitely appreciate and enjoy your style.
I'm glad you enjoyed my interview, I enjoyed it too ;)
funny! but i enjoy your unique perspective! i'm just a point and shooter so it's great to see other's perspectives.
Anna and John, great discussion. Food for thought, our fair city's most popular portrait photographer often crops people this way. My wife and I are still not sure we like it. I think though Anna that the style fits your soft style of photography well and gives you a signature.
Thanks for your comments on my interview responses. I appreciated the opportunity to be interviewed at 1 in the morning!
its interesting to know someone's take when it comes to their unique style of photography....i sure liked the way u put urs across....lovely new profile pic, Anna....it seems to share today's post's Point of View...:)
Hi Anna...
Before about a year ago, I wouldn't have appreciated your "cut off" flowers and things but since seeing others with this style and trying a bit of it myself, I now do appreciate it a little more.
Great discussion here today!
I so far behind and I don't like that but I'm going to try to catch up.
I'm going to try to see these interviews as well! ;)
My PAD and
Guelph Daily Photo
I like so much the way you look the things, every detail and composition are interesting...
thanx for your visit!
greetings from Trujillo - Peru
Anna,
I love your cropped style and I do that in some of my work too. However for some reason I do want to see the whole door knocker!!
I have had to learn to shoot more zoomed out because I tend to get really close to my subjects- too much sometimes. But that is sort of my style.
It is very cool and creative the way you see things.
(hey, my family lives in Raleigh, NC!)
Another funny thing is in my blog tonight I used the caption "Pretty In Pink" and you used it in the cropped flower shot! haha...mine is not a flower however....
Hey Anna, sorry I haven't talked to you in so long.
I've been working a ton.
Just wanted to stop by and say hello.
I enjoy your processing - your images have a great tone.
Thanks for visiting my sky pics blog! I have 3!!!!! I think chopping things off is called 'art'! Its how you view that shot! Fortunately we are all different!
I expect if you set a challenge and asked everyone to take a pic of........whatever, just think of all the different pics,of that view/item, that would come back!!!!
Hello Anna, thanks for visiting Hemingway - he wrote what he called "Iceberg" style. Show ( or write) only a bit - leave the rest to the readers ( viewer's ) imagination.
Thanks for sharing John's site with us, Anna. I'm always happy to add another great photo site to my RSS reading list.
Framing and composition have long been my favorite aspects of photography. When I was a kid - and even now - I'd make a frame with my fingers and thumbs and walk around with my arms in front of my head. When I was in the hospital, I often played the composition game to help pass the time. Mrs. Crow, my favorite nurse, thought it was an adorable thing for a 5-year-old to do.
I like your sense of composition because it's not conventional. It's why I got into photography in the first place, and it's why I appreciate yours. The picture that everyone else would take won't stick in my memory. The picture that NO ONE else would take? It will.
Thanks for the visit and the comment.
I find your photos refreshing, I like the way you see life. It's what makes each of us unique, and after all anyone can take properly framed photos...well I must confess to chopping off the the odd head, but that's not art ...that's enthusiasm..LOL
Yes, it is off center.
First off, I like the off centered look. I have to make myself do that although photographing animals taught me that more often than not, you can't catch them in the center of a shot... well except for one cat I had, but that is a story for a post in itself.
Second,... you know Judy, I mean you know her in real life, since you were born? Why did we not know this before or have I just missed things again? I've never met Judy but she was one of the first persons I started reading regularly and she used to live in our area and work in the medical laboratory field. I would say "it's a small world after all" but that would prompt a very perky Disney song to start up in everyone's head and it would end up repeating over and over all day! Oops... too late.
I very much enjoy your skewed visions, Anna, and you keep on doing it, without apologies or explanations to anyone!
I will have to check and see if I have any more photos of that time at the beach. I don't think so. Of course, I have many photos of your siblings, taken before you made your appearance into the family!
kenju...sometimes it really bothers me being the youngest! :) Maybe we can find another one to go with the one of mr kenju and me.....
Anna, I love your style too. Its such a refreshing perspective!
ahhh Anna!!! hey!!! ahhaha I can't believe it could get any faster than this!! my life is flying by, we only have 18 days of highschool left, its unreal!!
i love your pictures, i really enjoy looking at them. you have such an awesome style! :)
Anna, Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment. I scrolled down and checked out your photos. I like, and I'll stop by for a visit more often.
Very cool, Anna.
That was a fun read - thanks for posting that.
Joel
You know i like your unusual take on framing and composition. I also like Nikon's comment on "Iceberg style" - I'll always think of it that way in future!!
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