Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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I don’t check out the “Friday Photo” posts, but I’m waiting for my phones to sync. 😛
Would you be interested in some legitimate criticism from someone with a degree in design, and quite a few years of professional and academic involvement with art & design?
This image is good. The only critique would be about framing and “pull”.
Context: Colors have strength (they attract the eye to different degrees), and in some situations, red can dominate. This image could be one of those–but you’ve given the black areas more importance rather than using it as negative space. Because…
Location also has strength. Generally center is the strongest, and then (at least in Western cultures) the eye scans top to bottom, left to right. So top left is the strongest, bottom right is the weakest.
You chose to put a (black) tree at the center of the frame. In this context, that’s a good choice. However, you have an equally powerful (black) tree taking up a large portion of the left side of the image. The eye now has to decide which is more important–color or location, left or center. The black dominates, so that’s what the eye is drawn to. What you’re going for is the opposite.–you want color over location.
You can’t go back and retake the shot, but you can crop it. Remove the black tree trunk on the left hand side, and the eye will pull back to the center, and use that as the (negative space) context to see the red sky.
Not sure where it is on the list, but one of the things I hate about non-Panhandle Florida is the dearth of real trees. Palm trees are overgrown shrubs.
Perfect picture for a Friday
I don’t check out the “Friday Photo” posts, but I’m waiting for my phones to sync. 😛
Would you be interested in some legitimate criticism from someone with a degree in design, and quite a few years of professional and academic involvement with art & design?
@Mu Yixiao: On the one hand, I am certainly open to constructive criticism, as I am nothing but an amateur in this arena.
On the other, it is kind of weird offer: “I never look at your photos, but I just looked at this one, and I have critiques….” 🙂
But please, proceed.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Following. For the specific tips/criticism but mostly because Steven’s response is so delicious.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Fair dinkum. 🙂
This image is good. The only critique would be about framing and “pull”.
Context: Colors have strength (they attract the eye to different degrees), and in some situations, red can dominate. This image could be one of those–but you’ve given the black areas more importance rather than using it as negative space. Because…
Location also has strength. Generally center is the strongest, and then (at least in Western cultures) the eye scans top to bottom, left to right. So top left is the strongest, bottom right is the weakest.
You chose to put a (black) tree at the center of the frame. In this context, that’s a good choice. However, you have an equally powerful (black) tree taking up a large portion of the left side of the image. The eye now has to decide which is more important–color or location, left or center. The black dominates, so that’s what the eye is drawn to. What you’re going for is the opposite.–you want color over location.
You can’t go back and retake the shot, but you can crop it. Remove the black tree trunk on the left hand side, and the eye will pull back to the center, and use that as the (negative space) context to see the red sky.
@Mu Yixiao: Not unfair. Thanks for the tip and I may go back and give it a look.
Not sure where it is on the list, but one of the things I hate about non-Panhandle Florida is the dearth of real trees. Palm trees are overgrown shrubs.
@Kurtz:
You familiar with LA? Live oaks with Spanish moss!