My method involved something akin to a 'Roid Rage attack, smashing my cue ball at warp factor 5 through the various mazes just to get atleast one ball in the pocket! Hell, I didn't even care whose ball went in, I was chasing the satisfaction of sinking something! Then there's Wild Man, all one could see was his chest barely above the table, and those beady little eyes; calculating the many angles in which to strike and embarrass me again. Finding the most strategic of all positions, he takes aim and barely, softly pushed the cue forward and just so subtlety hit the cue ball. Oh the agony I felt, yelling and screaming at the cue ball to hurry up as it barely rolled under it's own power, completely missing obstacles and striking the target ball. This ball, then slowly rolled it's way into the pocket. He repeats until all of his balls are sunk, and proceeds to sink all of mine.. Each shot, slow, accurate, calculated and nothing flashy. It sucked, I hated him and his stupid technique. To this day if I see a pool table I have flashbacks to Dave kicking my butt...
What does this have to do with that stupid black box you bought with all those fun buttons to press and funny little screen on the back to remind you how fantastic and wonderful you are? Well nothing really. I just wanted to vent about my pool hall tragedies. Just kidding..no really.
What makes an image dramatic? How does one tell a story? Can your image push an idea without actually taking a picture of the idea in question? For example, if you were hired to make an image about foot fungus. Do you have to stalk people at gyms and clandestinely steal shots of their feet?
Sometimes an image says more with less. Sometimes taking a shot does not require 1000 Gigawatts of Alien Bees lighting equipment or fancy gear. A basic, subtle shot with enough data for the viewer to get the message is hard to do! We all seem to want to crack that shutter button with 'Roid Rage and ram that image down the viewers throat!
Here's one of those shots, which grates its way right down your gastric intake. It's the famous bubble gum wall in Seattle. See how it smashes the viewers eyes? Even if it were B&W, it would be busy and full frontal. I took this shot as proof that one can erect whole buildings with gum.
Next 7 images are various subtle shots I've taken. Sometimes it's obvious what I shot, sometimes it's not. Also sometimes the message is not clear, but there is a message. Somewhat like music, the message is subjective. For me Celine Dion's music makes me carve the internals of my ears out with a fishing knife, for others its supposedly beautiful.
As always click for a bigger more bolder view. It's much easier than stabbing your eyeball up to your LCD...
Subtle image #1: Some sort of tile wall. Small tonal range, bullet crop. Maybe this means, smack your head here?
Subtle image #2: Leaf on blue back ground. Two tones, and a simple leaf. Nothing special here. The original looks like used toilet paper. This brought some life back into it.
Subtle image #3: OJ's used glove. Another simple two tone image, with one basic subject....Ask yourself, is the grass more important than the glove or vice versa? If I were OJ, I would say, the grass!
Subtle image #4: My buddy Jason's goat poop encrusted boots. Where this was taken is not important, nor what the background is. You're given just few items to ponder: boots, crossed feet; dangling in the air.
Subtle image #5: This image looks like some sort of LSD trip. I assure you no drugs were taken by my camera for it to see this image. Perhaps busy, but not identifiably busy. In other words, there's really nothing readily identifiable to the viewer. Sticking your greasy forehead to the monitor and zooming into subpixel levels might allow you to see a smurf or perhaps an aardvark.
Subtle image #6: There's plenty of action in the shot. If you were there when I took this shot, you would have heard and seen the rush of cars infront of the camera. Perhaps the message is stability in a fast moving environment? I don't know, I was thinking some thing about Alien laser beams are zapping the trees in order to farm birds for fuel.
Subtle image #7: Last image... A monotone image of something. Probably toxic slime in my toilet, or maybe something in the sky? It's digitally modified so who knows what it originally was. But what does it tell you? It tells me it's time to bleach the John...
-!yalP
-El Marco
