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What’s your reaction to these tangled roots.
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Image Description
I attended a print workshop this Spring with Michael Gordon and Chuck Kimmerle, both photographers photographers I had admired. It’s one I recommend if you get the chance. They’re both b&w guys so I decided to switch modes and do so of that work. These twisted and gnarly roots caught my attention. I feel I had just scratched the surface of the subject matter and plan to go back on my own some day.
I love the twisted, sprawling root system and tree on the dune Igor. It works really well in B&W. I would personally like to see the rest of the roots, but I know that may not be possible, or there may be other obstructions. The roots lead my eye around and up the dune.
Outstanding, Igor. Exquisite textures and perfectly composed. This could probably work in muted colour tones but your choice to go with B&W is spot on. Obviously the branches are the star of the show but I just love how my eye moves along the left side of the image out to the hazy light. This, to me, is an example of how important it is for a leading line to actually go somewhere that is satisfying. I have said this often with respect to the photographs you post - this is one of my favourites.
Igor,
First off, this works very nicely as a B&W and I would be curious to see the color version as well for comparison. The roots are amazing and lead my eye through the frame beautifully. I do find myself wishing you had a little more on the right side, but I realize that might not have possible. I also think the texture and ripples in the sand are another wonderful element in the scene. Beautiful image.
I love images like this where I can go in and explore all of the little details – like here with all of the fine branches and roots. What I like most about this image (and what I find so intriguing) is how the tone of the roots is almost the same as the tone of the sand. I don’t know why but this makes for a really great aesthetic that I’m really enjoying.
This makes me feel sad because of the low contrast and droopy, tangled branches, even though the branches lead to the brighter sky. Maybe there’s a ray of hope, there.
My first thought on seeing this was “Is Michael Gordon posting here again?” This is right up his alley. I love the twisted branches of these desert plants, always fascinating.
Okay, I revealed the information on this photo, and I almost fell out of my chair reading you were on a Michael Gordon workshop when this photo was made. Looks like he has rubbed off on you, in a good way.
Michael and Chuck both influenced me a bit. I think Michael influenced me in the classroom and Chuck in the field. But I held my ground, lol. They both like darker blacks and lighter brights than I felt comfortable with. There seems to be a tendency in b&w to do that these days. You can see it here at NPN as well. I didn’t know Michael Gordon at NPN but he told me a bit of his history here. Apparently he was even a moderator at one time. I found him to be very interesting, and very knowledgable as well.
I’m glad you “held your ground”, Igor. Obviously there is nothing wrong with pushing the contrast in B&W photography. The problem, for me, is when it becomes “a style”. Then it is a bore - overused and without intention. As my mentor, David duChemin is quick to point out, style doesn’t mean anything, it has little depth and doesn’t last. What we’re really looking for, after we arrive at a sense of our vision, is voice where vision is what we’re trying to say and voice is the means by which we say it. I feel this photograph demonstrates both in the sense that I would know this was a photograph made by you without seeing your name on it.
Igor you know I love what you do. I have seen this one before, but that was on a phone , now it looks even better. The tones are great and the amount of sand and sky is just right to keep it from being too busy. There is so much to see and feel. This is something I would not hesitate to hang in my house and enjoy it for a very long time.
Thanks. Perhaps it would be helpful to write how this image came about.
I had been walking on these dunes for what seemed like an hour without taking a single image. There were two basic subjects I was pursuing: the ripple patterns on the sand and the roots. I finally walked to an area where Chuck (Kimmerle) was helping a student with focus stacking. After I told him my story he told me to take a picture right now, of anything. It didn’t matter what, just shoot. He then told me of a friend of his who gives himself a time frame in a shoot and when the time arrives the alarm goes off and he stops and shoots at anything (if he hasn’t shot until then). So I looked at this bush that looked like a pile of bones, lined things up and made this shot.
Then I studied the tree more intently. The light was perfect. I then did a double take and was strongly moved by my the vision. I suddenly jumped into a different mindset and became engaged and overwhelmed. He walked up and asked me how I felt about it. I told him the problem was that I didn’t want the blue sky behind the image. I wanted the moody clouds behind the image. I said that I have a great tree and a great sky but they don’t line up the way I want. I then moved to the right and realized that I don’t need the whole tree. The main thing was the roots and the clouds. So I moved in and cut the tree in half and instead used the good sky for the left half. He looked at the LCD and liked the slope on the left and the smaller roots ‘climbing’ up that slope. The picture was made but the image still looked right heavy to me. The following day he suggested I use a gradient filter in the top left corner in order to keep the eye from running out of the frame. Well, once I had reached that ‘high’ I started to see compositions of the roots with the sand. Several were made and I might show one of them. But the composition above stood out for me. By this time I had achieved my high and babbled like a schoolboy with anyone who would listen on the way back to the car.
Now that I write this I realize that everyone has a story of their own with every picture they take. My experience is not unique.
