Beginning Influences

Perhaps the best way to begin this blog - an exploration of various photography techniques and styles - than to say a little bit about the photographs which have influenced my style and thoughts on the medium as a whole.

One of the earliest photographs I can remember paying specific artistic attention to is Salvador Dali's Dali Atomicus (1948).

Dali's surrealism has had an incredible impact on my taste and style, and this photograph is a wonderful example of what I would would love to accomplish in my own work someday.  The sense of movement and the tonal range of course create a very visually dynamic work.  The geometry of the elements floating through the space works to ensure that one sees the whole image before focusing on individual details.  Yet the surreal scene is what I would love to replicate, granted with my own ideas and themes.  It is incredible to think that Dali did this without computers... I could probably devote an entire blog to this image, but for the sake of the assignment I will move on to two of my other influences.

I have recently become interested in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, though I do not want to over-use the technique.

 
What I like about this photograph is (again, I suppose) its slightly surreal quality.  The HDR here has been used only to heighten the colors to the point that it seems hyper-real.  I enjoy that sharp, odd look that reminds me of a winter day.  The air is completely clear, but there's something about the light, scene, and colors that just doesn't quite seem real.

Finally, I tend to like photographs along the following lines:

 

The long exposure gives the scene a beautiful feeling.  I suppose I tend to also like very high-contrast images.  Though it probably does not come through from these photographs, I tend to like images with vivid colors.  (Well, perhaps HDR points to that...)  Still, I will generally gravitate either to high contrast black and white images, or to ones where the color jumps out at the viewer.  These factors - movement and surrealistic scenes, extreme color or contrast - tend to for the basis of my style and aspirations in photography.  Throughout my Digital Photography course, from which this blog stems, I hope to better understand my own style, and expand it with new styles and techniques.


-Kelly F.