Developing you creative artistic vision

Developing you creative artistic vision... que je pourrais sous-titrer, back from the dead! Dire que j'ai un peu deserte le monde bloguistique serait un euphemisme! Que le temps passe vite, mon dernier article date d'il y a 10 mois!

Pourquoi cette absence? Perte de motivation? Moins de temps a y consacrer? L'impression de me repeter, l'Australie etant maintenant mon quotidien? Surement un peu de tout ca a la fois! Mais surement pas par manque de choses a vous raconter!

D'ailleurs c'est aussi pour ca que j'ai du mal a reprendre... trop de choses a dire et je ne sais pas par ou/quoi commencer... alors... plutot que de commencer par le commencement, je recommence par un petit article hors sujet... la photographie!
Il a de cela quelques mois j'avais suivi un petit cours en ligne, sur le site http://www.betterphoto.com

C'est un site americain assez connu et le principe est simple: sur une duree de 4 a 8 semaines, on assiste a une classe, composee d'une dizaine d'individus de tous horizons, menee par un photographe experimente. Ca prend la forme d'un email de quelques pages envoye chaques semaines, tournant autout d'un theme central... on lit le cours, on pose toutes les questions qu'on veut, y a un forum et tout. Puis on se voit assigne un objectif: prendre 3 photos autour du theme de la semaine. Puis on recoit les commentaires du prof ainsi que l'avis des autres participants.
Le concept est vraiment pas mal, le tarif et ok, ca permet de progresser a son rythme et c'est sympa d'avoir l'avis souvent constructif d'autres personnes. Et les objectifs sont parfois un veritable challenge et peuvent prendre beaucoup plus de temps que ce qu'on pourrait croire!

Voila, donc le cours que j'ai suivi etait intitule "Developing your creative artistic vision"... tout un programme!

• Cours 1: Composition, part one


• Cours 2: Composition, part two


• Cours 3: Graphic design


• Cours 4: The power of lines


• Cours 5: Patterns


• Cours 6: Color


• Cours 7: Creative perspectives


• Cours 8: Breaking the rules

Et voila en vrac quelques unes de mes photos ainsi que les commentaires du prof, qui je l'avoue sont la plupart du temps un peu "trop beaux pour etre honnetes", mais qui n'aime pas les compliments! :)

Swing the 60s:
Le prof: I also love the tail lights of the car. Your perspective on this is very strong, and I like very much the supersaturation of the colors. The lighting on this is also awesome. This is another picture that I would have liked to have taken because it is artistic, nostalgic, and graphically intriguing.

Big Willy:
Le prof: The bold graphic design of the Ferris wheel in black-and-white also makes a very bold and commanding picture. I like the high contrast nature of this, and your camera angle increases the artistry of the shot. This really holds my attention, and I appreciate your excellent sense of graphic design. I can see this framed elegantly and hanging in the gallery of modern art.


The Eagle:
Le prof: The photograph of the eagle is another remarkable graphic design. Again, the black background sets off your subject nicely, but there is something else going on here that I really like. You have a little bit of a glow around the center of this artwork as well as the extremities as if you created a double exposure. This has a little mystery and atmosphere. I like the perfection of your composition and the symmetry that you underscored. All of this is superior work that you should be really proud of.

Eureka:
Le prof: Your shot in Melbourne of the Eureka Tower is awesome. This architecture shot alone makes me want to go to Melbourne. The angle that you used, and the way the top of the building disappears in the fog is really cool. The graphic design of this is compelling, and the winds couldn't be more dramatic. This is one of the most exciting pictures of architecture that I've seen, and you should be really proud of it.

Blogger:
Le prof: The photograph of your wife is quite good. It's very graphic, the black background is stark and dramatic, and even her body position looks really good. I also like the red and white shirt that she is wearing because of how it looks against a black background. The lighting on her face is also excellent. I don't think this could be improved. She basically occupies the lower third of the frame, and that's a really good way of dividing the image.


Sick (Socks) together, that Sucks:
Le prof: In the photograph of the baby and the dog, I would have only colored one sock -- the sock on the baby's leg. The defined color on the other one is distracting because it takes our attention away from the subject. You might consider doing this again but having the baby wear both socks and then you can color them and it would work. Also, next time get low and shoot at eye level instead of shooting down on the two subjects. I think you'll like the intimacy of the picture a lot better.

Hoover from Outer Space:
Le prof: I think the 45 degree angle in your shot of the "outer space" subject isn't working as well as it worked in your other pictures. Also, I find this picture a bit busy and confusing. It's difficult to see what this is at first glance. It is certainly intriguing, and it holds my attention because I'm trying to figure out what this is. Nevertheless, while this is a good picture, it is not nearly as strong as your other two images in the submission.

Dream the City:
Le prof: This is an excellent work. I really like "dream the city" because of the composition and your low shooting perspective. The wide-angle lens exaggerated the length of the composition, and the mixture of color and light is also very attractive. I also like the pose of your wife -- it's very much like how a model would position herself.


The Ball and the Casino:
Le prof: Each one of these pictures has a very strong graphic design, and there are other aspects that make them visually compelling images. I love the shot of the "ball and the casino". When I was in Brisbane last time, I'm sorry that I did not know this was there. The graphic design is very bold and dramatic, and so are the colors and the lighting. The black sky looks really good, and as much as I like complete depth of field in many of my pictures, I think that your shallow depth of field here looks really good. The angle of the camera adds to the uniqueness of this image.

Strike:
Le prof: I like the picture in the bowling alley very much because the colors are supersaturated and outrageous. I also like the entire composition, because the bowler was placed along the left vertical third and all of those leading lines are very cool. I also like the saturated colors on the right side of the frame. This is really well done on all levels.

Burnt:
Le prof: Your photograph "burnt" was thinking outside the box, and I really appreciate how creative this is. I did a lot of this kind of work when I was first starting out in photography, but I did it with film. I like the use of negative space and how you composed your model off-center. The abstraction of color superimposed over her face looks really good.


Tram Lights:
Le prof: The photograph of "The Tram" is also a great image. Again, the angled composition is very strong as are the green lights that take our eye into the distance. I agree with you that the lines of light make a very dynamic image, and your night exposures are all right-on. I like the combination of colors that you were able to capture here.