A friend of mine is taking a photography course with Walter Firmo (one of the pillars of Brazilian photojournalism - self defined as an "image engineer") called "Color Creativity" and he said that it's incredible how the guy always puts such a strong element of color in all of his photographs.
I told him that a cool exercise is to go out and try to take a very simple photo in which there are only 2 or 3 strong colors present - for example blue, green and yellow like the Brazilian flag - or a portrait of someone wearing one color against a solid and brightly colored wall. I guess the difference between a simple snapshot and a well-thought out composition is this element of planning - whether you do it actively or sub-consciously. The best photographers and artists do this instinctively, naturally... the colors draw them in.
Today I spent my evening at the races. It got started right around twilight and the sky was a deep blue against the green green grass. I photographed various horses and jockeys and this one is one of my favorites. Aside from the movement that the photo suggests... the way the horse seems to be flying forward... I realized that the reason why I liked this particular jockey more than the other guys was because his uniform was the same color as the sky.
The blue with the green grass creates a dramatic contrasty backdrop for the scene. The brown of the horse and the red band around the jockey's leg pop out against this backdrop... but the main colors of the composition - the blue and the green - really caught my eye.

And who doesn't love a little humor in a photograph? This cat was lying on the track like he owned the place... I thought to myself, shit, the horses are going to come running by and that cat isn't even going to move a muscle. I've got to get a shot of this.
Maybe we can take a lesson from this cool cat: even when things are blowing up behind us we can always just play it cool and let it pass on by...

1 comment:
Lindas fotos !!
Gostei da divisão de cor das fotos. As fotos parecem estar divididas ao meio, em cada parte está uma cor diferente. Céu e grama.
Parabéns.
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