Layers
May 31, 2008
The water has gone down, but some paths are still occupied by puddles or shallow streams, and the streams themselves are high, wide, and fast. I saw a duck trying to make its way upstream along the edge; it finally gave up, moved out from the bank, and shot downstream.
Though a problem for travel, the water is a photographic boon. In the previous post I showed a few photographs with varying location of the plane of focus relative to the surface of the water. This morning I carried out the experiment more systematically, changing only focal distance for a fixed camera position and aperture (f/9). In the sequence below, focus is at the puddle, at some nearby branches (as reflected), and at the far trees. This would best be presented as a slideshow; relationships among image elements would be more clear with in-place transitions. I’m currently looking into ways to provide that, and hope to update this post when I’ve learned how.
One thing has become more clear to me after today’s outing. I realized that what I find appealing about these images goes deeper than spooky focus play or surrealistic texture overlays. It’s the ability to superimpose layers that could be considered different worlds. Despite their proximity, the grass growing above the puddle, the dead leaves lying underwater, the low growth hovering nearby, and the high canopy beyond are in different microenvironments having quite different character. True, a simple wide-angle shot, aimed horizontally rather than downward, could take everything in and show it all at once in sharp detail. But juxtaposing rather than layering alters the effect altogether. The dreamy feeling might be entirely lost, and with it the drifting, contemplative mood I was in.
Filed in: Experiments.
