Upon Further Reflection...

People give whole talks about the power and importance of first impressions.  Be it a first date or first client meeting, those split second, gut reactions matter, and bad ones might never be completely undone. 

So it's easy to think the same rules apply to first impressions and reactions about the work you've just finished and turned in to a client.  You want to know--right now--if they like it.

But there's more to it than that.  When someone say "This is good," or "I can't use this one," what they're really doing is assessing how the work fits what they think it is supposed to look like, often according to what someone else told them it needs to be, etc.  It may not be their own personal opinion, and may not even be an accurate assessment according to more objective criteria.

But it's never, ever totally objective.  More than once I've gotten a "Not sure about this one," only to later find it being selected as one of the best.  The objective and subjective often need some time to work things out.

If the client in fact does not like, and can not in fact use something, then that's certainly not good.  But if after some trepidation and further reflection, the client likes it?  I think that's the mark of doing a great job.  It' delivering different, original work--and that's always a good thing for both you and the client.

Because liking something after further reflection means liking it in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Feel The Frame

Standard “rules” of composition exist mainly to keep a viewer’s eyes moving around on a work, and to not let them get tripped up someplace or led off the work.  It’s an orchestration that, when done to perfection, causes the four corners to disappear, and attention to dance around freely inside.

But that’s how the standard rules work.  Less standard compositions might make the viewer very aware of the frame.  A person moving into the frame—or out of it—is a good example.

There is another possible impact of non-standard framing, though.  One that goes beyond mere awareness or non-awareness of the frame.  I’m calling it “feeling the frame.” 

Basically, a viewer of a photo either feels the presence of the photographer or doesn’t.  One is objective, the other subjective.  Even if the subject’s looking into the lens, there may or may not be a feeling of the photographer being there.  Feeling the frame is when a viewer of a photo feels like he or she is actually the one looking through the viewfinder at the subject.  It’s an immediate, emotional connection. 

Since I’ve only just come up with this concept, I don’t have a lot to say about what creates the feeling (or what doesn’t).  It does seem, though, like getting close and not using a telephoto is one element.  And not having static, posed poses is another.  But really all I know now is, I notice a different type of feeling with some of my photos, and plan to think about it some more.      

Here are a couple of examples (I hope):

The eye contact is part of it, but so is the presence of it.

 

Again, eye contact, but in a natural way, like pausing to look, rather than "posed" eye contact.