Minimalist Photography
Minimalist photography is a popular style. Minimalism is by no means a new idea. But with all of the barrage of information we get, less is more. Now more than ever. The objective is to cut elements from view, and to simplify the image as much as possible, including reducing the contrast. This is the opposite of what I usually do so this has been a wonderful experience and I have come to understand not just the concept of minimalism, but also how to accomplish the look using various techniques.
Above are some examples of the technique. From top: Cloquallum Creek tower; a woman I met told me her grandfather was baptized there. Buck's Prairie Store - detail of fence. I've always been a fan of cinder block and here it lends some nice shape that fits the minimalist style. Propane tank, because I liked the shape, color and contrast. "Whiskey," a neighborhood dog around Buck's Prairie (Mason County, WA). Pump, Buck's Prairie.
Logger's Bar & Grill, Dayton (Mason County) WA is for sale, but still open. Lawn-boat, Dayton, WA. Steeple, Shelton WA. Old "Lamp" Olsen Furniture sign, Shelton WA. Old Evergreen Fuel gasoline storage tower, Shelton. Old fuel pump, Shelton. Locomotive, near Simpson Lumber log yard, Shelton.
Bonus extra-minimal photos: the ceiling of my office. White board. Glass globe detail. White space is your friend.
Below: some of the original images prior to adjustment in Photoshop.
Above are some examples of the technique. From top: Cloquallum Creek tower; a woman I met told me her grandfather was baptized there. Buck's Prairie Store - detail of fence. I've always been a fan of cinder block and here it lends some nice shape that fits the minimalist style. Propane tank, because I liked the shape, color and contrast. "Whiskey," a neighborhood dog around Buck's Prairie (Mason County, WA). Pump, Buck's Prairie.
Logger's Bar & Grill, Dayton (Mason County) WA is for sale, but still open. Lawn-boat, Dayton, WA. Steeple, Shelton WA. Old "Lamp" Olsen Furniture sign, Shelton WA. Old Evergreen Fuel gasoline storage tower, Shelton. Old fuel pump, Shelton. Locomotive, near Simpson Lumber log yard, Shelton.
Bonus extra-minimal photos: the ceiling of my office. White board. Glass globe detail. White space is your friend.
Below: some of the original images prior to adjustment in Photoshop.
What do my photographs say?
Photo Analysis
Feelings/mood - I was trying to communicate locality in a neighborly kind of way. It was a bit of a drive to get to Cloquallum Creek tower but that was the first image I had in mind for this assignment, a landmark I've driven by a number of times. Everything else, I kind of built from there as the starting place.
Subject placement - Knowing that I would be going for minimalism, I placed images somewhat near the center of my frames at around medium distance in order to allow the greatest flexibility for creative cropping later. By shooting RAW I also ensured I would have enough pixels there to crop close if needed.
Multilayered - Multiple layers of meaning are largely in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure some people looking at this later will prefer the original images to the minimalistic ones, but that is the assignment. I do think that when you strip away the unimportant details, the main subject gets more interesting because the distractions are out of the way.
Depth of field - If parts of any of the images are out of focus, it is intentional, in order to blur away less important elements. That being said, as I review these images nothing stands out to me this week as being out of focus.
Improvement - If I were to reshoot these photos, or reprocess them - for example professionally - I would have spent a bit more time on each subject to get more images. I like detail and color and reflection, so if something else had been asked, I could most likely have adjusted the images differently to do that. But just getting the picture is only part of it. Often I meet interesting people who know details about things I photograph, and that information adds a lot of interest. For example, the white-haired clerk at Buck's Prairie Store told me that her grandfather was baptized at the old tower near Cloquallum Creek. So that tells me that tower has been there for a long time. I would have liked to know more about the dog other than just his name ("Whiskey"), and to have learned more about the old boat in the yard. If something catches my interest, it's really fun to take a picture and then consider the subject at length.
Subject placement - Knowing that I would be going for minimalism, I placed images somewhat near the center of my frames at around medium distance in order to allow the greatest flexibility for creative cropping later. By shooting RAW I also ensured I would have enough pixels there to crop close if needed.
Multilayered - Multiple layers of meaning are largely in the eye of the beholder. I'm sure some people looking at this later will prefer the original images to the minimalistic ones, but that is the assignment. I do think that when you strip away the unimportant details, the main subject gets more interesting because the distractions are out of the way.
Depth of field - If parts of any of the images are out of focus, it is intentional, in order to blur away less important elements. That being said, as I review these images nothing stands out to me this week as being out of focus.
Improvement - If I were to reshoot these photos, or reprocess them - for example professionally - I would have spent a bit more time on each subject to get more images. I like detail and color and reflection, so if something else had been asked, I could most likely have adjusted the images differently to do that. But just getting the picture is only part of it. Often I meet interesting people who know details about things I photograph, and that information adds a lot of interest. For example, the white-haired clerk at Buck's Prairie Store told me that her grandfather was baptized at the old tower near Cloquallum Creek. So that tells me that tower has been there for a long time. I would have liked to know more about the dog other than just his name ("Whiskey"), and to have learned more about the old boat in the yard. If something catches my interest, it's really fun to take a picture and then consider the subject at length.