Another thing “They” tell you is that perspective is important in a good image. I happen to strongly agree with them, which is why I include this images as my third post.
A quick aside, I have many more images I consider to be part of my “portfolio” beyond the three I’ve now posted. My intention is to introduce all images through blog posts. You won’t see an image without a complementary post. I will strive to post weekly with at least one new image. I will also strive to make the posts interesting and informative. Big goals – I hope I have it in me to pull them off. Refer to my ABOUT page for more about my plans.
This image, which, to me, has a few obvious flaws, was taken early in my creative photography adventure. It was taken in the schoolhouse at the Dallas Heritage Center. Dallas is my hometown, so, again, no long flights to find this image.
I like the “ant’s eye” perspective. I like the way the grains in the well-worn wood floor (can’t you almost hear the sounds of young students shuffling their feet along the floor?) pull my eye into the image. I like the way the row of desks guides the eye to the stars and stripes. I can envision those same children standing beside those desks, hand on heart, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
It is the perspective, the ant’s eye vantage point, that completes this picture. If I had just put my tripod on the floor with traditional eye-level perspective, then it would have been rather boring.
I remember taking the picture. A tripod was needed to make up for limited lighting. I had to contort the tripod to hold my camera upside down with the lens almost touching the floor. I’m sure it looked quite odd to the family who walked in just as I was finishing.
I really really really don’t like the blown-out sky showing through the window near the flag. I didn’t know at the time how to handle the extreme different exposures needed to capture both the dark inside and bright outside. I’ve since learned much about photography and would approach this image very differently if I were to take it today.
I’ve been telling myself that I need to go back and retake this picture. I’ll post the updated image if I ever return to the old schoolhouse.