THE EVOLUTION OF AN IMAGE

Not even the great Ansel Adams was able to create an image with nothing but a camera (not to mention, a phone!). We see, we notice, we react, we record. And then the magic begins…

For pictures with a lot of red and white, there is no better place than Canada. Most folks have never heard of Gaspe, in the province of Quebec. It is on the eastern seaboard of the Atlantic, and is the possible site of the first interactions between North American indigenous peoples and Europeans, most likely the Vikings (11th century). So, it has lots of history and lots of beautiful landscapes, and is a popular stopping off point for cruise ships. We were there in October of 2016, on a so-called “Northeast Color Tour”. There isn’t a better description of the area.

The image to the right was our first view of what we assume was some sort of weather monitoring equipment. The sun was bright, and so were the colors on this small building. A photographer’s dream.

Minimalism 101 teaches us that one of our first considerations before taking a photo is perspective. Is the subject below, above, to the left, to the right, or straight on. A straight-on perspective with perpendiculars perpendicular and horizontals horizontal will often be the most minimalistic perspective, although modern photo editing software can do some really amazing straightening after the fact. It is just easier if you can do most of that before the image is captured. You may note that the sign to the right of the building has been removed, and the colors saturation increased, particularly in the sky, which all leads to a more eye-catching image. But… is that all there is? Could it be cropped even move? Moving on…

While the sky is brilliant, for this image it is a distraction, an element that could (and should) be removed. Version 3 is a crop of nothing but the building, and conveys a much more minimalist point of view. But, could we go deeper? What is the really interesting thing in this photo? The door, of course, moving on…

Now we have the essence of the scene. Brilliant color, simple geometry, with just a doorknob and the small hinges to remind us of where we started. Many of the imperfections in the wood were removed, which leads to a more minimalist image at the expense of losing some of the character of the door.