Oak Pasture Near Dutch Flat. Grant Ranch County Park, California. April 20, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Black and white photograph of oaks and pasture near Dutch Flat in the Diablo Range mountains east of San Jose, California.
This grove of trees sits on a flat area (e.g. – “Dutch Flat”) on top of this ridge with the Santa Clara Valley below.
keywords: oak, tree, pasture, meadow, grass, cow, cattle, silhouette, santa clara, valley, county, san jose, joseph, grant, ranch, park, california, usa, nature, scenic, landscape, view, fence, hike, outdoor, stock, photo, photograph
Well, thanks, Rob. I’ve very glad that this photo speaks to you, and I’m grateful to you for sharing this with me.
I like your idea of doing a post on composition. Rather than writing about “how to compose,” what I have in mind is more like explaining what I see in a photo or two compositionally – and in writing that I think I could touch on the element of “following and breaking rules” that is so important.
Dan
I can clearly see all those elements you are talking about. The more I look at this shot the more I see the exceptional compositional elements. It is really quite perfect. As you say, the branch-formed archway is a great element, with the detail of the grass, and the nice fence line, supporting the piece. I also like the way you composed the lights/darks here with the darker left foreground and the lighter elements leading in. Your stuff is all excellent, and all nicely composed, but this one in particular could really be a nice teaching piece. If you ever do a blog topic on composition, this piece would be a great subject, as much for the “rules” it follows as the “rules” it breaks. Instead of conforming to traditional rules about not centering the subject, rule of thirds, horizons, etc…you used the elements that were there exceptionally. So, bottom line, I really like this one ;-)
Hi Rob:
First, I’m very happy that the membership problem has been resolved so that you can post now!
Thanks for your very nice and very thoughtful comment on this photograph. It is interesting that you notice the tight cropping of the two trees on the sides – the idea here was to let their trunks lead the eye to the more distant tree in the center of the frame, and also to let their branches create the arch (double arch, actually) in the upper frame. I also liked the contrast between the somewhat uniform details of the grass in the lower frame and the more irregular and contrasting detail of the branches in the upper section.
Dan
This is a gorgeous shot. Well composed demonstrating great photographic technique in the composition in particular. The cropping of the trees on the edges goes against ones initial instinct (not sure I would have thought to do this) but is an excellent technique and really makes this shot by creating a natural framing for the central tree and adding to the landscape orientation by stretching the sense of the image beyond the borders of the frame. Exceptional. I’m going to try this technique this weekend. On the short list to purchase for sure.