Ted Truex - TJT Photography: water

Friday, April 13, 2012

Favorite Fotos From FlickR for Friday, 4/13/2012

The theme for this weeks favorite images is tranquility. As I was sitting listening to the rain (and now thunder and rain) and thinking about this weeks blog update, I realized that one of the reasons I like rain and rainfall is the sense of calmness and tranquility I experience when I stop, listen and watch. Living in Southern California, the opportunities to feel the tranquility brought on by rain are not very frequent but I also realized that there are other things that affect me in the same way.

The Photographic Exhibitions Committee (PEC) of Professional Photographers of America uses twelve elements when evaluating an image. One of those elements is impact. Impact is described as "the sense one gets upon viewing an image for the first time. Compelling images evoke laughter, sadness, anger, pride, wonder or another intense emotion." When I saw the water on the grass after a morning rain I realized the scene evoked the emotion of calmness.

When I saw the smoothness in the water beneath the waterfall I had the same sense of calmness and tranquility.

So I decided to search FlickR for images that evoked those same emotions. I used search terms like 'japanese garden', 'water rock' and 'zen garden' and found these five images. All of these images evoke tranquility, calmness and peace but they are also interesting in other ways.

I like the placement of the central rock and sense of movement in this first image.
"Non-Rolling Stones" by Miodrag Bogdanovic mitja

I like the use of the water falls as a leading line in the next image.
"Botanical Garden Waterfall" by BARLEY MOON PHOTOGRAPHY

I like the clean edges, concentric circles and the placement of the lantern in this monochrome image,
"Zen Garden" by LomiMonk [Brian]

I like the shadow lines in the water and rock texture in this next image.
"Birdbath Rock" by bratjerm

I like the depth of field and use of the bamboo as a leading line in this last image.
"Bamboo for you..." by hollyberry1204

I hope that both of my recent uploads as well as these FlickR images evoke the emotions of peace and tranquility when you look at them. Feel free to visit my website, like my Facebook fan page, follow me on Twitter or add me to a circle on Google+.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Favorite FlickR Fotos for Friday 3/9/2012

This week, I decided to highlight great photographs created in California but with a twist in that the location could not be in a National Park. I put this restriction on the images because every week I look at many images created in National Parks located in California. I do this when moderating the photograph submission to the FlickR group, "Best of U.S. National Parks".

There many great places to create images in California. For "National" locations, you can chose from National Parks, National Historic Parks, National Monuments, National Preserves, National Forests, National Recreation Areas, National Historic Sites, National Seashore, National Historic Trail and the goes on. Then there are California State Parks, Preserves, Recreation Areas and more. Next there are County Parks and Recreation Areas. Then you have city owned/maintained areas.

There is a common theme to the images: all have a body of water in the photograph - two are of lakes and three are of the Pacific Ocean. Maybe next week I'll refine the restriction and eliminate images containing water. The images this week are all from areas that I have visited but never photographed: Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Big Sur, San Francisco and La Jolla. All are locations that are on my 'bucket list' of places to create images.

Here are this weeks 5 favorite images found on FlickR:

"Here Comes the Storm, Lake Tahoe" by Jared Ropelato

"The Lake Sleeps" by Nick Chill Photography

"Big Sur Sea Arch in California" by Steve Sieren Photography

"Burn From Above" by Joe Azure - now on Google+ See you there :)

"Coastal Potholes" by D Breezy - now on Google + too

I hope you enjoy this weeks selection from FlickR. Feel free to visit my website, like my Facebook fan page, follow me on Twitter or add me to a circle on Google+.

Have a good weekend.