Friday, July 18, 2008

Vacation - Washington Monument

Perspective is everything in photography. I believe the etymological source of the word photography is "painting with light." I like to think about photography is capturing light and creating art through composition and storytelling.

These two photographs are of the same thing. The Washington Monument in Washington DC, but I think each picture tells a different story from a slightly different perspective.

This first one includes the flags. The flags give the photograph a reference by which we understand the story. It's patriotic and shows reverence to the subject.

This second picture contains no flags but is shot with almost the same perspective as the first.

Frequent readers of this blog will know that I love lines in composition. This monument provides us with great lines and the point allows our eyes to follow to the sky.

I'm not sure which shot I like better. The one with the flags is telling a more complete story, but the one without is simpler in composition and to me, more enjoyable to look at.

What do you think?

4 comments:

mumblingsages said...

For me , I like the bottom picture better. In the top one my eye keeps bouncing between the flags and the monument, detracting from the main subject of the monument.

Greg said...

I also like the bottom shot better. Very cool shot of the monument. Did you get any cool shots of the reflecting pond?

OhCaptain said...

The skies were turning dark towards the Lincoln Memorial, so the reflecting pond looked black. Not to mention it really needs to be cleaned. The duck poop was winning.

fxmixer said...

Really nice images. I think I have to jump on the second image bandwagon. I think it's stronger and more graphic.