Photography 3

 

I chose this piece by Michael Kenna to talk about for both face value and technical reasons. First off, I find it a very aesthetically pleasing portrait. That much should be obvious just by looking at it, Kenna’s composition is quite beautiful and takes great advantage of the landscape. He could have chosen many areas in England, where I would assume this would have been taken given it is his home country, and I think he picked the best possible location. The open landscape, water and mountains create a nice dividing line between the sky and earth that creates a contrast between the plain and the extraordinary. 

On top of its aesthetic merits I also find this piece an astounding feat of technical mastery. God knows how much trial and error, time and experience went into getting this shot. This is a long exposure, unless the nature of the universe changed at some point and I didnt notice. As somebody who has tried long exposures before they are extremely difficult to pull off even in the best of conditions, and these are certainly not the best of conditions. It’s outdoors at night without any light source other than the stars in the sky. And Ive only ever taken long exposures for a couple seconds, you can tell by the stars movement that this had to have been going for hours. If he messes this up he only has about one maybe two more shots at this that night. And if those fail he has to wait until the next night and hope the conditions are right and there are no clouds in the sky. Personally I find it mind boggling. That’s the kind of dedication it takes to create a great photograph.