I like the starkness with its feeling of quiet and solitude. The image is calming at first glance but, as I look longer, I notice the textures of the sand and tree and feel more intrigued to explore.
How did this picture come about?
This was at low tide at Tybee Island at the mouth of the Tybee River. A friend Carol and I went out to practice out sea kayaking skills.
What is the picture saying?
A moody black and white landscape. A simple landscape but in the details many things are happening.
What is the picture saying to the viewer?
A solitary place inviting the viewer to take a closer look.
What makes this picture work?
- The placement of solo tree
- The texture and the shading of the foreground
- How the reflections of light lead the eye to the background.
The most important design elements of the picture- how is it used?
Leading lines — the lighter shade of sand leading back to the stark black tree
Rule of thirds with tree placement
Which rule of composition is most prominent?
Leading line of light and repetition of textures
How does image break the rules?
The lightness of the foreground in theory should be an obstacle for the viewers eye lead them into the picture. The lightness on the top could shoot the viewers eye out of picture but the solid and the width of the white instead provides a block for the eye to bounce back to the picture.
How does it use these tradition rules of composition?
How does your eye move around the image?
My eye goes up to the light sand and then follows the three lighter lines of the sky reflecting in the wet sand to the mid-ground. I am stopped abruptly at the solid sky and bounce back to the tree.
Black and white or color?
Black and White shows off all the textures and makes it simplifies the image with the lack of color.
What keeps the shot from being boring?
The unexpected use of the lighter sand.
What keeps it from being too busy
The repeating pattern of the sand.
Anne Ledbetter 