Mr Lars-Eric Johansson describes himself as a professional photographer and retoucher. He lives in Sweden and mostly does personal projects and commercial work.
I relate to his equipment as he uses a Canon EOS 5d Mark II camera with L series lenses and photoshop CS5. I aspire to use it in the same way he does:-
I like this image because it is simple and fun. Black lab dogs are happy to be out enjoying themselves (I used to have one when I lived with my parents) and Johansson takes it a stage further and gives him balloons to leap about the air with. It looks like late afternoon sun with the long shaddows cast, and the way the light catches the dogs silky coat is lovely. It makes me wonder what the dog is thinking? I know he is not really up there, but that is how the image makes me feel. For me this image is all about the dog, all else seems abit non discript and not so colourful to stand out in any way. Not that the dog has lots of colour either, its just I think he has the presence. The only colour is in the multi balloons and these set the dog off a treat. I am also drawn to look further to the little trees on the horizon, so they add interest. I don't think the scene is about the woman in any way as she is dressed in darkish clothes, seemingly to blend into the scenery. I would imagine Johansson thinking the dog wants to be free to play and thats why he portrays him with the balloons to fly away. I notice from some of his other photographs on the internet he has a tendency to float things mid air from a chord. ie. a house is depicted in another one.
This is my image of a black lab at play, and again the scene is all about the dog. I like the way he divides the water as he swims in to bring the stick, and how I caught his nose reflection in the foreground, or is that a reflection of me taking the picture on the bank? Actually it could be as his nose is not that big. I took this shot whilst out walking with a friend and her dog. Benson repeatedly leapt into the lake to retrieve the stick whenever she threw it. He is always eager to please. Maybe Johanson is also trying to portray that about the dog in his image....he is always eager to please so gives him the balloons, meaning the dog would do anything?
I made sure I stood well back with the camera when Benson climbed out though, as he also enjoyed a good shake off. The dog in Johansson's picture looks very similar to Benson, when out of the water, in size and obviously colour. Benson was looking straight at me when I took this shot of him, which I found endearing.
Not only is Johansson a skilful photographer and re-toucher he holds a MBA with a Major in Finance and accounting and has worked in finance for 30 years. I have a connection here too, as I also do, but not anywhere near the status he does, for he has controlled positions in Canada and Sweden:
Since 2004 has has been an Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Kinross Gold Corporation, a Toronto stock exchange listed gold mining company. He is also lead Director and the Chairperson of the audit committee and corporate governance committee of Aber Diamond Corporation, a precious stones mining company listed on NASDAO and the Toronto Stock Exchange. He has had his finger in many other finance pies too, so one wonders how he gets the time to do such brilliant photography.
I like this image because he has transformed a dull like image (if I can say that) into a striking one which holds more fascination and interest. The way the wet muddy/snow road sweeps round leads the eye straight to the ball and inside it to view the cars reflection and beyond. The sweepingness inside the ball of the continuing road looks very clever and there are snow patches inside in the distance that we are unable to see in the main frame. The scene reminds me of a programme I used to watch, 'The Prisoner' where a giant ball would come to a village in Wales (Port Merrion) and terrorise the main character in the series. It wasn't a see through ball though like this one, its just that this giant size one, and the fact that its been placed in the middle of the road, reminds me. The way the tree just touches the ball and reflects is good, and I like that he has continued the clouds from along the main scene, into the ball. The snow is what stands out in contrast to the mud and grey tones of other objects, colour wise. Then lastly I look at the driver who has got out in obvious dismay. But I tend to look more at his tiny reflection than him in real. What is Johansson trying to say in this image? Could it be the man is thinking well the snow hasn't managed to stop me, but there's bound to be something that does? Who knows. It may mean different things to different people, for me it spells no way out.
shutter 1/200 aperture f4.0 iso 400
I can only compare my Mud Path image to Johansson's big ball one. None of my images that I am comparing to manipulated research images, are manipulated, because I only did the 4 as my final ones, and those in class. I compare this image on the grounds that the scene is abit dreary looking too, and may look better if I manipulated something big and interesting into it. I had gone out recently on a raining half day and took the shot around mid afternoon when the rain had stopped. The winding mud path, with tree besides, leads the eye, just as it does in Johansson's. There is only one colour standing out in my image too (like the snow in his) and that is the russet red leading from the foreground down to the distance background, just about as far as his snow does.
No comments:
Post a Comment