" Postcard Shot"..

[New England Moments]

Hi Peoples.... Feeling a little Scholastic here tonight, so bare with me...

Lets say this photo is a postcard shot.... now with that, I would like to know your feelings on postcard shots,,, I have heard it thrown around in ways here that confuse me?? not just my work, but reading thru other posts I see it pop up from time to time, as a compliment , ( I assume) and in a negative manor at times... Like lets say, Ordinary??

In other words do you look at this photo and say , Hmmm just another cliche type postcard photo, or do you see a good shot, with all the techs somewhat correct...

Is a postcard type photo to you a bad thing that shows no creativity??

how do you view postcard photography???


MYSTERSCRIBE... you help me out here, your from the ole school like myself,, lol.. ( sorry ) were we not taught in Landscape photography 101 to go out and view postcards?? and even Calendars?? Wasn't imitation then the way to fly... a kind of , view the books, find a hero, and go mimic approach...

So as always any and all critique on this pic more then welcome. but lets also here your views on how you feel and throw around the phrase postcard.... LET IT RIP!!

Come on Ding Dong Ding Dong school is in session, lets hear it ??

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I like postcard shots, they're on them for a reason. I like this shot, but i'd like to see a little more saturation.

 

[New England Moments]

Sw1tch... Thanks... wow more saturation?? Red and saturation, a tuff mix..
And yes they are on there for the reason being seriously juried work.. by illustrators... but point being, I think people throw the word out, postcard shot as a bad thing.... when in fact all could learn, by visiting a postcard rack in a store.. if nothing else, a view of what publishers buy..

 

[schumionbike]

I like this shot a lot cause it's very sharp and well frame with the view of the river and the house. The only nitpick is that I the tree on the right is making the picture just a little busy. What do you think?

 

[New England Moments]

schumionbike... that is a very good observation... but its not so much the tree as it is the shadow it casts on the mill itself...

now busy, thats a different subject but gonna touch on it.. lol... I don't think busy applies in a photo if objects pertain to the scene... in other words in this you have all natural surroundings... now if you put a Mickey Ds next to the Mill, then you have busy!! if Window Dressing in a photo matches subject, then put it in... but yes there is also a limit to that too!! The tree here is a sort of natural frame, although it does appear lacking detail, so , yes it could probably stand alone as a photo without it also!!

Thanks for the comments!!

 

[bluerangeriii]

i like the tree there it makes it feel i bit more balanced. the only thing that bugs me is the building is a little crooked. but it is a great picture.

 

[usayit]

Is the water moving rapidly? How about a tripod shot with a slower shutter setting?

 

[mysteryscribe]

Well im going to skip the critique and go right to the meat of the discussion. I shoot notecards so its fairly similiar. But in order to explain it let me tell a little story.

One of my five wives had a brother. The brother was a highly rated jazz musician. He was like rated number two pro sax player in the state. But he lived in the same house converted to apartments that I lived in. He played college bars for the door. There were no rules or limitations on what he did there. But also the pay was not very good. Sometimes it was no more than beer money.

But he was highly sought after for weddings and small bands, since he was trained classically at juliard. So every weekend he would put on his tux and go out to work in the afternoon and sometimes in the evening too.

"Hey Glen, where you off to?"

"GB gig at the country club."

"Ah: GB stood for general business. General Business was the term for what he did that was structured and paid the rent. Other things he did didn't pay well at all, but it was where his heart really was.

For me notecards and posters are GB... Something I do for money (In my case when i find someone with more money than brains)... Now if I do a sixteen by twenty "Art" shot it is most likely going to wind up in a relatives house as a christmas present.

So a post card art or note card shot to me is a classical shot with all the elements there. It's the shot you buy in a box at christmas time. A hell of an illustration, but not what I personally consider expecially originally artistic. But let me make sure everyone understands. It takes the same tools from the same box as Ansel Adams and Edward Weston used to make it.

What, mine at least are missing, is the drama the excitement of a dirty street person panhandling on the corner. So post card art or post card shots should be meticulous in their execution but in their very being they are designed to be non offensive to anyone. They are harmless. I'm talking about me not anyone else here.

When I do reinactments, if I was doing high art not notecard/poster shots, I would have a point of view. I don't. I don't want to offend anyone who might part with ten or twenty bucks. That's my definition. It's all GB to me.

 

[New England Moments]

blueranger.... the tree as you say is good balance, and feel it is needed, but again its the shadow it casts , that could kill a shot as this with a publisher... and yes, there is a slight tilt, easy fix lol... thanks

usayit.... water moving pretty good, and was shot with tripod.. Probably could have used slower shutter speed to get cotton candy effect.with ND filter. but sometimes that effect is a bit much, and in this case lighting just wouldn't match the effect for me...more of a woodsy look for that effect..

mysteryscribe,,, aghhhh yes Good business, is a way to view it, but where the heart is , is better... and yes, to a postcard type shot not being as you say totally artistic, but they are fundamentally sound.. and that is the important key to what you said... FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND!!
When someone throws the words postcard shot out into a critique in a somewhat negative way , a novice could begin to think its a form of not approval to his/her shot... , and avoid a postcard look???

I guess the point I keep making is that a postcard shot , to me anyway should be a stamp of approval, and not a slam.. was always taught to seek out postcards, see how there done, and duplicate... these are the type shots publishers purchase, so copy and learn.. ( old School)
Photography has come a long way, you probably re-call , up until the mid 80s photography was having a hard time even breaking ground to be accepted as art... it wasn't easy to even get a gallery showing because of this ... most people didn't then consider it art..

A lot of people pic up a camera for the intention of making money with it,,,Hobby Money/ Living Money/ extra money... and if publishing is a goal to anyone , postcards/calendars/ greeting cards.. are a map of info, allow you to see what publishers consider.. afterall a lot of us shoot for money , or else we have a home with a lot of walls, or closets...

thanks mysteryscribe..

 

[mysteryscribe]

We all have to be a little careful how we read what others write.

Without knowing their intent, or body language when they spoke (wrote) the words, the words themselves become imperical. In other words (lol) like the man said in another thread, the words speak for themself.

I call it the tyrany of words. A word can be shaded or it can be imperical but the truth is you never know what is in the heart of the person who penned it in a forum setting. Best to ask for a clerification than to assume the worst.

Photography as art is an interesting concept. The unspoken definition of art when I was young was that it was difficult to produce and not many folks could do it. The "serious" artist looked at photography as never being art because it was easy to do, in their opinion. It couldn't be art because the photographer just happened to be there with a camea when something beaurtiful happened. Besides it was commercial and everyone knew real art was never about money.

Has all that changed not really. The public perception has changed not so much the art world. Photographs hang on the walls in homes now like never before. But mostly they are still the daughter in the wedding dress.

I have walls covered in my photographs none especially great but they are there nonetheless. I do have one shot of my daughter with her clarinet in an all black background with just her in a pool of light. she is lit the clarinet is lit and the sheet music all else is black. It is a great shot, you got to get lucky once in a while, but it's still my daughter.

Set up at an art festival in the fine arts section if you want to spend the day reading a trashy novel. Setup in the craft section if you want to sell pictures. That was the saying back when I did them, not sure if it is still the same or not.

Photography as art, has a long way to go. Not withstanding there are some photographers who are considered great artist and sell the hell out of their work.

Plus these are all just my own opinions and observation. They have no heavy facts behind them. If you want to make money at photography for sure, shoot kids for walmart. Everything else is a throw of the dice.

 

[NJMAN]

Whenever someone has said to me "that looks like a postcard shot", they have always said it in a very complimentary way, meaning "the shot is professional enough to actually be purchased by a print house and printed on a postcard".

I think your photo is definitely postcard-worthy, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Regarding the comment about the tree making the photo too busy, I agree with blueranger in that the tree balances the entire look of the photo. So, it is not too busy to me. The whole image is clear, sharp, colorful, and multi-dimensional. Also, the "smooth flowing" long exposure water look wouldnt look right in this setting. I think what you have here is right on.

In other words, I LOVE THIS PHOTO, and yes, I could see this on a postcard, and in a GOOD WAY! :thumbup:

NJ

 

[Holy Ghosted]

my take on a post card shot is it has to be good enough for some one to want to go to that place off of a 4x6 photo or smaller and also to remind some one of the place you went twenty years ago. so yes it better be good at first glance.

 

[New England Moments]

NJMAN... First off Thank You... and yes that was and still is my feeling s about a comment saying this looks like a postcard shot< I always take that in a good way... but have heard others use it just the opposite, in other words saying Ordinary?? I to like to use the term as a compliment by saying , it looks like a painting... which means to be , subject and techs are right on,,,

Holy Ghosted...correct! and thanks for your comments... A postcard shot must portray a feeling of wanting to draw the viewer to the picture... or better yet , to duplicate the shot... again this is how one learns and developes a skill for composition...

 

[aammoore]

WOW!!! I Love It!!!!! Period.
Postcard shots are awesome!

 

[New England Moments]

aammoore!!!!! """" Postcard shots are great """" <-----------YOU GO GIRL!!

Hey, Thanks as always!!

As said, was always taught in early years, mimic cards/ postcards/calendars..

it helps one learn composition for sure!!