Spiral Stairs

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

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Hello All !!

I am back with another Minimalist Photograph. I keep it easy these days and post Photographs only when I have some spare time. 

Back in 2014-15, I used to pressurize myself to do X number of blog posts / photographs a month. But, I realize that I am an artist and I should focus more on the purity of my expression and on the composition of the Photos that I click, rather than on "How to run a Blog". 

Focusing too much on the marketing aspect of the blog had started to affect my Photo Compositions. Therefore, I scaled back,  both on the number of posts and on Social Media marketing. 

PS: I do not publish all my photos here. I post Mobile Minimalism on my Instagram and some Canon DSLR(affiliate link) Photographs on my Facebook.  

A lot happened in the last few days. Donald Trump won the US elections, the Stock markets fell, Gold prices tumbled, there was a ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes in India etc etc.

Basically, a Minimalist like me ended up watching the Television for hours and got overloaded with News. 

Today,  to take a break from this, I decided to open my Photographs Folder, Edited a photo and started writing this blog post. A nice escape from all the noise.

Prior to writing this post, my Television was on. It is still on but No channel is displayed. I have pressed the TV/Av button to turn the screen Blank, Black and Silent. All that I can hear, is just the noise of the ceiling fan running. It is that peaceful, that calm. I am disconnected with the chaos of the world right now. Even my Mobile phone is a good two feet away from me for the last half an hour.

I am here, with you all and trust me it is blissful. 

"Less is more", "Silence is beautiful". are not just words. When you encounter such a state or feeling, you get immersed into it. You become a part of it.

By now it must be clear to you, that This post is my Escape from the "Noise of the world" today. And that is one of the major reasons I chose this "Spiral Stairs" photograph. It too, offers an escape.

Just look at how the stairs disappear to the top. Inviting you to climb up and Run away from the noise into open blue skies. To a place of "Peace and Calm", to a place of "Stillness".  

OK now, let back to the MINIMALIST Composition

The above photo falls under the Minimalism as Less Elements category of Minimalist Photography.

As you can see above, the Spiral Stairs are positioned Diagonally and at the same time are also in the Center of the Frame. This is a way out from the regular rule of thirds. 

If the Spiral Stairs were not tilted and were vertically placed right in the center of the frame at 90 degrees, the composition would have looked odd. Centered compositions are less appealing to the human brain. 

Therefore, to avoid Center positioning, I tilted my Canon EOS 600D DSLR Camera(affiliate link) in my hand. 

The Tilt, made the top of the staircase bend towards the right, and the bottom of the Stairs fill the space on the left. This, kind of compensated for the rule of thirds and the subject is both, placed in the center and NOT.

Well, I hope some of you would accompany me to the staircase. 

Let's "Escape Together".

Electric Meter Surrounded by Pink

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

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Welcome to my New Blog-post. 

Because I am posting more of Colorful Minimalism lately, here is another Picture that depicts pure color i.e the color Pink.

To keep the image Minimalist, I have given the Pink Color a lot of space in the frame. Also note that following the Rules of Minimalism, I have carefully chosen this particular Electric Meter as it is placed on a Simple Geometric shape or A Square. 

That property, makes the picture even more Minimal, other than the Negative space and the Less Elements aspect.

Make sure you don't end up being too close to the subject in such shots. Distance is key here. Distance will make sure that the subject looks surrounded or engulfed by the Pink Color.

Another Detail that I would like to point out in the composition is, The Curved Blue Cable going to the right and its respective shadow. Without this cable in the frame, the photograph would have lacked the punch it needed to be here in the blog post. 

Hope you enjoyed the observations. 

For any questions or queries you can get in touch with me via the Contact page.

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Twisted Geometry

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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This photo falls under the Minimalism as Simple Geometry category. The intent here is to show Lines. There are various ways one can show lines in a photograph and this is one way. To begin with, pick a corner of a geometric structure well lit with sunlight. Then, twist and turn the camera and try multiple placements of the subject using the in-camera 3x3 grid lines.

Pick one such placement that appeals to your mind and its done. Later, in editing you can add a bit of sharpness and grains. Grains look really nice on some photos, they are added on purpose here. There are two ways of adding them a) Use a high ISO setting of about 800-1600 on a crop-sensor camera or slightly higher on a full-frame camera or b) by Simply adding them using a photo editing software.

You can also brighten the photograph a little or adjust the hues and saturation, if you aren't satisfied with the original photo. Please make sure that you don't over do the editing part.

Rectangle or a Square?

Minimalism as Parts of the Whole

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Black and white Minimalism is the most appealing Minimalism Style in Minimal Art Photography 

These images look even Simpler than regular Minimalism, but are way tougher to produce. One needs to be very good in black and white photo editing. The permutations and combinations of blacks, whites, and grays run into thousands with very subtle variations and you would never know where to stop.

Hint: Follow your sub-conscious mind for the best combination.

As you can see, I have clipped a part of a rectangular shape and showed its juxtaposition with another geometric shape i.e the cylinder.

Wait, did I just mention a rectangle? It can be a square too, isn't it? yes that's right, That's how the viewer would think if I dint tell them about the geometrical shape I clicked. This is the fun part of Parts of the whole Minimalism in Minimalist Photography. The mystery always remains. It is not very hard to compose this shot. Just switch on the LCD screen view of your DSLR and apply the 3x3 grid on the preview. Sample frame the shot and stop where you think it just looks fine. Shooting vertical to adds a bit of freshness as we generally tend to see landscape shots.

The Over-bridge

Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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One big curve formed by the Over-bridge, Street Lights in repetition and Two Wires running across the frame.

The Minimalist Composition looks tough, isn't it? 

Yes and No. This was full of clutter in color, but after turning the photo into black and white it looked fairly simple. Therefore, when your photos look cluttered in color, try turning them to black and white. This does away with a lot of distraction and makes the look simpler.

The composition

I started by aligning the big Over-bridge Curve first and then I let the "Street Lamps in Repetition", just fall in place. I made sure that the lamps were 90 degrees upright. The two wires running across the frame adds to the Minimalist Aesthetics beautifully. The photo falls under the Minimalism Category: Minimalism as in Repeating Shapes i.e the Four Street Lamps.

Ascending Staircase

Minimalism as Simple Geometry 

 

Shot at about 6 pm in the evening at Jharkhand Mahadev Temple in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur. 

Staircases make for very good Minimal subjects and seem very easy to shoot, but that is not the case. They are very tricky to shoot as you need to take care of the vertical lines, horizontal ones and the diagonal ones usually the rails and of course the symmetry. I would suggest take at least 5-6 shots every time you shoot them.

Photo by © Prakash Ghai - Buy Now

Predatory Feet

Minimalism as Low Detail

Photo by © Prakash Ghai
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A black and white Minimalist Photograph of the feet of a predatory bird with sharp nails sitting on a wall.

This is a special Minimalist shot as this was taken when I used to shoot during moving traffic on the streets. I used to hang the camera around my neck, riding my scooter going place to place, in search of Minimalist Photo subjects.

The moment I used to spot something interesting, I would stop right there, in the middle of  traffic. I would just turn my head towards the subject and point the camera at it and shoot, while still sitting on my scooter. 

I spotted these Predatory Feet of a bird sitting on a wall close to the main road that leads to the Vishvakarma Industrial Area in Jaipur. The bird stood still and did not even move an inch. Since I was zoomed in, I did not interfere with its privacy. 

The lens that I was on, was a Canon 55-250 mm . This took about 3 hours of post processing as I had to take out most of details from the shot. 

Although it was time consuming but the result was this Low Detail Minimalist Photograph, which was very satisfying to look at and to produce.

Tell me, if you enjoyed the photo. - Feedback awaited.