Mysterious Staircase

Minimalism as Simple Geometry

Photo By © Prakash Ghai

I have posted many photos of Jantar Mantar before and I must have been there to shoot Minimalist Photos for about 8-10 times already. But the place is so filled with geometry that whenever I go there I am able to find newer shots. This one below was a result of me being lazy and for I was carrying a zoom lens. It was hot and sunny and I thought rather than going close towards the staircase to shoot, let me try the shot from distance for a change. Distance is an important aspect in minimalism. It makes your subject look small and Minimalistic and that is ideal. You can also shoot at 18mm with your regular kit lens to achieve similar results. As for me, I was zoomed in as usual with my 55-250mm zoom lens.

Now coming back to the shot, since I was far away from my subject I could include an extra element in my frame i.e the black door. The curved arcs of the door juxtaposed nicely with the straight lines of the staircase. Such a contrast brought in the much needed Art Effect. A quick reminder, make sure you make your staircases disappear towards the end to add mystery. I turned this into monochrome as architectural shots in black and white exposes the geometry and shapes well. Color generally distracts the eye.  Do share links of your black and white Minimalistic shots in comments.

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The Overreaction

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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Some problems or issues are simple & relatively small just like the straight blue line here. But many a times we tend to overreact & over-complicate petty issues and make them big. We blow things out of proportion. The thick curved shadow of the pipe depicts our unwanted overreaction. On the other hand, when we are faced with a big complex problem we all act sensibly and sort it out well. Human behavior is complex, isn't it?

Composition

The photo falls under Minimalism as Less Elements category. To Compose, I made sure that I placed the curved shadow of the blue pipe in the center of the frame to give it maximum attention.(one of the rare occasions where I center placed the subject). The shadow is not my primary subject. My primary subject is the blue pipe, which I first placed on the top of the frame following the rule of thirds. Later, I made adjustments to my physical position as well as the other elements in the frame. I mostly add extra sharpness in my shots but that is a matter of personal preference, you may or may not choose to add it.

Tip: Practice spotting long shadows whenever you are out in the sun, with or without the camera.

Rectangles and Shadows

Minimalism as Less Elements

Photo By © Prakash Ghai
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A  Minimalist Photo of the Side Wall of a building under construction, containing rectangles formed by deep shadows.

Black and White Minimalist Photography is usually more appealing to the eye and today I decided to post one such photo from my collection. I generally write mini-tutorials with my photos but in this post I shall explain a bit more. Minimalist / Simple photos are generally good to look at but very hard to compose. To click a photo like the one I have posted, here is a quick step-by-step how-to instruction.

Pick up a good zoom lens and head straight into an area where there is construction of buildings going on. Then find out that side of the building which is well lit by the slanting rays of the evening sun. Zoom-in and look for some elongated shadows (to add the art effect) supported by some simple geometry.

Next, add some negative space between the subjects and make it look like a long distance relationship. Then log into a photo editing software, press the de-saturate button, add some sharpness, adjust some levels and you are done. It is always better to have clear and well defined geometry in your Minimalist shots. Here, I have used rectangles and you may use squares or lines or maybe circles. if you are lucky enough you will find them.

All the very best

Happy Clicking!