If its not obvious by my previous post, let it be known that my element is within the outdoors. I've always been fascinated by big game like mule deer and elk, but since moving to St. George a couple years ago, I've been especially intrigued with the southern Utah Deer. This photograph was taken by my friend Jason Wittwer and with his permission I am using it. When I initially saw this photo in an album with a few others he took, this one stood out to me more than any of the others. Maybe its because there is two beautiful creatures standing there looking at you, or maybe it is because of good photography and design of the picture. Either way this photograph exudes the 3 key aspects of contrast, harmony, and balance that we discussed in class.
The element of contrast is presented in the texture of the blurred foreground and background of the plants against the antlers and bodies of these deer. The dotty texture of the hair makes it feel and look like you can see each individual hair following the contours of the body. The whites and grays (highlights and shadows) bring about a gloomy cold day where you can almost feel the temperature by looking at the picture. The contrast not only brings about the cold and the gloomy feel but you can tell that these animals are very much alive and almost what these deer are thinking by how they are positioned, the buck on the right looks more curious as to figuring out whether the photographer is a threat or not while the one on the left looks pissed because his feeding was interrupted. These bucks compliment each other bringing harmony into the picture bringing the sense of peace and serenity for me. Because this brings harmony for me, it delves into my psychological aspects and makes me happy. The interesting thing about this photograph is that it is perfectly balanced. If you look at the bigger buck on the right which is a four point compared to the smaller three point on the left his body is much smaller in width because he is facing us more direct. But even though the buck on the left has a smaller rack, his body is elongated horizontally making his body look bigger. The same could be said with their necks, they are in balance as one. The one on the left is out stretched more vertical while the one on the left looks as if he only had turned his head.
Two of the Gestalt principals that I would like to focus attention on is that of the Law of Continuity and the Law of Closure:
The Law of Continuity comes into perspective when we start looking at the lines in the picture. For me this happens in the antlers. When we look at the antlers we can see a main beam (the first one closest to us when looking directly at it) with other points branching off of it. It shows the smoothest path, and that the lines are going in the path of least resistance.
The Law of Closure comes into effect when "objects grouped together are seen as a whole". In the picture we cant see the deer's lower halves, but know that they have legs and are whole. This is what is happening when our brains complete and fill in the "missing information".
