by
Alain Briot
Hoodoos
Someone once told me that photographers like hoodoos but that print collectors are only moderately interested in them. While this may be true, it is also true that print collectors are interested in the expression and the style of the artist, regardless of subject matter.
Hoodoos make a very interesting photographic subject, due in large part to the variety of dramatic shapes offered by the different types of hoodoos. Hoodoos can also be composed in a variety of ways, either outlined against the sky or against a sandstone cliff, or presented as a grouping by playing the shape of one hoodoo against that of another, or by creating a visual comparison of shapes and textures.
In this image I used the shape of the foreground hoodoo to lead the viewer’s eye towards the faraway hoodoo by creating an imaginary diagonal line from the bottom left to the mid-right side of the image. The striation in the thin clouds at the top right adds movement to the image, because the clouds are moving in a direction that is parallel to the hill at mid-right and to the capstone of the faraway hoodoo.
Careful image construction is something that is very important to me, and the way I constructed this image is no exception. I also waited until the last possible moment to make the exposure. A few seconds later and the sun had set on the sandstone bluff behind me, engulfing the hoodoo formation in a shadowy shroud. While this situation could be the subject for another image, it was not part of my vision at the time.
Alain Briot
Vistancia, Arizona
November 2010
About Alain Briot
Alain Briot creates fine art photographs, teaches workshops and offers DVD tutorials on composition, printing and on marketing photographs. Alain is also the author of Mastering Landscape Photography. This book is available from Amazon and other bookstores as well as directly from Alain. You can find more information about Alain’s work, writings and tutorials on his website at http://www.beautiful-landscape.com
Alain welcomes your comments on this essay as well as on his other essays available in Briot’s View on this site. You can reach Alain directly by emailing him at [email protected]
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