Simplicity in life and photography

With “more” – its more complicated. Simplicity is always a winner. I believe the best electronic product today is from Apple and its just one thing – Touch. Look at the Google screen. So simple. That’s why they are so successful. The best pictures we like are “Simple”. But still we have a habit to complicate things. The more we want, the more complicated it gets. I never realised this because someone else was doing the hard work for me and I was enjoying the best part of it. But with few experiences now I understand how comfortable and peaceful it is to be Simple. I am sure lot of people understand it but still cant do it because Simplicity is hard. That’s why its actually rare to find . Simplicity implies beauty, purity and clarity. God is Simple. Simplicity is Peace, Peace is strength. It makes mind calm and clear, easy and content. Its better not to fritter away life after details but simplify. Someone has rightly said “Nothing is more simple then greatness; indeed to be simple is to be great”
Painters begin with a blank canvas where as photographers start with a full image and eliminate the things they do not want in the picture. The ultimate aim is to have a simple picture. When there are too many things in the picture the main object gets lost in the chaos. Photographer Pete Turner once said achieving Simplicity is the hardest thing to do yet it is the most essential. The challenge is to reduce the visual clutter. There has to be one main subject or idea and eliminate anything that does not support the subject. Move closer to the subject or if you cant , use a longer focal length lens to eliminate some clutter as it narrows the field of view. The goal is to make a well composed picture which is as dynamic as possible.
Simplicity is one of the underlying photographic techniques; a cluttered picture distracts the eye and takes away from the subject. A simple picture can be achieved by getting closer to the subject, which is also one of the main rules of photography.
Simplicity is one of the main components of most good photographs. The simpler the picture, the easier it is for the viewer to comprehend the subject and appreciate it. Cluttered images and backgrounds are less visually pleasing and more likely to cause the subject and lesser objects to confuse each other visually.
September 5, 2012