Why Images Work # 3 - Huntington Witherill

Today I am going to discuss the work of one of my favourite currently working photographers, Huntington Witherill. There were a number of images I could have picked to discuss but I finally elected to choose this one of a sand dune. Right Click here to view the image in a separate window so you can read and view together.

To my mind, dune images of the usual type with bright highlights and deep shadows shot in early morning have been done so often that I really don't want to look at another typical dune image. So my first reaction to this image was 'what cool shapes' and my second was wow, someone has actually done something different with dunes.

High key images are hard to do well. I own a print of this image and trust me the highlights are superbly printed - and it's inkjet. This image certainly puts paid to the rule of images having to contain a full range of tones.

OK, so I like high key images done well and this is one, but what makes it an exceptional image? Well, the subtle tones are important, the shapes define the image.

There is something pleasing about the lines in this image - the foreground dune and its ridge, the shadowed dune on the upper left, the very subtle sweep of the dune in the upper right. While not showing well in the web image, there is good texture throughout, showing micro ridges.

I had talked before about sketching (in your mind) or for real a very simple 6 line drawing of the image you are about to take to see if it works - I think you can see here it would show very nice balance and interesting juxtapositions.

The high key gives a sense of brilliance to the light. The subtle tones make it a very peaceful image with a calming effect.

Had the foreground ridge been straight, or the foreground dune top line been convex instead of concave, the image wouldn't have been nearly as effective. Note the balance between the edge of the shadow in the upper left with the ridge line in the bottom of the image.

Below find a couple of my own high key images. You can decide for yourself whether they work and is this a technique that is worth exploring for you.