Be sure to check out this column’s Gallery on Flickr. There are stunning pictures there; many who deserve very much to be highlighted in this column. Highlighting five is arbitrary, i know, but it is important that I set a limit or I could lose days writing each column. For me, this time, color seemed to be a recurring element in those I chose to highlight.

You desired my attention by paperfairy (나나)

The idea for this column, or more accurately for its precursor What I Like at Shopping Cart Disco, came from the daily plurks of a former SL resident who left several years ago. Each day she would do a WTF plurk and share her critiques of SL photos. Sometimes feelings were hurt and she defended her plurks and advice to help people take better photos. It seemed to me that you could achieve the same ends by highlighting what people did right instead of focusing on what people did wrong. Why do I mention this?

One of her big complaints was people who shot pictures with backgrounds in a similar color to their clothing. She hated to see clothing disappear into the background. Well,, here is a photo from 나나 that proves that rather than disappearing, the similarity between background and dress intensifies our focus. After all, if we look closely, the skirt is clearly delineated. It is there, but we have to stop, focus and look for it. I love this picture. The subject is well off center, which makes for a more dynamic feeling. The close crop that requires us to interact with the picture, completing it in our minds also intensifies our attention. The bright scarlet red says STOP and demands we look. Everything about this picture says look at me and she knows it – hence the ironic title of the picture. Continue reading →