I doubt anyone would be surprised to learn that these columns are a lot of work. It is a good thing I enjoy them. One of the hardest parts about doing these columns is selecting just five pictures from my gallery and selecting only 50 for the gallery. That is the kind of abundance of worthy pictures are out there. Second Life® is rich in creative and talented people. That is its greatest asset. Be sure you check out this post’s gallery here.

I Always Think About You by Nap.

I Always Think About You by Nap (blissfulnap) is a delightful photo. It appears so simple, a young man pausing on his bike, watching some birds flying away. No special effect, so intricate props or set, just a pure and simple picture. At least that is what it seems. However, whether deliberately or unconsciously, Nap created a complex composition that exploits our innate need to find patterns and shapes. This is done so well that we cannot help but be drawn deeper into the picture, our eyes forced by his skill  to see what he wants us to see. Our minds look for geometry; he gives us geometry.

When you really look at this picture, it is full of geometric shapes, and there are more than these very obvious ones. This does not mean that the artist sat down and drew out a plan for finding circles and triangles and squares. It can be the unconscious recognition that this position relative to the birds looks better than a foot back, that cropping the picture at this spot looks better than cropping it differently. Because these “rules” of composition are merely acknowledgement of what we naturally prefer, they do not have to be learned, we are born with them.

What they do, though, is intensify the wistful longing we feel when we follow his eyes to those birds flying away, as perhaps the person he always thinks of flew away as well. Continue reading →