Making Music Photo

Photographer’s Note

I noticed these little birds yesterday, perched high up on the wires. It looked as if they were trying to write music in the way they had arranged themselves.

Shot from a grocery store parking lot in Orem, Utah.

luisafonso, bach37 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

picardo (2286) 2006-12-01 9:24

Very nice composition and really good title for the picture. The B&W fits perfect.
Great work
TFS
Picardo

anducina (8087) 2006-12-01 9:42

Excellent compo and framing.

Andreea

kensimage (8539) 2006-12-01 10:25

Well, you and Sasa (designsoul) are sure on the same wavelength, given her posting yesterday. I like the clean, minimalist way you have presented this--part of what photography does best is to select out just a part of the scene all around us that is worth paying attention to without distracting surroundings, and this is a great example. Nice how you made the wires not exactly horizontal, which would be too static. Regards, Ken.

leiju (1683) 2006-12-01 10:42

So, did you try playing the tune, yet? ;D
Lovely contrast, simple and effective composition.
It seems that you are not only the master of sublime colours but also the master of live graphic music ;D excellent shot!
TFS!
Julia

stefpat (960) 2006-12-01 10:47

Very nice shot and title...

clnaef (6289) 2006-12-01 10:56

Bonjour,
Le noir et blanc convient bien pour ce genre de photo.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

cdmonson (2751) 2006-12-01 11:53

Hi Ryan:

What a creative idea! The fact that the sky was cloudy even makes it look like white paper. This picture is so simple, but a great shot. Thanks for sharing.

Clark

chicken (1781) 2006-12-01 13:03

Kensimage already pointed it out, this image immediatly reminded me of designsoul's posting. I like this one aswell, though it looks more artifical, probably due to the details in the insulators which conflict a bit with the backlit situation.

hubert (1556) 2006-12-01 13:31

Buona Sera Ryan,
The poetry of the music represented in magistral way with few lines.
Complimenti
Marco

nursez (1903) 2006-12-01 14:51

Hi Ryan
I hope the sound is good:)Thanks a lot.

Ebbe (9571) 2006-12-01 17:07

Excellent graphic work with a clear composition of straight lines well placed in an of center way in both direstions. The hard lines are then softened by the presence of the feather balls.

Graymond (220) 2006-12-01 17:21

Solid composition and I like the musical reference. It works.

Floydian (30970) 2006-12-01 17:47

Hi Ryan,
A 6 string, played by Joe Satriani or Steve Vai...that sounds like heaven ;-)
This picture is so simple in all his beauty that it really stands out to all those impressing colourful posts we have seen today.
When i type this it also reminds me on that old movie The Birds...
Perfect work..i really like this one.
Have a nice weekend, Henk

luisafonso (858) 2006-12-01 18:40

Ken already mentioned the similarity to Sasa's last post but, to be honest, this one has a whole different mood. If the tree on Sasa's photo throws it into the Japonism era your telephone post puts this on Samuel Morse diary. You say music, I agree, but morse code is much more evident here than any string ballad! I love your pp but probably I would have boosted a bit the contrast to give a sketch look to this. Very good my friend!

Cormac (26449) 2006-12-01 20:54

Great eye to be able to spot this - I pass lots of birds and I've never made the connection between them and music, but now that you point it out it seems obvious. Well done!

SamB (1948) 2006-12-02 2:44

Hello, Ryan--

And so you persist in taking pictures of things that you aren't exactly passionate about... A strong piece nonetheless. i hope that as you take more pictures of any sort you find the fire coming back.

The composition on this one works well, with a large, solid entity on the left being opposed by the many smaller dark birds. The contrasts in this picture work well, with the obvious hard contrast between black & white, but also the fairly objective power line being countered by the more abstract left side. Thanks!
sam

jmcl (13721) 2006-12-02 9:48

Ryan,

Great composition .. Great Color (or lack there of) .. and your frame works really well for this ..

I almost spit out my beer when I saw this.
..

Morton Subotnik is a really wacky electronic composer best known in the wide world for some of the electronic sounds on 2001 A Space Odyssey ..

A few years back Subotnik made a kids computer game called "Making Music" ...

the idea of his game was to teach kids with no formal training the basics of music.

One of the 'games" in Making Music involved dragging birds onto telephone wires (arranged to the notes of the chosen scale) the birds would play a tune ...

the world is a strange place ..

take care ..

John

tomorrow : )

Ann75 (0) 2006-12-03 0:30

Hi Ryan,

A simple but very strong shot, Ryan! The title suits this photo really well. The black & white makes this even more special. Great composition and framing! Excellent work, Ryan!

Greetings,
Ann

sebcz (2345) 2006-12-03 5:27

Hi Ryan!
Superb B/W, my friend. Although it is not a new idea, the composition is just fine. like musical notes.
Regards,
Seb

gramma (3519) 2006-12-03 14:11

Hi Ryan,

A simple, graphical and beautiful N/B picture. Sharpness is very good, we can see all details of the structure. Well done !

Christophe

vinser (6) 2006-12-03 14:35

Hi Ryan,
Very original picture and your title is a very good choice.I like it for the creativity.
Regards
Serge

pboehringer (770) 2006-12-04 0:16

I can't help myself, but I have the impression that I saw this very similar picture already somewhere else. The telegraphic post, the wires, the birds and even the white background seems to be a deja vu, but I cant remember where. Anyway, it is very original and the title is a perfect match.
Regards, Peter

t0mmm1 (5434) 2006-12-04 15:04

Hi Ryan,
wonderful! I like it very much. I've had the same idea in my mind (while taking photos to the birds on the wires), but I've "recorded" only "DO-RE-MI"... and here you have birds for making two octaves ;))))
Have a nice day,
Tomi

danielswalsh (13318) 2006-12-05 0:07

Simple yet very effective composition. Reminds me of musical notes on a page of sheet music (from my band days).

Nice silhouette and well presented with a thin black frame on white.

Cheers!
- Dan

stego (22350) 2006-12-05 23:29

Wonderfully seen, Ryan!
Sooo cute!
I did a Ws with a tighter crop to see how it resulted... I hope you don't mind. With it I am not suggesting that there is any problem with your compo, which I simply love.
TFS

[workshop] [compare]

sam224 (5851) 2006-12-06 3:42

A very graphic shot. The wires are really aesthetic and the birds sitting on them look like musical notes.
Good idea and realization.

Elaine_Blath (6170) 2006-12-07 3:44

Hi Ryan,

graphical, soft, perfect BW...I like this shot very much, and the title is fit for it as well...nice compo!

Take care, Ivana

tjanze (5674) 2006-12-08 3:41

Hi Ryan!
Perfect graphics photo.Birds are here only for breaking monotony.I like B&W version and because white background there are stronger contrasts.Bravo!
Regards!

Mistral (13694) 2006-12-13 16:33

Hi Ryan,
great graphic shot!
A smile
Luca

faubry (32281) 2006-12-16 6:16

hello Ryan, very romantic shot! b&w give us good atmosphere, and i can listen music!!!
bravo
francine

tobourge (915) 2006-12-18 10:26

Hi Ryan,

If these birds are notes then your picture is master piece!!!

That's really a fantastic minimalist B&W picture.

That's the first picture I want to listen to ;-)

Thanks

Tony

Vaarna (303) 2006-12-21 5:09

If you would able to get a photo with crows sitting like this...

Great composition, great feeling and it gives a smile for till the rest of the day.

Regards!
ilze

zenskat (656) 2007-03-09 22:44

hi ryan, some great shots in your collection, but this one really stood out for me, i love the simplicity and starkness of it.cheers, jez

carlab (2087) 2008-02-07 0:29

wonderful! the sound of silent...
simply and very nice
tfs, carla