a study on vision, part two

 

Time for another photographic analysis! I started with “the most precious pictures taken of me and why.” In the next few posts, I want to add the following: the professional photos taken by others that have impacted me the most personally, the most precious candid pictures I’ve ever taken of someone else, and the most precious professional pictures I’ve ever taken of someone else. Along with a summary of my findings at the end. :)

I browsed through my Pinterest boards late last night, looking for the photos—captured by other photographers—that impact me the most. I could visualize them from memory because they had such an effect on me from the very first time I saw them (it was just a matter of surfing through 1,000 other pins to find them!). Here they are, in random order (with credit given where possible), and why I love them.

favorite professional images by others

1. The kiss

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These two pictures just leave me speechless. I pinned them probably more than two years ago, but they still stand out in my memory as some of the most stunning wedding pictures I’ve ever seen. I love the intimacy of them… the way they make you feel privy to a moment not your own. I also love that you can’t see their faces in either picture—the message is conveyed so well that I don’t need to know who these people are to be impacted by a glimpse of their story.

2. In the woods

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The first time I saw this picture I literally couldn’t stop looking at it. I was enthralled. Something about the softly lit setting and the simplicity of the pose is just so beautiful. From their outfits down to their hairstyles and profiles, there’s nothing trendy, nothing cheap or overdone—it’s just that classically gorgeous, demure kind of love story that makes me sigh a little and dream.

3. The football player

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I might go so far as to call this the best male senior photo I have ever seen. I personally find guy pictures incredibly hard to take and most of the ones I see online are kind of boring or cheesy. This image inspired me to think more about how light impacts an image. The way there is equal light coming from both sides, highlighting the lines of his face and the size of his protective shoulder gear, grabs and holds my interest. The way he’s lit combined with a gritty high contrast black-and-white and of course his uniform all give me clues about the kind of person he is, which makes this picture a lot more engaging than if he’d been standing against a brick wall somewhere faking a smile!

4. A boy and his dog

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If you’ve never seen the series of farm photographs by Russian photographer Elena Shumilova that went viral awhile back, do yourself a favor and look at them immediately here and here. Every single one makes me want to cry, it’s so pretty.

Anyway. I hard a hard time choosing just one image from her collection but I picked this one because besides being adorable, I just love the feel of it. It’s cool and dark and chilly and remote, while at the same time feeling warm and friendly somehow. The relative size of the boy compared to the dog is hilarious, and the look of complete patience on the dog’s face while his little master messes around with him tells me he’s a dependable and friendly old chap. There’s just a connection between the two of them that I can’t put into words… I just know it’s there.

5. A girl and her horse

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I’ve been following this amazing children’s photographer for a long time and am always inspired by her creamy backgrounds and beautiful editing. This picture was one of those that made me stop scrolling down my feed and just stare. I tell you, if I had a picture like this of me as a little girl with a horse… or if I had a daughter who could be in a picture like this with a horse… I would probably blow it up into a 40x60-inch canvas (at least), hang it on my wall, and just stare at it. I get lost in that overpowering entrancement that just about every girl in the world had with horses at some point (and some, like myself, never lose). And kind of like the boy and his dog, the size discrepancy and yet apparent gentleness of this huge creature, along with the indescribable bond they seem to share, makes it magical.

 

What are your thoughts? Are there any images that you’ll never forget because of the impact they had on you?