Fall leaves and berries, photographed along the Clinton River, less than 1 mile from my house. Soon to be in a new blood donor center.
As I finished sending off images to a lab for a Blood Donor center in San Antonio, Texas, the picks the art consultant made had me thinking about the universal aspects of some nature photographs. It makes someone from California, Nebraska, or Texas pick a photograph that was made in Michigan or elsewhere.
The reasons can be varied. Maybe it is a color theme, aspect of nature theme, or simply a connection someone makes with a certain subject or composition. One thing is for sure… if I had any pictures of bats, I don’t think they would have made it into this particular round of prints. 🙂
Maybe you can try something different, like taking the picture from a different or extreme angle, or taking a step or two back and using some of the surrounding environment around the object as part of your photo. You can Inter-mix these “abnormal” shots with “normal” shots for the best effect.
Sometimes, I wonder who/why selected certain images in office buildings, hospitals, etc. I can understand not wanting denuded trees in a hospital – too many associations with end of season/life, though it’s really just a picture. Those thoughts piling on could really mess with someone’s head or mood.
This picture just seems like a nice, relaxing day by the lake.
I haven’t worked with a lot of art consultants, but I have worked with a few. I’ve decided that it is pointless to guess what they are going to pick from what I send them, but the hardest part is knowing what to send them in the first place! Try as I might to choose photos based on their request, it is often the ones that I throw in at the last minute that they like the most. Then I start second-guessing my editing judgement in general, and that gets me nowhere!
Hey Tom
They have always picked what they want from my site. I guess that is the fortunate part because like you say, it’s pretty hard to guess. I think your ethereal shorelines would be great selections personally.
I wonder if any of the patients will recognize that this is a picture of poison ivy. I think it’s a lovely image, but I get “itchy” just looking at it.
Don’t think it is Mike. We have a lot of poison ivy around these woods, so I am pretty familiar with it. Though I never did ID this particular tree, it was indeed a tree – you can see the branches in the photo.
Mark, the berries are what give it away as poison ivy – they look like clusters of tiny white grapes. Eastern Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) sometimes grows as a shrub if there is nothing for it to climb; Western Poison Ivy (T. rydbergii) always grows as a shrub, but is not known to be present in SE Michigan. Here’s a link to some pics that I took of the berries http://midmichigannatureandscience.blogspot.com/2013/10/poison-ivy-in-fall.html
Well that’s interesting! The leaves did not have the side notch appearance like most of the vines around here either. Will the leaves also morph to be more “shrub-like” with the stems?
There is just a lot of variation in poison ivy leaves. I find some with toothed margins, some with smooth margins, and some with just a single tooth on one or both sides of the leaflet.
I wonder if anyone in the blood donors clinic will associate the red leaves with blood stains? But that’s probably just me; I’ve been watching too many gangster movies lately 😉
Seriously though, I can see this photo in a clinic, it would be quite relaxing perhaps even to the point of affecting blood pressure (in a good way). There have been some fascinating studies done on the psychological impact of colours and scenes in different environments such as doctor’s clinics, schools, age-care homes and prisons. I always found the results to be rather startling; the impact is surprisingly large. Anyway, it’s a beautiful photo Mark.
I thought something similar given the color similarities! Indeed, there is ample evidence now how nature photographs bring a sense of wellness in places otherwise somewhat “sterile” in their decor.
Yep, I agree, the bat images wouldn’t work. I have found it interesting that images I like may not get many hits or comments and ones I’m not so excited about draw attention. It is so dependent on the viewer. I also think it has a lot to do with where the image is on display. I see a lot of difference between a monitor and a print. I agree with their selection of this image for the center.
A mystery that perhaps is best left as such eh?
Interesting! Having extremely eclectic tastes, I can’t explain my own reasons for what I like. ~grin~ The image is gorgeous, by the way.
And I agree with Howard on being puzzled as to why a consultant would not want a seascape. Seems strange to me.
Be well!
The sea has always been calming for me, so I am equally confused. Thanks Darla.
It does seem like there is some universality (is that a word) in what people find calming. Interestingly, I have sold some prints into the health care industry and the art consultants had some interesting ‘rules’. No bare trees, no seascapes (I couldn’t figure that one out) and a few other similar guidelines I found unusual.
I haven’t heard the bare trees one, but one consultant did tell me water can sometimes appear threatening. (Maybe something to do with the deep unknown, sharks, etc).
But as a matter of fact, they picked a few seascapes for this center! So go figure.
I think the bare tree thing is because it insinuates the end of the life cycle, not a great idea for those of us over 50 to think about 🙂 As my son told me when I turned 50 (eight years ago)……dad, it’s like you’re on a roller coaster and you just made it over the top of that big hill and your about to go screaming fast down the other side….yikes
well the fast part is supposed to be the fun part right? 🙂