During class, you stated that Kevin O'Brien's tree photo was cliche as far as beginner photo students go. I disagree! Just because trees happen to show up in photos a lot does not make it a cliche. Neither does the angel at which the photo was taken (up the tree). Trees are a popular subject. People are also popular subjects—subjects that are perhaps shot by more photographers than any other subject. The beautiful thing about people is that they come in all different shapes and sizes, posing with all sorts of different expressions and mannerisms. That is what makes it possible for the different variety within the subject matter. That being said, it would be unfair to say that shooting up a tree would make for a cliche photo. Trees also have personality: dead trees, living trees, leafless trees, large trees, small trees, red trees, brown trees, gray trees, bark-less trees, knobbed trees, burned trees, hollow trees—the list could go on forever. No two trees are the same.
AnaBella had a photo of her mug of coffee. You thought that this photo made for a very appealing shot of one's morning cup'pa joe. The clouds, the frothy-ness—you felt it could be used in advertising for something tasty. I disagree! I felt as though the coffee looked disgusting. The clouds made the coffee look polluted, rather than milk-enriched. That cup needed to be stirred, but instead it looked like dirty dish water. As far as the frothy-ness goes, there were only a few bubbles, and as a coffee drinker myself, I would never want bubbly coffee. Latte's can have foam, but coffee can not have bubbles. Bubbles remind me of a murky swamp that is about to unleash a swamp monster into a town filled with unsuspecting people. That photo needed to be taken after the cup was stirred, or black.
Although you seemed to agree with me after I stated that Sandy's sister added to the photo of the adult male swinging on the swing, I am going to reiterate my argument. Sandy's sister, although not paying attention to the people surrounding her on the swing, seems to add a certain light-heartedness to the rest of the photo. Although already playful and kind of ironic as a photo already, her sister only adds to this in an even more comical way. Sitting there all googly-eyed and dopey looking, she provides a nice looney tune type of distraction to the rest of the photo, almost serving as an extra side show.
