I recently entered a photography show at Viewpoint Photographic Art Center in Sacramento. The theme was Balance and the juror, Jane Edberg, Professor of Art at Gavilan College.  Out of the 400+ entries, she selected three of my photos (thank you, thank you, thank you) for the 60 piece show.

As a street photographer, it is my good fortune to often be carrying a camera when I stumble upon a scene worthy of recording. When it came to choosing entry images for the Balance show, “I like them,” was about the extent of my methodical plan. After I learned that three were selected for the show, I decided to take a closer look to discover the balance Ms. Edberg might have seen in the photos.

“The Last Peach”  On the final day of harvest, I visited a friend’s ranch in Linden, CA. It really was the end of the harvest and 1,500 tons of peaches had already made their way to the processing plant. As we drove down the road, back to the barn, I blurted out, “Stop the car” and shot this photo.

Triangular shapes: the ladder; three color blocks (brown, green blue)

Symmetry: ladder in the middle; peach between rungs; vertical ladder support visually slices the ladder

Hard & soft: ladder angles are sharp, offset by the round peach and foliage

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“Sea Saw”   Taken by the Ligurian Sea in Monterosso, Cinque Terre, Italy, these women seem content just sitting. The way I framed the photo always makes me question if they are really on the Italian Riviera or actually sitting in front of a mural on the side of a building in downtown South Beach.

Shapes: the round woman on the right seems to anchor the elongated woman on the left; the shadow on the left anchors the absence of shadow on the right. The black swimsuits act as bookends while the shapes and colors of the bags between the women are like well-worn volumes on the shelf.

Texture: the cement and the water appear both hard and soft at the same time.

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“Strike”   During a practice photo shoot for a restaurant opening in Elk Grove, CA,

I wandered off to find the restroom and came across an open door with glowing colored light blasting out into the hallway. I stuck my head inside, noticed the big man on the far wall, and pulled out my camera. The bowler came into my sightline just as I snapped the shutter.

Color: glow blue complements black; white and grey on both bowler and actor

Shape: round ball/upright pins; smaller full body bowler/large torso actor; three linear lanes lead to square screen; round bowler, ball, and actor all centered in an angular setting

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