From Scene To Glimpse

Using this series of pictures I hope to show the difference between a scene and a Glimpse. A scene is something viewed or a setting. When I think of a photographic scene I tend to think first of a landscape. Whether the scene is something natural or something made by humans the photographer's goal is to get the best and clearest record of it (in most cases).

The following picture is a scene that has no relation to a Glimpse. Nothing in the picture is obscured and there is no frame.


PB Highway by firemind.


In the following scene we see the addition of a frame. The frame doesn't block much of the view however. I never submitted this to Glimpse.


Ring View by firemind.


The following photo was one of my earliest submissions. It does have a frame and there are glimpses involved. My issue with it now is that the glimpses are spread out at the edges and the main focal point ends abruptly at the front door of the house.


Whyte 5 by firemind.


The following photo has one clear glimpse at the left. The glimpse attracts our attention to some degree but it has to compete with the ship. The dominating feature of this photo is the black and white sunburst design. That's what I intended to photograph and anything else was a nice addition. The photo is a Glimpse but it is borderline. It happened to fit the criteria so I submitted it to the pool.

What's "wrong" with it? The subject of the photo is the frame instead of the Glimpse.


SSBeaver3 by firemind.


The next photo is a nice Glimpse. It has a solid frame which is in focus and the glimpse is in focus. There is enough mystery in the picture to keep a viewer guessing. If the area in the center had a few less trees this glimpse wouldn't work.


Tall Trees by firemind.


The following photo is a classic Glimpse. We can see something when we look between the two tree trunks but we cannot see more without moving to another location. What we can see isn't spectacular but it is clear and suggests that there is more to see. If we wish to look at the glimpsed area further we can go to it.


Beyond by firemind.


As you can see from these photos a Glimpse is different from a scene or landscape. Taking good Glimpse photos is possible if we stop trying to get the clearest view. Think G.L.I.M.P.S.E.