Little Things

I saw these two photos next to each other as I was downloading some other photos. I am not sure what I intended to write about originally but what struck me in the contrast of these two photos seemed worth talking about. Perhaps "little things" is a misnomer as sublime changes are not little in importance. Still I will call them little for this post.

It would be fair to say that these to photos were of the same thing. In truth they were both taken in an attempt to capture the same scene. However as I looked at them side by side on the computer screen they seemed in many ways vastly different. The first thing that struck me was the angle of the horizon line. I feel that this has a profound effect on the photo. This, I think, should be self evident to anyone looking at these two pictures. Where am I going with this?
If I were to paint this scene I might neglect to do some of the things that are visible to me in the contrast of the two pictures. I might neglect to emphasize, if not exaggerate, the aformentioned horizon line. This is not the only choice to make but in a less panoramic scene the pull to one side seems more interesting to me. However one photo does not have all the "good" qualities. The cropping of the house on the left seem important. I would let that same house run off the side of the painting and not stand fully in view. I do not know what choice I would make with the hydrant. Both rise up to about the center of the photos but one reaches up into the house's plane and the other does not. My instinct is that the relatively higher position gives it greater presence making it loom in the foreground. However I cannot say that that is the better choice.
I suppose that is the operative word: "choice". There are a lot of little choices that all pull together to help make a painting. There are a lot of little choices that all pull together to break a painting. Is my horizon line too straight? What is the dynamic between the foreground elements and the ones in the back? Is the shrubbery in the front of it all obscuring the hydrant or adding intrigue? These question can be answered by painting a picture and then painting it again. If you do this often enough then the questions will be answered for the next time they arise. R.