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kriso9tails
Oct 15, 2002, 10:05 PM
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It may sound stupid, but I think most people don't pay enough attention to the rope and the gear (but mainly the rope) in composition. I'm not sure if there's a point to this, but some shots that would be otherwise mediocre, become quite interesting just because of shapes or lines made by the rope(s) threading through the pro.
Do y'all no what I'm talking about?
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beyond_gravity
Oct 15, 2002, 10:07 PM
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I remember seeing a picture in climbing a while ago with a guy climbing a wondering slab with twin ropes...It looked pretty cool with the ropes in
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tim
Oct 15, 2002, 10:38 PM
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I know exactly what you mean... I recently picked up a new rope (70M Beal) and when it arrived I discovered that 'red' was actually 'vibrating, fluorescing, radioactive pink-orange'. Furthermore on some routes recently it has caught my eye on the out-of-focus bits.
My new Evil Plan is to take it to Little Falls or the Dacks and see what can be done to have the out-of-focus highlights look like some sort of twisted lightsaber thing.
There was a picture in Rock & Ice from a year or so ago, of some route in Red Rocks, where the rope was a lot like mine. If you happen upon it you'll see what I mean (kris0 I think already does)
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bradhill
Oct 15, 2002, 10:44 PM
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Yeah, I've got the neon-orange Beal rope. I wouldn't say it's photogenic, though.
In all my photos it looks like I'm carrying an extension cord up the mountain so I can plug in my hairdryer at the top.
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petsfed
Oct 15, 2002, 10:54 PM
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There's nothing wrong with maintaining a good appearance. Even when the fact that you haven't shaved in 3 weeks makes you look like a yeti. At least your hair looks good.
As to the topic, I have several pictures on my wall (not taken by me of course) that really focus your eye onto the climber, or the action involved. There's Alex Huber winter aid-solo-new routing in the Dolomites, with a lot of parallel lines (rope included) that give the shot an interesting look. There's some dude on Mescalito (from one of last year's Patagonia catalogs) with the wind blowing the rest of the rope and his aiders off to one side. And of course there's the shot of Royal Robbins on the first ascent of the Salathe (complete with attrocious spot toning, almost as bad as some of my work) which creates some interesting intersecting lines with the features of the rock.
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brent
Oct 15, 2002, 11:42 PM
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All the responses assume that the rope in the photo is with the climber on lead. While i agree that the rope on a leader can add to a photo I think a shot with a climber on top rope is a waste of film. The extreme example of this is the advertisment currently airing on TV for speed stick. I know the general public may not recognize the difference but I think it really minimizes the "extreme" nature they were probably going for.
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jmlangford
Oct 15, 2002, 11:42 PM
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You're right, in this shot I took...the picture wouldn't be near as unique without the sun shining on the rope that is in the shadow.
And in this one that my dad took in 1956, the rope almost helps to accentuate the exposure and the verticality of the shot:
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cyberclimber
Oct 17, 2002, 6:39 PM
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Jody, you have done it again. I was just going to say that you can use the rope as a leading line in your composition to lead the eye to the subject/climber, and the picture taken by your dad showed what I was going to say better than I could have ever explained.
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jmlangford
Oct 17, 2002, 6:52 PM
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In regards to the "top rope in the picture" comment from above...you kind of have a point...unless you compose a unique shot that contains the top rope, then the uniqueness of the shot takes the attention away from that rope...am I making any sense?
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kriso9tails
Oct 17, 2002, 7:01 PM
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To most climbers there seems to be something inherently [in the image not the climber] aesthetically unpleasing about a top rope in the picture, so to have it look nice it better be a damn fine picture, or it should have some personal value. Just my take.
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beyond_gravity
Oct 27, 2002, 10:45 PM
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there is this one awesome shot of a guy rappeling by Pat Morrow, i'll see if I can find it somewhere
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thomasribiere
Oct 28, 2002, 6:32 PM
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I know exactly what you mean.
I like to use the ropes in the shot, especially when the person is top rope (as top roping might decrease the interest of the picture, why not "play" with its presence?).
I also made (not on purpose) some shots with a low speed so the rope disappeared (I think the rope was moving because of the climber or maybe the wind) and my friends were like soloing on the cliff!
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krillen
Oct 28, 2002, 6:42 PM
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I did that with photoshop too!
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coclimber26
Nov 2, 2002, 7:20 PM
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I think the rope has alot to do with the picture. If you take a pic of a hard climb with the leader making a move it's a great shot, but if he's on toprope doing the same move it doesn't seem as good..
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krillen
Nov 3, 2002, 6:03 PM
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I think that has to deal with the emotion/stress the climber is feeling. You can relate/connect with the climber in those situations, feel his pain etc. When they are on TR there is no risk involved.
It's like watching a scary movie a 2nd time. It's not as scary becasue you know who makes it out alive, and when the scary parts are.
My two cents..
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djmicro
Nov 7, 2002, 4:43 AM
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It also helps a lot to prove that the spectacular move that the is climber is doing is not faked when you see a bit of slack.
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