Good luck to all in the assignment. Any questions just let me know. Have fun!

Cannot wait to try this one!!!

 I'm glad you can't wait. I don't think it will be to hard for beginners. I find the subject is the hardest for me to choose.

Grenache:

Can't believe I am the first to post an entry here, but here goes:

Jim

 

Belly Dancer

 You maybe the first Jim but it is beautiful! 

Thanks for the examples Lois, I'll see if I can come up with anything........

 Mistie,

 Nope.  You are right on target.  Your candy cane shot and airplane shot are probably your most clear examples of minimalism.  The snowy post and the purlple and chrome car grill fit the bill as well.  All of those reduce a scene to a matter of color or form or tone or a combination.  Just my two pennies, but I would lump the candle shot and the cobra close-up as merely being tight shots.  At least to me, really good minimalism imparts either a bit of a story or allusion to the whole but often in a somewhat abstracted way.  Those two shots seem self contained; whereas, the car grill shot is about form yet give the hint of something larger.

Again, just my two pennies.  Fun challenge.

mistie49:

Grenache:

Can't believe I am the first to post an entry here, but here goes:

Jim

 

Belly Dancer

 You maybe the first Jim but it is beautiful! 

 

Thanks!

Grenache:

 Mistie,

 Nope.  You are right on target.  Your candy cane shot and airplane shot are probably your most clear examples of minimalism.  The snowy post and the purlple and chrome car grill fit the bill as well.  All of those reduce a scene to a matter of color or form or tone or a combination.  Just my two pennies, but I would lump the candle shot and the cobra close-up as merely being tight shots.  At least to me, really good minimalism imparts either a bit of a story or allusion to the whole but often in a somewhat abstracted way.  Those two shots seem self contained; whereas, the car grill shot is about form yet give the hint of something larger.

Again, just my two pennies.  Fun challenge.

Jim

Thanks Jim for stepping in and helping me out. I have read so many views so sometimes I wonder if it isn't just what you see. When I think of minimalism I think of the bear minimal in the photo. Guess this was a harder subject than what I thought it would be for everyone. Guess I should have just written take a shot with the minimum amount of subject or a shot of a subject leaving us to guess...now what is that. :) I wasn't sure on the cobra and the candle. :)  It is so hard to explain and sometimes I can't always capture what I want to say...Old age...lol There is so much for me to learn myself when it comes to photography....as I know I haven't even scratched the surface yet.

24goingfor5:

Thanks for the examples Lois, I'll see if I can come up with anything........

Your welcome.

mistie49:

Grenache:

 Mistie,

 Nope.  You are right on target.  Your candy cane shot and airplane shot are probably your most clear examples of minimalism.  The snowy post and the purlple and chrome car grill fit the bill as well.  All of those reduce a scene to a matter of color or form or tone or a combination.  Just my two pennies, but I would lump the candle shot and the cobra close-up as merely being tight shots.  At least to me, really good minimalism imparts either a bit of a story or allusion to the whole but often in a somewhat abstracted way.  Those two shots seem self contained; whereas, the car grill shot is about form yet give the hint of something larger.

Again, just my two pennies.  Fun challenge.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim for stepping in and helping me out. I have read so many views so sometimes I wonder if it isn't just what you see. When I think of minimalism I think of the bear minimal in the photo. Guess this was a harder subject than what I thought it would be for everyone. Guess I should have just written take a shot with the minimum amount of subject or a shot of a subject leaving us to guess...now what is that. :) I wasn't sure on the cobra and the candle. :)  It is so hard to explain and sometimes I can't always capture what I want to say...Old age...lol There is so much for me to learn myself when it comes to photography....as I know I haven't even scratched the surface yet.

A quick hack of a trick to get to a minimalist mind set it to stand the normal distance that you would from a subject...any subject...and use a focal length 5-10x what you would have normally chosen.  For cityscapes and landscapes, you can drop from a near panoramic shot to one that shows only bits of buildings...usually emphasizing geometry... or a section of a tree.

On people, it might be a part of the face or curve of a feature.

 Minimalism does not mean just take a picture of something small or using a long lens and randomly clicking the shutter.  It seeks to either abstract or distill some aspect of the world around us into a different way of looking at it.  A silhouette, for instance can be an example of minimalism.   Sometimes you need to remove color to help.  Some times it is as simple as changing focal point/plane to something different than the norm.

 Here is an example of reducing a colorful playground scene to a BW (though slightly tinted) version.  I focused on the fence post and let the playground be the impression instead of the subject.

Jim

 Thanks again Jim. This is one area I would like to explore more....just need 8 more hours in my day.

 Riscophtographer...love the idea....neat how there was just one bird at the top. Reminds me of our tree in the front yard...I call it our woodpecker tree.

CalebSchmerge...beautiful rose. 

 I'm not sure if mine falls in the 'Minimalism' category or not, but I really wanted to do the assignment again!

 shutterhappy...there is just something about this image I like.....maybe it is the simplicity of it. What type of branch is that?

captivating...:

 I'm not sure if mine falls in the 'Minimalism' category or not, but I really wanted to do the assignment again!

It looks great to me! I have a hard time with this subject to and it is something I would really like to continue trying. Maybe I will have to post some shots and ask if people think it qualify as a minimalism shot.

 Chris love the shot! Makes you wonder what the person wearing those would look like.

 photobaby...love this shot...makes you think a little about what the subject is.

 michell...fantastic photo you captured. Now you have me wondering what she looks like. I can say it looks like she has some very pretty eyes. You will have to post some pictures of her.

They're quince flowers. Very pretty but the ends of each tiny branch are thorn-sharp.

Thanks, Lois. This is the first time I've ever posted in a photo contest or challenge but I thought the subject was intriguing.  Since I shoot portraits almost exclusively, I thought I'd just play around and see how that could work.  It was tougher than I thought, and I think without all the stray hairs, it might actually "feel" more minimalist.  I haven't shared any photos in a long time, but I may just put a few of these up - she really is a pretty girl.