J is for JUXTAPOSITION

Juxtaposition is an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. By placing contrasting elements side by side, you add interest to your photographs. You can use small and large, light and shadow, happy and sad, smooth and rough, old and new, horizontal and vertical, dogs and cats, etc.

However, that’s not all you can do in photographs. By using opposing colours of the colour wheel (i.e. using warm and cool colours in contrast), you add a touch of tension to the photo. Also, by using slower shutter speeds along with still objects, you can show moving objects compared to stationary object.

You can also show contrast between sharp focus and out of focus elements by using a wider aperture to blur the background and foreground. All of these methods will add interest and help define the idea behind the photograph.

I went through my photos to see if I had included any juxtaposition in them, considering I had no idea what that was at the time. Remember, I’m still learning just like lots of you. With the following photos, see if you can figure out just how juxtaposition is incorporated.

In this shot, the iconic Vancouver Hotel (opened in 1939) is reflected in the ultra-modern high-rise.

Here we have water, city, and mountains

Here we have two elements: contrast of tall grasses compared to a tall man and the contrast of blue (cool colour) and orange (warm colour).

Here is a bright contrast between green and blue plus a diagonal line within a rectangular frame.

Finally, in this shot I focused on the center of the bud and let the background become blurred.

And in closing, I must thank the jaunty Mrs. Nesbitt for the creation of ABC Wednesday. She and her jolly jewel of a team jump over to everyone's site to, at times, joke around while giving jovial and jazzy comments. Some of us are joyful, others are jaunty or jubilant. But we are never never jealous or judgmental of anyone's post! Here we might jest, but we always encourage one and all to join in the fun.