Playing around with my ipad the other night, I realized that we can now watch youtube on our big TV through the kids’ playstation and controlled by my ipad. Wow! That sure opens up a new world of entertainment! And I don’t mean just the gigantic Japanese pudding commercial that my three-year-old loves…

No, there are actually a ton of great full-length documentaries and videos on YouTube these days, in case you’ve been living under that rock with me. My new favorite is “The Art of Photography” and I especially enjoyed is episode on simplicity — especially his discussion on figure & ground. That is such a key concept to photography, I think. Here’s a terrific (long and involved) piece about figure/ground in terms of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s photography.

It’s a concept that is so hard for me to put into practice. It really involves stopping and slowing down and thinking about what is in your frame. And paying attention to details. I am not a payer-of-attention to details. Sadly. You would think by 43, I would have learned my lesson but I continue to trip up over those darn little niggly details all the time. ALL THE TIME!

Here is a case in point: this picture, from the Kelby photowalk at Meadowlark Gardens, haunts me because it could have been so much better if only I been paying attention!

A small adjustment to my position and he grass reed that I was focusing on, would have been completely surrounded by the lighter sky/mist/pond. The dark figure of the grass would have been more clearly the subject of the photo. Less ambiguity, greater simplicity, better photo.

This week then, I would like to focus on keeping my images simple and really concentrating on the figure/ground relationship within my frames.