Less Is More, or KISS

Yes, I know I had planned on more portraits and their stories this week, but I got waylaid by making a video for YouTube on "Less Is More." I'll do more portraits another week, but meanwhile...

In our workshops, one of the things we stress is keeping the composition simple, whether a landscape, a close-up, or a detail.

I have always said, "Remember what attracted you to the scene and make sure it is your only subject."

Arnie's mantra is, "Simplify and isolate."

John reminds people, "KISS...you know, keep it simple, stupid." (No, no one's stupid here!)

A plein-air painter (one who paints outdoors from the scene in front of him/her) has the option of leaving out unattractive elements or ones that are not positioned in a good place, or even of moving an object to a better location. Sure, with Photoshop, we can do all these things, but I would much rather be outdoors making new photographs than stuck at my computer. What about you?


How do we do this? Simple. We carefully check what is in our viewfinder before we click the shutter. Analyze what you have. Is that element over on the edge really necessary? Isn't it really a second subject? Is there something that is drawing my eye out of the image instead of keeping it within?

Some people cast their eyes about, then click the shutter knowing there is something in there if one crops later. "Just Photoshop it," I hear.

"Arghhh!" I think to myself.

Instead, my response is, "Why would you want to waste all those wonderful, expensive, little pixels you paid for?"

In the photograph "Black Sky" above, the overall scene was a hillside with trees and fence posts painted golden by the low light of the late afternoon. I didn't want the fence posts, and there were too many trees for what I wanted. I kept working the composition until I found this one small patch of trees that set off the Payne's grey of the stormy sky. To me, it was elegantly simple, a case where less was definitely more.

I am pretty brutal about my composing and editing, so I only have a couple of examples of before and after to show you.

The first one was at an estate with wonderful arches, shadows, and shapes, all punctuated with wrought-iron lamps hanging from the arches.

There was a lot going on, and I wasn't pleased with the images I was making. Too busy. Too distracting. No focus. My poor eyes weren't being directed. I walked around for a bit, knowing I loved the lamps. Then it struck me...

Much stronger! I have the arches, shadows, shapes, and dappled light. And, I have one of the wrought-iron lamps setting it all off.

The second example was a scene that caught my eye through an open doorway that I was photographing. I realized that I had two subjects, one the doorway, the other the window beyond.

I know better. That would never do. I found it was the window that I really wanted, so I went inside and got permission to photograph. There was incredible rococo around the window, and the colors of round window itself were beautiful.

Guess what? Still not good. Two subjects — the patterns of the window and the intricate work on the walls surrounding it. Grrr!

Finally, my brain kicked into gear, and this is what I did. Simple. I didn't need the whole window to tell my story. What's more, by homing in on my subject, I could really let the colors and shapes come through.


Sometimes, one can make that elegantly simple shot the first time; sometimes it takes a few tries. When you find yourself in the latter situation, keep the series and look at the progression to see why the first image did not work and why the last one does. Apply that analysis to your next image.

Remember the KISS theory? Again, we aren't stupid, but the KISS theory works! Less is more!

As noted above, we have uploaded a video with lots of photographs from Arnie, John, and me to our YouTube site called "Keep It Simple."

Upcoming workshops: Arches & Moab (UT); New England Fall Foliage (NH & VT); and Lighthouses of the Outer Banks (NC). For more information, go to our Barefoot Contessa Photo Adventures website.

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