This week, Egidio hosts the challenge. His theme is Two Rectangles in the context of a compositional tool. He writes, “By two rectangles, I mean you have two dominant rectangular areas in your image. For many people, this is one of those compositional tools we use without thinking about it. These rectangles give balance, harmony, and unity to a composition.” You can read his entire challenge post here.
My first photo was taken at Arlington National Cemetery. Ira Hayes was a World War II hero who helped plant the flag at Iwo Jima. Hayes’s story is complex. A Native American from Arizona, he struggled to cope with the war’s aftermath and the immense public attention he received. He was immortalized in “The Ballad of Ira Hayes,” a song by Peter Lafarge and released as a record by Johnny Cash in 1962.
My photo of his headstone is a Photoshop manipulation I created a few years ago. At that time, I started seeing images created as a “pop-out” where the subject extends outside the photograph’s borders. The short version is that the image’s background is shrunk and rotated a bit, and then a white frame is created around the background, giving the appearance of a printed photo. The original of this image really wasn’t “two rectangles,” but by creating a second rectangle of the background, I think it qualifies for Egidio’s challenge.
Almost any image featuring the sky and the landscape below can be defined as two rectangles. I’ve always enjoyed photographing sunflowers, usually in closeups from the edge of a field. North Dakota is a significant supplier of oils and seeds from these beautiful plants. The lower rectangle features the vastness of a typical sunflower field as viewed from a drone at only a few feet above the field. The upper rectangle features fair weather clouds as the golden hour approaches.
Egidio had an example of a highway with the centerline as a leading line through the image center, dividing the image into two rectangles. I immediately thought of this image of the Gillespie Dam Bridge near Gila Bend, Arizona. The bridge structure at the top further defines the left and right rectangle symmetry.
At Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, a park dedicated to the Wright Brothers’ first flight features several sculptures. One lifesize sculpture recreates the flight with statues of both brothers and a full-size recreation of the aircraft. This photo was my own unwitting application of two rectangles. Rather than try to capture the entire scene, I focused on two subjects, the engine that generated power for this first flight achievement and one of the creators and pilot. It just so happened that the aircraft structure framed the two subjects.
As a volunteer for the Civil Air Patrol, I often flew missions in North Dakota for the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services. In many of these sorties, I was the photographer. In searching for rectangles for this post, I found many examples similar to this one. We were tasked with flying over bridges, looking for signs of potential problems. In this case, the road bisects the image, and ice chunks flowing down the river were butting up against the bridge structure, impeding water flow. The damming effect creates higher water levels upstream. When the blockage is severe, highway department equipment is dispatched to lift the chunks of ice out of the water to break up the dam. (photo credit: I photographed this image, reproduced with permission from the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services.)
As a passenger on a two-person glider, I have an excellent viewpoint for aerial photography as the pilot sits behind the passenger. The two rectangles of land and sky are obviously present, but so are many other rectangles reflecting the agricultural nature of North Dakota. The long, thin airport rectangle is the Casselton, North Dakota airport. Casselton was a home base for glider operations for many years.
Last week, Ritva challenged us to consider the background in our images and how it impacts the story being told. Next week, Tina of Travels and Trifles will host the challenge at noon EST on Saturday. Be sure to follow her so you don’t miss the theme. If you’d like to join the challenge but aren’t sure how to get started, check here.
One final note: Team member Donna of Wind Kisses is taking a break from blogging. The Lens-Artists will miss her challenges but look forward to a time when she might rejoin the team. My wife, Lynn, and I wish Donna and her family the best, and we share our thoughts with them.
John Steiner
Journeys with Johnbo 
John, you found great images to go with this theme, i liked the sunflowers and bridge best. Though the last one showed the idea really well too.
Some interesting takes on the rectangle here. All so different, I’m not going to pick a favourite.
Fun challenge. I’d never thought of rectangles in this way as a composition tool. Kudos to Egidio!
👍
Perfectly filling the brief. “Downwind for landing” looks good, but is that a storm front coming?
Though the skies looked dark there, I don’t remember a storm coming. Usually when gliding, we stay pretty clear of threatening weather. I think it was just a lower layer of clouds above a higher cloud layer.
I love the explanation and these rectangles.
Flooding on the Red River from above looks both interesting and scary!
Love Sculpture of the Wright Brother!
That was a pretty nasty year for flooding on the Red River. There was a lot of overland flooding, but not nearly so damaging to property as what is going on in Iowa and Minnesota right now.
It seems, even worse days are ahead!
I think you are correct, unfortunately.
This is a real exploration of the rectangles theme. Great examples!
Thanks, Nes!
I thought the photos with the headstone(s) and airfield were good ones for this challenge.
Thanks!
you did a great job choosing a variety of options to meet the challenge. I think I took away some ideas from your post.
Thanks, Chuckster!
John, you nailed it for this post. I love the field of sunflowers!
Thanks! I love sunflower fields when they are ready for harvest!
John, I loved your use of rectangles from actual work photos. Your eye was sharp in composing those images as you show them. The opening image is super creative, something that we are used to seeing in your images. I liked the color contrast in the sunflower field, the leading line and bridge structure, and the amazing Wright Bros. image. That particular image allows viewers to see rectangles in at least two ways: horizontally, with the lower flying machine, and vertically, with the line separating one of the brothers from the engine. That’s amazing! Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos.
Thanks, Egidio! You gave everyone an opportunity to look at their images in a different compositional light.
Great rectangular images for this post John. My favorite, of course, are the sunflowers. You caught the field at the right time of day. The Wright Brothers sculpture was great also. Lots of rectangles in that one.
Thanks, Anne! Egidio gave me some new ways to look at my images with this challenge.
Of course I know the famous image of the flag at Iwo Jima but I wasn’t aware of the history of the men involved so that was an interesting read. I also like the effect you’ve achieved with that first shot. But my favourite image is the drone shot of the sunflower field. Hovering just above it creates an intriguing perspective.
There is a book that covers the story of all of the men at the flag raising. The saddest part of that story is that some of those men didn’t survive the rest of the day.
Since hearing the song, I’ve been intrigued by the story of Ira Hayes.
Terrific examples John, I loved your opener – really clever. Also loved the Wright brothers statue and the bridge, great examples of rectangles. Nicely done.
Thanks, Tina! I had fun for quite a while creating those pop-out images.
I love the story behind the opening photo and the sunflower field is beautiful!!
Thanks, Nora! That sunflower field view came out far better than I imagined.
Wonderful post, John. Sunflowers and especially the Wright’s sculpture are awesome captures.
Thanks, Sofia!
Beautiful photos for this challenge John!
Thanks, Aletta!
John Thanks for this idea with these an amazing images . Anita
Love the sunflowers, John. A thought provoking challenge well met.
Thanks, Jo!