Agriculture, India submitted to ‘Lines, Textures and Patterns’ on National Geographic.
See the National Geographic photo assignments that Kristian Bertel has participated in – Read the story about his photographs here…
Kristian Bertel has contributed to the National Geographic Your Shot community with an assignment called ‘Lines, Textures and Patterns‘. For this assignment curated by Matt Adams, a producer at Nat Geo Your Shot will task us with exploring these fundamental elements of photography – lines, textures and patterns. They exist all around us, and we want you to challenge yourself to play with how you capture these elements in your photographs. We should try to observe how we already consciously or unconsciously use lines, textures and patterns in our photographs and then push ourselves to experiment with using them in new ways.
National Geographic is interested in how our change of position changes the impact of a line in we take. If we wait for sunset light, how does a texture emerge differently. If we shoot from close up or far away, do we see patterns differently. So the assignment encourages us to get out and shoot with these elements in mind, so new submissions are preferred. But if there is a picture from our archives that we love, we can also use that.
As Matt is saying it: ”- When looking for lines, look for depth, dynamism, and a sense of direction or mood. Search for actual textures that you can feel, or implied textures that come from an oblique lighting. Patterns are aesthetically pleasing, but the best is when the pattern is interrupted. Experiment to see how you can use at least one of these elements in your work, and if you can find all three elements in one image—wow!”, he says.
Pattern in photography
A pattern, apart from the term’s use to mean ‘template’, is a discernible regularity in the world or in a manmade design. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated like a Wallpaper. Any of the senses may directly observe patterns. Conversely, abstract patterns in science, mathematics, or language may be observable only by analysis. Direct observation in practice means seeing visual patterns, which are widespread in nature and in art. Visual patterns in nature are often chaotic, never exactly repeating and often involve fractals.
Similarly in the sciences, theories explain and predict regularities in the world. Nature provides examples of many kinds of pattern, including symmetries, trees and other structures with a fractal dimension, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tilings, cracks and stripes.
About the submitted photograph
”- With my photo I want to take this assignment into the textures and patterns in the agricultural fields of India. As with rice, the lasting benefits of improved seeds and improved farming technologies now largely depends on whether India develops infrastructure such as irrigation network, flood control systems, reliable electricity production capacity, all-season rural and urban highways, cold storage to prevent spoilage, modern retail, and competitive buyers of produce from Indian farmers. This is increasingly the focus of Indian agriculture policy”, the photographer Kristian Bertel says.
Each region in India has a specific soil and climate that is only suitable for certain types of farming. Many regions on the western side of India experience less than fifty centimeters of rain annually, so the farming systems are restricted to cultivate crops that can withstand drought conditions and farmers are usually restricted to single cropping. Maharashtra all experience this climate and each region grows such suitable crops like Jowar, Bajra and peas.
In contrast, the eastern side of India has an average of hundred to two hundred centimeters of rainfall annually without irrigation, so these regions have the ability to double crop.
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