When I initially came across this photo my first response was laughter. Seth Casteel's photography provides a view of dogs that humans wouldn't have otherwise. I haven't researched Seth Casteel and what drives his photography, but I imagine him as a dog lover who had the spontaneous idea one day to take photos of his dogs underwater. Casteel was able to take something as simple as an every day game of fetch and create an entirely new viewpoint of it. I feel the anxiety of the each dog as he/she races to get the ball before the other. While I said my initial response was laughter, I began to feel a connection to the photo after I better understood the design elements, as follows:
Line:
As written on the Visual Communication blog, "Diagonal lines covey a feeling of movement." The placement of the two dogs in this photo makes me feel as if I just jumped into the water with the dogs. Also as written on the Visual Communication blog, "The curve of a line can convey energy." In this photo, the curvature of the dogs' noses and the tennis ball create an energy of playfulness. I can feel that the dogs are truly having fun.
Form:
The most apparent form in this photo is in its three-dimension. The dogs look as if they are about to swim out of the photo, if that's what it takes to catch the ball!
Color:
The color in this photo is phenomenal. The warm color of the dogs matches the warm shade of orange in the ball. The hue is mostly blue, creating a feeling of calmness. The value and intensity is light and bright, creating a feeling of happiness and positive energy. This same light and brightness is what draws my eye to the tennis ball, in turn leading my eye to the dogs right behind it. There is a mixture of both warm colors, such as the orange hue of the dogs' fur and the orange and fuchsia in the ball, yet the water surrounding the dogs is a cool color.
Space:
There isn't much negative space in this photo, though it could be argued that the blue water surrounding the dogs is negative space and the dogs with their eyes focused on the ball is the positive space.
Texture:
The texture in this photograph is obvious. The water has a wet texture, but I wonder if the splash against the dogs as they jumped into it was sharp against their soft fur, such as how water feels to a human as he/she belly flops. The dogs' fur has a wet texture as well. I usually think of fur as soft, but I'm curious if the fur of the dogs in this photo would have more of a rough texture due to its wetness.
All in all, the design elements create a photo that's more than an average Joe photo of dogs playing catch. Because Casteel is able to take an underwater photo and because he is able to use a number of design elements in his snapshot, he creates that visceral response of laughter, happiness, and joy inside me.
