SWEngineer
Senior Member
Great images in both galleries. Voting was indeed tough...
Comments (my stand critque disclaimer applies):
Tea House: Somehow, the repeating geometry (rectangles) accentuated by the semi-silohette lighting really appeals to me. The cup of (sticks? pencils?) on the table make a nice counterpoint to the rectangles as does the OOF landscape in the background. The drop shadow frame doesn't do much for me, but doesn't detract.
For Vincent: A bit cliche, perhaps, but brilliantly executed. The layers of color work very well together. The balance in light and dark from the backlighting is near perfect. It's really a pleasure to gaze on this image and I like title, too.
Hopper: Nice color and composition. I found the similarity in "texture" between the cloud and seed heads a useful unifying element. This may not have worked as well with sky strongly OOF, so the small aperture seems well choosen. The hopper shape makes a great visual contrast, but everything stays tied together.
Other comments:
Shadow Spill - Great title which really explains the image. Maybe a bit overexposed; darker shadow and less blown sunlit area might help it a bit. Well spotted.
Glass Soldier - Excellent technically. I like the suble backlight, but I think it is a bit too subtle, even for me. In the end, the still life arrangement doesn't hold my interest enough.
serrated - i found the background rather distracting, but like the shapes, lighting, and composition.
back swing - Great minimalism and use of empty space. It might appeal to me more if it was a bit more abstract. I also think it might be a stronger image with a small change in perspective to put the sun behind the crossing red elements instead of the far edge.
Insight - Another great minimalistic work. I like the color and use of backlight in this one a lot. The shallow DOF works well, but seems lacking in sharpness. (Could be my crappy monitor, sorry if so.)
On the ledge - Very well done. I wish the tree wasn't behind the zebra, The image needs the tree in it and this is probably the best that could be done under the circumstances (on Safari?). But it's not quite there compositionally.
Moonshine - A brave effort and interesting image, but (to me) it seems to have some front lighting that's too dominant for this to quite fit the theme.
In the still of night - Another brave effort. For some reason, my eyes want to see more lit area in the foreground. The image seems a bit too cooped up with so much empty black space on both sides from top to bottom.
End of day - A lot to like here with the color, composition, shapes and details. The few things that held this one back from my vote are the bright light at lower center and a few elements such as the wire on the middle left that might best have been cloned out.
light hay - very creative and a lot of possibilites here. Lots of interesting things to look at and people relationships to ponder. The bright spots from the "pin-holes" in the barn siding detract quite a bit, however, especially in the lower half of the image. (They almost work in the upper half as sprites or pixie dust.) The bale of hay in the lower left doesn't work as the brightest object in the scene. It draws too much attention with too little interst value. The other comments this image has drawn regarding the 2 'normal' people spoiling the mood are quite valid as well. I think you could also go the other way, elminating the shadowy figure to turn this into a magical scene instead of a menacing one.
Good Listener - great idea. The reflections really hurt this one unfortunately.
The runner - Too much going on in the center. The runner and bright vertical reflection have great potential to balance each other, but not as postitioned.
My contenders in the exhibition gallery were:
Manandmachine
Caress
on the summit
Glasses
Arrival
Out of the fog
autumn
Where is my flight
-Mark
Comments (my stand critque disclaimer applies):
Tea House: Somehow, the repeating geometry (rectangles) accentuated by the semi-silohette lighting really appeals to me. The cup of (sticks? pencils?) on the table make a nice counterpoint to the rectangles as does the OOF landscape in the background. The drop shadow frame doesn't do much for me, but doesn't detract.
For Vincent: A bit cliche, perhaps, but brilliantly executed. The layers of color work very well together. The balance in light and dark from the backlighting is near perfect. It's really a pleasure to gaze on this image and I like title, too.
Hopper: Nice color and composition. I found the similarity in "texture" between the cloud and seed heads a useful unifying element. This may not have worked as well with sky strongly OOF, so the small aperture seems well choosen. The hopper shape makes a great visual contrast, but everything stays tied together.
Other comments:
Shadow Spill - Great title which really explains the image. Maybe a bit overexposed; darker shadow and less blown sunlit area might help it a bit. Well spotted.
Glass Soldier - Excellent technically. I like the suble backlight, but I think it is a bit too subtle, even for me. In the end, the still life arrangement doesn't hold my interest enough.
serrated - i found the background rather distracting, but like the shapes, lighting, and composition.
back swing - Great minimalism and use of empty space. It might appeal to me more if it was a bit more abstract. I also think it might be a stronger image with a small change in perspective to put the sun behind the crossing red elements instead of the far edge.
Insight - Another great minimalistic work. I like the color and use of backlight in this one a lot. The shallow DOF works well, but seems lacking in sharpness. (Could be my crappy monitor, sorry if so.)
On the ledge - Very well done. I wish the tree wasn't behind the zebra, The image needs the tree in it and this is probably the best that could be done under the circumstances (on Safari?). But it's not quite there compositionally.
Moonshine - A brave effort and interesting image, but (to me) it seems to have some front lighting that's too dominant for this to quite fit the theme.
In the still of night - Another brave effort. For some reason, my eyes want to see more lit area in the foreground. The image seems a bit too cooped up with so much empty black space on both sides from top to bottom.
End of day - A lot to like here with the color, composition, shapes and details. The few things that held this one back from my vote are the bright light at lower center and a few elements such as the wire on the middle left that might best have been cloned out.
light hay - very creative and a lot of possibilites here. Lots of interesting things to look at and people relationships to ponder. The bright spots from the "pin-holes" in the barn siding detract quite a bit, however, especially in the lower half of the image. (They almost work in the upper half as sprites or pixie dust.) The bale of hay in the lower left doesn't work as the brightest object in the scene. It draws too much attention with too little interst value. The other comments this image has drawn regarding the 2 'normal' people spoiling the mood are quite valid as well. I think you could also go the other way, elminating the shadowy figure to turn this into a magical scene instead of a menacing one.
Good Listener - great idea. The reflections really hurt this one unfortunately.
The runner - Too much going on in the center. The runner and bright vertical reflection have great potential to balance each other, but not as postitioned.
My contenders in the exhibition gallery were:
Manandmachine
Caress
on the summit
Glasses
Arrival
Out of the fog
autumn
Where is my flight
-Mark
n the ledge
