★ Wed C&C (No Theme) Thread, Ed. 138, Dec/1/2010 ★

Some interesting elements going on here - you have the old in the upper part of the image ie. marble, couple of lamps, etc. with new in the lower part ie. fire extinguisher, speakers, step ladder and I love that he's wearing sandals and of course it shows an element of everyday life we don't always consider.

Couple thoughts on composition - the duster handle might have lead more into the image if you'd moved a few steps to the right which also would have reduced the impact of the pew leading out (mostly because I can see the end of the pew with the marble floor to the right). Maybe yes, maybe no, just a thought for your consideration.

It's probably just just me but the colours seem a bit over done as I'm not really fond of the PP of this image which is really the only negative to me. I'm not skilled enough to be able to adequately explain what changes I'd try. It has an "old photo" look which I'm just not fond of in general (hopefully that makes sense).

This kind of shot gets a lot of my attention, both looking at them, and trying to shoot them..

The low light and softening of the fog seem to say "this city is sleeping" while the trees lit from beneath say "but it WILL wake up".
--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Connecticut

All over the world
Where ever you go
There, you are.

The crop is a bit of a challenge here as I think the focal point is too close to the top of the image with very little room between the top of the snow and the frame edge. The in focus branch in the bottom right is a distraction but I'd hate to lose the red immediately behind that lower branch. I'd probably take a shot at blurring that in PS. Unless you have a differently composed shot getting more space at the top left is the biggest challenge in an otherwise lovely shot - tough one.

The bokeh is most likely the sun catching ice on the stems but I see what you mean - it creates a rather different look but I don't mind it at all. I really like the lighting you've capture here and the blues, reds and whites really do work together very nicely. A beautiful image other than the composition challenges noted above.

I can see why you like this image - it all works very well together, composition, tones, conveying a story, etc.

The only nit I'd pick here is I might have tried this with a shallower DOF to get the rope piles at the bottom less in focus as they ever so slightly distract from the main focal point.

I agree.. If I had a different lens with me, I probably would have done it with f2.8.
--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Connecticut

All over the world
Where ever you go
There, you are.

This one is inspired by Lou's comments last week. I don't know if I like it or not. I suspect the only reason I like it is that I actually went out and took pictures in a snowstorm, so I'm more attatched to what I went through to get the image than the image itself (don't be afraid to post a negative critique just because of this).

Anyways, I know its missing a foreground, which probably would have helped. But what does everyone thinks? And how do you feel about the PP? It feels overdone to me but I can't get it to not look overcooked for some reason.





--
Chris

From the same outing as last week.

Shot at f22 I had to deal with some dust bunnies, actually I don't think is dust rather some sticky stuff on the sensor. But I am somewhat clumsy changing lenses and there are no miracles in the dust buster.

Hope the treatment doesn't strike you as too dark.

Boy I need a 10 stop ND filter.

E3+12-60+Aperture3+Nik Silver Efex

Thanks for looking,
--
BjornBudd was my computer games alter ego...
My name is João Afonso Ferreira, I'm from Portugal.
PhotoBlog: http://www.codaque.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.atjaf.blogspot.com (in Portuguese)

I like very much the colors, they are special.

But nov having enough separation in DOF regarding the primary subject makes the photo look a little busy.

But again., love the colors on this one.
--
BjornBudd was my computer games alter ego...
My name is João Afonso Ferreira, I'm from Portugal.
PhotoBlog: http://www.codaque.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.atjaf.blogspot.com (in Portuguese)

I like the color version better because there are some different tones in the rocks that are lost in the BW conversion.

I would also drop the sharpness a little bit, to counteract the sharp edges on the mountain top.

And finally a minor nit pick: the clods are structured in well formed lines until before the the top of the image where they become small speckles. I would crop that part out.

maybe try a square crop.

Well that is my input.
--
BjornBudd was my computer games alter ego...
My name is João Afonso Ferreira, I'm from Portugal.
PhotoBlog: http://www.codaque.blogspot.com
Blog: http://www.atjaf.blogspot.com (in Portuguese)

I think you have captured the harshness and stinging cold quite well; the empty foreground just emphasizes the isolation......... Richard Souders http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsoud/

I agree with other comments,

First the colors are phenomenal. The bright blues and subtle reds work well together. The berry/snowball combination on the right could use some more headroom though. It does feel kind of cramped. Other than that, that side of the image works for me. The subject doesn't have any busy bokeh behind it so it stands out well.

The rest of the image the bokeh is pretty busy but I like it for the most part, it makes things interesting. However it is too busy behind the little branch. If it wasn't so busy, or there was just blue sky behind the little branch I think the image would work great as it would have a big branch with a big snowball and a little branch with a little snowball balancing eachother out (was this what you were going for when you took the shot?)

Anyways, because its so busy the little in focus branch doesn't stand out enough so I think like mentioned before it would work better OOF. If you can achieve this in PP I think it would help but I would have no clue how to do it.

Doing the "window slider crop" and just moving the window so I can't see the bottom third of the image I think it still works if you crop out the bottom third of the image (and probably add some headroom) to get rid of those busy berries at the bottom if you can't get them to look OOF

--
Chris

I don't mind some images taken "beyond the Photograph"; this is one I like.The Hourglass shape at the center helps to establish a tension between the eyes..... --
Richard Souders http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsoud/

I like how you structured this image. The dark wood leading into with the two walls angling out to the corner beside the figure who is pointing up........
--
Richard Souders http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsoud/

I like the color and subject story very much but wonder if a square crop, eliminating the bottom ropes and a bit off the top would work.........
--
Richard Souders http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsoud/

neither?





E510/ZD11-22 at 1/160, f/6.2, 22mm, 100 ISO --
Richard Souders http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsoud/

I think you are off base with your own criticism - I quite like the image as is, I might have pushed up the blacks a tad but that's my own personal taste. It conveys very well the winter mood, the cold, the desire to move to the Caribbean from Canada... and any more foreground interest would have detracted from the story of the image IMO.

Chris,

nothing to worry about with this photo - the power/telephone lines, the street sign, the boxes, a void and some barely visible bushes... Great mood: cold, ice crystals hitting the face, lonely at forlorn place in a storm...

Emotions, that's it.

Nothing to criticize.

Claus.

--

... when the photograph annihilates itself as medium to be no longer a sign but the thing itself...

Well, they're both 'duotone' - blue/gray/white and gray/white/black

IMO, the second one has more depth.

Just look at the sky on both photos... in the b&w photo it looks really far away, way behind the mountain, while in the first both 'blend' and look flat.

While switching between mountain and sky the eye changes focus in the second one, but not in the first. Ahh, this IS esoteric, but that's how I see it.

The frame/crop is a bit tight (just a little more of the vista would be fine but that's nothing to worry about.

Claus.

--

... when the photograph annihilates itself as medium to be no longer a sign but the thing itself...

... thought this was clear from the title...

--

... when the photograph annihilates itself as medium to be no longer a sign but the thing itself...

Crack,

a brittle moth that is no more...

The framing suggests that it's a window. I'd leave that part to imagination of the viewer (and crop closer).

Like it; would look fine as a contrasty b&w, too.

Claus.

--

... when the photograph annihilates itself as medium to be no longer a sign but the thing itself...