Opinions on the folder of photos

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href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=420470">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=420470<a/>

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I posted two photos from this folder for critique & overall, the

reviews haven't been favorable. I though at least the work was

somewhat original. Seems nobody shared that opinion with me. Are

they that bad? Am I blowing smoke up my own arse thinking that there

could be something to work on here? Maybe not with these, but with

future tries? BTW, I do now agree that the pitcher plant photo is

near horrid, but I like the other three.

What does this have to do with Leica Photography?

Seriously now, what the hell is "Leica Photography." Isn't this tired argument for not posting pix here kinda like beating a dead horse? <p>

Heather, this kind of photography is hard. I'm not seeing anything particularly distinctive here. Just me. I suggest looking at "Stems" or "The Desert Unseen" by Lee Friedlander, or "Landscapes" by Ray Metzker, for further information (visual learning) and inspiration.

I like Torso, but the others don't do much for me. This is a hard kind of shot to sell; really all you have to work with here is tone and texture because the subject itself doesn't do much. Keep working on it.

Heather...looks like there is potential here. Andrew makes a good suggestion, above. My

suggestion: think about what Alfred Stieglitz said about his own photography, "the

equivalent

of what I saw and felt." The 'saw' is the easy part....the 'felt' is the hard part. I'm seeing

what you saw, but I'm not seeing or feeling what you felt. Have more feeling about this

subject and your technique will follow. Let us know how it goes.

For plant work, look at Immogen Cunningham, a colleague of Ansel Adams, who specializes on botanical subjects. You should be able to borrow some of her books from your local library.

 

Your shots have good tones and rather abstract in nature. Abstracts are hard to get right and doing it in B&W is even harder.

"What does this have to do with Leica Photography?"

 

It seems Heather likes the courtesy, camaraderie and conviviality of the Leica crowd. God knows why.

Heather - I liked the first four. The pipe looks a bit out of place in the center picture and the framing is a bit off but otherwise very interesting shapes of a slightly sexy nature in a shades of Edward Weston's Peppers way.

 

The second from the left reminded me of old bleached bones left out too long in the sun and depressed me a touch. Pretty good to get that strong a reaction to a still life, I thought.

why is the approval of others so important to you...?

Why does what may or may not matter to me (or anyone else for that matter), matter with you?

Heather it's a good idea that you should keep following. These particular shots might need some more work both in camera and in post process. A friend used to do full frame shots of bushes....kinda like little black and white J. Pollocks. A couple of other well knowns who shoot flowers, not exactly what you're doing but might be a scource for ideas are Blossfeldt and the Starn's.

It's difficult for me to get very emotional about pics of plants, but if you're interested in it, keep going. Maybe Andrew Lee would show you some of the stuff he did with this subject.

 

Andrew, nice to see you here more often.

photography is a personal journey. thats why i wondered why you seek the approval of others to validate your own feelings. i think if you learn to be less concerned about what others think, you will find out more about yourself and what you really feel about it. it doesnt really matter what i think or anyone else thinks about your work. its more important that you find out what you feel about it....

What grant said unless acourse you are planning on selling

them.

Thanks everyone. Normally I do not like flower photos myself. AAMOF, I almost detest them in general. I do however like flowers & plantlife in nature. My biggest problem with so much of the flower photography I see tends to stem from the blandness. Colors pop, yes, but overall I see these images as more of a record of what one sees with one's eye & not much else. I was striving for a different perspective. Ray stating "It's difficult for me to get very emotional about pics of plant" is pretty much how I feel about plant pics in general as well. I am hoping to bring emotion into my photos. I am glad to see someone mention Immogen Cunningham because she is very much who I had in mind when I chose to shoot these... not to replicate her work, but to hopefully capture emotion in an otherwise dull subject matter like she does. This is a first attempt at a different perspective and reviews I have received before were more apt to disregard the perspective completely and simply see a failure to accurately record the photographed item ie: photo kaka. Here, I get a far more informative critique as almost all of you saw that a different perspective was in play here and commented with that in mind. overall, these photos fail at what I want them to represent, but at least I know I am on the right track & not crazy :-) I also now have some new examples of when its done right to look at for inspiration.

I'd think that these are the sort of picture which would look good blown up really big but they don't work for me on a VDU. Have you thought of doing 20x16s of them?

Grant, <p>

When I present my photos for others to view, my hope is that what I see & feel while looking at the photograph will be conveyed to the viewers. What they think does matter because if they don't see what I want them to see, then my photograph fails. I may still like that photo personally. From asking people to look at my folder I have learned lots of things that I will keep in mind when shooting similar subjects later. I know that the fern shot utterly failed. I know that my Torso shot is closer to a success because someone else "got it". Everyone's interpretation is going to be different and I don't want to pidgeon hole people into thinking or feeling exactly what I want them to, but my photos should succeed in guiding them towards a general direction I want them to go. Asking for critiques helps me know how successful I am or not. How others feel about it does matter to me in this instance. It is also up to me, not you, on whether someone elses opinion should matter to me or not.

I thought the ' Alien 'photo was very good. It showed thought and originality on your part.

 

Keep looking through windows.

so youre ultimate goal with photography is to be able to convey what you felt through your pix, and if that doesnt happen you have failed?

I think this subject matter lens itself to large format photography at the very least medium format to bring out all of the tones,textures and details. I visit a site www.apug.org an analogue photography site where it is populated with large format users. There is a lot of this kind of work over there if you are interested.

With some of the stuff I do, yes, but not all or even most.

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But your missing the point. Why I seek other's opinion or not & whether I should or shouldn't isn't up to you to decide. Why should it bother you so much? What business is it of yours?

ur right, bye.

<i>I see these images as more of a record of what one sees with one's eye & not much else.</i>

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Yeah, I guess it's hard to see pics of <a href="http://www.absolutearts.com/cgi-bin/news/arts-news-elaborate.cgi?output_number=20&find=6424"> <u>plants</u></a> as more than anything else. I guess that goes for <a href="http://www.artbusiness.com/wirtz.html"> <u>bugs</u></a> too -eh?

grant was asking you the right questions, i'm afraid and you are missing his point. who cares what others think, do what you like and what you believe in.. that's all there is to it and that's all that matters.. and develop your vision along the way..

Balaji, lots of us love Grant too.