POP/Tokyo

<p>In keeping with efforts here to develop this forum, I've been asked to relaunch an idea first started by Leslie Cheung (if I recall) that combines W/NW with photo critiques, but that also concentrates such critiques and requires each participant to post an image as well. This was tried before (I remember Ray and Orville participating) but never really took off.</p>

<p>The "rules" are simple. Apart from the OP, each poster first critiques the image immediately above (<strong>and only that image</strong> ) before posting his/her own picture (one that hasn't previously appeared in this forum). One post per person per thread; open theme. I've titled it POP/Tokyo (Post Opinion Photo + Location of OP).</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3475/3921310226_f9c9621fc1.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> Tokyo</p>

<p>I think the heavy blur outside the central area actually works against you in this shot, and it simply comes across as an affectation. There's some humor in the contrast between the guy wearing a jet suit and other people going about their business in an ordinary background; the special effect minimizes that contrast. Selective focus could have helped isolate and emphasize his expression (since the tones don't separate well in that area), but the background is sharp there. I do like the glow on the top of the plane and his shirt, and the way it "rises above" the murk below, but again, that effect is diminished by the bright tones in the background.</p><P>

 

<center><p><img src="http://mikedixonphotography.net/camkratie01.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<i>storm approaching on the Mekong, Kratie, Cambodia</i></center>

<p>There's a good sense of space and of the vastness and "rawness" of nature as being presented here by the muddled river and grey-blue stormy sky. It's not directly obvious what the person standing on the riverside is doing or why that person is standing there at all. But this perhaps makes the picture more interestingly ambiguous and which creates a tension between the pictures title " storm approaching on the Mekong, Kratie, Combodia ", as if there's no way out. The person looks trapped in a situation, having to hold on to the fence while at the same time standing in this vast open landscape : " freedom ". The brown muddled color of the river is more akin to earth instead of water while the grey blueness of the sky might as well represent water instead of air. Looking at it this way, there's a conflict between the elements, not only between man and nature but also between the " elements of nature " themselves.</p><div></div>

<p>an unusual viewpoint in a rather unusual photo both in how it's presented and concerning it's content. A wedding shoot in progress or so it seems but without the often exuberant and busy surroundings that can often be observed in Italy. Just two pedestrians who are only mildly interested. The bride and groom waiting in a formal pose one starts to wonder about how they are positioned, about the guy with the traffic cone aand what he's up to and if those two guys on either side (both kids?) belong to the party. Totally out of place seems the football. Although Italians as a rule are besotted with the game there seems no obvious reason for it to be there. All this and the viewpoint renders interest. The toning helps in creating a rather timeless feel. This could have been taken yesterday or fourty years ago if it weren't for that rather modern Alfa Romeo. The composition seems the result of the circumstances rather than a well considered oneand it has the feel of a random shot while some if not most of the interest is lost due to distance.</p>

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<p>Seemingly simple picture but it holds your attention somehow. I think it is because of its geometry: five windows (two wide, three narrow), three reflections on the street (one wide, two narrow). The pair walking, despite of being in the center of the image, is backlighted by the wide reflection (the center of attention) which makes it feel in the right place. This b/w looks very 3D. Personally I like it.<br>

(there's nothing special about the next picture, I just like this POP idea, so I thought I'd bump up the thread)</p><div></div>

<p>I could see the possibility in the above location just after the sun has set. Right now it has nothing in it, but later on you'll bound to ended up with fanciful play of motions and light and colours. But that would mean using a tripod and a long shutter speed.</p><div></div>

<p>> Right now it has nothing in it<br>

great comment, cheers :)</p>

<p>Comment @ the 9:33 photo:</p>

<p>Like the car, but the photo is not a 'grabber' for me, because nothing really becomes of the two possibilities I see: (i)the Porsche and the reflected sunlight on its windshield, and (ii)the woman cropped on the right edge. Not enough is visible of any other persons in the photo to make them seem important to this picture.</p>

<p>My photo:</p>

<p><a title=". by sandbagm, on Flickr" href=" title=". by sandbagm, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2363/3539966131_c17b38dca9_o.jpg" alt="." width="740" height="555" /> </a></p>

<p>The picture grabs me for several reasons:<br>

The woman in the center <em>is</em> in the center; she is the only one not blurred; her expression is dour and enigmatic; the child is sort of her opposite - in motion and shows expression.<br>

The lines of the photo are dumping the contents of the photo out of the frame to lower right One feels as if one is snatching a moment.<br>

The lighting looks as if flash were used but given the blur, probably not.<br>

The photo leaves us thinking.</p><div></div>

<p>;;;</p>

<p>Howard, a very candid moment. It is very symmetrical with the two ladies flanking the center. Same skin tones, same hair color, they could all be sisters for all we know. It would be a boring, family reunion type photo if it were not for the group of three on-lookers to the right. I find them more interesting than the center of the photo. I wonder what they are looking at, and why all three are smiling. It is an interesting photo for me: two groups of 3, all smiling. Not your typical street photo. I always try to crop photos in the view finder, but it doesn't always work out that way. I think trimming the left side (the man with his back turned) would make a better scene.</p><div></div>

<p>The face of the woman draws my attention at once. It appears as if she is getting some bad news. Her look is one of thinking "how am I going to deal with this" I get the impression that she may work at the building behind her and from her dress she semms well to do so may have a position of some importance. Good contrast in this image but the position of the figure and her bag on the ground and the tilt of the frame make me feel she is sliding out of the frame or weighing the corner of the frame down.</p><div></div>

<p>Hope it's okay, under these thread guidelines, to say that I've been back to Phylo Dayrin's "Palermo Wedding" photo several times and that it has a mysterious appeal (Ton noted many of the reasons). I like it quite a bit.</p>

<p>Me too.</p>

<p>Wouldn't it be better to change the guidelines so that the comments are welcome on any picture posted so far? It may help to engage people into discussion. Just an idea.</p>

<p>Actually, I think maybe Michael and I should have held back. I like the format and think the structure of it is good as Clive described it.</p>

<p>This picture is torn between two subjects. I can see an elderly man looking at a statue of a boar. If the picture is about the man, the boar is heavy in the picture. If this picture was taken for the Chinese Year of the Boar, then this picture could be very representative of the way Chinese people approach the 12 year cycle of their calendar. I also wonder why the man is just looking, rather than using the camera that hangs around his neck. The archetecture also makes me wonder where this shot was taken.<br>

DS Meador</p>

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<p>I like the perspective of this photo and the contemplation of the chess players. I’m not so sure above the large arse in the background but I suppose it was just there.</p>

<p>I think it lacks sharpness and tonality having a washed out feel. A faster shutter speed would have cured the sharpness and some work in curves would not have gone amiss.</p>

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<p>For clarification, the sign above the players had a chess piece laying on its side. However, in the shot and in b&w that can not be discerned. I'm glad I'm not the only one who drew that conclusion though.<br>

DS Meador</p>