"Narcissa"

Superb image.

Excellent .I think it should be better without tre tree behind her.Great job anyway.

Just out of this world. Excellent composition and choice of the model. Nice cool expression, pose and lighting angles. A cocktail of messmerising compositions. Just WOW !!!

It definitely is worth presenting. The more I look at this shot, the more I like it, the more interesting it is. I like all the elements there, even the bare (dead?) tree, though some working with the final image would help (the contrast/saturation stuff as suggested above, not the diffusing). In a way the dead tree represents hellish/doomish counterweight to the divine look of the angel. Or might it be that this is the Fallen Angel? [Why would a Narciss have/need wings?]

 

Jiri

a 7/7 for me!

I took a look at your site and you have beautiful work. I would enter this image in competition with out a blink, I love the refletion it makes the image for me!

Great!

What a marvellous idea & capture.

Obvioulsy a huge amount of effort and talent went into creating this, but IMHO I don't think it works fully. To pull this of I think the image has to look a bit more natural. The lighting of the model is incosistent with the lighting of the lanscape elements an thus looks too obviously like studio lighting.

 

The mud juxtaposes and creates tension with the soft look of the water and model, which are otherwise heavenly.

 

The tree in the background bothers me too.

 

I guess overall the image looks too contrived and overworked to get me to suspend disbelief. On the otherhand, the image shows talent well beyond most of us.

It is a fantastic photo from any point of view.. Focus, light, details and composition. I like specially de water detail as a "mirror" and light is so, so great. Congratulations..

PD: Why most of the people who rate with 3, 2 or 1, used to be "anonymous"? this pic does not deserve a 3....

Simply said; this is heaven.

AMAZING!!!

A pursuit of excellence

By reading the previous comments, I would add that regardless if people love it or hate it, they have a strong opinion...to me that is great art. congrats

Good visualization and excellent execution.

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Not sure what the cloth up in the trees is doing, about the only thing that spoils it for me, if an angel comes down to sit by the water then it isn't going to have drapes hung behind it, otherwise very realistic ;-)

I like the concept and the image is compelling, but it looks more like a from-scratch Photoshop creation (digital "painting") than a photograph to me.

It is "Kitsch" as we buy it at the fair and find at grandma's glass cabinet. (Following the guideline I noticed at your homepage: To transfigure everyday's appearances.) Maybe that's a new trend of satisfying the search for harmony in this complex world ...

For me it doesn't quite work, tho I actually like posed over-the-top images like this. (Incidentally, from the mud-stain on the robe I believe this is actually shot in situ, not created from scratch in PS).

 

Anyway, back to the topic: why I doesn't quite work for me. First there's the title. Maybe I'm over-educated, but I know damn well that Narcissus was a bloke, and that he didn't have wings. I can allow a female Narcissa, but the wings still seem gratuitous.

 

Second, and more profoundly, the relationship of model to reflection seems totally wrong for the Narcissus/Narcissa theme - I'd perfer the emphasis to be on the reflection, not the model. In other words, I believe the image would have more impact if the image were crystal-clear and the face of the model, and indeed the entire figure, were not clearly visible. Perhaps darken the figure, lower the face so it's not visible, (or cover it with hair), and certainly lower the horizon so that the main figure is very nearly touching the top frame.

 

Finally, little things about lighting and general attention to detail - there are too many distracting shadows (the shadow of the arm on the torso, for example), the background is too obtrusive, the mud is too, well, muddy (mythological nymphs and shepherds shouldn't have to worry about their mums telling them to go have a bath after dallying in the bullrushes), and of course that stained toga.

 

Overall, I'm not quite certain just where this stands: conscious and deliberate kitsch (which is where it would be most likely to succeed, a la Gilbert and George), nostalic reference to 19th century romantic pictorialism, or, alas, just bad taste. I don't think it's really bad taste, but it does come rather close to velvet Elvis.

 

Please take these comments in the right spirit - everyone else is saying it's a wonderful image, so for sure I must be wrong :).

Interesting ! :-) I can hardly believe this picture ended up on the front page of the site ! Don't get me wrong, I do like it - in many ways, in fact... It's just that we have rarely seen such images as POWs; so I wouldn't have expected anymore that our dear Elves could be so "extravagant" - most POWs being very and perhaps "too" conventional, imo.

 

But well, hereis a picture that shows expertizein lighting; that's what striked me first. Then, a very nice water reflection - that looks a lot nicer to me, than this PS filterwe find everywhere nowadays. Great colors too.

 

Now, what about the subject matter ? Well, pictures of angels are not exactly original anymore. But what's original is the set-up and the fact that the photographer produced this one without Photoshop. Not as easy as it may seem. does this picture speak a thousand words to me ? No. I'm affraid very few pictures of angels would do much for me - too common a theme for me to be very interested.

 

As for possible improvements, I think they are very few... I'd say that the hand on which the model is resting should be turned to the picture's left side - more elegant, it seems. And secondly, I'd say that the drapes could be set in a nicer way.

 

But these two details aren't such an issue, as I have great respect for all the positive aspects of this photo. Very good work technically speaking, especially given the difficulty; that's rare enough on PN to justify a POW.

 

Some may call it kitsch (and might even be right, for all I know), but it's still very well done.

Oh man, all of the philosophizing...No matter what the talking heads and wise men say about the sheets not in the right place, image not blurry enough and the unnatural lighting, this photograph does exactly what you would expect from a master piece - it engages your imagination and provides the base for intellectual, as well as esthetic, derivative. Congratulations, Mr. Strohl. Other 2 photographs just as interesting.

This is frankly not my cup 'o tea, David, but I have to concede that the lighting is extraordinarily well done, resulting in good tonalities throughout. I wish that you could have found a rock outcropping for her to sit or lie down on, and I could do without both the "drapes" and the angel wings.

 

Nonetheless, it is well-done, and I respect the effect that you were striving for. Congratulations on trying something a bit different and on getting Photo of the Week.

 

I would appreciate more information on equipment (besides flashes and reflectors) and on the technical details of the shot, as well as the location.

 

As I said above, the lighting is superb. It is worthy for that fact alone, since good lighting is what good photography is ultimately about.

 

--Lannie

Maybe a more scenic surrounding and a more shallow depth of field, but certainly a

beautiful model and clothing.

A breath-taking shot with excellent lighting and gorgeous color. However, I find the subject matter amazingly cheesy and overdone, overall it's much too plasticky looking and over-photoshopped. If it accomplished your goal, then congrats, it does have it qualities. But just too overworked IMO. Congrats on POW nonetheless.