Untitled

... the tilt lens work here is good, the highlight at the front of the board is gone, and the sepia treatment works very well. This version, imo, either color or sepia work well.

Many thanks Dennis for looking through the others of these, rather than just the one I posted up for critique. I agree with your preference for this one - the near part of the board is much better without the large area of highlight. I also used a slightly smaller aperture which increased the width of the plane of focus and this has helped on the front edge, which is a little too soft low down on the one I put in the critique forum.

 

Thanks also for the complement on the tilt work in this image. It's something I've been experimenting with a lot lately (while trying to resist the urge to do the "miniature city" effect). To me, I enjoy the fact that it is such an elegant solution to obtaining near and far focus while being able to soften regions of less interest. Or for drawing attention to one particular part of an image. And when I use it for photographs of my kids it produces what I think are images that evoke a certain sort of feeling - almost like a sort of darkness or strangeness. It's hard to explain. Doing it with the tilt lens somehow seems more natural than shooting with a straight lens at small aperture for maximum DOF, and then selectively blurring in Photoshop. And even the small apertures can't get a plane of focus that goes from right close in out to infinity and beyond!

... we did a shoot of key employees at Woods Hole Group and the photographer (David Shopper from Bosto) did a very interesting thing. In the preliminary interview, he asked what we sold and my reply was "brain power". His photos were done with the tilt lens, and the area in focus was the nose through hairline ... the eyes and the forehead. The photos were very well done stylistically and that selective focus on the brain was an inspired choice. BTW, I see you're getting a PhD in uncertainty in human risk assessment. That is something we come across all the time!

Thanks Dennis for that...and the PhD....is giving me pains at the moment. I've already had my viva (defense) and it went really well. I had a list of things to do and it's nearly complete, but I'm stuck in a bit of a writer's block at the moment and it's taken me months to finish a bit more lit review and final summing up! Nearly there...........I feel. Perhaps there should be a thesis titled "Uncertainty in the risk to health from taking on a PhD while working full time with a family with 4 kids"!

Sorry it took a bit to respond to your request. A last minute change of plans has me scrambling to get ready to go to Honduras in a few days.

 

Of the lot, this one has the best focus exposure and lighting. Whether in sepia or colour is a judgement call I will leave to you. It works either way for me.

Dear Gord. I expect you're in Honduras as I write this - hope all going well. And sorry for delay in responding to your note here. I agree - sepia vs colour....both seem to be working, and both are very different in the feeling of the picture. And I'm happy to say I now like both in equal measure :)