Spiral II

The rotated and flipped version does not lead the eye in. Normal viewing when looking at a photo is to look at the top left and then down to the bottom right. The original flows that way. The flipped version forces the eye down and then up, the opposite of normal flow. I find it a bit jarring that way. The original is perfect, esthetically pleasing. Very well done, indeed.

this is great - especially considering Kenneth wasn't using a f-stop too short a depth of view, even when shooting it indoor with limited lighting. Impressive composition!

At first I thought... manipulated... digital frabrication, but when I realized the image was basically taken "as is", I found it very impressive! I don't care about the colors. The content of the image is outstanding. Funny about how some like the other version ("flipped") I have noticed about myself that I like certain compositions that lead from the left/right, while others like the reverse. You should offer both. The initial impact is of the spiral effect, but it's the mysterious details of the image that keep my interest (I was going to say "blow my mind", but it sounded too '70s) Personally, I think the photo of the week forum has had a great variety of images that reflect many different aspects of photography, and I look forward to more. By the way, Kenneth... thank you for creating this image so I could enjoy it tonight.

Wow, I really like this shot! It seems you got pretty decent DOF for shooting at only F4. Good eye! I love your wilderness stuff too! Clickity click click click!

Love the complimentary colors of the green and orange, it really makes a great composition even better. The left to right composition works better for those of us that read left to right, as it 'feels' more natural. For those that read right to left, and for those that get stuck seeing and liking the first thing they see, the original is just fine.

 

The only real improvement I could see, besides flopping it the instant I first saw it, was to get rid of the extra negative space above it and to turn it as so it was a bit more dramatic on the curve. The balance is superb and by tightening it up a dash it moves from a 6.5/6.5 to a 7/7, in my book.

 

For an artist with only a few years practice you have one heck of an eye... keep it up. Love your La Push Beach image, better than any I created there and wish it was mine...the understated color and the balance is my cup of tea.

 

I offer my slight variance of your nice piece from the one already flopped. More of the 'interesting elements' and less of the non.

 

Blessings and congratulations on a job well done. Michael

All I can say is Bravo! I love the photo just as it is. All the other suggestions, IMHO, make

the photo less dramatic and more mundane. I agree with the previous poster, Kenneth,

you have a great eye. Keep up the great work.

Not bad, but not really too original. Like this one (http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=445188) much better.

This image is much better as it makes you think. It's an abstract first off and requires some thought and the leading line and color contrast really adds to the overall effect. Less is more here. A few of us thought it was a computer created fractal image at first, which can be very exciting in themselves. Your referenced image leaves nothing to the imagination, as nice as it is (and it is nice). Blessings, MS

Well I prefer the original version to the flipped one (although I read from left to right), because the original one somehow drags my eyes into the picture, towards the green ceiling... I really have to force myself to keep looking at the lower right side, and it feels uncomfortable because it is not balanced in the composition, and because it is awkward for a 'left-to-right-reader' to begin looking at something in the lower right corner! Thus the picture keeps my eyes moving around, constantly going back into the picture! That is something that the flipped version doesn't achieve (for me), it feels much more comfortable, and thus doesn't drag me into the image... Also I find that the flipped one doesn't lead back into the pic, as a left-to-right-reader I am used to leave pictures on the right side, and the flipped one misses the element there that makes me go back into it...

I hope this makes sense somehow... my english is not good enough to express well my obscure opinions on art :-)

The elves said it is a very simple image, but I somehow have to disagree, I think it is a very complex image, but with a very simple appearance! It works because of it's apparent simplicity, but like a fractal, no matter how deep you look into it, it still shows new details, leading you deeper and deeper into it

IMO this is what makes this image outstanding, as any other simplistic, clean images fail to fascinate the viewer for longer times, they are just that, a simple representation of maybe interesting things... You look at it, admire the simplicity, the shapes, colors or whatever, and then move on... This one leads to a much more thourough examination, showing you more and more levels of abstraction and complexity

Yes, I think that's it :-) sorry for the long post

Great picture of yet another (very good-looking) staircase - and to me, they still all look pretty much the same. Kenneth has so many much more original pictures in his folders - including one picture of a staircase by the way... So I take it that this week, the POW rewards aesthetics mostly. Not too sure what else to discuss, since the picture is pretty perfect.

 

As for Patrick's proposition to flip the picture... Did anyone here ever see a staircase where the railing is on the left hand of the man climbing? I did, but only once, I believe. I may be off the mark here, but I would have thought a railing on the left hand would be an architectural mistake. Yes, no...? Any architect around...?

 

As for the aesthetics of such a flip, I agree with those who said, that we generally read a picture from top left. And in this case, the flip forces the eye to start at the bottom, which fails imo.

I saw the Kenneth portfolio and is really beautiful, I like so much the colors and lights captured by Kenneth in a lot of landascape.

As far as this shot is concerned is good but I think it's one of worse shots posted until now by Kenneth.

Yes, is simple and perfect coposed (like a lot of Kenneth shot) but a bit defocused and with a yellow tone too much exasperate.

Just my opinion of course! ;-)

Regards the motion moving counter clockwise, i beleive i works perfectly. Having a vector working right to left gives the staircase a certain awe, a certain power. Infact it is part of what makes the photo striking. I don't beleive there is a rule of thumb that says you can't do it. As far as i know it can be actually used to give a certain impression within a photo, like having a climber climb right to left makes the task look harder than having him/her climb left to right.

 

This guy has some amazing photos,this one is just the tip of the iceberg, he deserves it 100%.

I wonder if the preference of version is related to whether you are right or left handed? I find the flipped version much more comfortable and being right-handed (right-eyed perhaps?) I just wondered if that was the reason. Either way it is a very pleasing image.

This shot is well composed and rises above the usual spiral staircase shot, but most of the credit for the latter goes to the architect. (It pains me to say this given that I'm inspired to shoot architectural abstracts myself.) The usual spiral has either a circular or square cross section, but this has both. The other interesting feature is the railing design which protrudes out from the wall, so the railings, rather than the steps, are the primary rhythmic element in the leading line.

 

Some questions to ponder. . . . . Is the entry point of a photograph different for different people? Do you compose more images with a leading line from the left or the right? The eye is always attracted to the brightest spot, but is that always after you've followed the line in?

To Marc:

Well I didn't think about the railing being on the left side, as in my house this is exactly the case... the staircase turns counterclockwise, exactly like the one in the original post! And I know lots of houses with that kind of staircase... Maybe it's a geographical thing!

 

To Carl, Well I think I have a kind of preference for leading lines coming from right to left... (Well at least one thing I can see when looking at most of my pics, I seem to often put the most prominent element on the right half...)

I am right handed BTW

Incredible capture, I had stumbled upon it while exploring the site prior to signing up. Glad that it is back in my attention. What I personally love about photography is seeing something a little bit different, rather than setting something up ie poses, arrangements, my personal views, yes, but this photo is one that is a winner based on a VIEW and Perception. Well done KWAN!

Funny, if you would have asked me last week to look at yet another 'stairwell shot from

below' pic, I would have yawned in your face. This is inspiring in that it takes an oft-

photographed subject and makes it new again. Kudos to Kenneth Kwan!

When it comes to vectors it doesn't matter if you are left handed right handed or no handed. It doesn't matter if you are an arab and write from right to left or top to bottom. As far as i know (everytime i read about this), humans tend to perceive left to right. Anyone who has facts that state otherwise, are more than welcome to inform me.

"...and because it is awkward for a 'left-to-right-reader' to begin looking at something in the lower right corner!"

 

You are making my point not refuting it here, think about what you said. That is why leading lines don't work as well from the right. It's 'leading' you out, not in. And we don't start from the top left, start from the bottom left (unless, as in this case, the original has nothing in the bottom left.)

 

"... it feels much more comfortable, and thus doesn't drag me into the image..." Better to be 'dragged into the image', the reason for leading lines by the way, than 'dragged out'.

 

" Also I find that the flipped one doesn't lead back into the pic, as a left-to-right-reader I am used to leave pictures on the right side, and the flipped one misses the element there that makes me go back into it...". If you are used 'to leave on the right side' you should feel right at home with the original comp.. However, a good photo DOES NOT LET YOU LEAVE FROM EITHER SIDE, it keeps you in with a variance of elements to guide your eye in a circular composition.

I like Kenneth's choice of "rotation". Oh yes, I believe that he rotated this image, albeit horizontally, to give the viewer a subtle, yet visually "disturbing" sense of vertigo; or, as Chris Vella's comment suggests, to give us a visual sense of physical challenge. It seems likely that Kenneth "shot" it as a vertical leading left-right, and made the counterclockwise rotation post-capture. Thus, "flipping" it, as some suggest, would be "false" (if not entirely "wrong").

I goofed/copied the "flipped" image. Alas, as shown, it may well be that Kenneth flipped his captured image, then rotated it. In any event, the horizontal presentation, whether "true" or "false" is more visually dynamic IMO.

No, I did it "right". It's just that the POW display, in some "views", may not show the posted image and then it gets to be visually confusing. Oh, Mary Ball; can that be rectified in the future?

I love good architectural photography and even tho' I've seen this type of photograph before this one is a cut above most. I wish I'd taken it.

As mentioned earlier the subject is a little tired (hell i've almost worn it out myself), but this one is very special. Sometimes when a subject becomes very much a cliche getting a truly good shot like this one is more difficult than being original. We have all seen some really original really terrible stuff haven't we? I tend to agree with Michael & Patrick above that I prefer it to be flipped & start at the bottom left I can't explain why, just feels more natural to me. The illumination being so even from bottom to top is also out of the ordinary and greatly contributes, along with the colors, to a really nice overall feel.

This photograph must be a success since almost no one has bothered to mention the lack of sharpness or the many digital artifacts. In order to overcome the limitations of a thoroughly covered subject like this one, you usually have to present a near perfect example but in this case no one seems to mind the flaws very much.

 

It bothers me a little that there is a flat spot in the curve where the ceiling meets the wall, other than that I can handle it flipped or flopped in any direction because of the neat colors and tones. Ken is certainly a talented photographer regardless of which direction the water circles the bowl where the viewer resides.