Deep Obsession

Gorgeous! Love it!

I like how my eye goes first to the bright blue triangle, then travels along the crisp edge of the water, and then skips down through the ripples of the reflection. It's an effective way of creating an active experience of a somewhat static subject matter. The experience is reminiscent of your approach with your blurred shots, calling life from stillness.

Jeff is one of the best at expressing clearly the essence of a photo, and his comment just above is no exception. So I will (as the politicians say) happily associate myself with his comments. I liked the numbers 3 in the blue triangle immediately, not because they made me think of PN, but because they are reminiscent of that period in modern painting where artists were incorporating numbers and text in their work so effectively. It seems perfectly sensible in this symmetric composition. The primary colors, blue and red, work so effectively here against the mostly white and gray background. As all have noted, it's in perfect keeping with your visual approach and style. It adds a wonderful dimension to your portfolio and gives depth to your blur work overall. Interestingly, in the forums, there has been much discussion about subject matter and how we seem (at least according to some who I would say lack imagination) to be running out of fresh subject matter. It's not the subject matter. It's the vision. We don't run out of individual, personal ways of seeing things. Case in point, this photograph.

Juan;

 

Glad to hear my little boat floats more than one way. I'll have to try sepia and give it a flip to see what happens. I too have always loved scenes reflected in water. Some of yours are truly inspired.

 

Andrea;

 

Thanks so much.

 

 

Jeff;

 

" calling life from stillness" a beautiful and apt description of what I aspire to achieve, even if I could never have put it that eloquently myself.

 

Fred:

 

When I read your comment it hearkened back to an exchange we had some time ago on another of my photos, a motion study of some dried flowers in a glass. The gist of that exchange was finding ways to anchor and ground an image while still conveying motion. This is something I have been trying to incorporate into my work more as time passes. I was pleased that in this instance I have that blue triangle and those numbers because they do add stability to the motion. Not only by merit of being sharp but also because in such a high key image they are the only part which comes out solid in tone and exposure.

 

As for finding new subjects I agree it is more about how you see what is around you than hunting down new things to see. Being a creature of habit, I tend to revisit many sites, such as this one, on a yearly basis. I can be informative for me to go back through the years in my files and notice how differently I end up seeing the same places as my vision as a photographer grows and changes.

As always Fred, thanks for your time and your thoughts.

 

Well, Gordon, I never know how to critique your work. This is not a *photograph,* per se. I would call it a painting if I could. It's abstract art, whatever label you give it. Modern, abstract art appeals to me by it's shape, designs, colors, balance, etc.

 

This is good and it does all of those things well. As a photograph? Not qualified to comment. As art? I like!

Good to hear from you. I am honoured that this qualifies as art to you, but I am a bit perplexed that it has trouble qualifying as a photograph as well as your feeling unqualified to comment on it as such. Other than a minor crop, some basic levels adjustments and cloning out a small piece of dock, this is not a heavily manipulate photograph and does not look significantly different to the original small jpeg that I always shoot along side of my RAW file. Perhaps I am not understanding your meaning properly. At any rate I am glad you like it irregardless of whatever you may choose to categorize the image as. To me this is a photograph of the reflection of a boat in the harbour on a foggy morning, with a bit of the boat itself thrown in for good measure.

Well.....let's see if I can work through this.

 

Most of what I shoot could be reproduced (at least in some vaguely recognizable form) with the vast majority of people who pick up a camera. Perhaps I do it better than some (maybe ven better than many) but most could do a rough approximation.

 

Your work? I can't imagine how to begin to replicate it.

Thanks for the explanation. I believe I have a better understanding of what you meant by " This is not a *photograph,* per se. " . I am embarrassed to admit, I was taking your meaning much more literally.

My fault! Apologies.

None required.

 

Believe me when I say that I am always grateful for your comments. Sometimes with written language, without the benefit of vocal inflection, more than one meaning can be taken. Being a global community on occasion the native tongue of the poster can be an issue , at any rate I always figure when in doubt ask :-)

Please rest assured, if I mean it negatively you'll know it!

I was never concerned with the possible negative or positive nature of your words . I was only concerned with wanting to understand the comment and I thank you for the added clarity you provided. We've been exchanging ideas for long enough that I feel confident you do not sugar coat your critiques or hold back when you have issues with an image. This is one of the reasons why I am always glad to see your comments. Receiving an honest reaction to my photos is a primary reason for hanging around here.

It's the reason I value your input so highly as well. And you just made my day.

Another superb shot, all in delicacy, but I am not sure that the border is a plus for this type of picture, the black is too hard against the general tones of the pic, only my personal view.... Nevertheless excellent work !

Fernand

Hi Gordon!

 

Congratulations. This is the kind of shots that makes photography to be worth.

 

Very nice symetrical composition except the nice buoy reflection and wonderful tones.

 

My best regards.

Fernand;

 

Thanks for the comment. You may be right about the border. I must confess to having little experience with them at least on the web. My intention was to separate the image from the background, perhaps a lighter tone would have accomplished the same thing.

 

Jose;

 

Thanks for the comment I am glad you liked this, best regards to you.

 

 

Gordon,

I believe that for Internet the border must be the most simple as possible, I mean a thin white or light grey border in this case, about 8 pixels for an A4 in 300 dpi. It's not the same as for photos going in an exhibition. Exception for the photos where the border is an important part of the whole that's not the case here. Love this one... and many others....

Cordially, Fernand

The way I'd amend what Rachel said would be to say this is not only a photograph, and I couldn't agree more about it being art. I gotta say I understand the comments about the subject matter, but I don't either, in the sense that I think there is very rarely any subject that is really new. As Fred's said, it's the vision and how we see that's ever changing and new. And I have to add that the length and richness of this discussion is proof a plenty that this is anything but cliche.

 

Just a note about the border... too heavy for such a high key image. A thin gray line would do it for my eye.

Thanks for returning to follow up on your suggestion. I have replaced the border with a thin grey line .

As is often the case for me at PN posting this image has been a lesson learnt. The subject is not always important in comparison to the approach and vision. Thanks for the feed back on borders. You are experienced with them and I am not, so I am appreciative of any tips you pass along. Let me know what you think of the new border. Frankly I had grown accustom to the original, so I think it best for me to come back to this tomorrow with fresh eyes.

The original border for reference purposes.

I was so much attached to that beauty that I even did not pay attention to the frame, but David you are so very right ,and the frame offered ,and executed by you Gord. is really the right one for the photo, !

Gordon, it's much better, but I think that for such a shot near to a Hygh-Key, a border with a lighter grey is more adequate, and it can still be a little thinner...

That are details now...

Regards, Fernand

The new border is a very big improvement. It gently bounds the image with very little presence of it's own, allowing the image to be defined and to shine. One could quibble about the thickness of the line or the shade of gray, but I think that's getting too picky.

Pnina;

 

I suppose it is unanimous then. I finally use a border and it ends up becoming an issue. I like that, it puts me on the fast tract to learning what works and what does not.

 

Fernand;

 

Thanks for returning to continue with your help, it is much appreciated.

 

David;

 

I do think at least for now I will leave this 'as is' after giving it a nights sleep I can really see the wisdom of what both Fernand and yourself had seen before me. The earlier border was much too overbearing. Thanks for the help and support you continue to offer me.