Dog walker at sunrise

Man and Nature ...beautifully balanced image ... evocative image (it makes me feel and it makes me wonder) soft but bold... I love it and IMO a most worthy and interesting image chosen by the Elves... all the best for Your new Year, Tim Holt

Tim... and Stephen and Jeremy...
I'm intrigued by Jeremy's list of criteria for judging an image and I recognize that each of us, whether conscious of it or not, apply some manner of judgment to images that we view. It does, however, seem somewhat counterproductive to judge an image on how difficult it was to produce. Without a doubt we have photographers on PN that go to great lengths to take multiple exposures of each scene and spend hours of PhotoShop time to create photographic art.
There's nothing wrong with that and the results are spectacular when skillfully done. We have others that spend hours and hours to produce graphic art images that don't even resemble the original capture, and that's ok too if that was their intent and it's beautiful to them.
But, my admiration is for the photographer who, whether by chance or by painstaking design, returns with an image that places me, the viewer, at his elbow. I can look at that photograph and admire not only the product, but also the beauty of a scene that possibly could be mine if I were fortunate enough to be there with them. Since this is a "photography" forum I place great emphasis on the word photograph and not graphic art.
Tim is obviously much too humble when he states "I look for some nice light and interesting subjects to shoot", because there are very few images in his portfolio that aren't at the "decisive moment". As an amateur myself, it is my shared goal with Tim to produce something that might say "that's the way it really was that nice morning last October".
Now Jeremy, I can't help but think that your stated goal - "My goal as a photographer is to develop into a person that sees beauty in ordinary things." would fit right into that philosophy as well. :-) Sorry, couldn't resist.
All that to say, Great job Tim and I look forward to sharing many more of your outings with you. Thanks for sharing with us... Mike

Hi Michael, maybe you could have resisted :-). My goal is denoted by the first criterion I listed above. Seeing beauty in ordinary things is a case in which it is "hard to visualize the image". That is my very first criterion for an image that is hard to get. This image is not hard to visualize for me. Especially since I have seen hundreds of others just like it. I think it would be better to say here that beauty has been seen in a beautiful thing.

Please let me be clear, I am not down on Tim in any way. I think he is a very good, very talented photographer. What I am saying is this: If I could have made the shot fairly easily, then it typically does not fascinate me that much. I want to be stretched and challenged by a photograph. Some will find this counterproductive, I don't. In fact, I think it is highly productive. It pushes me to become better. In the 7 weeks I have been on Photo.net I have been stretched and challenged in this way. My eyes have been opened to so many interesting ways of seeing and photographing that I am now really excited again about photography. Tim is one of the people who's great work has helped me. So thanks Tim. Cheers, JJ

 

Jeremy... Explanation is always a good thing. Looking at your portfolio (which is excellent, by the way) I can only think that we are running around the same bush, just not seeing eye to eye on how hard the task :-). To keep with the thread of this image, this may or may not be a scene so common that it could be lumped by the hundreds, but to me the beauty of this image is that Tim took this scene and presented it in such clear visual language that it appears simple but is in fact very well thought out and executed. Whether Tim did that through long experience as he raised his camera, or deliberately staked out the location and waited for the subjects is irrelevant to the final product. A matter of semantics, for sure.

Tim... Apologies for speaking of you in the third person... Mike

Sorry for the double post.... I've erased the contents of this one.

 

I love this picture. Why???
First, there is a strong sense of motion - flowing - in the collective form of the trees which contrasts with their stark bareness. And of course in the dog + walker. And in the sun rising. All that contrasts with the visual elements in their more literal form.
There is the strong suggestion that the trees either crescendo in the right third and then the tops flow down and to the left, *or* that the trees are forming (their shape is suggestive of) a wave traveling from left to right and just about to break over the dog and walker.
In the latter case, the sun would be the point where all the action would coalesce (the wave breaking down onto the dog + walker on the beach/sand/darkness at the bottom of the picture), etc.
That theme being obvious to me, there is a great sense of energy and motion and of things about to happen in the picture that contrasts with the visual theme of starkness and nearly-b&w contrast.
So for me it works wonderfully, and I would not change the composition or anything else at all!
Very well done!

This is an excellent composition. It is not clichéd, nor does it need cropping.

WOW!! Great capture and composition!

WOW!! Great capture and composition!

Excellent, having the sun and the dog/walker concentrated in one part of the photo really draws attention well. Beautiful.

good work. congratulations !

Tim,
With apologies for lowering the tone to a detailed content level, but everyone is saying "dog" whilst I suspect I see two? Perhaps that's my only criticism - that key component of the composition is ambiguous with an indistinguishable complexity, in an otherwise simple and very satisfying composition. Do you recollect this detail - one dog or two, maybe even with a sophisticated harness. It puzzles me :)

Exceptional job Tim!!! I always like "warm" shots...

I really like Tim's original shot a LOT! Except for the (likely already discussed) cropping off of the tree at the left (and maybe the tallest tree too), this is an excellent photo.
The warm tone really sets this photo off -- so congratulatons!

Keith, you are correct, there are two dogs.

I visualized Tim's photo, Dog walker at sunrise, without the walker and dog, and liked it even better. When I first saw this photo, I immediately thought WOW. My eyes were drawn to the silhouette of the trees, the haunting shapes of the trees backlit against a dusky yellow background, finishing with a sun rising in the bottom quadrant of the photo. IMO the trees are the subject. The tiny figures of dog and walker get lost in the drama of the colorful sunrise and intrigue shapes of the trees, two of the elements that make a great photo. It shouts out peaceful silence on a cool morning. All we need is the mist rolling in . . .
After reading several of the comments, but not all, it is safe to say that photography is subjective.
Note: I did not like the cropped or monochrome version of Tim's photo. I would have been nice if the taller tree had not been cropped off.

 

Good shot. It's the sort of subject I love doing. I tried flopping it so that the dogwalker is going from left to right and I think it makes it even better. But I love the whole thing, the composition, the colour, the mood...

Its really a wonderful photograph....!!....

Naseer,

Love Tim Holte photos! This one has such ambience, such balance in color and light. Such softness but lines.
It is a symphony!

Image is ok and I am really very surprised of how many critiques or comments appear here; it seem to be we are always with some special need to talk. On the other hand, this profile images usually have a lack of colour and seem a little too "monochrome". From my opinion, it would improve with some green in the ground, close to the photographer, it would help to give a total impact of green + red + greys and this would be substantially better. Thanks Tim for image and thanks evrybody for so much % of participation. Ikusi arte - see you. Josemi Gondra.

Thanks for sharing with us this peaceful and most beautiful shot. Relaxing and perfect.

This photo caught my eye immediately.The color, composition, subject and a great example of a well done silhouette really make it stand out. Truly captivating.

Cliche? Sure. So is a photo of a nude woman...or a painting of same. In Asian art how many plum blossoms have been painted? But the subject has been done by better artists than you or me and there is often something delightful and fresh.

 

In this photo there are two elements I really like. The lace-like tracery of branches is so sharp and clear. I love that.

 

The thing that really grabs me here is the rhythm of the trees. It's like music. There's one tree-note at the left, then a space, then four in a row, like sixteenth-notes, another pause, then the last tree on the right. The space on the right is slightly wider than the one on the left, but the presence of the walker and his pooches tends to narrow it visually. The rhythm is as precise as the branchwork lace.

 

This has an "Asian" feel to it. The precision. The serenity.

 

Nice one, Tim. Thanks.

My first impression is Graduated ND filter; upside-down. I would expect the area around the sun to be brighter than the top of the picture. Doesn't quite seem natural to me. I would be interested to know if this type of filter was used. I like the composition in that there appears to be 2 species of trees; alternating and growing in size from left to right. (Also, is that walker wearing a fanny pack? :)

The original image is perfect! Those who have tried to re-arrange it e.g. moving the sun or cropping to exclude some of the trees to "suit their taste" do nothing but destroy the integrity of the original. Well done, Tim!