Quotation of a Dream

This is just excellent! While it has that gritty urban feel, the fabulous details and pastel colors and soft light yield a mood bordering on surrealism. Wonderful composition and exposure, Ian. Those stars in the sky are a total bonus too. Cheers! Chris

Chris has summed it up well, Ian. The colour palette is excellent. This is a wonderful example of excellent images lurking waiting for someone with the eyes to see.

Thanks a lot guys. I've been sitting on this for quite a while never quite sure of it. Something about the angles of the building continue to irk me. But, the square crop has made this more certain in my mind. Maybe I ought to put this one out for critiques?

All comments welcome. This is an old(er) photo that I had relegated to

my maybe folder for the last few months. A new crop and a fresh

perspective have made me reconsider its merits. As such, and

suggestion or comment is more than welcome.

Stunning. There's not much more to add. Stunning.

Like Chris, I'm drawn to the stars. The soft blue of the sky is restful, acting as a foil to the griminess and decay of the building.

Rachel, Jeff, thanks!

 

I really got to get out shooting some more. Maybe over Christmas. Thanks for the boost.

nice reflection

Exquisite light. This would never have been in MY maybe file...it's a great shot.

Hey Ian, I see you got a shot in PhotoEd. Looks good! Leon Strembitsky, also in that issue, lives just down the road from me. All the best and happy holidays!

 

Cheers,

Aaron

Thanks Aaron.

 

Its harder to get published than I thought. That was actually the first serious submission I made and I did get something published from it. However, I haven't heard back from any other publication that I submitted to about the same time (about 4). Moreover, I am surprised by what they chose to run. Of everything I sent, I would have picked a dozen other things first.

 

They are the one place I sent botanicals. Maybe I should resubmit them a few places. Anyways, always things to do. Regardless, looks like I'll actually have to write something to go with my photos in order to get very much run at once. Pity I don't have much time for that at least 'till summer.

 

I will check out Leon's work. I haven't had the time to look at that issue much as of yet.

 

Changing tack, given that you live out in Alberta, have you ever had the chance to see any of Eric Fredine's work in print? I know he has had a few showings and I rather like his work. I have always imagined that the subtlety of the images would benefit from a careful, large print.

 

Magazines almost never choose the ones I would, lol! It was sort of the same thing with Leon, too. He is predominantly a landscape photographer, but Felix chose his still lifes. Not that they are any better or worse, it's just not what he was expecting.

 

The more places you submit the better, and just because you don't hear back doesn't mean your work doesn't measure up. Magazines all have their own themes and agendas, so what might not work for them now, might be what they are looking for in 8 months.

 

I never liked writing about my work, either. I felt that was the area of the critics (of which I used to be one) and that my work should be able to stand on its own availble for others to consider free of perspectives I might have supplied. "Who am I to tell someone what to think about my work?" It's so interesting and inspiring to hear from people what they see in a photograph. Sometimes it is very different from what motivated me to make the image, but certainly no less true. However, as I'm moving into the art world I realize that "the statement" is essential. Not so much for me to guide viewers' perceptions, but to give me a clearer understanding of the work I'm putting together. A prof I had once said, 'you may think you know it, but you don't know it until you can speak or write coherently about it.' The "it" he was refering to was Hegel's philosophy, and I still can't, but I realized that the same applies to me as an artist and the work I create.

 

I have seen many of Eric's prints. He likes matte prints which work well with his style. He started out with digital, and then moved to larger film formats (6x6cm, 4x5"), and it shows in the prints. The early ones show signs of slight interpolation and there is a bit of lens distortion at the edges, but generally speaking they are very good. His most recent ones are remarkably detailed - and so they should be given the subject.

 

Cheers,

Aaron

You've developed the skill of expressing still clarity in many of your architectural works. The color work here is very moving. There's a richness and an inviting warmth. Personally, I think the ducks add a lot, almost camouflaged as they are. And I love the street lamp flare over there on the left.

Thanks Fred. I love the Canada Geese too – some fully blurred, some partly, some perfectly crisp. The lamp-flare is pivotal to my liking this image now. Its a pity I can't claim that I even saw it before taking the shot.

 

Fred, I'll send you an email update re the book.