portfolio sample Late Fall Milkweed - late afternoon

Tony, more then anything this image shows what one can do with a bit of late afternoon sun and a good imagination.  lovely work!

Bachir - thanks for your kind comment.

Roger - thanks for your comment and very good rating! All the best to the Flower King!

Robert C - thanks for the 4 rating. All the very best,

I find this to be a bit of an eerie photo, and for some reason, I associate the mood and image with autumn and Halloween ... with leaves like hobgoblins and the center-focused bulb exploding with fiery color...... pumpkin-like!

 The "seeds" in the foreground resemble a ghostly image hovering in the air.

Beautiful oranges and yellows (appropriate for a fall day), complemented by subtle green and beige tints .... love the earthy colors surrounding the "sunburst" image.

Fabulous shot.  Best regards,

Awesome shot Tony! A little time and patience goes a long way to getting top notch images like this one. The garbage bag trick is an excellent idea! Thanks for sharing.

All the best,
Neil

Please note the following:

• This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.
• Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the Help & Questions Forum.
• The About Photograph of the Week page tells you more about this feature of photo.net.
• Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum: to help people learn about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer such questions with your contribution.

The backlighting on this is superb. It almost looks to be on fire.

Tony... I'm glad you submitted this one, a well deserving POW and recognition to a photographic artist. Congratulations... Mike

My congratulation Tony, You have a masterful command of color and it is visible the careful treatment of each of your photo. I am happy and really you deserve the prestige of POW.

Very good observation Tony!

This truely catches the eye instantly. Excellent capture!

Congratulations Tony for this POTW. I’m really happy to see that one of your photographs has been selected for this position.
This is an outstanding back-lighted composition with your masterful color-management. The dof and the backdrop are simply amazing. Best regards.

Tony, it's about time for one of your photographs to be selected as POW. The Elves were very wise in their decision to pick this one. I was immediately attracted to the photograph just by looking at the thumbnail; the bold colors did the trick. When I viewed it larger, I was greeted by more than I bargained for: an exquisite abstract treatment of a nature shot.

My congratulations . . .

michael

Hi Tony,
Your patience was rewarded, a full hour on a garbage bag taking shots of milkweed is dedication. The result speaks for itself and all the glowing comments back that up. A deserving POW to a fine artistic photographer. All the best.
Sincerely,
Holger

I was attracted by the thumbnail - I thought the pod was on fire! Interesting image, especially when you view it larger. Your patience was definitely rewarded!

First, I commend the photographer on a sensible title. It is exactly right. It gives the necessary information about the image without fluff or fuss. And at the same time it prepares us for the treat in store.

I am not a fan of flower photographs. I pass over most and curse up and down when some bland and predictable offering get an award. To this image I give prolonged applause. It is unique. It is brilliantly done. My sense of what a milkweed is has been changed forever.

The seeming fire within the milkweed is amazing. This is what makes the image. The leaves are not exciting. One has to tear oneself away from the fire to appreciate them. They are lovely and delicate in their modesty. They are like nuns in the presence of Lady Gaga. The background is all right. It's virtue is that it harmonizes with the the fire. I would wished for a flatter and less defined background--but never mind. This is nature with all its untidy odds and ends and not a studio.

Thumbs up for this Photo of the Week.

Yes Tony, a real stunner! Beautifully exposed and composed. Great reward for your continued efforts. Gives credibility to the old adage: 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration. You deserve all the positive attributes above. Best, LM.

Great shot ! Congratulations, Tony !

Admittedly, on these sorts of images I do expect to be the odd man out most of the time but there is something one gets with time and that is experience and the seeing of a lot of images.

A few weeks ago, someone suggested "gimmick" with reference to a POW, I didn't agree and thought it was too harsh, but here, I think it might apply. But I will say that I have done this and I think most people have done this sort of thing. It might be that it coincidentally happens after a lot of work and sometimes it is just so obvious that it is done without a whole lot of thought. Gimmicks are like cliche's, they work because people respond to them, they are like candy in many ways. They don't take a lot of thought or work to enjoy.

I don't minimize the work that it takes to make wonderful flower images but, maybe like the entry above, I don't see a lot of inspiration here. As a photograph (beyond the trick), I don't know that the image is all that interesting as the light hides detail in the seed pod and the partial husk that remains, because of this light, becomes a bit of an intrusion. I think more normally lit, these elements would have been more unitary and represented the subject much better. I guess I just don't find the use of the light here as all that special, unique or, pardon the pun, illuminating.

Yes, these types of images are fun to make and probably to share and, obviously, a delight to many. I just have a hard time taking them in as serious photography in most cases. But then photography should also be fun.

Excellent work. Regards.

Excellent work. Regards.

This is a fun image and I like it. As someone who enjoys botanical subjects, I know how challanging it is to achieve a unique approach on these subjects. This succeeds on many fronts. Not only is the spot lit bud attention grabbing, the overall color harmony and thoughtful composition is excellent. My only nit-pick is many of the delicate tendrils of the spot lit bud have been burned out by the strong back light and that lends a touch of harshness. Perhaps a good time for some localized HDR. In any case, overall, a successful picture and hat's off to Tony for a good eye.

John, I'll agree that Tony's photo doesn't take a lot of thought or work to enjoy. I also don't find any deep message about the human condition or any other aspect of life in Tony's photograph. But does that then make is a less serious photograph and instead more of a gimmick? I suspect that Tony was walking along, saw the possibility, selected the angle and camera settings to get the look he wanted, waited for the right moment, and came away with a photo of a seed pod with lighting from a setting sun.

I'll try to use your own words just to hopefully avoid saying something you had no intention of saying or implying (I'll probably fail, but I am trying to be fair). I think where we differ is on the definition or notion of "serious photography." I will contend that serious photography can go beyond that which takes a lot of thought or work to enjoy, and it can go beyond that which requires a lot of inspiration to see and produce on the part of the photographer.

Instead, I think that a photograph that captures a striking or beautiful aspect of our world in a way that expresses the essence of something much larger than the photograph itself is serious photography. I'll admit I'm often consciously aware of the transitory nature of life and that soon we will become "unborn," experiencing life and the world as each of us individually did 150 years ago, and that kind of experiencing will go on for eternity. To me, that makes photographs like Tony's "serious photography," because it is showing the ability to see something that is beautiful and transitory, savoring elements of our earth and sun that have come together for a brief moment and that will disappear in a matter of moments (both in terms of this particular moment and in terms of our lives).

It's a different kind of serious photography from that which engages our minds (i.e., thought or work) to find the meaning, relevance, or purpose of a photograph, especially those involving the human condition. I share your appreciation for that kind of serious photography. But I don't find photography that involves the emotions to appreciate the essence of transitory beauty, especially in everyday elements of our world, to be any less serious. It's quite different, but no less a serious application of photography.

In my mind, it's akin to what often happens on college campuses when the pre-med students, chemistry majors, international relations majors, music majors, art majors, liberal arts majors, economics majors, math majors, etc. get together and discuss (i.e., argue) which is the more difficult route through college, which has the greatest relevance to the future of our society, or which is more "serious." The notion of "serious" is multi-faceted, whether among college majors, among professions that drive a country, or among potential subjects of photography and motivations of the photographer.

Stephen, I purposely suggested that I don't take these types of images as serious photography "in most cases". I think those last 3 words are key here. But I don't limit serious photography to work that transcends its subject either, I just find this type of thing more obvious and, maybe, more manipulative than revealing. Serious might not be the right word but it seemed to express what I was thinking.

Putting the sun behind a subject is one of the oldest devices used in the medium. We see this all the time behind flowers, trees, wheat, signs etc--and even people's heads (and some seem translucent as well!). We see it often in print advertising and commercials, as well as in movies. It is a long and often used device which because of that has become more of a gimmick--and one that often produces cliche images. I think it is possible to transcend this status on occasion, but I don't know that I would consider this one of them. ( the current trend of allowing the sun to bleed into the lens in such shots, causing fog, is just the latest version of this device)

My own take on this image is that it doesn't work to inform the subject nor do I believe it is something rare--all life's moments are fleeting and maybe all deserve our attention, but I don't think we need to photograph(or more to the point, show) all of them. In fact, the more I have looked back at this image the more incongruous it feels to me and the less attractive I find it. It has become more cartoonish with every look--thanks in part to that Halloween comment.

That said, if someone responds to this then that is great, I just find it neither rare nor informative, just a bit of eye candy korn.