Abyaneh, my past...

Alberta, what are the suspect pixels in your attachment and how do we know the origin of these pixels? Just interested. Thanks, JJ

Maybe Hamid can enlighten us as to how much compositing is part of this image?
The 'stream' seems to defy the laws of physics in that it is so well contained (behaved) at that flow rate and angle, and the normal V-shaped eddies caused by friction on the edges are not apparent. This leads me to wonder about whether his daughter was really there. The lack of high-contrast shadows around the windows given the low angle of the sun make me wonder if the sky and sun were not composited in.
There have been many discussions regarding other POWs about compositing. Re-visiting them is not the purpose of my post. My question to Hamid is only to satisfy my curiosity (and perhaps that of others) about the method to achieve this image, and not to criticize the result.
I sense this is how Hamid remembers this place and this is how he wants us to see it. After all, the title says 'my past'. Unless we have a time machine, none of us can photograph our past. I have no problem with that. Sentiment is a powerful emotion.

John Roswell


Your comment has just made me look at the picture in a completely different and interestingly wonderful way. All of a sudden it has come to life for me.

I suppose it's easy to look at the technicalities of an image and miss the depth it holds and the story it tells. Granted, the work isn't exactly 'subtle' or even closely resembling a 'real' image, but having looked at it from the artists point of view, I think the bad pasting of the water and the child, plus the enhanced sky and walls, definitely make this picture interesting and almost dream-like. We are taken into the artists past, or at least how his mind remembers it!

Well done to the artist and well done to the elves for choosing such an interesting subject.

Sorry John, I mean to type Rowsell =D

I enjoy this photograph and the comments it has evoked. First thing, it reminded me of a black and white photograph, Noon Shadows (San Gimignano, Italy, 1995) by Ron Rosenstock, a long-time favorite artist of mine with a current exhibition at the Worcester (Massachusetts) Art Museum. It tied in with my thoughts regarding some of the other comments.
Jeff Bryce wrote, “I feel that this is more of a Still Life/Studio combined with Digital Alteration than it is a Landscape. For me, a landscape should be sculpted more by nature than by the photographer. But, in this day of HDR & such, I realize that my viewpoint is going the way of the dinosaur.” I think of my own coming to terms with the rapid changes in technology from film to the evolving digital environment. Rosenstock dealt with high dynamic range with film I believe in his image; and interestingly, in Abyaneh the alley, the zig-zag path (although less pronounced) also appear as elements of composition.
Arthur Plumpton says of this image, “This for me would have been a fine scene if more subtlty perceived and created. Would it work better in more subtle color tones, I don't know, but I expect that it would? Would it work as a monochromatic image, given the power of the latter to convey subtleness and enigma? Maybe.” Personally, although my taste is highly biased in favor of black and white photography, I prefer color in this case. Here is an almost duotone picture, yellows and blues with a splash of red at the lower left in the girl’s clothing to surprise my eye. I found the monochrome treatment just a little boring because of the smoothness of large areas of wall.
So, Abyaneh and the comments have evoked subjective responses and thoughts from me. I think that signals a fine image and considerate and intelligent commentary which have given me a lot a pleasure.

Jeremy - I've circled areas where I believe PhotoShop has been used. It appears to me that the dress is behind the pole in the upper region and in front below. The edge of her dress is too straight and even burning would not cause that remarkable contrast in lighting along those too-straight pixels. I'm confused by pixels in the pole which seem to repeat a pattern in her scarf. Aside: My PhotoShop credentials include adding and removing people from beach and water sport scenes for one of the world's largest boat manufacturers.

A beautifully done environmental portrait with that excellent golden light. I like the narrow alley with the water flowing through it. I much prefer the color over the B&W conversion

Haven't been sure what that sunlight-reflecting ribbon in the middle of the street is. A groove cut out to channel water?

Here's another shot of a street in Abyaneh that shows the same type of groove, but it's completely dry.

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Iran/East/Esfahan/Abyaneh/photo1280279.htm

it looks over photoshopped and over sharpened.

Please, please, please continue to contribute these visual gems of Iran. Those of us from the West, even the ones familiar with Iran's religious history, would benefit greatly from such displays. Thank you so very much.
(and for those that wonder about the bright path down the middle of the street - that's the drainage ditch, for waste water)
michael

There is a nice girl who was asked to pose at the side of a drain lit in a sentimental mood. It takes time to complete many expositions. I would rather ask the old man with donkey to pose here. Frankly speaking I can hardly see any sense in this creation and the outcome is IMO the failure.

I'm here again, but so late! Sorry! I drove 1700 km in 48 hrs, and being in a hotel in Shiraz, thanks god to having internet access and my lovely proxifier to bypass the god damned filtering in iran. First of all , thank you so much for your honest positive and negative feedback. So beneficial and constructive for me. Let me to cleat some obscured points.
1. THIS IS A PHOTOMANIPULATION , composited from three main shots. The main background is the alley of abyaneh, taken through nine shots at different EVs for greatest detail enrichment light management, and prepared from them as the main framework. Sky is the another part added and tuned for the whole assumed scene. My daughter in local costume was shot in the same scene and same time, but in different position, also with different EVs. The end result of my daughter shot then pasted at this location , thinking being the best location, IMHO. The central water path was there , but empty, and water added next in ps for greater beauty and enhancement. After all these stages, shadows, highlights, and overall light were treated to be coordinant and "being real". \and final touch was texture overlay in three stages ( old yellow wrinkled paper texture). In brief!
2. Most of the comments are about "words and names", as what category should be chosen for such works. My terminology is photomanipulation, as you use different shots, then manipulate the to work well to each other. Montage/collage is the same, but without tuning. Photo-art and fine art are liquid words, could be applied to any work. Digital alteration is a good choice, but in absence of digital creation, has been included such pure digital works as they have no need to camera and created right from photoshop, Matte painting is a mixture of photo and digital painting, and so much other confusing vocabulary. As a matter of suggestion, i suggest a new category in PN categorization as photomanipulation to encompass such works, or other category as digital creation to separate pure digital works.
3. Full-size preview-ready version my works are available at: hamid-reza-farzandian.artistwebsites.com. when you hover the mouse over it, small quadrangles appear there, and enlarge to full preview size when clicking on it. There is no need to extra softwares to explore pixels. This address was also offered in my earlier posts in this photo.
4. Here is the site for amateurs like me to learn from professionals. So i appreciate all comments and contributions.
5. Iran has no conflicted and complicated past history, recently being in a religious color, but different in essence...
6. I realize, m work here is not flawless and have some maybe big problems, but i work hard to depict my imagination in better flawless ways.
7. I follow the comments and am here for more answers. Thank you very much.
My best regards,
Hamid.

Thank you Hamid. I find that discussions of the POW are much better when the creator contributes.
I can relate to your image. It conveys a message of longing for what we have lost with time.
What do you want us to see in this image? Maybe we can help you to achieve your intent.

I think you did a terrific job here from the concept to the capture to the final manipulation. I love you image.
Best regards,
Alex

Dear Hamidreza : your work is alive & full of good sense in my view
امتداد زلال آب به چشمه ی خورشید اتصال و ارتباط دارد
در فضایی عمیق و لطیف
حمیدرضای عزیز : قابل تحسین و تمجید و تعریف

Warm Regards
Amirmahdi

I came late to this work of Hamid. I like the color palette and the strong diagonals entering the composition till the end of the alley. Nice Dof as well .What looks artificial to me is the lack of stronger shadows in a narrow alley like this, that affect as well the child at the LHS,and the light in general is too bright IMO. but reading Hamid's answer,I understand that it was quite a complicated manipulation work , so I think that his skills has merite, and liking it is a matter of personal taste. Best wishes.

You nailed the image here beautifully. Including the person makes perfect.
Nice work!

For me the strengths of the image lies in the story behind the image. That is, it's about a relationship between father and his daughter. The image is done with so much care, that actually, reflects father's love for daughter.
Aesthetically, I like the orange - golden light that pervades the centre of the composition, and gradually illuminates his daughter.
What could make this image weaker is that everything is sharp, from the foreground to background. A little softness wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for a wonderful photograph ... great work!!!

Excellent and precious work!

Firstly - my congrats on the POW. For me the strength is the very masterful handling of very dynamic lighting. And I was quite fascinated by the texture and light on the center line.

High aesthetic values and a poignant, sympathetic message.  A difficult combination to capture or attain.

Justin