ice skater

houston, 2003

This is wonderful. I have nothing to add.

 

-Owen

Another wonderful photograph that was missed by most of us. I love this. I wish you hadn't given this the title "ice skater". I wanted to guess what is going on here. I saw a little child jumping from one link of the spider web to another to safety or from one jail bar to another to freedom. Very symbolic and you should not help the viewer decide what it is until this one moment- Eureka! It's just a little girl skating in the ice rink. Great image. Regards.

Good pattern, brilliant idea. Image was slightly spoiled by the strong light reflection on the right, but overall it delivers a very strong effect!

Galleria at noon? I like it very much. And the blast reflection at right it just fine; it balances the photo and shows the worn surface texture of the ice.

Freddy, you got it right. I'm a reluctant shopper, especially in those fancy places. Thankfully my girlfriend dragged me to it.

I agree with Alan. I would maybe try to crop the reflection and then experiment with different compositions.

 

I must agree with Chris that the title is a little too revealing. When I saw it I thought a child was playing a game where they could not walk on the shadow and was leaping clear of one. This is a very graceful and innocent image.

This is one of those rare photos that forces the viewer to stare in wonder and admiration.

I guess a 7:7 photo is one where all we're left with to suggest changing is the title. Bravo!

Thanks to all for commenting on and rating my photo. That the title has generated some controversy is quite interesting. Though for me the title serves mainly for archival purposes.

Very creative and powerful image. You managed to capture the skater as she moves into an area that is reflective that creates a "glow" around her. Wished her shadow wasn't intersected by the circular shadow.

Wonderulf light and shadows, the grid the skate marks on the ice, the blown out place where the sun hits, the gesture of the skater's hands, great moment, great capture.

Another great shot Ralph - and the blown reflection is good not only because of the texture, but because it exactly balances the dark spot of the girl.

It's all been said above. Brilliant!

Hi

very good shot.7&7.please looking my picture.Im photographer in iran.thank you

Nice but as everybody's said, the title takes the mystery out of it. This works well as a vertical, which allows you to crop out the hot spot.

very nice picture, perfect timing and composition. I like it a lot. Best Geert

Ralph,

 

I just found your folders (you rated my "old Elvis" image).

 

What a great find! You are a true b & W genius. You have mastered this art, and I bow to you.

 

Wonderful work. I love this one... so whimsical, so simple, yet so evocative. Thisone could be a POTW.

for your nice words, comments, and rating.

!!!

yes i did do a litte darkroom dogding to bring out more detail in the skater. no other manipulation was done. believe me, it is just the coincidence of the skater being with part of her body in the shadow of the window grid. in fact a closer examination of her right arm (anatomical) being not in the shadow revealed specular light from the sun.

 

ralph

Dodging and burning is one of the most basic, if not the most basic (outside of cropping), part of the black-and-white photographic process. Unless it's "so extreme as to render the image an inaccurate or unrealistic representation of what the photographer saw" (which clearly this example is not), it is typically not considered manipulation.

Exposing the negative is only part of the photographic process...there is still the matter of the print, and dodging and burning is integral to that.

that you don't have trust in my word is understandable, as you don't know me. though when you look at my samples of pics you wont find any digiart whatsoever; just plain, straightforward b&w images. obviously that was not convincing to you. your analysis of my image is intriguing, though the arrow pointing to the direction from where the sun was coming is arbitrary, and really depends on where my position was. to make this story short the last resort for me is to show you the piece of film strip from which this print was done. the quality is not very good since i scanned it with a cheap flatbed scanner. i hope it will end our debatte, and will, hopefully, convince you of my honesty.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1713581&size=lg

I am giving myself a pat on the back because I was the first to rate it a 7/7. I could care less how it was done. I don't even look at whether or not an image is manipulated. Like we used to say in 1/9 back in 69 - "don't mean nothin".