cinnamon

just love the simplicity - elegantly designed - sometimes when we strip away all the extranious elements of a photo and present it in its simplest form (like reducing a fraction), we achieve the subjects strength ... you did it here ... beautiful. bill

yes I do consider this a portrait of cinnamon, critiques much

appreciated

You have found the perfect models. They don't complain about their makeup, wearing uncomfortable high heel shoes, being too hot or too cold. They don't cancel at the last minute after you have already booked the makeup and hair stylists. And they can even stay posed indefinately! I may just have to switch to stick models. :-) On a technical and artistic note - you have a great vision! Nicely done. They really do look like a family of cinnamon sticks. Dad, Mom, Sis, and Uncle Bob.

It's a long time since I saw such a jaw-dropping photograph. The subtle tones and the simple, yet perfect composition makes this picture deserve the p.o.w. competition. Congratulations!

 

Regards, heiko

I agree that this is a very original and well executed idea. Also it is a very good idea for POW, not because it is the most beautiful picture in photo.net but because it is an excellent photograph for discussion. One part of photography is how to find a magnificent and breathtaking subject and then photograph correctly, but another part of photography is how you make a very good photograph of ... something simple like .... cinnamon sticks... :-)

These are my comments, I do not have a serious suggestion about how to make better the photograph.

It certainly has character. I really like the way the 'subjects' are not centered. Nice choice for POW

I think you deserve it (althoug I haven't seen everybody's work) because you had the hability to keep it very simple and yet genial. Thank you for allowing many to understand that. Regards.

Interesting, yet I think there is too much empty space. Perhaps cropping most of the white space on the right of the sticks would work better and a bit off the bottom. That would place the sticks a bit off-centre. I like the burn-in effect on the left side of the photo but overall I think it is too empty.

Paolo, reread the last line of Thomas' post. Photography, including setups, is often about using your imagination to come up with interesting associations. My first reaction was that these were six-foot sticks that had some curious internal lines and texture. Now that I see that I've been fooled by the scale, I enjoy it that much more. To see the sticks as representing a family is even more creative. Both the maker and the viewer get full points.

 

And don't underestimate the role of lighting in aesthetics. Strong shadows would ruin this, IMHO.

It is the lighting that disturbs me. The background board (small ridges, top left and elsewhere, except the center) is poorly lit so that where the "subjects"are "standing"looks unappealing. POW or not better lighting would ceratinly improve the impact of such "portraits".

 

I like the idea. Though better lighting techniques will present them much better.

 

Vivek.

Beautiful! I love the zen quality of it; How you've made sticks soothing is beyond me. Good

work!

Ach! it dropped my last response... weird...

 

Anyway-

 

I like this as a candid family portrait. The elder son on the right is distracted by something off camera-- it actually reminds me of a few of my own family's portraits... making faces, goofing off, trying my damnedest to add a bit of life to a ridgid cookie-cutter portrait.

 

It also makes an interesting study of the often-mentioned concept of a photo that tells a story and just how much of that story is contained in the perceptions of the viewer. It's like finding faces in the clouds or in the woodgrain: finding life in paper.

I feel like the individual sticks have a story to tell - the twists and turns and texture are rich with...character. The differing heights tend to suggest a 'family'; parents and their two children. The lighting and background add to the feel of a portrait. I like it.

 

Congrats.

 

Stuart

Very Pro. Nice shades and sense of mystery.

 

6/6

I would not call these tones subtle, especially the highlight values.

Sorry, I don't see how the blown-out wall constitutes subtle tones. I mean the photo concept is fine and all but I think the elves were drinking whatever those cinnamon sticks were in. Perhaps an interesting and constructive technical discussion here would be how to control the light on that back wall.

Ok! Why not! It works for me. I immediately thought it was cinnamon but hesitated to think so because of the loop in the left stick. I liked it at first sight; it piqued my curiosity in an instant. Soon after, I began to feel a little uneasy about the floor line. It looks too identical to the wall in texture; something not true in real life. It has texture and a definite line as well so it can?t be background paper. Obviously there is some Photoshop work here which gives it delineation by burning-in the edges of the frame. I like the slight yellow-orange-ish tint. I only wish the floor were different. Not necessarily cleaner or busier, just different.

The first suggestion would be to add another stick lying on the ground, but why? It doesn?t need it and it would change the message. It works fine as it is but somehow it lacks something.

 

It must be my Americanized eyes, but the placement to the left seems a little uneasy considering that they are leaning to the left as well.

 

Reminds me a little bit of Karl Blossfeldt?s work. Not quite as ornamental but leaning towards it a little. If interested check out his work.

 

http://www.vintagesmith.com/images/Blossfeldt/BlossAlbum/

In a gallery I would take few steps back to get the right perspective;

Here I looked at the thumbnail first and noticed the subject is very well placed, off-center and it has just the right amount of space around it. Definitively the slight burning towards the margins is a nice touch. Some one says it looks like a photo that sells at Pier 1. IMHO there is nothing wrong if this picture has commercial value beside the artistic one. Well done. 6/7

finally, a photo thats origonal! Congratulations on your image. It works very well. I love how isolated the cinamon is, i first thought that they were sticks or logs. Nice job!

Adam

In addition to my negative comment, above, I should say that I like the shot, I like the idea, the crop, the lighting, and everything else, just that the scrinting is either very poor, or is striving for some sort of aesthetic where blaring patches of white are desired. If the former, then a rescan, or a little more work could bring it back in line. If the latter, then the photographer is taking a risk to assert his aesthetic values and controversy will be the result.

I can't say that I agree with the character status for these sticks as proposed. Are they interesting? Yes, maybe, on second look ok yes. But I find the overall photo lacking somewhat. I'm not sold on the background, bright with light or also with it being so close to the subjects. Gives it almost a 2 dimensional feeling which is not what I'd attribute to character status which should provide a feeling of depth and personality. Interesting yes, good for discussion, definitely, character - not really convinced. Thanks, Tom.

I like this, but I don't agree with the judges assertion that a boring bunch of cinnamon sticks + Carey = an interesting bunch of cinnamon sticks.

 

I think these particular cinnamon sticks have interesting form and details/textures. Carey has enhanced their details/textures and emphasised their form, but they were never boring in the first place.

 

Do the judges need to have a high contrast black & white photograph of something in order to think it is interesting?

The photo of the week selection always draws a lot of sycophantic drooling. But this is over

the top. "Jaw dropping?" I'm sorry. It's a picture of four sticks. It's not even a very interesting

picture of four sticks.

Superb shot Carey - I love it!

 

In response to the developing discussion, I wouldn't class this as 'high contrast' at all. 'High key' yes, but there are no deep shadows from the lighting, and no blown highlights. The picture looks delicately toned, in the higher range, with gentle gradiation. The lighting looks soft and subtle to me. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me as to what is considered overexposure and high contrast, or do we just have different monitor calibrations? Oh the age old question.... of course the answer is yes we do. Thing is, whenever I use the Adobe calibration tool, the first thing it tells me is to put contrast to it's highest setting, then the little box thing etc etc. So with my monitor on highest contrast, I still don't see blown highlights or any white. To me 'blown' would be as white as the outside of the border [the PN page], without detail or tone. Yet within the photo I have detail & tone, so what is everyone else looking at? Doug?

 

I would also like to say that I agree with Mihai, that commercial value does not necessarily equate to no 'artistic' merit. On the contrary, a picture that carries the value of both, must surely be considered as beating the categorisation boundaries? I could hang it on my wall, or it could be used in an advert, or it could be part of series in an exclusive [unreproduced] collection.

 

I like this picture because the sticks are almost like caricatures. In my minds eye, I could imagine them a little family. Perhaps they grew up together, perhaps they just got thrown together, but whatever they certainly display individuality between them, even though born from the same pod, so to speak.

 

On the topic of POW judges, I was under the impression discussion was of foremost importance, and a selection of different genres were to be represented? I don't want to see black and white journalism every week, and neither do I want to see commercial still lifes or travel pics endlessly. I for one enjoy the different choices, and that's what makes a new POW interesting.

i like this picture (contrasting tones, high key look, the subtle sepia). i would not look at it twice. it is just four sticks against a white background, anyway you look at it. the photographer's considerable skill does not trump the uninteresting subject matter.