Saint Malo (Bretagne)

Great image with wonderfull tones. I always fall for lots of neutral space well played out in an image, and this is one of them. I also like the current trend of monochrome images the 'elves' are throwing at us.

 

I do have ask if this is a straight scan from a final print, or scan from the neg.

hey man, rad photo, the light is perfect and the fog just makes it! cheers

Wow. The first time that I didn't feel the same way as everyone else. this is kinda weird for me. I don't really care for the photo that much. I have a decent monitor so I know it's nbot the monitor when I say, the image seems to dark for me. The building in the background almost looks fake to me, perhaps from over exposure? It's an ok photo. I really don't want to beat up on you too much (especially since someone thought it worthy of POW and especially since I'm an unrecognized amatuer.) this one just doesn't really work for me. Sorry. :-(

Um . . . . fog? Look at the sky.

 

I like the bottom half of the image . . . the wet walkway on the right that reflects the railing, and the details in the area on the left that appear to have been washed over during the long exposure.

 

But the top half throws me off. The space between the top and bottom is too large and I agree with Bob that a slight lowering of the camera while moving to the right just a bit (avoiding a merge with the horizon line) might have integrated the two areas better. The sharpness of the distant buildings does appear a bit unnatural, regardless of what process made it look that way.

It is like a photograph of a strange dream. I am interested in knowing how long Gerald leaves his shutter open for these kind of misty water shots.......technical details welcomed unless of course Gerald regards it as trade secrets...

the upper part of the sky has an artificial looking quality to it, and the nearly uniformly dark bottom also detracts. crop these out and this otherwise overworked-looking image takes on a visually cleaner impact and dramatic rhythm. that is, simplify the photo by cropping up half way from the bottom edge (50%) toward the first brightly visible paving stone seam, and crop out all (100%) of the very busy, darkish sky clouds. now, with a figure sitting on the ledge next to the rail even a Wyeth would be proud.

(english translation at end)Merci pour avoir montre que la simplicite est le chemin le plus court vers l'eloquence!

Ceux qui ont critique votre photographie ici devraient plutot profiter de la lecon de votre image... au lieu de faire des critiques inutiles

En tout cas Gerard, bravo! Contactez moi pour un cafe avec cette "americain a Paris".

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Thank you for having shown that simplicity is the shortest road to eloquence!

Those who have criticized your photo here would be better off learning from your image rather than critizing.

In any case, Gerard, bravo! Contact me for a coffee this "American in Paris".

Christopher, this forum is a critique forum. This means there are very critical and detailed critiques as well as detailed praise.

I am sorry for my English, which obliges me to use a translator...

Thank you with all for your criticisms...

Here some technical details: The film is Delta 100. I took this image the morning with the rising of the sun, during the spring tides with Saint Malo. A neutral gray filter makes it possible to lengthen a little the time of pause, which is of approximately 3 minutes...

Cordially Gerard Laurenceau

Je suis desole pour mon anglais, qui m'oblige a utiliser un traducteur... Merci a tous pour vos critiques...

Voici quelques details techniques: Le film est de la Delta 100. J'ai pris cette image le matin au lever du soleil, pendant les grandes marees a Saint Malo. Un filtre gris neutre permet d'allonger un peu le temps de pause, qui est d'environ 3 minutes...

CordialementGerard Laurenceau

What Peggy Jones said:

 

"...simplify the photo by cropping up half way from the bottom edge (50%) toward the first brightly visible paving stone seam, and crop out all (100%) of the very busy, darkish sky clouds..."

 

She is right on the money. I do not believe that this is necessarily the 'best' photo in Gerard's portfolio posted here - there are much better ones.

I love it. The long exposure gives a very mystical look to the great expanse of water.

I like the composition and find no fault with it. Eerie tones. Certainly not Tri-X, which I am so used to. To me Delta and Tmax almost look "digital" on the monitor, which is not a critism, just an observation. All in all, very nice print, Gerard!

My question still hasn't been answered, and that's if this image was a straight scan from a print, or from the neg. I'm very familiar with both Delta 100 and 400 in MF, and the answer to above will confirm to me how the enhanced levels of contrast in certain areas of the image have been achieved. I could be wrong, but this hardly looks like a straight scan, unless you process Delta 100 in D-19.

 

Mind you, I like the tones and what has been done with the image, but for the sake of learning we need to establish where the film stops and local contrast burning and dodging starts. That in itself will put a lot of criticisms to rest.

A beautiful picture. Like a print from a Hitchcock movie, it threatens to overflow with life. Soon a man will appear by the railing, and jump into the water lit by the spotlight, and drown while trying to swim to the castle. Lifeless? No, only in your imagination.

The whole slow shutter/blurred water effect has reached cliche status. To me, this doesn't

mean that it can't be used successfully-far from it. It just means that it has to be applied

as a circumstance calls for it in order to work.

 

This just doesn't work. The contrast is weird and the composition is uncomfortable. The

beautiful gradient caused by the technique and the materials is nice, but more is needed.

This lacks soul. cheers

I have to respectfully disagree with Kelly on this one. Okay, so the slow shutter-blurred water thing has been done. What hasn't? The real question for me is whether it works in this case, and for me it does, and I think that the reason that it does is that it increases the sense of mystery about that island sitting way out there by itself (whether one does or does not know a thing about its origin and history). To me this photo is almost surreal, given the lighting, and, as much as I might want to find out some technical details about dodging, etc., the final effect is very dramatic for me--and the final result is everything.

Whether or not the long exposure/blurred water technique is in common vogue, this image impresses me greatly.

 

It is reminiscent of some 19th Century or even 18th Century French Revolutionary novel.

 

I have been to St Malo and the city and surrounding area are very memorable, however this image is nevertheless remarkable.

The smoothness of the water, imo, takes this from a really technically good photograph to photographic art that is technically well done with very unique use of light and equipment ....

Answer to Scott Eaton.

 

This photograph was scanned from a "baryté" print (fiber print?). This image's tonal interpretation was generated under the enlargeur, with a strong contrast, and fairly strong maskings, burning and dodging.

 

There is strictly no Photoshop manipulation involved here, and I never manipulate my images via digital means. When I took this picture, there was an orange filter on the lens, in order to increase contrast.

 

Film was developped in the most classical manner: ID11 at 20 degrees C for 11 minutes.

 

Cordially

Gerard:

I tried hard to come up with some constructive criticism. However, no change would improve this image. It is perfect as is.

Looks like you've been looking at a lot of Michael Kenna's work. And there's nothing wrong with that!

 

Don't crop it. Leave it alone. This image is effective for me as it is and conveys such a wonderful mood (which is strengthened, by the way, by those clouds at the top). And if moving water has been overdone, so be it. Slot canyons have been overdone too, and still people continue to make more photographs of them.

Salut Gerard,

 

C'est une tres belle photo - desole, mais je ne peux pas tres bien faire les accents avec mon ordinateur!

 

J'ai passe deux beaux etes la, en Bretagne (mais, si je m'en souviens biens) le Saint-Malo est vraiment entre la Bretagne (BZH!) et la Normandie.

 

Vous avez bien saisi l'ambience, la lumiere, de ce coin de la France.

 

Felicitations et kenavo,

 

Paul Whiting (un americain qui parle un peu la belle langue)

A terrific image Gerard. The detail in the foreground is especially sharp. At first I didn't notice the rail's shadow in the water. Great balance & perspective, great image.

Un oeil aiguisé permet une compsition parfaite et ça ce n'est pas donné à tout le monde et finit par faire la différence !

Une des meilleures de ton cru Gérard, parfait !

Amitiés

 

Jean-Philippe

Gorgeous! Your exposure technique lends delight, mystery, intrigue and visual stimulation. Composition is dynamic. Can I afford to buy a print? Please let me know.

I think the picture is sure much more better than the the miserable jpeg. However I'm also wondering what should mean the note for the originality here. I should say the sense of the critiquers for originality is somehow weird, I have seen many such pictures (inclusive these of Gerard Laurenceau presented here). Nevertheless they are aesthitical and very impresive and surely difficult-to-make (technical rating should be 7, no doubt). All the rating system here is for me a little weird and doubtful, I mean it produces no surprises, everything is more or less predicable. Then why exiciting? How to find a really interesting, trully original photographers here amonogst too much excelent photographers? Highest ratings, best visted? Forget it