Opera Society, Sorrento, Italy 1986

Beautiful pictures I like No 1 and No 2 for their originality, and there is something in the motive and composition of No 3 & 4 that reminds you of old master paintings.

Bill, This is an excellent photo!! Very Rockwell like. The color and deep tones are beautiful and I think it is even framed well. I don't think I've given out more than a few 10s but here ya go. Best to you, --Dave

Amazing lighting and perfect exposure. Looks like a painting by a master!

that any better photograph would be possible at this place ... ?

As I see it, I realize how foolish it is to describe a photo with words.

Congratulations on your masterpiece !

Onthe "painterly" theme, I think it's your exposures which are so spot on. They make the scenes you have captured so convincing.

This picture is spot on. It captures the moment in a way that is so special it's beyond words. What makes it so special, to me, is that you really used the background to enhance the subjects. Composition is perfect.

I upped my rating on this picture after revisiting it. It's gratifying to come across a photograph that doesn't require (or supply) instant gratification. It grows on me.

I love the look of Kodachrome and you use it perfectly. What it has over the current E6 films is that beautiful vivid color palette, but tempered with a good rendering of pastels. What a shame Kodak let this film...and particularly it's processing...fall by the wayside.

Please post more.

WoW!! It does grow on you. The more I look, the more I see....and feel. There's depth, texture, richness, emotion. Perfect.

My first thought when I saw this also was "This looks like a painting!" Well, half the frame IS a painting! That being said, once I covered up the top half of the frame on my monitor, the lighting and poses still looked like a painting to me. Beautifully done! Great eye!

Stunning.

Bill, I think this is a wonderful and unusual photograph. Superb light, and a quietly interesting setting and people, as if from another time. The quality of the light and the warm tones remind me of some of the Dutch masters! As Tony said, this is a picture that draws one back, and I too have come back many times to it.

 

But there is one thing that always bothers me and prevents it from being a masterpiece in my mind. And that is the man whose back we see in the foreground with the bright beige sweater. At the level of composition, because of its size, brightness and position on the intersection of thirds lines, this sweater becomes the primary focal point of the picture, instead of the standing, mustachioed man to whom all the sight lines lead. Worse, the man's sweater, which looks much more modern and casual than most of the other clothes, breaks the mood of the picture.

 

Please pardon me for messing with such a wonderful picture, but I have attached the result of some burning in and desaturation of this sweater. The sweater remains a focal point, but I think now it is secondary and complimentary. To my eye, this improves the photograph. I won't say significantly, since it is already great, but enough to be worth doing.

 

(By the way, does anyone know how you just make a link to an attachment rather than embedding it? I see this on other comments, and would prefer to do this, but I can't figure out how.)

My thanks for all of the comments thus far, especially all the gushing.

 

Brian: shocked as I am that you would mess with a masterpiece, you are quite right - the guy is more dominant than he should be (and his feet have always seemed out of place in a couple of ways). You have induced me to provide a revised version of this image, darkening the sweater following your suggestion and that of Morwen below as well as lightening the upper wall area at the suggestion of Tony Dummett. (This is also an opportunity to try out an embedded hyperlink).

Painting-like quality... very beautiful color... lighting is just perfect...

As if another comment was needed, what seems to "make" this photograph is the architecture and the seemingly high, single-source lighting which is soft. Put this same group in a more modern office or meeting room and it's a different mood completely. It looks like a old painting for sure since that building was probably around back then. As for "Mr. Sweater"...tell him there's a call for him in the lobby next time. Very nice!

The only surprise about this picture being chosen POW is that is wasn't chosen sooner ... The benefit of the delay is that it arrives with a well-developed discussion in place.

 

I second, or third, or fourth, the accolades for the painterly quality of the shot. I think you've grabbed a great moment too -- everyone's attention is focused in one place -- one man is gesturing emphatically. The stage is nicely set for the viewer's importation of a story.

I agree that the light and color are great. But without the caption I wouldn't have much of an idea what was going on. To me, the vantage point of the photograper seems too removed and the heads are too small to infer what kind of exchange is taking place. I can't really get into the scene.

 

I think some cropping off the bottom would help a lot, and perhaps a touch off the top.

Good choice for POW. Congrats to Bill!

 

This must have not been an easy shot, considering the low lights condition and the sensivity of the film.

 

His portfolios are a collection of lessons in photography: in color and composition, his a Master...

The fellow in the yellow sweater in his foregrounded position and resulting large scale is evocative of myself as the viewer, and thus draws me into the image. His bared heels remind me of the origins of opera in Italy as a shared class pursuit, and draw me even further into the moment. Then I begin to wonder if what I am looking at is a group of workers, having nothing to do with the contemporay (North American) use of the word opera. At that point, he becomes one of the unemployed and an outsider, clearly understood by his separateness from the darker figures in the background and a juxtaposition to the red sweater.

 

If this image is strictly a compositional and technical exercise it can be critiqued at those levels, but it expresses so much more. To second guess the viewer is perhaps to diminish its strength.

Words are useless in this case. 2x10.

Nothing more to say but, "thanks".

Beautiful Renaissance appearance. I took a look at your portfolio - it's amazing! As Néstor Botta mentioned it here above, you are a Master. Thank you for sharing your work with us (you're right Michael Collins). For this one, a double 10.

Your photo of the week has prompted me to take a journey through your entire collection and I can say without reservation that it's the best I've seen on this site. Many thanks for sharing with us.

A very painterly and artfully done photograph.The color is beautiful and exposure perfect.I really like the areas in deep shadow and the quality of the light in the room.There is also a feeling of drama of sorts being played out by the gestures and posture of some of the men.Exellent!

Yes. I agree that this photo says a lot. I only think that the guy on the foreground is distracting. I would prefer if he wasn't there.