single photos Ocean of Togetherness #4 (please view larger)

PN did not permit myself to upload any more photos any longer because

I had not extended my subscription... I got a message I had to write

(more) comments instead in order to collect sufficient credit points

or so to be eligible (again) to upload more... Actually, I did not

want to extend my subscription, because there are much better

platforms of this kind out there than this one. I think, I wrote

several hundreds of or even more than one thousand comments here over

the last year - not a good policy at all, PN! Have extended my account

by paying the 25 bucks now, but I do not like this at all as well as

several other annoying developments addressed by several excellent

photographers which are constantly ignored. The only reason why I

changed my mind was to stay in better contact and enjoy discussions

with some fellow photographers here a bit more conveniently.

I am trying to decide on weather there is to much negarive space in the foreground in this image, I love the colour cast and I like the balance between the boat and the treetop, however i am in 2 minds on the amount of foreground, would love to see a crpped version with a 50 / 50 split in sea and sky.

Beautiful work, I like it, Volker!

With best regards,

Ruud.

Lovely Volker, and I am glad the image is a calm reference point. I see and feel your frustration. I have wondered about many of the same things as many others have. And yet we would miss the comraderie of our simple conversations that demonstrate the 'togetherness' we feel in each other's company. Many of us, are ocean's apart, yet we bond, and connect. If we didn't feel this 'connection', we would not meet here so often. Perhaps we are an 'Ocean of Togetherness', searching for a more calm and simplistic way of communicating, without all the rules that try to 'define' us. We pay our Subscription fee, and step out and comment on so many who we never, ever hear a reply from, yet they remain.

Wouldn't it be nice if things were as they are in your compositon, coexisting, aware of each other's presence, and drawn to communicate by each others' LIGHT. And the distance inbetween is a ocean  of 'calm' and 'serenity' just as it is in your Composition. Lovely, highly regarded work, thankyou for sharing your thoughts with us this morning. Most respectfully, Gail

Dear Gail,

I'm delighted by your message, thanks so much. Very encouraging, and I'm grateful to you, as always, for your esteemed analysis of this image.

I was actually thinking of you and some other friends here while extending my subscription... ;-) 

Look forward to staying in touch and seeing more great photos of you!

Best wishes, Volker

Thanks a lot for your comments, Richard and Ruud.

Richard: thanks a lot for your thoughts, I do understand - hence, I'm going to produce and upload a cropped version a bit later.

I maintained the seemingly "empty" foreground, however, intentionally, and also added then the strong vignetting effect intentionally - I like minimalist landscapes and some special effects there a lot sometimes. Here, the gradient among / of darker and lighter blueish hues is intended to be the very only (minimalist) image element in the foreground, just to produce / enhance a feeling of vastness and solitude...

very good photo.

the emptiness and minimalistic approach works well here. cropping is a good idea but results a very different image. in my opinion the best would be to placing the foreground bush closer to the bottom, which i suppose it was not possible in the field. anyway, superb tones and the elegance and mood came out nicely.

you're right about annoying features and behaviour of PN - I also don't quite understand all their policies and why some things aren't solved smarter or simpler. Yet, somehow, here I find (compared other photo-sharing sites) more frequently interesting discussions on photos.

Like here about the foreground: Like Richard I feel a bit uneasy about empty foreground. But, I get your idea. And I think it works because the composition is not 'strictly' harmonious. If the branches were positioned nearer to lower edge (exact counterpart of ship) we'd probably find the photo more pleasant - but: less "empty", less disturbing.

Regardless of debatable foreground, I like simplicity of compostion and colours. In fact I visited the Baltic Sea in spring as well and took some similar photos (great minds think alike ;-)) - yet in my case I could only find a boulder for the foreground, which turned out to be a bit heavy compared to the ship...

cheers, Wolfgang

This one is poetry for the eye!

This is awesome, I love the vignetting and colour gradation, personally I wouldnt change a thing unless you intend to produce an additional alternative version, but for me this is as close ot perfect as you can get. Wonderful minimilistic image with the 2 focal points placed strategically for optimum viewing pleasure.

Best Regards

Alf