music / musicians / instruments Colorful Violinists in B/W.....

It is an open concert  in the north of the country (Yechiam castle)cold but colorful music created  in the barroque eraand played  by the the  wonderful  Barrocade ensemble.

Thanks for viewing.

They float with their instruments and the Baroque music -- delightful!  Each face so concentrated , the bows seem to dance.  Lovely! The b&w presents this well, eloquently

A beautiful shot with very nice lighting, Pnina!

With best regards,

Ruud.

The strong geometric of the bows is lovely and gives a sense of rhythm to the piece.

Pnina, I agree that the rhythm of this is superb, with the various angles of the instruments, bows and the tilts of their profiles. I love how the darkness surrounds everything except the area between their hands and their heads. 

good tones and composition. BW was a good choice.

Very lovely photo indeed, Pnina... Perfectly rendered in B&W. I like the slight 'fan-shaped' composition of the image, which is enhanced by the vertical & diagonal bows of the instruments, as well as the lit contour of music paper on the stand, at the bottom of the photo... 

Donna ,Ruud , Jeff, Tony, Meir, and Marjolein,It was interesting to read  your impressions of this one, as it was not easy to find the split of a second of all 4 of them together....Thanks again.

Beautiful musical shot, Pnina, with the three violinist opening like a flower. In my eyes the fourth, on the extreme right is  not adding to the composition, but the split of a second does not permit to make much of a choice. Well done Pnina.

Fantastic!!

This is an impressive image, Pnina. Fantastic rhythm of the instruments, very well positioned portraits and excellent dof. Great work!

I'll echo the positive comments that came before mine.  This my favourite of your three most recent posts mainly, and I agree with Meir, because of your decision to present in B&W.  You chose well in focusing primarily on the left most violinists, while the others, still important to the composition, are allowed to go 'soft'.  Sharp focus on the third musician from the left would also have been acceptable, I think, because of the clearer & uncluttered path to his face.  Lots of wiggle room here to produce a fine photo of this group.  Love it when there is more than one winning option.  Best, LM.

 Anders, thanks for your visit and comment, you may be right about the 4th violinist but photographing in the middle of a concert..you have only one  angle to photo from, and another reason is that  in this group of musicians there are 4 violinist and I wanted all 4 of them...and   as you have confirmed,  decisions has  to be taken fast...

Alberto, thanks as well.

Gunnar, thanks for your feedback and liking the composition.

Len ,the light on the stage were nicely "played' with the music on the other two,  and B/W  was better in this one. I also know  that you prefer(usually)  better a  B/W PP than color...;-)) I'm always glad to hear your point of view.

And as a matter of fact all of you.! Thanks again.

Hola Pnina.

Excelente imagen, el momento captado es muy bueno, la luz es fantástica. Te felicito.

Un cordial saludo, Joaquín.

I see this as a very stark presentation. For me, it brings out the intellectual, linear, geometric, clarified aspects of musicianship. The clarity of processing, even with the most prominent and central figure being blurred, does have that "perfect" quality Marjolein mentions. I'm not sure that's a plus for me, given the subject. Unlike Anders, I find the most distant woman the most intriguing, most sensual aspect of the photo. She breaks with the main rhythm a bit and offers me relief from the steadiness of the other three who seem to be so in unison and almost immovable. That fourth player, seemingly off in her own world yet obviously tied to the other three, provides counterpoint, IMO, though I do miss the end of her bow. (By the way, the title doesn't work as far as how I see the picture. Some black and white work does capture the color of the scene or the moment. This kind of black and white, though impressive in its technical achievement, is not terribly colorful to me. As I said, I find it more stark, more linear or geometric, than colorful.)

Joaquin, thanks for your comment, I understood what you have written. ;-))

Fred ,thanks for writing your impressions and  as always well explained.

I will start with the title  as I think that the color of the scene are especially their hands differences that are the counterpoint to the bows. And even though you find it stark, when I have converted it to B/W I still saw the colors in the forms of their hands,( despite  the bows geometric forms) .As  we have discussed it in the past, for me the title is part of my feeling/art of the scenes, so this is the title.

Another point is the way they were seating on the stage, not a straight line but a semi circle, so my angle was closer to the first one and the second  while the middle and the  4th one were quite far away ( despite seating one near the other.). The light was harsh and not even and the B/W was better showing the angles of the scene.

 The 4th bow was not seen well but  my feeling was that the  diagonal  note book was like a "replacement"of it,( low RHS), as an  eye leading ....

Change of movement as you know in a concert were a fraction of a second and all my calculations were when I PP the scene.

(Just for your information as I know you like,  and listen to music, it was in the north of the country,open air concert, in a castle.Hard condition, great concert....)

Pnina, excellent shot in all respects. Choice  of tone is in concert with the classical nature of the image.

Wonderful photo; I love how the focus wanes from left to right. Great tones. I could listen to an orchestra perform for hours on end. I miss being able to hear my children perform so this image holds both sadness and happiness; bittersweet for me. Very well done. Thank you for sharing. :)

I can't imagine playing my violin seated this close to my colleagues......don't know how they managed that.  :-)  But for photographic purposes it's fantastic!  This is a wonderful shot with beautiful B&W tones.  I didn't see the color version, but I'm sure I prefer the B&W.  I love how the tip of the 2nd violinist's bow is above all else, creating an arched shape from which both sides cascade down.  It's a very strong image. 

No, I haven't disappeared into the ether, at least not yet. Just another of those periodic creative energy outages that seem to feed on themselves. Now I find myself plunging back into the fray and will post some new pictures soon.

This is a strong photo. I especially like the angles of the bows which serve to give this picture a sense of animation and forward movement, almost a mini-film strip. If I were to make one suggestion it would be to crop a centimeter or so off the top, giving the picture a tighter, more horizontal orientation.

 Amal, thanks for all  your nice comments and feedback!

Trisha, thanks for your nice comment, I don't know why you can not listen to your children, but I hope it will be possible one day in the future.

 Christal, thanks, the concert was  an open air one, in the upper galilee in a  castle yard.the stage was small and it was quite cold but a lot of people coming for it. so  in order to have all of them on the stage with the instruments they were seating in a semy circle. I think that because of my angle it looks crowded but I think that they have  more space than it looks on the photo's angle.

Jack! so glad to read you and see you again at my work.!I think that your sugestion has merit and I tried it and still I liked the photo as is. My gut feeling needed the extra upper space . but  it is real good to hear your  point of view.

I can't listen to my children perform live anymore because they don't live near me. I can listen to their CDs though; just no live orchestral performances but maybe one day that will be possible again. Due to health reasons, my daughter has recently moved back in with me and maybe when she is feeling strong enough I'll be able to hear her play again.    Take care, Trisha