Silent Passage (Click for larger view)

There was numerous elements out of the frame that dictated the

composition for this one. Yes I know.....It's all wrong .........yet I find I

like it.

Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated. Thank You.

Another beautiful composition through your lens, Alf.  Well done.

I like this, not only for it's technical quality but also as a surprising visual puzzle.  First impression (yeah, I'm warped) is that a grazing boat has found it's way to a fog shrouded pasture ;-), although further examination reveals the reflectiions on the quiet lake.  Good stuff, thanks for sharing...  Mike

Very interesting image.  Technically well captured, yet a very puzzling view, requiring extra attention.  I think it is the fence that gives my mind the twist.  My brain does not expect a fence to transverse a body of water, particularly if it is green, and a mirror of, the surrounding countryside.  This all makes this a very clever image.  I too like it a lot.  Thank you for sharing.  Best regards...

-Dave

A fine image and as Mike has already mentioned, a  real visual  feast.

I couldn't help not downloading it when I wondered what it would look like at in lower light so I  dumped about half of the brightness.  Downright ethereal!

Thanks

Controversial and debatable image, many extraordinary subject, the pace of the fence which is in a very beauty status, boat and the line of the fog, water transparency.

For me I don't see except charm and appeal.

Alf,

  Wonderful image with great composition & reflection.  Take care, Patsy

Many Thanks for your thoughts and interest, much appreciated.

Although the composition doesn't conform to what is generally considered as correct, it does have a certain appeal I think.

Best Regards

Alf

MIKE M

Warped is good........I can appreciate warped : - )

The fence really does present a puzzle at first glance.  But the fences are so erected so that the sheep don't just walk away when the Lake becomes low. The composition is all wrong ......but the result is strangely appealing I think.

Many Thanks Mike!

Alf

DAVE

It is a bit disorientating when viewed intially. Once the little puzzle is solved it becomes more attractive. The fences are so erected so that the sheep don't just walk away when the Lake becomes low.

Glad you liked this one Dave.

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

STEVE

Many Thanks for your thoughts and observations.  I will definately have a dabble at errm dumping some of the brightness........sounds like the results looked good!

Cheers Steve!

Alf

MUSEEB

It is a bit controversial I suppose, particularly in terms of composition, but as I think you agree, the results are appealing.

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

PATSY

Many Thanks for your thoughts and kind words, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

What a well seen and well captured image!  The mystery unravels the more you view this extraordinary photo.  Where did you shoot this?

-Lynne

Hi Alf,

Under these conditions, the use of F/8 provides that "Painting" appearance.

Nice presentation.

Best Regards, Mike

I am sure you know that I cannot wait to take on that statement, “It’s all wrong…”

I would love to see an attitudinal change in thinking about photography. But I won’t. I wish that photographs could be approached for what they say as they are rather than trying to fit them into some supposed niche. I used to call them conventional wisdoms but I have decided they really are more like conventional impediments. I say that especially about this photograph because there is absolutely noting wrong with it as it is.

Okay, maybe it doesn’t tell the story you would like to have told—that of course is a problem. But the story that it does tell is interesting. It has what I call the Alf Bailey signature—incongruity.

This is reality as fantasy and sometimes reality is more fanciful than fantasy, as in this case. This is a photograph that at first glance is simply verisimilitude—the appearance of reality. Very quickly the viewer is jarred with the fact that there is something very wrong with that reality—there is a boat in what seems should be a meadow, and it is floating on a cloud. Even on close scrutiny I cannot ascertain that there is water at all. (On reading the comments I see this is a lake but there is no firm visual evidence of that; of course one can assume that for fog there must be water and therefore a lake. That is logic. Visual art is not logic. If you make it logic it loses much of its magic.) The boat is incongruous. The fog is incongruous. Both shake our sense of reality. To me that makes a very interesting visual statement—it also makes a very interesting statement about the photographer and the photographer’s vision. Both of which I would consider successful, complimentary.

Please forgive me if I am wrong but it seems that probably the first photographs of yours that I commented on was a lake, mountains in the background and a row of rocks just beyond the shoreline. I could be wrong about that. Anyway in that photograph I talked about the barrier created by the rocks disturbed the viewer’s entrance into the photograph. However, in the rocks there were openings so the barrier became a comma; it slowed down the eye movement into the image rather than stopped it. In this photograph the barrier, the fence, goes all the way across the image. There is no opening for the viewer to easily pass through. However, the photographs are very, very different. In the scenic the lines flowed toward the distant mountains so it was evident that what was beyond the rocks was important for the viewer to take in. The row of rocks was not a detriment but the photograph would have been easier to enter visually were they arranged differently. Here the fence totally separates the foreground, the viewer, from the scene. But here all the lines flow horizontally, not deep into the image. Horizontal lines are calm, peaceful. To me it is like saying, this side is reality, that side is unreal, dreamlike—a pleasant, calm, but definitely unrealistic dream of a boat floating on a cloud in a meadow. There is nothing in the dream that is disturbing, not even exciting, it just has the potential for lying back to to calmly enjoy. Possibility like a dream when you cross over to wakefulness (the fence) the dream ceases and most likely soon passes from consciousness. The fence is saying, take care; stop, do not disturb this peaceful unreality. Let’s see where it is going to take us; what will be the adventure just beyond the frame. Even the slant of the fence from left to right seems to be pushing the viewer backwards, being even more protective, more emphatic not to cross, not to disturb.

Like so many of your photographs, I think this is one heck of a shot. I am always amazed by your abilities to be present at and to have the presence of mind to record these happenings.

Of course you break one more of the conventional impediments: the boat is moving out of the frame rather into it. Isn’t that the way it is with dreams? The good ones are much too short and much too soon forgotten. Are you absolutely certain this is not a mirage?

Alf, For some reason I'd always a later comer to your images.  This one is most unique.  That's its high point to me.  I had to look at it several times to realize this is a house boat, correct?   Great mood and composition.  You can always be counted on for insightful and artistic images.  The fence is a highlight that helps to frame the image.  Many of us, I included, might be inclined to do whatever possible to eliminate the fence.  So, you also have a lesson to shard on composition.  Thanks.  Nice to visit you here.  Best as always. Larry

This was taken at my beloved area of the UK known as the Lake District, Cumbria the lake in question being known as "Ullswater" shortly after dawn.

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words Lynne.

Best Regards

Alf

MIKE

Thank You!

I wanted to ensure the fence and the boat were in sharp focus, hence the F8 setting.  Though its possible I could have achived it with F5.6

Cheers Mike!

Alf

GARY

It is always a great pleasure to read your reviews, and not to sound too patronising, a real honour.

I do remember your last review on my image "Veils of Derwent" with the row of rocks in the foreground.

Now I am quite certain that your words did not fall on stoney ground, because at one time I would have dismissed this image as "wrong" without posting it.  I like to think that these days I like images because they please me or interest me, and not because they fit into some pre-determined pattern.

Your description of the photography "rules" as visual impediments, is probably very accurate.  But I think there are those prohibitive taboo things that must or must not be done that are hard to shake, and which therefore shape the images we take, albeit even if only a subconscious level.

Of course the "fantasy" aspect of the image was not immediately apparent to me. I was there after all with water at my feet and the boat a long way in the distance, I could see the bigger picture, yet chose to isolate the boat beyond the fence from the tree lined shore (which was to the right) to create the floating in the mist effect.

It was only after I read the comments from Mike (MLM) that it become increasingly apparent that the image created something of an illusion. Mikes observations were very similar your own, in that the boat appears to have drifted into a meadow.  The only firm visual evidence that there could be of the boat being in water (albeit not at first glance) is the reflection of the mast, which again its different when you know its there.

I very much like your interpretation of the fence being the boundary between reality and dreamland. It makes for fascinating reading and I found myself nodding my head numerous times in agreement.

The one "conventional impediment" that I was acutely aware of, was the one you mentioned "the boat moving out of the frame rather than into it"

But I did manage to overcome my misgivings and found myself liking the result anyway.

And yes, that is most certainly the way with dreams, fleeting moments not quite fathomable, whispers not quite heard, secrets not yet told.

I'm not sure I can take the credit for having the foresight to create the illusion aspects of the image, but I will most definately take a bow for being up at 2.00 am and travelling for over 2 hours to arrive in time for dawn : - )

Just one more thing to add as a matter of interest and for the avoidance of doubt. The image is not cropped in any way, what can be seen here, is exactly the way I saw it through the viewfinder.

No, it was most definately not a mirage, it was a dream of a morning though, but alas it didn't last, the sun burned off the mist, the traffic increased as did the people activivies, and it was time for me to go home.

It has been an absolute pleasure to read your thoughts and observations, the level of explanatory content goes way beyond what I expect.

My Sincere Thanks

Alf

Always a great pleasure to hear from you!

It does appear to be a house boat, but if I'm honest I'm not at all sure. There appears to be an outboard motor at the stern, though I'm not sure what conclusions can be drawn from that either : -)

The inclination to eliminate the fence is what Gary above would refer to as "conventional impediments" that is to say, the photographic "rules" that can sometimes influence us to an extent that may detract from what is possible to achieve. (Gary please feel free to correct me if I have misinterpreted your comments in any way)

Many Thanks for your thoughts and observations Larry.

Best Regards

Alf

A really beautiful result with impressive lighting, Alf!

Alf, I believe you read me correctly. The conventional wisdoms: the rule of thirds, placement of the center of interest, placement of the horizon, looking or moving out of rather than into the image, etc. These wisdoms are an aid to beginning photographers but when they hang around they become impediments to our vision. They rely on logic and art is not logical. And yes they are extremely difficult to lay aside. I would love to see them banished but they won’t be.

Had you listened to the adages about lead in lines, or oh my gosh, the one about not having a fence across the foreground, you might not have taken the photograph or might not have processed it. A great loss either way. There is no such thing as good photographic technique, nor as bad photographic technique. There is only technique that is applied appropriately or in appropriately. It is the fence in this photograph that, IMO, makes the photograph; that encourages the imagination to take wing. Well, that and the fact that what is actually a lake appears to be a meadow or pasture—an illusion that is given creditability, again, by the fence. The fence totally rewrites this photograph. It makes what would be simply be an interesting curiosity, the early morning fog, into a fantasy for the imagination.

Many times when photographing, the subconscious tells us something is right long before we bring it to consciousness. From your comments I feel that is what happened here. You liked the image but you had not formalized that consciously. Sometimes it is there to be discovered later. Too often at the time of conception we are much too drawn to the verisimilitude—the appearance of reality in photography—capturing the scene realistically. Actually all photographs are illusions. Or as Susan Sontag said, surrealistic. Later, sometimes much later we become aware of the serendipity of the photograph—what the subconscious was telling us was right all along. This photograph is every bit as serendipitous as was the Thief and His Furry Companion or the deer tiptoeing across the path. You are remarkably adept at finding serendipity or as I called it earlier, incongruity with your photography. I am very, very envious of that talent. Then again, 2am, I just don't know.... Kidding, you are to be respected and lauded for that dedication to your art. It shows in what you post and in the following that you have on this site.

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words.

Best Regards

Alf

GARY

Yes, these rulesare the baby walker for the tottering photographer, the word "rules" should never be employed to describe thier usage, and even "guidelines" will lead many to grasp these concepts and never let go. One wise photographer told me "You have to know the rules (that word again) in order that you know how and when to break them.  I think he might have a point.

Yes, put plainly I suppose some things just look right, and the fence through the viewfinder looked right.

I enjoyed reading your views about there being no such thing as a good or bad photographic technique, its a view that seems to exhude tolerance, it leaves everything open, more flexible and therefore possible.

Which leads me to the very unyielding and opposing views of the Science V Art extremists.

Though what either end of the extreme lobbyists don't seem to appreciate, is that one drives the other. The Illusions or photographs we produce is essentially the art, the means by which they are produced is the science. The desire to improve the art, is directly linked to the desire to improve the equipment that is used to produce it.

Serendipity is an interesting element of a photograph, I see a great deal of it in street photography, but the chance encounters are far less frequent in landscapes and nature, and I think that when they do present themselves, they are that much more enjoyable to view.

Thank you once again for your insightful comments, I think we could have long conversations about this and related topics.

Alf

I always try to 'process' the image in my own mind before reading any of the reviews, and it took me awhile to figure out this image.  But I agree with the many comments stated above.  I find it amazing that in all of the pea-soup fog that there is still a reflection present.  That is the only indication that this is on water, not a meadow.  Well, that, and perhaps the fence.  I think the fence is integral to the image.  If nothing else, the dark posts create a balance to the image.  Now I'd like to know if you did anything special because of the fog......any special polarizer, filter, etc?  I haven't shot in fog much, but you obviously get a lot of opportunities over there.  I have to get to the Lake District one day....I've heard it's beautiful.

Many Thanks for your thoughts and as always great feedback!

It is perhaps one of the most puzzling images I have taken. But of course not to me, as i was privvy to the surroundings.

It may sound strange but there are all types of different fog / mist with thickness and light that vary immensely.

In this case the mist is at its thickest as it rises from the water and the vapour occurs due to the temperature difference between water and air.

I think my original intention was to create a balance with the fence.

I always think a misty image becomes more interesting when there is a solid kind of foreground object that can anchor the image, I think the viewer then gets a greater impression of the depth of image and the sense of the gradually diminishing visibility.

I did nothing special at all when taking the photograph, though I do find that F5.6 seems to work well in foggy conditions with my particular equipment.

I didn't do anything special in processing either, just a bit of sharpening and a very slight amount of saturation.

One thing I have realised when taking shots of fog and mist, is that less is definately more in terms of processing.  I learned this the hard way by effectively processing out the very element that I wanted to capture, the mist itself.

Don't be tempted to increase contrast and shading, or if you do, make sure you proceed with caution and try and use contrast selectively.

You would love the Lake District, it is indeed beautiful, it has inspired countless famous writers and poets, and continues to inspire me, and I dare say many other photographers to return time after time to try and capture its splendour.

I'd be glad to show you some of my favourite places should you ever be a visitor to our little island : - )

Cheers Christal!

Alf

I agree withal the above comments, another very fine image that adds a little mystery as well, according to my imagination...Keep inspiring us Alf!  Cheers!

Well my critique is going to be way too short, and much simpler I'm afraid :-O! Because I'd seen the other boat image already, I knew whereof this boat was (in water) but shrouded by fog. Yet in the thumbnail version, I agreed right away with M LM.  I was so intrigued to click on the image and make it larger!!! I am so glad that the fence was there!!  So many minds have been stimulated by this image Alf. What a delight. I don't have any grand philosophical visions or thoughts re the image (wish I did). But I do have to say that this image does take the viewer to many  places in the imagination. No trickery here, just the wonderful imagery of Alf Bailey and that wonderful places he seeks out when time permits. A magical image on what I imagine was a 'magical day'!! Exceptional Alf! 

Always beautiful!!

Cheers.

Having studied the image, had a gut reaction to this beautiful image and the fence, and then I read all of the comments and I knew immediately that I could not possibly add anything to the discussion so I will be succinct; "Very nice and keep up the good work".

beautiful image, where floating elements gently assert themselves.

Great capture and presentation -- all what I can say!