Sunset, Albemarle County, Rte 708 #0827581

ok, so did you think the headlights were the sun? (It's ok to admit you

were fooled). Seriously...You thought they were the sun, right?

OK..OK..OK....yes..I thought it was the sun! Nice work! Doug.

Didn't I comment on this last night? Or yesterday afternoon? Anyway, I still like it; for all the same reasons. Cheers! Chris

Yep, I thought it was the sun. This is an image that would never occur to me (too much happening at speed) but I really like it. I particularly like the ominous sky and stark silhouettes of the trees.

Thanks Doug, Chris and Jeff,

 

Chris, you did, but this is a different image. I posted the other one because it tricked me into thinking it was the better picture. Jeff, I agree. I was shooting the scene and a car came through, so I paused until it passed. As it was driving through, I noticed it made the picture a lot better, so I waited for another one and shot it as it continued through the frame. Turns out, it was a dump truck. The lights at its earliest position were the best, although it took printing the next frame for me to realize that. In other words, I selected the second frame (the one that Chris commented on,still in this folder) and printed it, then began to question it, and finally settled on this, the first frame. Thanks for your comments.

Well, let's be blunt: I just have no interest in this, Doug. Sorry. Ok, I see a "dusky atmosphere well capture as such, but nothing ain't hapening in there, and I get no feelings either from what I see.

 

I saw the other similar picture: same thing. Let's assume this was a valid subject - why not after all ! -, then I guess a road going down (and straight) would result in the car lights actually lighting the road a bit. Then, if you accept the idea to over-expose a little (+1 or 1.5 or so) and to have blown car lights, then suddenly you start seeing the surroundings very slightly. I think I'd prefer that. JUST the shine of car lights and not much else doesn't speak to me. (I'm not easily moved by landscapes and such, as you know, so it may well be my own miss, but I can only describe what I see or don't see. Regards.

Marc, there's a little bit of detail lost in the photonet upload, so I'll try to rescrint and repost it so you can get a better idea of what's going on, but the simple truth is that you need to look at it bigger. How many megabytes can your email handle. Fifty? Fifty would really impress you, I'm sure.

 

This is a perfect example of why print size matters. And for that matter film or capture size as well. I'm also glad to see that Mark is still himself and that we can still discuss these things based on what we think instead of just complimenting each other's work without offering any insights into what makes it work for us.

 

I think that what you are trying to show us is pretty much lost in a jpg of this size. Most landscapes seem to be based primarily on warm color tones and that is what attracts most viewers to them at first glance. This falls into a different category and is more of a reach for the casual viewer, which certainly does not apply to any of the great photographic minds here.

 

This photograph reminds me of my Winter commute, many years ago when I was living in Virginia. My route would take me through the dwindling area of former farms being taken over by ugly apartment complexes created to house yuppies working across the river in Washington, D.C. So in other words, this has some emotional or nostalgic feeling for me above and beyond the perceived technical considerations. I like it a lot even though it brings to mind a very weary feeling. As a matter of fact I feel pretty weary to begin with. Maybe I'm coming down with something.

 

The bottom line is that you need to be showing these in a brick and mortar gallery instead of on the web and I need to get more sleep.

Good to see Dennis posting here ! Especially this part was fun to read: "I'm also glad to see that Mark is still himself and that we can still discuss these things based on what we think instead of just complimenting each other's work without offering any insights into what makes it work for us." Indeed, the non-congratulatory corners are getting tighter and tighter year after year...:-) Anyway, hi Dennis, and welcome back.

 

Yeah, surely size matters - paraphrasing Doug I'd say "because Godzilla said so". :-) But unfortunately, my email can only take 10 MB. How do you get a 50 MB file of this picture by the way. Besides that, feel free to email me a jpeg of just a portion of the pix that would fit within the 10MB limit.

Dennis, you are too kind, and quite amusing when you're suffering sleep deprivation. It's good to see you around, and your points are spot on.

Marc, I'll post something different here, and/or possibly send you something in the mail, too, or plant a huge file somewhere on the web for download, but I don't expect that will change your mind too much. If there's nothing for you here right now, any extra work is not likely to make much difference.

 

And, quite honestly, there's not a whole lot there to begin with, since it was very dark there amongst all the trees and clouds. What Dennis is saying is important, though, that some pictures just don't work so well on the web, while others do. I think this picture will appeal to people who like purple, and also to people who get a kick out of those headlights mimicing the setting sun.

Above is a very hasty adjustment, showing that tiny bit of difference. As I said, there's not much there to begin with. I won't claim a masterful zone placement of shadows here, but I will say I'm not unhappy with the lack of detail. I believe there's enough to see that there's a road, and that's all that's necessary to make everything fit.

Doug if you are sending a big file, I'd like to see it too. JPG really doesn't do justice to just about anything. You should see 39MP in the flesh and then on a screen, it makes me weep.

 

Anyway, I use www.yousendit.com to send big files or just upload them to my .mac account.

Well, guys, Check your email, but I want to brace your for disappointment because the (psuedo) issue here, from my view, is not one of detail, but of size. There's next to nothing in those shadows, which makes this more of a silhouette. You'll see a little more streak of road, but that's about it.