"Energy"

Thank you for your impressions. The Larger view brings it to life!

nice capture. like the use of the oil derrick.

Thanks Mark for taking some time. Well, I have presented a large number of oil derrick images to the PN crowd. By and large, they just don't think they are worth a flip. Yesterday, I saw an image in the "daily sampling of members work" collection of a single swan on a lake. The sky was quite bland and the swan looked very suspicious, as if it were slapped into place by "photoshop' method. As for composition, it was much the same as this, a single subject placed off center in the lower portion of the image. OK, so we have a single oil derrick backed by a dramatic and tumultuous sky and a single "questionable" swan floating on a lake backed by an otherwise average blue-gray sky. The soft and grainy swan gets nothing but accolades and high numbers while the oil derrick can barely muster anything over 4. You see, it has nothing to do with my technique. I am just pointing my camera at an unpopular subject. If I chose a more popular subject, I could get higher marks for originality. That's how it works. Choose what everybody thinks is "pretty" to raise your acceptance. Tomorrow, I need to go out and find a dew covered butterfly. Then maybe I will be on the lookout for a horse in a meadow. Those subjects get the ratings! They are certainly original!

Mark... Your "derek" has too many clothes on to attract viewers :-).... Fabulous sky... Mike

 

 

PN is a funny animal, Mark. Having been here for a while now, I think that it is better than anywhere else that I know of. The recent shots that I have posted are being received with solid indifference but I still get enough feedback to make it worth my time. One decent review by someone who actually knows what they are doing beats the hell out of any number of 'Wow, great shot' comments.

 

Having waffled away, I like this but it doesn't grab me like your previous derrick series, which I did like. I suspect it is because the derrick is so small as to lose the impact of the earlier images.

I like a small derrick! Its size and the fairly empty foreground are perfect foils for that magnificent sky. That's a sky do die for, in fact I want it playing at my funeral! It all works so well. Did I mention that I love the sky?

Mark, I wouldn't worry too much about the response from the PN crowd; it is what it is. You should know by now, and I'm sure that you do, that your photography is some of the finest presented here. You are a true artist behind the camera. This image, while not perhaps your finest creation, is certainly very, very beautiful and very 'Bakersfieldian.' It depicts the great beauty that can be found in, what some consider as, the mundane southern half of the great Central Valley of California. What I love about your work, Mark; is that, time and time again, you present a side of the world around you in a way that most of us never see. Keep it up, Amigo, you are on a roll. Cheers! Chris

Thanks Mike, Jeff, Peter and Chris for stopping by. Guess a little angst needed to get out of me. Mike, if my wife ever caught me taking photos of naked oil derricks, goodbye camera. Jeff, I actually agree with you, I probably set the derrick too far to the left. My attempt was to render it less significant, the sky was my focus. Peter, so do you like the sky? Chris, I know how it goes. The popular show in Las Vegas is either Barry Manilow or Celine Dion, not at all for me. I like George Winston performing solo Piano at any small theatre where I can watch his fingers moving across the keyboard. I have and always will be a nonconformist. Thanks again all!

Hello Mark, I read all the comments above and here is my 2 cents...

I dont find any flaws in this composition, distance derrickf/camera and the rendered intention of the photographer. This photo creates the mood you are after.

The orange contrasted by the blue is superb!

What a gorgeous dramatic sky and landscape.

Very well done!

 

As for the ratings, we know what they mean and it is the same in each photo sites. Not much value.

 

Once I stopped posting my photos for ratings, only for critiques. But there is a problem with PN, your photos get in oblivion as they are not displayed in the top rated galleries nor in the random image feature. So when people want to search photos, they are not displayed.

 

So now I have to post my photos for critiques and ratings to have them seen by most of the PN crowd. But I don't put too much attention on the ratings. I want comments/critiques.

I did an update in my intro page about this.

 

Well I hope that I have expressed myself clearly and my goal is to tell you not to give to much value on the ratings.

 

Keep posting the type of pictures that you do, you are in my fav list and I like to follow your work.

 

Take care.

Nice shot!

Thanks Yannik and Dr. Didi. Yannik, I have found that the first ratings are likely to be the lowest for some reason. Once the usual crowd discovers your post, the ratings improve. I believe that the masses are not very observant of things truly artistic. There is GOOD music and then there is popular music. There are GOOD photos and there are popular photos. This image is probably good, but it is not memorable I believe. I like to throw them up for ratings and critiques. I actually think the ratings are a good barometer of how good, popular or memorable a photo is. I just have to vent from time to time. Thanks again!