billkantor

The composition works very well. Lines on the floor lead the eye nicely into the image. But my eye wants to see it without the upper and left sides Which I find distract from the strength and the contrast of the silhouette. Tonally this is very interesting as well. Nice work.

Nice work. Well composed and executed.

 

Enjoying the portfolio.

 

Bill

Michael,

 

Thanks for the critique and your kind words.

 

It's a departure from my normal approach. Most of my work is with a large format camera. I've been working recently handheld with a DSLR. It's a new experience and I am trying to not do the same type of work that I would do with the 8x10. When I do similar work with the DSLR, I tend to be disappointed in the lack of clarity by comparison. I'm still not used to the freedom the DSLR offers and my creative vision is not as well developed.

 

Not all experiments are successful. What inspired me here was a Jackson Pollock-like splatter-gram. It helps to see it in larger view. Attached is an even larger image. I find it needs to me about twice this size to come alive for me.

 

Thanks again,

Bill

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Intriguing. Rows of columns of gas tanks. The repeating forms and tones work nicely.

 

Sky is a bit blown out. Perhaps a GND would have solved this (and it would have been worth the trouble since there is something going on there). Did you have the opportunity to get up higher? I'd be tempted to try that and include less or no sky

 

Is this pinhole or Holga?

 

It's a nice image.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Indeed Rodislav.

 

The detail is there in the larger image.

 

Bill

Great work! Of the two, I prefer this one with better FG light. Really nice capture.

 

Bill

Nice work. Nature was kind--put on a fantastic display.

 

I'd try to pull a tad more detail out of the foreground. Maybe not necessary if printed large but in this size it is nice to bring out more texture. I didn't make much of a change here but you can get the idea.

 

Best,

Bill

Johanna,

 

It's a pretty bold and in your face photograph. Nice work. It is improved by being part of the series in this folder.

 

Personally I just don't like the border vignetting effect.

 

Best,

Bill

Really nice image. Captivating. Composition works very well.

 

Technically I find the blown out highlights a problem. Was this an intentional aesthetic decision or just an over exposure?

 

Cheers,

Bill

Audrey,

 

Only use photoshop but I use a method of sharpening that only modifies the edges so I can generally control grain. Also with a darker background it is not so much a problem.

 

Best,

Bill

Nice work. Undoubtedly inspired by the human body studies in your portfolio.

 

The image is intriguing but can be improved by some basic dodging and burning (the background on the right side is distracting) and minor contrast enhancements (it is a little flat). Oh, it also needs some sharpening. (Could have been more in focus when shot but it sharpens up nicely.) See my interpretation attached. One man's opinion of course.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Carsten,

 

Thanks for the tip. I suspect that shooting in RAW would help as well. This was shot in JPG with landscape saturation set at +3 or 4. I have to believe that that can push the colors off the chart.

 

As for the luminous landscape article, I was intrigued and tried replicating their results on their sample. I think I am doing something wrong but I can see the potential of the technique. Thanks for the tip. Something new to learn!

 

Cheers,

Bill

David,

 

Very nice work here. The large rocks echo the cloud forms; hazy surf echos the horizon. Well seen and interpreted.

 

Like Carsten I also thought this was a LF shot (due to the aspect ratio and that I know you shoot 4x5). Nice work also to merge the two images. I'd like to see the original clouds that match the foreground exposure. You know I have a preference for long exposures and motion there too. ;-)

 

Cheers,

Bill

Hi Carsten,

 

You are right. Guilty as charged. It was a hand held grab shot with the 5D MII that I took while setting up the 8 x 10. (Which I have not scanned but will get around to soon.) Nah, the red channel will probably be blown out there too.

 

What would you have done about this? Two exposures?

 

Bill

C/C welcome.

Nice work. A great image to wander through. Details abound. Effective leading lines. What's with that crooked horizon? You can fix that. Otherwise great shot.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Bill

Joseph,

 

A well executed floral. Bold composition, tonally rich. The whole series is well done--enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Nice work. Really captivating. Not sure how you did this but it is an intriguing image.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Bill

Very successful image. The horizon looks a little crooked but otherwise fabulous.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Bill

Lanndrum,

 

Have you re-posted the original with a lightened version? I am looking at the comparison and have to agree with the George and the other posters that I overdid it a bit. Admittedly I am looking here on an uncalibrated laptop LCD monitor (with the angle dependent gamma problem) so that may have something to do with it. Anyway I do like the photo and agree that I may have overdone the contrast enhancements a bit.

 

Best,

Bill

Wow! Fabulous magical moment. Very successful image. Composition is perfect. Lovely palette. I feel the lower left side is a bit too dark and could stand some dodging. Otherwise perfect IMO.

 

Bill

Meir,

 

I like it. I am toying with cropping to produce a horizonless landscape. It amplifies the feeling of confusion which is what I felt on first viewing. Not sure if that was your intent. Anyway, I like the image both ways.

 

Best, Bill