bens

Walt, sorry to be off topic, but I am taking off, and didn't want to go without saying goodbye. You've been a great and might presence here for me, both as an artist and, whether or not I agreed with you, as a man of principles and courage. Feel free to stay in touch.

Best,

Ben

Barry, sorry to be off topic, but I am taking off. Thanks for being a true pal around here, I've enjoyed your work and your friendship GREATLY.

Feel free to stay in touch.

 

Best,

Ben

Forgive me for being off topic AND leaving a message for both you and Roger here. I am taking off, and wanted you both to know how much you have meant to me during my time here. Not only have I been inspired by your works and taken courage from your encouragement, but you've helped me to believe again in fairy tales, and I love you both for that.

Best,

Ben S

Mel, sorry to be off topic, but I am taking off. Your contagious compassion, thoughtfulness and joy have often touched me, thanks for everything.

Ben S

Marco, sorry to be off topic, but I wanted to let you know that I am taking off. You have been one of the finest -- the very finest -- gentlemen I have encountered in this place. Thank you for your warm, intelligent dialogues.

Ben S

This is an example of an image that just brings me right into the scene. The technical is secondary to me to tha emotional feeling of being welcomed and ushered into someplace interesting and warm and inviting.

 

Seven, forgive me for being off topic, but I am taking off. I've done a lot of things here motivated by your example. Thanks for bringing a spirit to this enterprise that I will never forget.

 

Ben S

Jane, brilliant, vibrant, joyful, innocent, thrilling shot. would also enjoy seeing a black and white version. the motion of the water and the children around your son surrounding his clear, joyful expression, the use of the water as background suggesting one of those childhood moments of discovery during a day's adventure, the darkness below lightening up to his face -- wow.

really fun, vibrant, interesting in black and white too, excellent crop, maybe a little dark in the leafage, but this is a total quibble.

Inspiring and funny . . . perhaps a little space under the sign would be nice . . . how in the world did you get this one? Might also be interesting in a black and white version.

I agree about the blur, but I think the mood and composition are exquisite. It is a portrait of a man in the fall of his life, and has suggestions throughout that resonate this quality. Not only do we have the slightly stooped posture of the white haired man looking down in the foreground, but also there are shadowy people in the background who are in a similarly stooped repose (whether older people or not), and leafless branches that add to this quality. The tones you have used, muted, darker, contribute as well. Visually, the man's posture is similar to the shape of the trees on the left, nicely tieing them to each other. The sweep of background trees draws a line from the man to those trees as well and nicely fills up the space with a complimentary background that has very little clutter, allowing ups to focus on the key elements. Very enjoyable.

very attractive, fun capture, with a perfect composition, placing her between the building and lighthouse off center as you have, in an engaging moment that captures her pleasure of playing on the scene. great isolation of the main subject while giving lots of context.

hey, I like the sepia, it gives it a certain charm, don't you think? Laurie Meehan-Elmer taught me a simple sepia toning method by the way in photoshop, which is to convert the photo to black and white and then use color balance (note that you should consider adjusting not only midtone, but also shadows and highlights). I generally add about 2/3rds yellow to 1/3 red in midbalance and highlights, am a little lighter on the touch for shadow. Also, here, it appears that you may have used unsharp mask to sharpen. The line of her face seems a little oversharp to me -- I sometimes sharpen in a layer mask and avoid the edges of the object to prevent that look. If I'm off base, forgive me.

 

Yes, pnet seems to be in the midst of some significant challenges, but out of challenges come opportunities. I'm hoping for a site with improved interactivity. Not taking many photos myself these days, but I enjoy coming by now and again and saying hello. Where would I be without your joie de vivre to remind me once in a while of the good things in life?

Nicely done Chris. The turn of the dog, and its position relative to the woman, add something very attractive and relaxed to the mood. Wonder also what it would be like in some sort of black and white version, though not in replace of, but in addition to, as the colors add alot here. very nice, natural immediacy to this also.

A nicely executed capture of a beautiful woman. I'd suggest cropping a little tighter, so that she is a bit off center right and the white on the right is greatly reduced, and perhaps darkening a touch. I like the lighting on her face and the intriguing, comfortable quality of her expression.

a simple, exquisite portrait. the folds of her shawl, complimented by the curve of her earing, the complimentary colors, the gentle lighting, her warm, welcoming expression, the tilt of her head, turn of her body, gesture of her hand -- this is has a classic feel to it, and works very very well.

A very fine capture, in terms of finding a moment that communicates the power of the dancer, done with an attractive composition and lighting. I hope you can get a copy to him, he should be thriled with it.

Adorable child and expression, great light on her face, lovely composition with her coming into the frame, her hands nicely placed to show some energy that matches her lively expression, and she is quite well composed. I like a toy in the picture, but the green truck is not well placed for me, prefer that it was not partially blocked by her. The green ground with the pink outfit also does not seem particularly complimentary to me. After admiring her, I wondered what it would look like in black and white or sepia, as taking out the color could put even greater emphasis on her very appealing expression and pose.

I love following the work of an artist such as yourself and seeing now and again the distillation of a mature and sophisticated thought process in one work. Here, the playfulness of your dance series, your love of light and color, come together to create something that leaps off the computer screen and dances around the room. Thinking of something constructive to say, perhaps a little less black space on either side so that the shot is more portrait than square, given the form of the dancer. But this is an exciting work, Pnina, very glad I stopped by.

Hi Colin,

 

Pleasure to visit again, your work intrigues me as much as anyone's on the site. A number of your landscapes and cityscapes resonate with a sense of connection between ages and generations, depicting an ancient building amidst modern trappings for example. In a sense, this carries on that perspective. An older gentleman displaying an ancient art, passing it on to fascinated youngsters. He is the castle before the town (or perhaps you (MUCH younger than him, I know) holding a camera teaching us, your eager audience. To me, the muted colors are a trademark of yours, enhancing the clarity dramatically. And you've done a nice job of pulling out the teacher and the children from the rest of the crowd, whether done with focus or photoshop burning. You were absolutely correct to frame the shot with the children and teacher on either side of the window as well. Like many documentary shots, you must take the situation as it is -- there is a touch of clutter to the photo which distracts me a little. But the basic message of the shot -- the wise teacher compassionately passing on the ancient art to the children of our future, comes across well. Putting aside all technique, it is this ability to see and display the story that makes me return to your portfolio time and again. His face in the light, with the young girl mirroring him, pulls it off in particular. I could easily see this complimenting a magazine feature about him.

very cute moment, nice light, i'd be thrilled to get a candid like this.

i like the clarity, the frank and open expression, and he is an interesting person worthy of such an effort. I think the glariness or high contrast on his face, particularly his forehead, is distracting, perhaps there is a way to tone it down and maybe bring out the eyes a little? also a great candidate for black and white, don't you think?

I think you should give rather than seek advice (okay, just kidding). This is adorable, well lit, nice tilt. you've shown the great joyful beauty of this child well.

VERY cute. wish that his face was a little lower in the frame, but his off center placement is a nice touch, and the moment is adorable, with the mouth just right and the bite on the apple well placed to tell the tale.

adorable, very attractive use of a tilting pose, good light, complimentary colors, placement of the eyes in the frame draws my eyes right to it. Like this, it has an enduring appeal as I contemplate it.

I think its cropped well as is, like the color saturation, and of course the moment. This is very hard to do, having tried shooting softball a number of times, to get a moment like this with a telephoto, and to do so in bright sun conditions. Nicely done.