bens

i find this very enjoyable. i love such scenes, and your playful use of the effect and colors works well for me, its a got a great night scene mood, but is not muddy with darkness. i like the people in the background to bring some life to it, but not detract from the closed shops in the foreground. take a look at the portfolios of Kim Slonaker and Lisa Grant - they apply effects and graphics to their works that you might find interesting.

beautiful colors, interesing flower, like the pov, focus is not quite there, suggest a little more room on the left, as the flower is facing that way, would help.

its a beautiful sunset, well exposed with an interesting sky. i like more going on in the foreground and middle ground though, but i appreciate is not really the point here.

thanks, advise thick skin john re ratings; the site is dominated by people who like "pretty" pictures -- this kind of thing is less understood. glad you post here, i miss people like balaji quite a bit and hope you don't go the same path.

brilliant -- terrific choices of dof, great color, wonderful composition o get the people around him, good choice of telephoto -- hats off, you nailed it.

respectfully john, it takes years to frame this shot. years of mucking around and experimenting and understanding what works and doesn't work and forgeting and figuring it out again until its so instinctive you don't even recognize the skill even though you put it all together brilliantly in one or two seconds.

 

the pov, the off center composition in the direction of his lean, the boldness in cutting off the structure, the great exposure, the ability to coax a coy smile from a gruff gent; need i go on?

marco, i've never operated a film camera of consequence in my life, that takes more courage and skill than i have.

love it, brought a big smile to my face the moment it opened up, goodness i love your work . . . great angle, love the grid,how do you see these things?

it is a sweet moment, imagine how they were when they were young! now they are a team, going about their set up with a casual efficiency . . . so it is poignant in its story, around her it is blurred, and that is somewhat distracting, but the story is still there to enjoy.

took a crack at it to give you some ideas, not sure i improved it, hope you don' mind. added a little neat image, a touch of sharpening, some contrast using a photoshop layer mask.

lovely scene, could use some contrast i think, perhaps some smoothing, such as with neat image?

very cute and unusual, tilted a little right, no? and would have liked them a litte off center left. but its very very pretty and sweet as it is.

hard to do and I like your effort, well-lit, everyone with a great expression, would have preferred an off white backdrop to gray.

look here starting in the september 2005 entries, detailed instructions on what i do at least.

took a crack at it, hope you don't mind, to show you another possbility -- straight grayscale conversion, applied neat image, selectively lightened and brightend with a photoshop layer mask, worked on the blotch using the healing brush. see what you think.

interesting study, great tones; would be interested in seeing a version with the column down the middle slanted somehow.

attractive candid street shot, like the balance left and right, the use of a wider angle to get it all.

cute expression nicely captured, have you considered this in a black and white? i think it might give you a very interesting, different look -- perhaps in a green channel? little blotchy on the left cheek.

oooh, an interesting subject and very nice use of the side light, it really looks good. wish he were a little more off center, like the toning.

Ronald, a lovely photo -- love the attention to a powerful foreground element framed by an interesting backgroud, and the clouds make a great balance to the top of the boat for the eye, as well as add their own drama. like the rim of people peering out as well.

absolutely exquisite, great pov and wide angle choice, terrific expression, wonderful light, great backgroud, love the blue clothing choice, i obviously really like this, huh? your work is really fine stuff.

here's my candidate -- brightened her eyes and added some contrast, softened/smoothed with neat image, sharpened a bit. see what you think.

i have tried this several times without success, as the person waiting is too blurred no matter how much breath i hold and moopod i use. congrats on a fine capture, with a clever composition, her being in the upper third and the swirls occurring around her.

 

i'm also wondering if you considered a black and white version. with the predominance of blue and tan, one or another of the channel conversions might yield something interesting. just a thought.

 

 

i like the pose, though not as intimate as the other, but you honor her beauty well. the colors and tones are duller than the other i commented on, and the other was the standard to seek for my taste. my guess is that you are struggling with some harsh light issues here. i do sometimes as well. if you have the ability to use layer masks in photoshop, you can selectively brighten fairly easily. if you are interested, let me know and i can direct you to some info i posted on the subject.

rich colors, magnificent subject matter, clever composition.