fya

There are probably few things on earth I like better than nipples (the colour blue being one of them)...yet the inclusion of the model's (very spectacular) ones almost seems gratuitous in this photo. I can't believe I am saying this but it may be a better image without them - or at least the far one.

Nevertheless a stunning model, a great pose, warm and wonderful colour and just the right amount of sharpness.

Stonehenge is lost in the supernatural - which I think is the point of this treatment. Put on the ring and this is what you would see.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Merlin

Critter, your retort to the previous was preachy and almost defensive. Remember, it is difficult for the majority to appreciate lives lived tangentially to the mainstream.

Personally I believe beauty comes from within (a horrible cliche I'm afraid) but one that holds true. So often I am attracted to a woman walking down the street, regardless of what degree of society's ideal view of beauty she possesses; a woman who walks with purpose, fluidity and confidence. No part of her is tensed, wary or withdrawn. Her eyes are bright, her face is open to the world and her smile is ready. This is beauty.

Therefore, and it is my opinion only, I feel that tattoos and piercings are self-disfigurement and symptomatic of something amiss in a woman's (or male's) self perception. It's as if the wearer is attempting to hide their feelings of inadequacy behind a gaudy bauble in the hope no one will notice that part of them and indeed view them as something likely the opposite of what they really are.

Generally you don't see a lot of traditionally (I tread carefully here) attractive people sporting a multitude of piercings and tattoos. To slide further along my slippery, anectdotal slope, these same types seem not to be overly successful in their lives either - in terms of both traditional self-actualization and social success. Again traditional social success is a shitty benchmark but it's reality and a reality that has continued for as long as we have been in the civilization business.

And maybe there's the rub. Piercings and tattoos take me back to my National Geographic reading days (and also a reason for my interest in photography). The uncivilized societies, the primitives and savages depicted within those covers, were of interest to us because they are what we are not. Any more. We have moved ahead. So maybe piercing and tattooing oneself is away of acknowledging the wearer has not moved ahead, is having difficulty doing so and resorts to indulgent self-disfigurement as a way of being defiant in the face of what they may feel is personal failure. They are providing themselves with an excuse to stay outside while latching onto a fad in order to still stay noticed. And perhaps relevant.

All that crap aside I quite like your photos.

Tamara, you or someone is very naked in this picture which is both exceedingly clever and exceedingly well done.

I love the colour and feel of this composition. The red globe appears, to me, to be falling as if the image itself was a vertical background to it and the smaller globe lower left.

Abstracts don't always rate so well but then most people aren't abstract thinkers.

Nice job.

I started thinking the colour saturation was intended after I looked at it some more. I haven't tried desaturating but my hunch is the photo would likely be less effective that way.

I now think the original is best - and most dynamic.

Why the hell does shot this have seven ratings in a 148 viewings? I can't can't even get this damn site to spin my uploads for more than 20 minutes which gives me what, tens of viewings in a month?

Fuck it.

Good eye for composition and originality. Great colours.

I like the angle and the model's pose - both add a lot of interest to a potentially mundane composition. The framing is effective too as it and the model's stance, tilt of the image etc. give an almost voyeuristic quality to the photo.

I would suggest trying a slight colour desaturation.

What makes this shot special to me is the end of the tube can be seen. There is just a bit of daylight, land, and I reckon, HOPE! for our surfing buddy here. The frame does not help this in my opinion, but it's also not all that bad either. I have seen thousands like this here in Hawaii. Many more colorful and dramatic. However it is the subtleness and oldtime feel that makes this one quite unique!

-- Vincent K. Tylor , August 08, 2003; 12:18 A.M. Eastern

Vince is right...I blew up the image and voila! that ubiquitous symbol of American good-times appears through the end of the tube.