jeremy freeland

Pnina - I like the shot. The two blurred figures in the background, each facing the other, make a nice frame for the woman. And the context is interesting too - hints at her future. I have to say that, on my monitor at least, the b&w version strikes me asa little drab. Hope you don't mind, but I tried a new conversion - more to my taste, but may not be to yours. (Might be too sharp, but I think the tones are more distinct.) I also went back to the colour crop - I like having the guy on the right in the frame for the reasons stated above. Best, Jeremy

Some nice tones, but this one does less for me.

Like the light and the tones, and the movement right that the composition and 'surprising' foot creates. Less sure about the highlights on the fat guy's leg in the rear left.

Like it - like the stance and light on the foreground kid, and the way the two people are connected by the angled line.

I like the framing and composition very much. Interesting how the colours of the wing meld with the sky - the fading yellow just behind the wing's leading edge looks similar against the blue of the rest of the wing in the same way as the clouds do against the blue sky.

I'm really not at all bothered by the fact that we see the guy from the bottom up - it emphasises that he's directly above the photographer / viewer and the whole verticality of the flight experience. Really, the circumstances where we get to look directly up over our heads at someone, with no intervening platforms or obstacles are very rare, so I think this is well presented.

I enjoy all of these shots - think they do a good job of showing humans in the environment, with an appropriate sense of relative scale. I'm also completely impressed with the exposures on your snow and water shots - that stuff ain't easy.

One suggestion, and this is very much a matter of personal style - it might be interesting to shoot much, much closer to the person in your landscapes, so there's more emphasis on the human and physical experience of being in these places. We've talked about synesthesia before, and I think you capture that really nicely in a lot of these shots (I get it here BTW, putting myself in the photographer's position). But I think it's synesthesia for the environment and not the effort or the apprehension we can often feel when we get to these places - as you know, it's not always that wonderful fulfilling peaceful feeling. I think it could also be interesting to make the focus of the shot a portion of a person and/or the gear they're wearing or using, and blur out the background with some mild or strong DOF differences so the landscape is more suggested, especially with the possibilities presented by the vivid blues, whites and reds / yellows colours in the clean light.

Hope this helps. Best, Jeremy

yup - it's excellent

I like how this works in three sections (verticals with the doors) and in two layers (outside the van and inside). Did you add light to the two kids to bring out the detail, or was the window grimy?

Whoah! Thought this was a K. shot for a moment! (That's a compliment.) But there's a distinct Jenna style to this. Like the light, composition and desaturation. Not too sure about the horse's closed eye, but I think it ends up putting all the emphasis on the lit part of the girl's face and her own expression. Best, Jeremy

You're right about the Vs - hadn't seen them myself, but they're there throughout the frame.

 

I don't think I'm cynical ... just well informed ;-)

We all know that pot is less harmful than alcohol, so why's it still illegal? As with many things in the US, the answer lies in following the money. The trouble with pot is that it's efficacious (kept that word for one of your shots, John) in treating a variety of medical conditions, especially pain and lost appetite. Unfortunately, it's been around too long to be patentable, and its synthetic imitators are less effective and more expensive, and certainly not worth bringing to market when the punters can grow their own or buy the genuine article for a fraction of the cost. It's not in the interests of a certain industry sector, big in the "health" field and strong on political contributions, that it should be readily available.

 

But, more importantly, I like the guy's expression here, John. I also like the crisp focus on the guy's right eye, and how the circle formed by the eye is an element repeated across the image to the eyebrow ring, and the glowing circle of the background smoker's joint. Nice shot. Best, Jeremy

I like the light, lights, colours and symmetries. The yellows are set off nicely by the reds in the centre of the frame. Interesting that the symmetry is just a little off - sometimes I wonder whether choosing to disregard geometric perfection within the frame (which in my case I do out of negligence) doesn't instead help the viewer imagine themselves in the scene: the experience is more human (because it's imperfect).

Ken - thanks for rating some of my street shots. I like the guy in this: the light's great, and the blue of the guy's clothes are a nice counterpoint against the greens of the grass and of the grey walls in the light of the greens. And I like the juxtaposition of the very contemporary element of the figure against the abandoned old house. Best, Jeremy

Like this one too. Lotsa action.

Nice!

Yup - the low light shots are the biggest reason I haven't moved to digital. I'm pretty heavily invested in Nikon lenses - mostly primes with 2.8 or wider apertures, and I don't fancy working with the different focal lengths and reliance on high ISOs I'd need with the only Nikon WA offering (outside the fisheye) that will work with the D70 or D2X (like I have that $$ to spend). And the D70 is slow to focus and not that robust for action and backcountry work. So, until Nikon releases a full frame digital SLR, I fell limited to sticking with film. Ironically, given current D2X pricing and the need to buy a new WA lens for it, it's cheaper for me to buy a Canon full frame DSLR and 3 wide aperture primes. Doesn't make me too happy with the choice to buy Nikon in the first place. Whatever - gear schmear - I'm having plenty of fun with film anyway and what's a little extra workflow in the evenings.

 

More dignificantly, I think the exposure's great on this shot.

Like the background here. Interesting juxtaposition of the younger girls with the guy in foreground - kinda throws the stereotype interpretation into jeopardy ... and I like that. There's a lot of humanism in your shots, Jenna.

Great shot. Like the light on the guy's eyes and his expression. Like the angle formed between the line of his eyes and his daughter's. Like the DOF on the daughter.

I prefer the original crop with the lines running from the bottom left corner to the top right - makes for the energy and tension in the image. I do feel the shadows on the guy's figure and face stop me from seeing some of the detail I'd like to, but the exposure, from looking at the snow and the colour of the wing, looks perfect. The shot gets the feeing of pent up energy and commitment really nicely. Have you tried it? I took lessons several years ago, and realized it was a guaranteed way for me to die young - but fun!

I think the exposure's right - the highlights ould be blown if you'd let any more light in. Besides, the way the sunlight is filtering in to the left side of the image, just lighting up a few elements, is enjoyable. It does look as though the image may have lost some of the clarity of the transparency with the jpg compression - I'm guessing the background figure is clearer in the slide? Good use of the 20mm - the lines and movement formed by the bottom half of the image are great, and emphasize what it's like to be on a long pointy ship where there's not much space to move around.

Very late to the party. I don't have any problem with any distortion, and whatever there is is worth it for the cloud presentation. I can't quite get comfortable with the light on your friend at the bow - I think I'd rather see more light, or more distance from her, so that she's either the prime element in the shot, or just one element, whose contrasting colour to the rest of the imageshelps anchor the shot. I agree with you about not using a flash - half the fun of these shots is the representation of what it's like being out in the elements, and flash is out of synch with this (and it's more weight to carry).

I like this for the same reasons mentioned above, primarily, when it comes to the composition, the work on triangles, curves and curved triangles. I also like the way you've brought out the different light on each of the sails - one in the sunlight, and one behind it. It's the light, imo, that makes the shot. One little nit is the polarizer is very apparent in the middle of the frame - I think the purple portion of the sail at the top of the frame tends to emphasize this. But, that combination of blue skies, whites and light is always a good one - really refreshing to view.

Very strong image, with just 4 simple elements - the girl, the monument, the cobbles and the background trees. I like how the eye is drawn straight to the girl, although she takes up only a relatively small portion of the image - partly because of the way the light falls on her, partly because of her colours set against the greys, and partly because of the contrast between the very hard or regular lines of the cobbles and monument (and the square formed by the framed trees in the upper left), and the softer lines of her body. But what I most like (as well as the red shoes for a crucial splash of colour) is her dynamic posture - she's ready to move, and she's alive. So we see life, vitality, youth and movement set against the solidness and immobility of the cobbles and monument. So we think about lives lost, prices paid, new life, and moving on. Even the background trees play a part in the theme with the leaves, getting ready for autumn, prompting us to think of cycle and regeneration.

Toned version

Desaturated version