engelgrafik

Finally an original and unique shot of a waterfall!

I can't get enough of this photo. I've looked at it at least 4 or 5 times this year alone. I love the shallow depth of field. For a "guessed" photo, this is really superb.

Hope you don't mind "opposing" criticism. I say this in the true spirit of artistic critique, as I hope this is the medium to do it in, and that we are all intellectually mature to take negative as well as positive criticism.

 

If you are going for this look, then that's great. But one of the things that bugs me a bit is that it looks kind of like one of those muddy HDR blended images that are all the rave these days. The colors get muddy and watercolory and the photo is no longer a "photo" but looks more like it was generated on a computer. You lose sense of depth, and the inherent mood and atmosphere of the place has been replaced with an exaggerated ambience that looks too other-worldly to put it in true human perception.

 

The composition itself is wonderful. If I can imagine peeling away all of the exaggerated color, contrast, dodging, burning, whatever, I can see that you captured a church with a wide angle lens, and the sky above was medium ceiling clouds that were nicely dramatized by the wide angle.

This is a beautiful photo composite (or is it real???). Absolutely wonderful... you have created something that is very lyrical.... it seems to be something straight out of a Greek drama or Viking mythos. I'm not a huge fan of composite photos or "photo illustration" because I find them often lacking in purpose and mainly done for "wow" affect, but this has INTEGRITY through and through. It doesn't hit you over the head, and it alludes to a sense of the classical.

Amazing gorgeous shot, but can this guy wear a cup already? I mean, geez! ;)

Oh I have no idea. I shot the photo in 2002 when my brother studied and taught at Northeastern University. He's a chemical engineer and this was in their lab.

Such a great photo! Elliot Erwitt would be proud. The only thing I wish is that the other dog were in focus. Although actually it has a nice character the way it is with its shallow depth of field. Actually, it's a nice you got that dog in focus with it being so shallow, you must have been losing light or something and opening up the aperture, eh?

I have seen this sister galaxy with own naked eyes one wintery cold dry night in northern Germany. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. At first, I thought it was a cloud, but I could distinctly see the purplish spiral and I realized I was seeing our sister galaxy that is further away than most of the stars we see at night, as well as the neighboring arm of our own galaxy we see on a good dark night. This thing was even further away and it was a really emotional experience. Great photo!

One evening last year after work I spent about two hours shooting

around Boston. This was the last photo I took that night. It thought

maybe it was a nice photo for a Valentine's Day card. Maybe I'll get

to use it some day!

Thank you so much for your wonderful critique. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't center it on the path, however it might have been because I couldn't really go anywhere to the left or right without losing something I wanted in the shot... perhaps the sky in the back. You are correct when you talk about depth... I definitely wanted sky in there to add to it because often photos of trees and woods are so full of data that it's hard to see it as anything but a 2D image.

Wow, this photo is absolutely gorgeous. Great job.

 

Upon a 2nd look, perhaps I am seeing things... but do I see two horses' heads in the clouds??? Look at the clouds... you see their heads and necks facing left, as if they're running through the sky together!

Makes me want to got out west Texas again. Just came back from a roadtrip out there.

This photo is fantastic. There isn't enough of this kind of photography today. Too many people focus too much on perfecting technical details like color and sharness. This photo is ART and goes beyond that discussion. Great job.

I agree with Jack (and I know him... small world!)... this is an impressive shot Aaron. In school, we're always taught that art is supposed to be about "something", that there should be an object up front or something that is to be discussed. But sometimes, that something is "nothing". This road that leads to the unknown, the clouds seemingly echoing this sentiment, is just a great "anti-object" shot. There is a grace in simplicity and non-complex photography. And this is a beautiful reminder of the simple-yet-amazing things we see, and feel, on a daily basis.

At first, this reminded me of Hugh Syme's concept for the cover of the Canadian rock trio's album, "Permanent Waves". It's got that similar '40s feel to it. Of course, the subject is quite different (that photo, the woman is walking toward you as hurricane and waves crash on beach and lift her skirt). But the woman has that same "I'm beauitful and oblivious" look to her. And that's my main problem with this photo... she doesn't look seductive, she looks more pretty and oblivious.

 

Keep in mind that when people really get picky (like I am) in their critiques, it's usually because the photo really is better than most. We just tend to feel we have to pick it apart more, as a result. ;)

 

To continue, the sailor actually DOES appear to be looking at the woman, if you zoom into the larger image you will see this is true. It's just hard to tell in the smaller version...

 

 

The quality of the photo is excellent, and perhaps this is what kind of makes me not like the technical implementation even though it's superb by modern day standards. It looks digital... it looks too perfect. It should look like film if it's going to be a nostalgic (spellig?) photo, in my humble opinion.

 

Aesthetics: 6 (because of technical), Originality: 10, Technical: 9

This really is a great shot! wow! You captured a restrained intensity here. Of course, I'm anthropomorphizing, but still, it's even possibly semi-humorous... it's almost like the cat is whispering "pssst.. OK, here's the plan..."

Took this photo during Massachusetts' Blizzard of 2006 in February.

Perhaps to see the structure and not be distracted by the illusions and delusions that color may create? This is the biggest reason why people still do b&w to begin with.

 

When you see a picture of a peacock, do you expect it to be a certain way? I try not to cater to these assumptions in my work. In some ways, I feel we're trained to expect things in photos like this, and I don't want to spoonfeed that stuff to anybody. Let them look at the photo for what is, and make the decision objectively. That's my thought, anyways. ;)

Would love to know what you think.

Amazing photo... did you darken the background? This seems to really work... superb!!!

Pat, love this photo. WOW. You have really set a mood here...there's an interesting story going on here for sure. You may not get a lot of comments here at Photo.net on a photo like this (hopefully I will be proven wrong!), but you'll get praise from me, that's for sure. Gonna take a look at your entire portfolio when I get a chance.

Would like to know what you think. Thanks!

What a great expression!! I know all about the "pay to play". I do it all the time, mostly for the folks who play music and stuff.

Wow, this photo blows me away. Your photos have STORIES in them! This may be as you suggest, a religious ceremony. But to ME, I see some kind of mystery... a thriller of sorts. The man is in an old train and something is going on outside. The child is unconscious... maybe even wounded or hurt. I'm just telling you what this could be. It's like a movie still. Take a look at Cindy Sherman's early work from the '70s. They're like something out of a movie.

Not only is this photo beautiful, but your careful composition has yielded a bit of a story. The statue below looks like it's leaving the building, while the statue above seems to have some kind of relationship to the character below. What it is, I do not know, but it's creating a relationship of sorts... some kind of mystery is occuring.