sonicstep

Thank you for your contribution Melissa. I am very flattered.

I have since spent at least an hour viewing your submitted photos and naturally was very impressed with what I saw. So sufficiently impressed that I found myself unable to choose a particular favourite such is the range and quality of your work.

I have never been to Utah, however your presentations provide an excellent insight into what your region has to offer.

I admire your keen eye for composition and attention to detail.

Thank you for the trip. It was a pleasant one.

Following on from 'rule of thirds', what rule is used in this caption?

Personally I've never bothered with any rule of anything where composition is concerned. I just know from life experience what looks good and what doesn't.

If you are a programmer of sorts dealing with mechatronics and artificial intelligence for smart cameras I guess such concepts could be useful to know. But for me it's of no use whatsoever. Visual comfort and ways of achieving it comes natural to me.

Incidentally, have you seen that new camera that Konica Minolta in collaboration with Sony is developing?

Early reports indicate that it will have a 'composition' mode function as part of its rich feature set.

"Taken from my first session working with a nude model.."

I hope to see more of Lana. Keep her smiling :)

A sketch of a woman that has received powers to construct herself into a physical life form by applying paint to herself.

Seems like many processes were used to achieve your final result.

Aesthetics is 6 instead of 7 because I see no paint on her brush (her flesh colour would have been nice).

This is a remarkably conceived idea with an interesting developing narrative, brilliantly executed.

This is another splendid shot from you Kenneth. I have to say I am particularly fascinated by the sight of water spouts. Do see many of those around the Gulf coast?

I appreciate and reciprocate your new year's message. You have helped to enrich the viewing experience here at Photo.net

I shall very much look forward to seeing your future submissions in 2006...

There is something below her back that looks distracting. You will notice the change in the attached image.

I echo the positive opinions of the others.

This is a very interesting shot. The bearded guy in the middle looks as if he is groping the young woman who is wearing an uncomfortable and unsure looking expression.

The guy following looks as if he has noticed and is contemplating challenging him about it. I believe this adult perception, apart from the age of the subjects their gender and order has much to do with the glare of the afternoon sun on their faces and some foreshortening.

I wonder how my perception might have differed had the bearded man and woman swapped places and perhaps had the young man in pursuit been female.

Compositionally the alignment of their heads and bodies seem aesthetically pleasing. It is a pity about that indecipherable out of focus obstruction to the left of frame.

My concern is that her left hand looks burnt out toward edges and as a consequence tends to merge with the background, particularly in the wrist region.

Otherwise a very good photo, which makes me want to see more.

I very much like that textile pattern design, material and cut by the way.

Your models seem to know how to dress themselves very well.

"Hasselblad's have such a beautiful bokeh..."

So I see.

No fancy tricks. Just a well executed shot. Excellent!

Thank you Iren and knicki for your comments. Here is the original:~

If you could please take it again as suggested it would be nice to see the result.

Anyway, upon reflection it is a bit subjective as to whether my previous suggestion and those of the others should be considered absolute, because if the model was not looking at that mobile phone there would be a loss of viewer direction. Since she is looking at the phone the viewer has more of a focus toward it than if she were not.

The possibility of a loss of focus toward the mobile as opposed to mirrored model expression and eye contact with the 10D lens is a bit tricky. I can visualise it but I am uncertain as to which is best.

This concept is an intriguing departure from the typical mirror methods used so many of us are familiar with. It has commercial potential.

The same thought as the previous two critics came to my mind at about 5 seconds viewing. Her eye should be looking at the lens of the 10D and her face should closely mirror the expression seen on the phone, else the image lacks harmony.

Is there any possibility of you taking this shot again?

This version of an earlier submission has the magenta cast

desaturated. Comments welcome.

I'm a bit confused with regard to your equipment used. What camera was used, lens and settings

please?

"..the lens is a Nikon 200/400 shutter speed around 680" That is a satisfactory response Gerry.

The real icing on the cake would have been seeing the after burning conical glows from the jet exhausts, but one has little control over that. The vapour is impressive, since it gives the impression of extreme power and movement.

More of this kind of shooting please :)

Take a look at this one: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2425855

The exposure looks fine to me too, since he's only used natural light from the patio door window.

A pity her hair was not pulled back a little. I would have liked to have seen a slight profile of her face instead of a total mass of hair and a tighter shot.

Showing the entire empty chair to the right seems unnecessary, since it a very familiar object. Further, that square wall mounted brass object - possibly a switch although seems too low for that - is distracting mainly because it is inline with her head.

Crop the bottom roughly a 1/10 and crop about an 1/8 from the right of the frame. That should draw more emphasis toward the girl.

Maurizio, what wide angle lens did you use to take this photo and what were your settings?

"The hair is a touch flat at the top.."

I agree David.

That was a very quick response John. Remarkable work by the way.

It must require a bit of skill and much confidence to do this especially these days with problems associated with men molesting women. That is what particularly puts me off asking girls I don't know to do such things.

So this was clearly a positive outcome. Have you had as many rejections as acceptances asking young ladies if they would be interested in having photos taken of them?

You must have to use quite a bit of tact and skill at assessing the enviroment and situations these girls are in prior to making such approaches.

" we look through albums and discuss the matter."

I see, so this forms the basis of the potential model's decision making process on how far she might be willing to go with nudity or whatever she might consider acceptable.

One more query, do you work entirely on your own when taking such photos or do you occasinally work with an assistant (say a lighting technician)?

John, your proceeding response to my query has been invaluable. Thank you very much for your guidance on this matter.

"I met this young lady in a restaurant and asked her to pose for me."

I see now. So that's how you do it :)

Ehmn.. But how did you manage to encourage her to bare all and how long was it between you meeting this lady and taking the photo?

This shot reminds me of some old time risque 5 x 4 1950s BW photos I've seen at an auction site.

I would have preferred if that tie was not hanging from the corner of the mirror - it is a bit distracting - and if a 1/6 of the image were cropped in height. Upon reflection, the crude placement of that tie is typical of risque period interior photos.

By the way, is that vignetting I see round the edges and particularly in the upper right region of the frame or is it a post processing effect (maybe it is just ambient light run off)?

Perhaps your aim was to give this photo a somewhat handled and chemically aged period look.

Many of those photographers of the cheesecake period seemed to be very amateurish. They lacked attention to detail and finesse. It seems you were trying to recreate that kind of style and mood.

For me even though her clothing is not entirely of the risque era - she is wearing high cut skin tight Lycra looking pants - it is a very appealing retro shot. I like it a lot.