ellis_vener_photography

ignore the contact info as it is badly out of date.

I'm sorry I just don't think you have presented an image that communicates your intellectual/psychological perception and intent. This can be done with the Cow Parade cow sculptures (anyone who takes them in and of themselves seriously or as a threat to real art is a bit of a fool) but this is like a puzzle game-- you have to find a place and a time and the right light to make the pieces fit your thoughts, and sometmes this also means changing your thoughts too to fit what is in front of you. I wish I could be less vague.

You are right, it is a mushroomed shaped building: The Palace of Fine Arts. This building was part of the 1915 world's fair: Panama Exposition celebrating the completion of the Panama Canal in 1915. This park area is visited every Saturday by at least 5 brides for pictures. It is a symbol of San Francisco nearly comparable to the Golden Gate Bridge or the Cable Cars.

All of which is made irrelevant by the poor composition, bad lighting & terrible use of color. She has a great expression -- but the last place my eye goes to in this portrai iswhere it should go -- her face

By the way, I realize that some may see some interference with the building posts and her hat: the posts are "running into" her head, etc. This is really a fine point. I saw it when I photographed it. But realize that if this were not the case, the viewer wouldn't even SEE her hat! Her hat is sheer, transparent, and if she were positioned in the light, portral area of the building, her hat would disappear. So, I am grateful that there was a post there!

"Some may see some interference..." try anyone with eyes in his or her head! This isn't a fine point, it is a BIG point, You are making excuses to justify some really bad decision making on your part. I think you should have found another way to make that portrait including hooting at a different time of day. The lighting is just terrible.

I like the the mixture of classic 'painterly' (i.e. good use of chiarascuro) and composition with a bit of humorous ambibuity in the pose and gesture ofthe woman as opposed to the seeming seriousness & gravity of the guy. I say "Barkeep, make that a 7 & 7"

cute and funny and graphic a tough combo! 7/7

very good! I love these kinds of visual jokes that play with a sense of scale.

A good solid idea, the dpper left corner is too "hot" (bright) and I like how simple you keptthe piece. You should make another attempt at it and try control that highlight in the upper left corner better. As it is my eye sort of skips over the apples one i get pastthe shadows and goes straight towards that empty corner.

This a good, but not great stock type image. If it was in a stock agency it woulfd sell okay, mainly because it is specific to Canada. It it were a USA passport it would probably sell better. I like the in & out of focus technique butthink the iamge would be better served if you used one of Canon's Tilt/Shift lenses to throw the background even more out of focus. It would also be good to have more dramatic lighting.

Very imaginative image. a (so far) unique take on the family portrait. It is very engaging.

"Very nice image Charo, but a question... part of what I like about this image is the shadow of the tree on the wall. With the light behind the boys and casting their shadow in front of them on the wall as well, how is the shadow of the boys head lighter than the shadow of the rest of him?

I think the reason the body shadow is darkerthan the shadow of his head and sholders is because the "body" portion of his shadow overlaps with the shadow of the smaller boy. This overlapping double shadow should be more intense than if theshadows did not overlap. If you don't believe me try observing shadows of your two hands in a room with two light bubs that are near each other: move your hands relatie to each ther and also closer and farther away from the surface the shadows are cast on.

This view is clearly a visual cliche of southeast asia. Visual cliches releave the photographer of the burden of finding original subject material, but impose on an artist the need to find one's own expression ofthat idea. Why is we never see images taken at another time of day or day? What meanings does the bridge or the people & traffic crossing it have for the photographer? How can an artist or photojournalist find the elements in the commonality of the outer world which express their personal vision?

Compare this iamge to the PoW from the following week. Which one "hooks" into your imagination, intelligence and consciousness more?

The two images are very different to my eye, similar but different enough. Both images reflect their creators impulses and vision. Obviously the graphic elements are the same -- golden light, silhouetted figures against an orangish ground. The shot in the NYT encompasses a wider view, the ball of the setting sun, the sun's reflection in the water. more traffic and a more interesting array and positioning of people and vehicles crossing the bridge and the bridge also looks more rickety than in the PoW selection. I'm also sure I have seen this view previously in at least one book and possibly a movie or two.

If all you see is the gross similarities than you need a bigger imagination.

On the other hand there is Alexi Brodovich's dictum about photography: "If you look through the viewfinder and see the something you have seen before don't take the picture."

nicely weird

How can you possibly catagorize this as news or photojornalism?

I like it as it is, the color, the composition, the slightly disorienting perspective. Nicely seen and nicely executed.

very nice work and handling of the person, he composition, the digital compsiting and digital darkroom work and the symbolism.

A very nice copy of a Jay Maisel image of a similar scene, if not the same scene.

very sensitive to the tenderness and vulnerability ofthe moment.

Eve, in a glowing Garden of Eden!

Eve in a glowing Garden of Eden!

Very beautiful and playful at the same time

My god it is a well framed, well exposed snapshot with a long lens. that requires some skill and it is a nice enough shot but really it is nothing it is nothing more than that. I salute the photographer fro his skill: knowing where to point the camera and when to press the shutter release is a good set of skills but Where is the imagination? Where is the heart? Where are the brains? Where are the guts of this image? Where are its big clanking brass balls? It is a simple safe snapshot, a record of what passed in front ofthe photographers lens and nothing more.

Very fine.

Well she might not have been ready but you were and that is what counts. This is a really great image. Very strong use of light and composition and timing.

Good lighting and composition but try focusing on the words seen through the glasses rather than the text in the foreground.

 

Have seen any of abelardo Morrell's work with books.