j_sevigny

Astounding combination of elements, Fernando. I've never seen a photograph just like this one, and that's saying something. I love the crosses in the foreground, the unexpected glaciers in the background, and the barely noticeable curved road on the left. The contrast between the white "ice mountains" and the green earth mountains is unreal.

 

A couple of critical thoughts. The color balance in this photograph is cool, as it should be. But on my monitor anyway, it looks a little unnaturally so. You might thing about giving it a little more warmth. Also, it Looks like you've got a little space to increase the contrast just a bit, particularly on the white side of things.

 

Another idea would be to crop it a little from the bottom to get rid of the diagonal line of what looks like a fence surrounding the cemetery.

 

Please post more work. I love this, and I am not generally a fan of landscape photography.

 

john

Precisely the kind of photograph I like. Direct. No fking games. Straight to the subject matter. I really like it. There's something funny about the spotty light though. Nothing wrong with patchy light but the patches are kind of in the wrong places. I'm well aware that this is a difficult thing to control in candid circumstances and to hell with it. I don't think it matters anyway because the picture tells the story you want it to tell.

 

The so-called snapshot is the preferred and popular photographic method of our time and far too few people exploit it fully as you have here. I encourage you to continue exploring that form. We all understand snapshots. They're entirely democratic and extremely honest.

 

Again, fine work.

 

john

As a test, it looks good to me. You should have grabbed a shot of Satan himself while you were there. It would have fetched you enough money to upgrade to a D3x :)

 

Best,

 

John

Very nice Paolo. I hope everything is well.

 

js

...

These bullet hole pictures are fascinating. They hint at violence without actually revealing it, which is where their force lies. I'd really like to see more of these.

 

Best,

 

John

Hi Jeffrey. You've done a nice job of simplifying everything here. There are no distracting elements, the warm tone of the shawl (I'm sure there's a correct name for it but I'm ignorant) jumps forward, as is the basic rule, and the cooler tones of the distant clouds and mountains fall away.

 

A few more critical thoughts from a few different parts of my brain:

 

The artist in me says fine, good shot, but this is not really about meditation or Buddhism. It's more about color. The title is where we get into trouble with this because there's nothing really meditative here -- though I do enjoy meditating on the photo:)

 

The photo editor in my head says there's too much space on right side of the frame, and the frame is too evenly divided.

 

My strongest criticism is that I'd really like to see this guy's face.

 

In the meantime, my overall feeling is that if You like the picture, you don't have to justify that to anyone. Composition is a useful tool if it matters to you. If not, well, it doesn't matter.

 

So you see? I'm just one, unimportant guy and I can look at it three or four ways.

 

I'd like to see more of your work. Thank you for sharing.

 

John

Very beautiful, almost like accidental, collective action painting. There's also a surprisingly complex pallette here. Keep up the good work.

Very powerful, with fascinating composition. The only thing I'd suggest is a little more contrast. Also, I'd like to know more about the photograph if you could offer more info.

 

Good work, man.

 

john

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

js

Nikon FM2, Ilford XP2. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

js

Me encanta. Como lo hiciste? Es digital o pelicula? El rango de tonos es fascinante, casi metalico. Sigues asi.

This is a beautiful, gritty portrait that addresses a subject that deserves more attention -- the fact that companies, rich people, arms, oil and goods are free to move but people are restricted. What I think this potrait misses, because it's so close, is some kind of context. In what kind of situation was this taken? On the other hand, if you backed up, you might lose some of the wonderful texture of the skin. I think this would work best in the context of a group of pictures that could inform us about the surroundings in which you found this person. I like the shot a lot. Keep it up.

A lovely photograph that proves you don't need a lot of expensive lighting to create a touching portrait. Nice work.

Very nice, Ken. It's always great to see the brave new world in black and white. It may just be my monitor but it looks like there's some detail you could "entice out of the crowds pasing below the sign. Again, a lovely shot.

This is interesting and kinda nice, Paloma. I like the toning.

I'm really into this shot, James. Cinematic. Keep it up.

 

js

Kent,

 

To me, this is by far the best photograph in your portfolio.

 

With it, you transcend the relatively easy themes (and I don't want to be critical, but well-worn themes) of bikers and tattoos and approach something far more narrative. What I'm trying to say is that you've got dozens of photos of the biker bachanalia, but taken together, they don't come close to telling the story that this shot tells.

 

If I were you, I'd make photographs like this one -- along with the beautiful words that accompany it -- my objective. Absolutely fantastic.

 

John

A perfectly surreal and wonderful photograph. I'd have liked to see this shot from a point of view that would allow us to see her face, but it's not a big deal either way. Another thought I had was that this is the kind of shot that might benefit from the rule of thirds, but again, this is art and there are no rules:)

 

Keep up the good work.

 

John

I wish I had taken this portrait. Keep up the fantastic work!

 

John

A lovely, misty, dramatic shot. I'm impressed. The V-shaped composition formed by the woman and the tree is really great. The only thing that kind of nags at me about the photo is the darkness and weightiness of the tree. It's bigger and darker than the woman and seems to kind of overpower her. I think you might consider lightening up the darkest parts of the bark. In any case, this is a fine picture.

 

John

I like this a lot. Everyone's so busy looking for the exotic that they forget that our own world is really fascinating. I'd really like to see more photographs of fast food restaurants, Target parking lots, and the rest of what America looks like today. Aside from all that, this picture has a nice sense of height and good tone.

 

Keep it up.

Very nice. Excellent composition, sense of depth and direction and nice contrast. Keep up the good work. How much did you have to pay the cows to pose? (joking)

 

Best,

 

John

Portraits of indigenous Mexicans living in Monterrey, the nation's

third largest city. Thanks for taking time to check it out.

 

js

Trabajo excelente, como siempre.

 

Suerte,

 

JS