dennisdixson

Very nice work.

And on the seventh day the industrialist rested.

 

Hey is that even a word? The spell checker seems to like it. This is very cool. The lighting is quite a treat for the eyes.

 

Do you remember when people actually made things that were useful? All I do each day is to make mindless database entries and reset virtual switches somewhere far away in a remote location that I have never seen. There is humor in the fact that somehow this activity helps to make other people very wealthy. Elsewhere there are people fighting and dying in the name of foolish causes but in the meantime, in another universe there is a wheel that goes around, passing from light to darkness and back again. In this way some small sliver of humanity is preserved in a fragile image that tells the story of perfection achieved - if only for a moment.

 

Yes, a treat for the eyes and the mind.

I like this a lot... but it somehow seems lopsided. Her hand looks really small and the opposite shoulder looks really big. It's probably perfect for the right hand side of a magazine spread. I don't like the hand touching the side of the frame but that is another thing that is done in print all the time. In fact I keep thinking this would be great to illustrate an article. It seems more editorial in nature rather than something intended for fashion or advertising.

 

What focal length did you shoot this with?

 

The exposure and smooth graduation of tones are really very nice.

Nice work for certain. I don't think anyone is likely to see much detail in the highlights in this size of a screen image to begin with. You don't say how the image was captured or what sort of post processing was done which makes a difference in how you might go about adjusting the contrast.

 

I would duplicate the layer and set the new layer to "multiply" then add a dark mask to hide the new layer, next paint the mask with a soft white brush to reveal the parts of the darker layer that I wanted to burn in. After I got it close to where I thought it should be, I would reduce the opacity to 50 or 60%. It's almost always better to back off of your first edit a little.

 

You could also try reducing the the highlights to 250 from the max of 255 and or add a little bit of "noise" or grain to the highlight areas to make them print better.

 

I think you are very close with this exposure maybe 1/3 to 1/2 stop over but that's how you get details in the shadows. It's very subjective in the end and you are the best judge of the correct exposure.

I'm waiting for the Musical to come out.

 

There are lots of little unifying elements in this photograph that bring order to the chaos. I like the fact that there are quite a few places to park your eyes if you get tired of the many fascinating details. The composition is well balanced and would no doubt run absolutely free of vibration if it were some sort of machine. That of course would also make you one of the world's foremost mechanics but instead you are a photographer and that works out even better for us. Now can someone please help me with my check-engine-light?

I just heard a story about a woman in California that sold her house to raise money to have her beloved dog "Booger" cloned. Now she has a bunch of baby boogers. She says that when she lost the use of her arms that the (stray) dog stepped up and became her support animal. According to the story, the dog learned to fetch things, open doors with his teeth and even did the laundry... What? Yes that's what she said.

 

I'm wondering how the dog separated the colors from the whites but I guess that's another story. Anyway this and that got me to wondering what would have happened if Adam and Eve had been cloned and we got a big do-over on the whole fall of mankind thing. Perhaps the world; or whatever alternate world that might have taken place on; would now be a better place.

 

Of course, this photo would be more metaphoric if the manhole cover was left off and the hapless couple were heading straight for a nasty fall into the sewer with the rest of the planet. I doubt if the first couple could handle our modern world anyway, seeing as how they are much too gullible and would fall for every half-baked (apple) pie in the sky scheme that came their way. Perhaps that is the ultimate lesson of all religions (or at least it should be). "Don't be a damned fool."

I think that the number of people on the job watching other people work is actually how they remember the secret ratio of sand, cement and gravel needed in order to make concrete.

What is up with those pants? It's like an extra bolt of fabric in every pair. Are you telling me that construction workers are choosing fashion over function these days? In the old days we used to put on our pants one yard... I mean leg at a time.

There is something about that ever so slight motion blur that makes it seem as though this guy is stuck in some sort of dreary and continuous loop (which I'm sure he probably is). It really looks as though he is pushing against some invisible force that is holding him back. That light colored drain pipe or sign post in front of him resembles a backslash \ as used in computer commands for many different types of computer systems. It almost seems like his life has been reduced to some sort of simple endlessly repeating command that he is forced to obey. We can check his dismal progress at any time by typing a single instruction on a command line: /for osslog.

 

Tell the poor bastard to step it up a notch because this year we expect a bigger return on our investment than last year.

Sorry no tattoos, just a few scars as reminders of a life lived recklessly. You made me curious about this one, so I plugged it in google and got the following result - 666 in Binary. So in other words this dolt has marked himself with the sign of the Devil. Very impressive. I'm sure Momma is real proud.

 

I have about the same opinion of tattoos as I do of graffiti. If you can't make it, don't deface it.

Your only mistake was in not hiring the right art director for the shoot. Allow me to recommend someone for next time -

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/71/231118194_0d5920ebf6_m.jpg(He can take care of the catering for you as well).

Why is the wheel as big as the barrow? Just think what they could accomplish with our manly American sized wheelbarrows.

 

As for the composition, I like the subtle rhythm of the V shapes in the barrow, shirt, shovel, arms and foreground.

A scene often repeated in many a Western movie of my youth.

 

"This one's wearing a lucky J brand, the rustlers must be hiding inside the saloon."

 

Well it wouldn't be much of a B drama if the weren't, now would it? Oh yeah, there they are - hiding in plain sight at the bar.

 

"Hey aint you one of them fellers from over at that Bush spread?

 

Realizing his "cover" is blown, he reaches for his gun - which happened to fall out of the holster about a mile from town when his horse jumped over a dry gully. His expression goes from confusion to panic just as guns start going off all around him...

Blah, blah, blah... bloody brilliant. You've obviously missed the best part of the composition by cutting it short on the right side. ;-)

 

Watch the following video(s) for another take on "Stage-Lighting."

 

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/07/light-we-like-gregory-crewdson.html

Fa_Fa_Feeeeeeliiiings, Fa_Fa_Fa_Feeeeeeliiiings...

That's the same expression I take on when I am waiting for someone to comment on my photos. This almost make my office cubicle look spacious.

 

A fine job and an interesting portrait.

I came across this while looking at your recent uploads. That church looks more menacing than inviting to me. It seems as though it wants to devour anyone who ventures beyond the gate. I always feel as though small churches have much more personality than the spiritual super-centers that are gaining in popularity these days. No flash or show, just the humble basics.

 

Even after looking at this for a few minutes I still get that feeling of some overly friendly and standing way too close predatory preacher. A very effective image in the sense that it produces an intellectual and emotion response in the viewer. Good work.

It looks like I posted this last year about this time. I took this photo on a trip to Michigan which is where I hope to be next month.

 

Jack can be a hard act to follow because he makes it look so completely effortless.

Thanks for the comments. I like this image a lot in spite of it being a technical mess. I used to go to this place fairly often but I have not been here at all lately. If you think the decoration is garish then you should see it in color. It's not easy to stomach and the staff is just about as colorful.

 

If I were doing this now I might try taking two exposures in order to get a better sample to show the dynamic range. I'm not really into the HDR images (partially because I can't figure out how to accomplish that technique) because they really do not look photographic to me.

I have to hand it to women everywhere who are willing to suffer any discomfort in order to look stylish.

 

You seem to be using a much more shallow depth of field in some of these compositions or maybe a less contrasty look.

 

I really like the use of perspective from left to right. It is an interesting play between foreground, midground and middle midground, with the background taking care of itself. It gives a great sense of movement to the still image.

He had better be carrying someone on his back if he is going to run in the commuter lane.

This is just plain old good or plus plus and whatever else goes for high praise these days. To me the background is almost the real show with the foreground acting as a clever filler or placeholder. This is opposite of most compositions and very interesting to say the least. You have produced something that is not unlike a magician's slight of hand; drawing our attention to one thing while making something else appear as if out of nowhere.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2595005267_f54dd702f6_m.jpg

The critics agree!

Youth is the precious commodity that we old farts envy most. Or is it beauty? Youth is beauty you dolt. What? Talk louder...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/2583404184_c11854109f_m.jpg

The three girls shown together suit the triangular configuration of the slide. Of course taking photos of children in a public place will get you flogged and shot in the land of constitutional denial these days. A fine exercise in the art of looking over your shoulder I'm sure and very nice work also.

"They say it's his best work."

"Everyone's talking about some sort of breakthrough."

"I'm hungry."

"Yes, let's grab something to eat at that little place in the village."

This reminds me a lot of some sort of installation art or accidental art which is no insult to the quality or value of the photograph. In fact, I think this is very effective at showing the transient nature of art or at least human interest in art. Our attention span has been wrecked by tight half-hour programing and too much of everything.

I like the fact that in this composition you have included some three dimensional elements like that short wall on the left side. You could just as easily gone with a two dimensional or flat rendering which would have had a more graphic or abstract feeling. I also very much like the way those dark corner guards unify and define the space. There is a nice play of proportions here that could have been lost if not for your masterfull use of composition.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2086/2511258191_9dd2340713_m.jpg

What? Does this mean we are going to have to start weaning ourselves off of oil?

 

Those shoes look like little suburban piglets to me, clamoring for the last of that milk from some far away desert.