gerrymorgan

Such a beautiful and stark landscape. Was this taken in a sandstorm? I live in a desert (southern Arizona, USA) and we sometimes have light like this when the wind whips the sand up into the sky.

I like how this photo is almost a visual puzzle. When I saw the small version of it, I thought the closest dune was a view over the edge of a cliff at the ground or sea below. Only when I saw the larger version did I realize that it was a dune. I like this type of ambiguity in photos, photos that are not obvious at first glance.

Fascinating behaviour. Nicely done.

Such beautiful light. And I like how you have made the bushes a foreground feature. I think that works very well.

I like the serenity of this shot. It has the feel of an old garden (which I'd guesss is eactly what it was -- a place where the vegetation has been allowed to become a hairstyle for the sculpture). Nice job on the hand colouring!

How exciting to be face to face with a money! I like the backlit effect on the fur, and the monkey's eyes have some interesting light in them that brings them to life.

 

The downside of backlit is that it would be great if you could increase the light on the face a little to compensate for the shade. This would be fixable in post-production, though. It would also be good to get rid of the purple fringing around the twigs.

 

It's great that you managed to catch this fleeting moment of stillness when the troupe of monkeys arrived.

This is a very nice shot. I like how the lion is camouflaged against the background, but the eye is unobstructed and in sharp focus. I also like the sharp focus on the whiskers around the mouth. And is that the tongue sticking out? Very nicely done!

 

I have one reservation about this photo and it has to do with post-processing. The lion's eye is in a very strong position in the frame and it's clearly somewhere the viewer's attention should be allowed to focus. But from the point of view of colour, there's just one thing that is not a shade of yellow/brown, and that is the green shoot of grass near the eye, right in the middle of the frame. The splash of colour drags my attention away from the eye and I wonder whether you would consider desaturating the green a little in postprocessing.

 

However, this is a wonderful shot even as it stands.

Dave, this is a wonderful, classic composition. It looks like you have used a relatively long focal length and this has allowed you to keep the foreground and background in focus. In answer to your question about the contrails, I would probably clone them out. They are in a rather strong position at the end of the main diagonal that goes from bottom right to top left. I would only leave them in if the message of my photo were to be: "look how machines follow us even to a place like this".

 

John, this is a very funny photo and firmly in the Elliott Erwitt tradition. I like Giuseppe's Version I above. I prefer the more graduated tones in that version. Well seen and well taken -- it's wonderful that you had your camera to hand and reacted so quickly.

This is great! The red hats are very striking. Congratulations on catching this wonderful moment.

 

On my monitor (calibrated), there seems to be a slight red shift to the whole photo, and this makes the sea look a bit dull. If you were to consider tweaking the reds down (very slightly, almost imperceptibly) across the entire image, the sea would not look dull and the hats would contrast with it more starkly.

 

Here's a rough example to show what I mean.

 

 

 

I like the soft lighting and how the diagonal of the stairs leads the eye along the axis where the model is. However, the wide-angle lens has made her left leg look unnaturally long, and the fact that her right leg is tucked up near her body accentuates this effect. Also, the bright area from the dodging around the model's head looks odd to me. I think the dodging was a good idea, but it needs to either be better masked to match the shape of the model's top half, or to be more graduated so that there is not such a crude transition to the darker parts of the wall.

You caught a great moment here, Meir. I love the intent look of concentration on each of their faces. Often, it's cell phones that distract people from the person they are sharing a table with. It's so much better when it is ice cream!

Tony, it's great that you saw this situation developing and were able to catch the perfect moment! The purple of the woman's skirt contrasts well with the yellows, and I like the triangle of the three figures.

Thanks for looking at my portfolio, Tina, and for the comment!

I like the triangle of the tree, the sun and the square sign over on the right. It can be hard to create a composition that works well as a panorama, but these successfully keep my eye circulating around the frame.

This is a nice idea. I like the position of the patch of clouds at the top relative to the moon. And the lines of light at the bottom do a good job of isolating the tree while also drawing the viewer's attention to it. The problem that I have with this composition is that there are two areas of interest at opposite ends of a panorama, and not much in between. My eye jumps from one to the other, and this does not keep my attention within the photo. In a perfect world, perhaps the clouds would be different and act as a conduit for the eye from one end of the photo to the other and back again. Alternatively, perhaps the hard jump of the eye from tree to moon and back would work better if the masking on the moon were more carefully executed — at the moment, it makes the moon look slightly eccentric at top-right. A more perfect circle would contrast better with the shape of the tree.

This is reminiscent of your panorama with the sun and a tree, and that composition works better for me because the compositional elements engage the viewer better (this viewer, at least).

Wonderful shot, and very nicely framed!

Nice photo! I like the others in your study of this bridge too. There's a lot to be said for returning to a subject in different weather conditions and your bridge series is a good example of this.

 

One thing that I really like about this shot is how starkly it contrasts with your photo of the same bridge in the fog (which I also like). This one is all about right-angles, a strong diagonal, and contrasty processing (which nevertheless keeps details in the shadows). And the other is about softness and fading into nothing.

 

It would be great to see what else you can do with this subject.

 

Great timing -- what an obliging pigeon! The converging verticals of the tower emphasize the height and the flying pigeon fits in well with this idea. Did you consider cloning out the lens flare at top left? Very nice shot!

This is an interesting study of form and tones. I like the strong vertical pillar and the shadows from the curved railings. The harsh light is perfect because it provides sharply defined shadows that are an important part of this composition. And you've managed to control the highlights well, while keeping shadow detail.

 

It would be interesting to see some more studies of this building if you have the opportunity to return there.

I like this photo and I do not think it would be better if she were looking at you. I like the idea conveyed here that she is busy and engaged in what she is doing, and does not have time to look at the camera.

This is a quite captivating portrait. The eyes really hold the viewer's attention. The framing is just right -- tight, but not overly so. And the exposure is perfect. Very nice!

Nice portrait, Meir. You have a way of connecting with your subjects that works very well.

I'm coming to this thread rather late. I sought it out after you mentioned it in a comment under one of your other photos, John.

 

I like this photo a lot. Like many of your other photos, it is well seen, and well executed. Swiftly so too, as you mentioned above.

 

I suspect you might be mistaken about the background to this story. My understanding from Muslim friends is that it is quite normal for a woman who covers herself completely in public to wear elegant clothes and cosmetics in the privacy of her own home. So, while you are quite right to point out the apparent oxymoron to western eyes, there is no fundamental contradiction in this scene. That, of course, in no way detracts from the visual dichotomy that gives great power to your photo.

I like the juxtaposition of this man's apparently spiritual moment and the commercial nature of the world around him, complete with large "$1.78" sign. Perhaps he is accustomed to prayer in cornfields and felt that this was the closest he could get in an urban area.

 

The composition is definitely all the stronger for the woman watching in the background. And the inclusion of the two sides of the aisle gives useful context ("juicy juice" is a nice touch). However, the consequent converging diagonals and the whiteness of the deli counter behind the background woman lead my eye away from the man on his knees and towards the woman. In a perfect world, that would be different, but one has to work with what one is given.

 

That's a minor compositional nitpick, though. Most importantly, it's a great moment and how wonderful that you had your camera with you and were able to access it quickly enough to get the shot!

 

I hope the pain has passed and that you (or at least, your kidneys) are no longer "stoned".