mawest

Joel-

Well, that's as close as I can get to your meaning...maybe someone else can post a better one later, but for now this should do. Great moment! I love the farside-ish caption given to it from James...

-West

Is this crop better than the one above?

-West

And the second alternative cropping...

Thanks for the comment. Although I can't claim that I knew when I was taking the picture that the man on the right would be so out of focus, I think I like it better that way as he does not compete as much with the main subject, the man with the beggars bowl.

I guess to me, this picture is more worthwhile because I believe that it captures a portion of the contradictions that so struck me living in China. In this scene there is a public garden in the background, a beggar next to the wall (not uncommon as public gardens/parks...and more so in Hong kong/Macau, temples due to their traditional role in social welfare...draw crowds and seem to be popular with beggars) and in the foreground is the buisness man with the cellphone. For some, and many on the coasts, development is coming and has enabled them to move into a new realm of consumerism while for others (more so as you move inland or westward) although their standards of living may also be improving, the gap seemingly grows larger and larger. The focus, thus is on the beggar as I want to emphasize that some are being left behind rather than emphasising the man in the front, oblivious to all but his conversation, as signifying development.

I am uploading two other crops of this same picture that perhaps capture the idea I was looking for a bit better. If you have time I would appreciate any comments on these two possibilities as well. Thanks.

-West

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately this was the only shot I got of this particular set of incense...I believe that one of the reasons I chose these two coils (besides the fact that the top one was lit in the right place) was that as I tested the others in my viewfinder, they had other pieces of the temple in them...I didn't think that the other elements in the background would have blacked out as nicely as the roof did.

Your thought about the thirds rule is interesting. I tried a few other crops (really quickly) just now and I think to do the idea justice it would need to be reshot.

• Here's what I remember thinking in choosing the shot...
• I wanted the smoke to be visible from the main burning end.
• I wanted the form/lines in the top coil to be echoed in the bottom.
• I tried to set up the top coil such that it completes the bottom coil...the whole-subject-distributed rule.
• Then, if possible, I wanted to have smoke from some of the other coils in the picture as well.

I kind of wish that the end of the burning coil showed some of the glow that it had occasionally in the temple. The thirds rule is a good idea though and actually I'm returning to Hong Kong so I might get a chance to go back to Macau and try it again. Thanks again for the comment.

-West

THis looks like a great idea...I think that now that you know the timing of the exposure and what it looks like I would like to see it again...perhaps with a different background or with the light patterns somehow coordinated with the background...let me know if you do more of this as I'd be interested in seeing it.

-West

I'm not sure about the green tinges on the flower...IMO I think they take away from the pink. Out of curiousity...did you mean by the title to reference the ice cream-like desert or is there another meaning as well?

-West

I can see that the dark affect is what you need here, but in my opinion, his eyes are a bittoo much in the shadows. Great idea and good lighting/pose for the portrait otherwise.

-West

Maybe find a more interesting subject, get closer, or change the POV...your "Here I grow my own grassss :p (0001)" picture is MUCH better than this.

-West

interesting point of view to make the focus be the hands rather than the faces...definately conveys a feeling that these are people working/sticking together. Nice balance between the large unfocused faces and the relatively smaller sharp area of focus in th elower left.

-West

Ugh! This winter, when our pond froze over, we tried to rig up an electric light to a strophome float inorder to keep a small circle of water from freezing. Unfortunately, the power went off during a storm and the last opening in the pond froze...our goldfish of 3 years didn't make it without the hole. I can easily imagine...especially if you rotate your image -90 degrees that these fish are yelling and chomping at me for payback! Nice shot.

Do you have any where one of the fish is the primary subject with the rest kind of as secondary or background elements? I think that having all four in the same position (as competing elements) that it takes away from the effect and might have forced you to compromise on the focus. Overall, a pretty original portrayal of a common (not necessarily for photography, but certainly in life) subject. Well done, and I will now feel free to blame my future humongous-goldfish-chasing-me-for-revenge nightmares on you! [grin]

-West

IMO (of course)...Perhaps a bit soft on the focus and I might prefer more space on the left where she is looking. Nice outfit and pose!

West

Was this staged or is this a real street scene? I say so because I think the girl laying down's expression doesn't fit with my vision of what you were trying to show. She looks almost like she's laughing in this. Other than that, the shot is quite good. I like the ofset angle to the framing and the second person watching is a good touch...it reminds me that there is actually a third person at the scene...the photographer...or, as the viewer, myself. Looking at it a bit longer...and I'm not sure what kind of control you had/have (depending on the negative) over this...I would prefer to have less space above the standing girl's head and more on the bottom to give some room around the laying girl's knees. Nice group of shots.

West

This looks like a workable portrait idea...If this were me, I might reshoot it to be sure to get her eyes and face in focus. Also you might see if you can have the stalks undisturbed between her head and her upper arm...letting her hand disappear into the field. Good Idea...let me know if you reshoot it.

The print of this one recently won best of show for the studio section of a show I particpated in.

-West

Excellent shot...I agree with Matthew above, the colors are amazing, but the clouds make the shot! It never ceases to amaze me the tricks the camera can pull, to be able to make the skyline of Shanghai look so calm and serene...While meanwhile, if it is anything like when I was there, there are hundreds of people talking and walking just behind where you are. Well done with this.

-west

I'm not sure I like the point of view...IMO its different, yes. But also a bit disconcerting and I think distracts from the subject.

How far is this Park from the Quetico? I was just up there a few weeks ago.

-west

I think I like the thumbnail for this one a lot...but I can't see the whole thing at once on my window...if you would resize it down, I'll recomment.

-west

good minimalist shot. well seen.

-west

nice echoing of the red doors...the walk really draws the eye to the second door towards the back. I like the close, almost constricting framing, it reminds me of that feeling of making an important life-changing decision, door number one or, door number two.

-West

Compositionally, I like the foreground to background communication...and the three triangles of color overlapping. I think it would be stronger if there was more light on the foreground...so on the closer blooms...the background being brighter takes your eyes off of the focus.

I would appreciate any comments, suggestions, or ratings on this scrint.

-West

wow. I really like the contrast between the numerous small repeating things and the one large thing above them. It's also interesting how you managed to get all of the clouds below the bridge! The only thing I can think of that would make it better would be to have a sharper focus on some of the wooden posts in the foreground...I'm not sure that you could have gotten that from the camera, but thats what my eyes seem to want. Very well composed.

I think I'm going to side with the too dark folks on this one...I agree that the leaf needs to be darker than the rest so as not to distract from the focus of the image, but I would like to see some detail in its shadows...it strikes me as a bit too flat now...otherwise, how did you get the red hue in the sky...was that evening light on clouds or...what?

I like the colors and the repeating of the yellow above the red as well. I'm not sure what it is, but in the lower-left thirds point is some sort of grey dust-ball. IMO it is a bit distracting (then again, if it couldn't have been brushed off then I guess Iit belongs there). I like the other metal bolts (or seemingly raised circles) on the surface, just not the 'dust-thing' [grin].