espector

I'm glad you went wider, rather than focusing solely on the waterfall and rocks; the background really elevates the image for me.  Love the colors and overall mood.  

It's hard to create a long-exposure waterfall image that doesn't come off as trite, IMO, no matter how competent it might be.  But this one immediately struck me for its use of color, with an excellent composition as well.  The blue in the water plays off so well against the subtle rusty reds of the pine needles (which also provide a nice textural contrast) and the even more subtle yellow-brown tone of the rocks.  I love the dark shadows with just enough exposure to reveal some detail.  My only small suggestion would be to consider taking just a sliver off the top, where that tiny little bit of rock within the white water (along with the specular highlights at the very top of the rocks at right) tends to pull my eye out of the top of the frame.  But I really admire the image overall--a waterfall picture I think I'll actually remember!  

Thank you, Maurizio.

Ben, thanks very much for the comment.  Glad you like it.

Larry, I really appreciate your thoughts, and especially your reference to Ben Shahn.  I love the style of his artwork, and his ideals (social activism).  I think he was also a photographer, too?   Thanks for the comparison (and yes, this was taken from my car! :-)). 

:-)   I can't take full credit, since this was largely my teenage son's idea.  He's not the slightest bit camera-shy, but thought this pose would be amusing.

Thanks very much, Chuck.  Just experimenting with a few things in this one; happy that it works for you. 

Another great flower image.  Love the colors, the compo, the light, the controlled exuberance of the whole thing.  

Wonderful...the colors are so rich and painterly, and I can almost feel it pulsating with life.  There is something deliciously menacing about this flower with its black hole of a mouth and rows of teeth.  ;-)  I love it.

I love winter shots where I can't tell if the image is truly a monochrome.  I don't think this one is, because I see hints of green and brown on the tree trunks.  The composition is nicely balanced and the layering of the trees and tones from front to back is lovely.  My favorite detail would be the frost-covered twigs in the foreground. 

Thanks, Chuck.  This is one of those images that I thought might be interesting to no one but myself, LOL.  I was drawn to the way the branches and background are all tangled up in a sort of semi-organized chaos, and have also been playing around with a new approach to B&W (a slightly more illustrative effect).  I appreciate you looking and commenting.

Thanks very much for the comment, Rick.  I see you are a fellow Olympus shooter. :-)  You have some very nice images in your gallery (I esp. like the Film Noir series).

Thanks for the visit, Chuck.  Glad you like it.

Hi, Chuck.  Thanks very much for the comment! 

I was drawn to this image for the fantastic color work, the gorgeous tones (your model's skin just glows as if she's lit from within) and the overall mood.

For what it's worth, I happen to like the chair and the plant.  They help keep the photo feeling spontaneous and uncontrived, and don't (for me) distract in any way.  I admire successful environmental portrats that have to juggle chaotic scenes and elements, and I think this one makes good use of those elements.  The red color of the chair certainly helps, as I see that color woven throughout the image--in her shirt, the armchair, her glasses, and even the book in the top center of the bookcase and the flower arrangement in deep shadow at far right.  Now that I've seen the image, I can't imagine it working as well as it does without the chair (and, to a lesser extent, the plant).   Every part of the image seems to contribute something important to the whole and I love the whole thing!

I agree with the comments above (shades of Vermeer is right!).  You have so many exceptional portraits, but this one just jumped off the computer screen when I saw the thumbnail.  It actually gives me goosebumps to look at it.  Love the tonality, the grain, the obvious connection in her gaze, that turn of her body and the tilt of her head, everything.  

Meir, that's fascinating that the other boy has a twin, too!  And I didn't mention it in my previous post, but I'm an identical twin myself, so this image is extra special to me.  :-)  I'm glad your post gave me an excuse to look at it again. 

Hi, John--thanks for the comment!  I think it is an unwritten rule, LOL  (like potato chips, where you can't stop at just one).  We rescued Betsy (on the left) from a local shelter and then my daughter relentlessly started pursuing a second corgi rescue a few months later and we got Fred.  I wish we lived on a farm so we could have a dozen! 

Aspens in Fall--a popular subject we've all seen countless times, but your image stands out for me because of those whimsical curved trunks and for the way you've used color.  The color of the sage plants looks spot-on to my eyes, a natural, soft green with just a hint of blue.  Those subtle cool tones are a wonderful complement to the deep golds, and the whiteness of the foremost trunks brings the whole thing to life.  Those 3 trees stand apart very nicely from the background, keeping the scene from feeling cluttered or chaotic and also providing a lovely sense of depth and 3-D space.  The fact that it is a grouping of 3 trunks makes the composition even stronger;  I just love things in threes.  Not just another aspen image, and I'm sure I'll remember this one for a long time to come.

I keep coming back to look at and enjoy this one again and again!  (It's one of those rare images that I'm sure I'll remember vividly even 40 years from now.)   I, too, would love to see more pictures of this "gang" if you have any to share.  In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing a whole coffee table book of these kids, LOL. 

Eugene and Margo, thanks very much for looking and commenting; that's most appreciated!

Dan, It makes me quite happy to hear that this image raises questions or suggests a story.   :-) There's not much to tell about the external story, and the internal story (what she may be thinking about) is as much a mystery to me as to anyone else.  She's very good at inscrutable expressions, LOL; maybe that's one of the reaons I like to photograph her so much. 

Chuck,

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this one, and for making the extra effort to think about (and show me) an alternate presentation.  I'm always open to suggestions; sometimes it is useful to see an image through other people's eyes and to stand back and view one's own photo from more of a distance, so to speak.  I don't discount at all the idea that the rotation might look better to some.  There are several reasons it doesn't work so well for me (after studying it for some time); see image with notes below (original on left, your rotated version on the right).  But I readily admit that my considerations for composition are probably idiosyncratic or obsessive compulsive to others, LOL.  I really do enjoy discussing these things, though.  Infinitely better to get an honest, thoughtful critique than the ubiquitous "great shot!" :-)   Anyway, my main issues are (1)  the balance of negative space on the LH and RH sides of the image and (2) the placement of the arcs of lighter leaves and the way they either keep the eye contained within the image or lead the eye out of the image.  I hope my quick, scribbled-on images describe what I mean:

 http://spector.smugmug.com/Before-and-After/Before-and-After/i-zjjSbvg/0/L/rotation-discussion-L.jpg

How refreshing to see a landscape that isn't oversaturated, overly dramatic, over HDR'd etc.  Just a simple, natural color palette and spare (even minimalist) scenery.  It seems almost counter-intuitive, but I find that a "simple" image like this one can hold my interest far longer than an image with an immediate "wow" factor.  There are so many subtle nuances to explore, and the mood of this one lets me enjoy that process at a leisurely pace.  The pale browns and blues are just gorgeous (who would have thought?), and there are just enough dark bits to provide a contrast with those soft, pale tones.  I love the way the little trail of rocks at the water's edge almost seems to point to the island on the horizon, and the way that trail of rocks also echoes the shape of the clouds at the far left.  The 3 layers of sky, water, and sand make for a lovely abstract composition, so nicely balanced, esp. since the sky contains the same beige and blue tones of the lower 2 layers.   I think this is just a beautiful image all the way around.