jonathan_van_matre1

I second Marc G. This example of HDR is better than most, but still not good enough. Marc's improvement takes it a step closer to good enough, but still falls short.

What bothers me most about this image - and other HDR images of purportedly good quality - is a lack of focus. They replicate the wide dynamic range of human vision, but fail to replicate the tendency of human vision to look for an attractor, a focal point. The more every detail becomes visible, the less any one detail draws attention. The eye's search for a place to rest is diffused, sublimated into nothingness.

The practice of HDR right now seems to be in its infancy, a period characterized by a naive fascination with assigning equal importance to every part of the image, with floating the whole ship above the waterline even though it would look much more seaworthy if it were partially submerged.

This image, to me, is one of the more noble HDR failures I've seen, but I have yet to see a notable success. I commend the photographer for improving the state of the art, but I'm still waiting for the first time an HDR image truly wows me.

Right now, they still all make me feel diffuse and restless, and lingering over them only increases that feeling. But I've lingered on this one longer than most, which is a worthy achievement.

Excellent choice, Elves. I'll be curious to see what your idea of HDR "done well" is in another year or so.

Something bothers me about this photo.

It gives me a sense that something wonderful happened, but that very something is hidden behind a thick patina of both embellishment and denial. There was a story to be told here, and instead of telling it, the artist has turned it into a tall tale.

I'm not objecting to the techniques & manipulations themselves - they work to great effect in Josephine's other images, such as Never Talk To Strangers.

But what makes those images work where this one does not is this: the power of the story told by the final image is greater than that of the story inherent in any of the individual elements.

Here, however, I'm too busy mourning the obscured magic in the individual elements - they're too pregnant with stories of their own. I feel like I'm being teased, like a child whose parent changes the plot of a favorite bedtime story.

Technically, I can't fault it very much. The perspective of the building in the upper left feels disjointed from the foreground composition, but otherwise it's a well-realized expression of a complex and evocative mood.

Even so, I can't help having the same childlike response I always had in the bedtime story situation: "Stop! You're not telling it right!" :)

The intense formality of this composition immediately made me think "large format", so I was surprised to find this was done on a DSLR. And not even one of the most recent batch, with their improved dynamic range.

So I think it succeeds very well on a technical level. The lighting is beautiful and subtle, and (at least at the reduced resolution for web viewing) it looks very convincingly like a high-quality 4x5 still life. You should be richly commended for that.

That being said, the content does nothing for me. It feels very detached and intellectual, and mostly makes me wonder if the whole thing is meant to be some thought exercise that makes you ask "What is 'Black' or 'White', really?"

Titling it "Black & White" when the main subjects are more of an ivory-tinged off-white and slightly-bluish-grey...it's not entirely unprovocative, but it hits me with a dull thump. A thump too light to really wake me up.

Even though the scan is a poor one by today's standards (this is a 6-year-old post - a lot has changed since then), it's still good enough to convey to me how absolutely wonderful the original print must be to see in person.

This photo reminds me of the sheer joy of realizing how much can be read from so little when we look carefully at one another - a curl in the pinkie finger, a slight furrow in the brow. This little fellow is a novel in human form - so expressive in his posture and expression.

This is a marvelous moment of seeing.

Very nice. This kind of stillness and seriousness is tough to capture in children. This portrait shows a lot of personality, and feels very full of life.

I love how it echoes classic Hollywood portraiture, but little telltale signs like the faint sprinkling of freckles (which would almost certainly have been hand-spotted out of one of those old 8x10 studio portraits) keep it both modern and childlike.