GerrySiegel

Admirable lighting makes it. Good work.

Very fine tonality to skin. Subtle combination of colors. And a pensive but nice expression.

A definite artistic touch beyond the average portrait. Shows craftmanship.

Hard to resist. A moment that justifies the whole camera art by itself.

Charming combination. A winsome young lady and a cuddly cat. How can one miss with this combination.

An attention grabber by its simple message. Youth. Innocence. Tenderness. Nice portrait.

Solemn and zen like.

Eyes are captivating. Skin is a bit unreal but has the glamour touch we expect. Nice indeed.

The circular bullseye effect was a good come on and I can see using it. But the payoff is a kind of drab figure almost lifeless in the target. If the arms were akimbo or stretched or V shaped there would be some life there. So I am sorry but it fails to deliver the goods. Photographically speaking. Could use the photo now as part of a collage and replace the target==possibilities can be salvaged.

I like the feel for this scene. It is almost too much too take in. I probably would have tried for more of bottom crop to get a horizontal panorama and keep in some reflection at bottom. A pleasing vista.

Good we have some admirers of this one. Julie, I am impressed . Spinning straw into gold is a lost art. But it keeps the conversation going,. Which is not a bad thing.

It is a dark world imaged, Remove the wheelchair and you bar entry. Add a figure to the chair and you make it more interesting. The doors within doors is a good device. Cinematographic even.

Perhaps a little too much granite, what do you think,crop wise? Lovely nymphette.

Sans culotttes meant something less risque during the Revolution. Cheeky beer.

Kinetic. Only for the young of spine...nice soft light.

Quite pleasing. And you did it all with a single light source. I expect it was with a large light diffuser or umbrella. You caught all the sinuous curls of her hair which makes such a wonderful frame. And just the right cropping for balance. I like the little folds in the satin blouse as well..A fine bit of workmanship and hard to find any negatives. Lovely cheekbones helps of course. Just the right amount of highlights on the skin. I am filled with admiration for both of you. Aloha. GS PS. I am keen on a few natural freckles too :-)

I am trying to visualize " toned with a paint brush" Lawrence. Can you amplify for we of the less tactile types..thanks.

A nice delicacy about it, John. Even the crossed hand pose works for this model. Shape of bone structure I think.

An interesting couple. Makes me want to visually tour the detailed surrounds and environment, as well as the smart dog, and get to know it all better. I do not think -in this case -that the HDR processing aids much that visually journey. A matter of personal opinion of which I only got one and offer it for what it is worth..I wish you well, gs

A true warrior woman. Would likely have done a vertical shot showing more of her armored bodice. And less of the blurred background personally. Needed color, perhaps you caught one in your gallery. Nice makeup.

Yes, seeing is what its all about isn't it. Learning to see before the shot for learners ( all present I expect). And not so much to please but to illuminate something that touches a common feeling. Which goes beyond documentary or portraiture. Or landscape. I like the Bryce Canyon shot at the bottom of the page done by David. He chose a section of the carved canyons to print. And framed them with a square, not so common these days. But that framing is also a statement which directs us to look in a certain way. I am not sure what I am driving at, but I look at a feature like the National Parks and think of the wonders our eyes reveal. And our appreciation of complimentary and non complimentary colors. A place that, despite the myths, you can not just drop your camera on the deck and get an interesting result. We get to a museum now and then. And the docent stops at a certain framed painting, which draws her attention. And then we in the crowd notice details we did not notice at first and by this we learn to see. Even without a camera as an exercise in observation. Though we are bombarded with images, we need to quiet our minds and alert them fresh each day... I saw a banyon tree root the other day and framed it in my mind and thought about angles. That sort of thing. It had a human quality,that tree root.

Very evocative of an elder of his group. Strong framing.

I find the bicycles in the photo to be interesting as to placing it and giving it a human scale that is lacking in the photo the elves chose. If a photo is indeed uninteresting for discussion then it is a careless choice. I think the criteria for selection should be a little more thoughtful and I guess we would all agree that the selection might be more in keeping with the idea of provoking some more contrasting views. If it is vapid, I would say give it a pass. I would say for sure the method of choosing needs to be 'recalibrated.' Not all that hard. For a while, Fred, you sponsored some good choices for educational discussion. Just to set a mark. We have so many good galleries.( I offered a couple named one at one time.) And there should be as many categories as possible under the theme lists.

Curious choice this POTW, by Die Elves if designed to stimulate the senses or provoke much discussion.-I can agree that it is not sparking much chit chat..OTOH, A rain washed city byway that might have been More Inviting from Dan's gallery. Or more fulfilling. Just from a brief glance at Daniel's large output. I like cobbled texture and the atmosphere even with the B and W which is not my top taste preference I hasten to say, but it has qualities( as do charcoal drawings.) From some Italian village, a section of old Paris? Again, no people, but the felt presence of peple. Quiet town still alive. Nice lines.

 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=18319630&size=lg

Fair points, thanks Fred. I guess I do not rate personal association as necessarily defining in a photo, nor unwelcome nor empathy or as you say inner feeling to be necessary or vital to find a POTW at least interesting enough to draw my attention. And form the basis for discussion that may or may not lead to those elusive elemental things we try to isolate. And share.

The urban villages of the mid century as a kind of found photo art. Not exactly Mondrian but rectangles notheless. Street photography perhaps. Before urban renewal and poured concrete walls and central air. A little individuality of color in each flat apts. and on the rooftop a tree. So I find color to be more inviting and see in color mostly. This is from my personal archive. Houses that were built in the early part of the last century. No doubt converted from gas lamps too.. Fire scapes wedged on after code changes and the Triangle disaster in New York..Places where greenhorn immigrants landed on their feet before their kids moved to the burbs.