bob_irvine

Looking out of the picture works well here due to the balance of the negative space of the green window panels. I think I would have tried to do something about the intrusive fire hydrant in the wall, but overall I like it.

Though compelled to comment, I would feel rather inadequate to do so if asked. The image is stunning. The use of the square frame format is challenging as it is, but is capitalized upon with the starkness of the bare walls and floor. Although the title of “Old Movie” seems to be a slight misnomer based on the story I see, the only response here would be, “A rose by any other name.”

Only one thing disturbs me in the composition, and that is the placement of the fog machine. The effect on the right side is brilliant, but the sharpness and obvious source of the fog on the left surely detracts from the mood of an otherwise flawless composition.

@Federico, If you are referring to his works such as Sky and Water (1938) then I quite agree. The leaves in the black, the again in the white using stark contrast in both cases. It also brings to mind the work of French mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot and his work on fractals. It would appear that Escher was far ahead of his time with his works on repeated patterns.

Very nice photo.

I have to agree with Claude here. The high contrast works really well for everything in the foreground, but then struggles for attention when placed in front of an equally rendered sky. Other than that it's a great shot.

Cheers.

 

The symmetry really works well here. Nicely done.

I would not have seen this image had it not popped up on the member sample photos. I have no words. Wonderful! pure serendipity...

 

Very nice minimalistic composition. I think it would greatly benefit from a slightly more contrasty Black and white conversion.

 

Nice work.

 

Regards

 

Bob

 

The greenery is quite vivid and the colour balance is very pleasing, but I would agree with Theophilos G. on the composition. The waterfall is leading the eyes off the frame and feel that it could have benefited from centering it a little more.

 

Nice work

 

Regards

Bob

This is very good! My first response was, "why is the subject walking out of the frame?" then saw the wall painting and wondered if that was in fact the real subject.

 

Regards

Bob

 

It looks like a little HDR processing has been added to advantage here. If there had of been a little more grass in the foreground, it would have been very much in the style of a Norman Rockwell painting. I like it!

 

Regards

Bob

 

Nathan, You are perfectly right! This is not a false reflection at all! It is a real reflection off water.

 

Happy!

 

"I don't know why people must cut others down because a picture is so good"

 

I'm not cutting anyone down. I'm simply disputing how the picture came to be; and stand by my conclusions until such times as Francisca can make available the original unedited shot as proof, which of course will not happen. This is why it is called a 'critique'.

 

At this point I'm afraid that we will have to agree to disagree.

 

I concede Nathan, The distortion in the reflected image is caused by an overlapping of two distinct reflections, but the issue of height in any reflection is clearly an issue here. Here is another PN member's submission of a real reflection. It validates my position without question that this is not a true reflection.

 

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=8377953

 

 

 

This is a great sunset with a very dramatic cloud formation. The only thing I felt was that the washed-out look of the foreground detracted somewhat from the main event. By pushing the low end a bit, the foreground would darken and actually enhance the scene through framing.

 

Nice composition.

 

The range and contrast could not have been better. I was drawn in emotionally by the ripples. The initial capture of what would have been an idyllic glassy reflection is surprisingly enhanced by the gross intrusion of the ripples. To me, it is a graphical motif in human terms of the unexpected crashing into normally sedentary lives.

 

Capturing the ripples at an early stage of development was a great move. It left me thinking of how far the disruption would continue before dissolving away.

 

A truly wonderful composition with great thought provoking potential.

 

Cheers

 

I'm sorry Francisca, but this is an artificial reflection. First of all, as has already been pointed out, the geometry is wrong in the reflection. The reflected section of the structure directly above the tower light should have exposed the underside of the beam which it does not. But the final give away is simply in the dynamics of reflected images. As the angle of the camera increases from the horizon, the reflected image becomes shorter. The tower in the photograph and it's reflection are pixel for pixel exactly the same height.

 

I submit the following demonstration of a pen photographed on a glass mirror. The image on the left is a true reflection. The image on the right is a flipped artificial reflection. It is also shown that even glass distorts the clarity and sharpness of the reflection. I'm pretty sure that water as still as it can be would not do any better.

 

 

Forgive me if I'm wrong but it appears that the animal was overlaid in post production. I think it really ruins what would have been a great shot. The perspective in the main shot and the perspective on the animal look to be off by about 45 degrees and as a result is very distracting.

 

 

 

Shifting to the left away from the direction of the road was a terrific move IMHO. It creates a wonderful radiation point in the lower right side at the bend in the road. The contrast looks as if it has been pushed to advantage. Combined with the general composition it creates an almost surreal feeling of fantasy.

 

Great photograph.

 

Cheers

When I first looked at the image, my eye was drawn immediately to the white thing in the mirror which was, as has been pointed out a distraction. But after that it felt like partaking in a visual feast. The overall colour tone, the model and the fixtures complemented each other so well, I think that any displacement of any of the elements would diminish this piece of art. I notice that like some other photos in Selina’s portfolio, the use of the delineating vertical line is in use here. I think it is a very powerful form, but it looks almost slightly overdone in this composition.

I would also like to comment on the superb quality of the comments made by the other contributors here. They have certainly provided me with an assist on the ever-broadening learning curve. Thank you

This is a fascinating shot. The main subject is very intriguing and highly unusual. I think that I would have tightened up tho DOF a little more to bring more attention to it. I love the composition in general, it really works well in B&W.

 

Cheers

 

I have to be in awe of a couple of facts. The amount of gossamer material the model is handling coupled with how water density deals with that kind of material has to have posed an extraordinarily difficult situation for composure. When the fact that the model has to surface in mere seconds, only to recycle the pose again boggles the mind. I think composition here would have to be more related to final choice of available images obtained at the shoot much like shooting a sports event.

I am inclined to agree with the cropping of the right side. For the shot in general, It’s simply a fine piece of art.

I really like this. There is no ambiguity in the image, the letter says it all. You have done a beautiful job of allowing the viewer to peek inside the child's mind and experience some of the magic.

Very well executed indeed! I was particularly intrigued with the fact that you caught debris flying off the ground from the last push of the dog! It really adds to the energy already present in the scene.

 

 

So what is photography? Study of light and shadow, study of composition, subject, framing. The art of capturing the moments emotion in a single click indeed. But one must remember that even Adams had to bring that yet unseen capture back to the darkroom to reveal it's secrets. The darkroom itself soon became a further source of creativity that thousands of the greatest photographers in the world exploited without reservation.

 

Yes, this is a digital manipulation, but looking at the submission before this one containing three images with different degrees of distortion, I feel that PP performed here has greatly enhanced the emotion and mystery of the scene. The skill has less to do with use of the software, but rather deciding which images would benefit from such manipulation.

 

In my darkroom days I routinely experimented with linear distortion, solarization, masking, dodging etc, etc, etc. which was in some cases even more exciting than the shoot itself simply for the creative latitude it provided.

 

The lines between the darkroom and the digital darkroom are rapidly blurring into insignificance, and as with all tools of the photographer, knowing when and how to to apply them is the litmus test of the art itself.

 

Excellent image.

 

One of the elements you have nailed particularly well here is the effect of the sky. I don't know how many times I have been trying to work out an atmospheric shot, usually caught by a chance of weather, and just knew it was going to be one of those, "you had to be there" situations where the photograph just could not do justice to the scene.

 

Your careful management of post processing has effectively captured the emotion of foreboding which is enhanced by not only the whiteness if the snow but the contrasts created by the structure of the rail lines.

 

Stunning piece of work.