t37traveler

Tony - This is a stunning "natural abstract."The colors are amazing, and the little grasses, twigs and reflections are so simple yet provide so much interest - so much to  detail to visually dissect. 

Great use of leading lines. Lots of texture and wonderful light on the grasses - but it is that great sky that really sets this picture apart.  This is a really good photo - technically and artistically superb. It's a scene that has been photographed 1000 times, but you've made it fresh and interesting! 

Larry and Warren -Thank you for the comments.  This place is in a deep freeze also right now. This is our sailboat, a Tayana 37 (same type of rugged, classic seaworthy beauty as the Pacific Seacraft) at anchor in Winter Harbor on Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine.This beautiful spot is one of my favorite anchorages. I shot this in 2009, took a second look at it a few weeks ago and reprocessed it with better SW and more experience.

Wonderful treatment of light and water with the long exposure. Soft clouds and water are a nice contrast with the hard, rocky shoreline. Love the mood.  Very well done!

I love it - lots of color and movement to keep the viewer engaged and his imagination revved up. . Definitely a "happy-stract."  It almost reminds me of a a laughing flower. Well done, as usual!

Prowling the entrance hall at one of my favorite photo spots, I caught the

sun at just the right angle… this is a single image - no compositing here.

HOnest comments/suggestions/critiques are much appreciated. thanks for

your time.

Tony - A bit of a change from much of your work! I like it. The largely monochromatic color palette lets me enjoy the shapes and textures without distraction; even the pavement blends perfectly and adds a distinct but subtle contrast in texture. I love the slash of  dark red  that adds interest and pop without distracting or grabbing too much attention. The next time you find one, see if you can get an angle of and lighting on the tank and get a close-up shot of the buildings reflected and distorted in it. I would make only one suggestion, based on what I would do if it were my art, and this is just me…. I would crop the top edge to get ride of the red object at the top. Once found, my eyes want to pay it (and the highlight to the left of it) more attention than they deserve. 

Pierre - I love this one , and I'm not wing prejudiced by the use of my favorite color palette of orange, and rust tones. I find it a fascinating study in contrasts,  corners vs. curves, warm colors vs cold tones, light vs. dark, highlight vs. shadow.   colors in As usual your use of light, color shadow, pattern and texture is superb. Love the repeating geometric  shapes  with the circles that lend interest to the background echoing in the tires and headlights of the car. I also really like the diagonal placement of the car and the elongated view that add to the feeling of depth. WEll done and keep them coming, as I know you will.

Gail - This is a lovely macro shot. Very well composed with the white iris petals softly shrouding the beard. The  purple/yellow complementary colors give the image pop while maintaining the soft, gentle feel of the shot. It is both peaceful and happy. This could be a greeting card, a page on a calendar or a photo on the wall of my bedroom.

Larry - Thank you for your comments. I"m pretty certain there isn't any lens perspective distortion involved in this photograph. I shot it from the deck of our sailboat out in the channel well off the rocks of Hockamock Head. What I think  you may visually interpret as tilt is the actual construction of the light tower. It tapers slightly (as do most lighthouses) even though it is square instead of round.  I did have to straighten the image a bit thanks to the wave action as I was shooting; to do that I aligned a vertical guide with the far left corner of the light keeper's house. 

Tony - OMG…. I am humbled by your praise….I really don't know what to say, except  thank you.  I enjoyed creating this image,i n particular because it is in one of my favorite places to visit and photograph- Olsen House in Cushing, Maine (where Andrew Wyeth painted "Christina's World." ) Flash photography and tripods are not allowed; fortunately leaning against door frames, high ISOs, long exposures and breath-holding are allowed. I truly enjoy creating  this type of simple, "dusty" nostalgic image that evokes by-gone times.

Gail - Nice to her from you and thank you for your kind comments! I hope to get back to a higher level of activity with PN. I think some people find the image lacking because there is no "story"- but for me in this instance, the story is the lighting. I am still working on mastering the techniques involved in creating this photograph. The techniques involved were a bit more than perhaps appear. This image was entirely light-painted, - no flash or studio lights. It is comprised of a  total of 17 layers, each lighting a different surface or edge, and finally 2 with side lighting and soft OH lighting from a small LED panel. I photographed with the camera tethered to my laptop.

My first serious attempt at portrait photography - Taken outdoors, natural

light, no reflectors in late afternoon. Photo require a LOT of work on a very

troubled teenage complexion and e ending out of the eye size. The subject

naturally squints HIS right eye(not the eye on the right side of the picture)

much more than the the other when smiling. He is self-conscious about it

in photos, so I had to even that out. Comments/suggestions? Just getting

into portraits - all comments and criticisms are appreciated.

One of my favorite lighthouses - Taken on a mostly clear summer day

(sky not "great") and obviously post processed to create a mood.

Comments/suggestions appreciated.

Created this about 1AM in a total brain fog and sat transfixed and "weirded

out" for about 15 minutes afterward; creepy and fascinating at the same

time. Comments appreciated.

For another effect, trying cropping this as a panorama. I would also try lightening the shadows just a bit to bring out a little more detail in the lower left… you might or might not like the effect. Lots of possibilities here. This photo has an "other-worldly" feel to it, carted in large part by the pelican, which does not look natural in scale or position. I would love to see a pocket watch dangling from his beak at sunset… time is running out?  : )

Excellent - tack sharp with blurred DOF in just the right place.  Wing shots only, cropped to a square make wonderful abstracts - or as I like to call them, "natural abstracts."  Nice bokeh also.

Thanks, Tony. It's Maine where photography is easy: everything is beautiful there.  (Also an abundance of fog).  : )

Thank you Garry and Tony.

Tony-

Thanks for your time and comments! I'm with you 100%. I was having some of the same thoughts/concerns you were. My problem with moving to the right was a couple of kids (siblings) running around throwing rocks at each other. The sky was terrible - I cropped the top and left sides to eliminate it.  But the emptiness of the lower left bothers me… a lot. And now I know it's not purely my imagination! The other problem was that the rocks on the right were in total shade; I grabbed the only llbit of light interest there was. It was a good practice for "slo-mo"/smooth water shots, first in a year. Maybe I should clone a few rocks in or a nice red lobster buoy.  haha. My other problem was time - in ANP on the boat and depending on the Island Express bus too get around… so I only had one hour and the next bus was the last bus…. Next summer we'll have our car up there, too! Again, thank you very much for your comments!

My current photographic experiments are leading me into the world of

minimalism. Comments. suggestions and honest opinion on this piece

would be greatly appreciated.Thank you for your time.

Comments, suggestions and observations are all appreciated. Thanks for

your time.

Thank you Ruud.

Hi Larry-

Thank you for your comments.   This photo is in fact the East River in NYC.  Depending on your monitor balance there may or may not be a blue cast. Many of the buildings have blue or aqua tinted glass. The sky was blue, but the white boat has no blue cast, which to me indicates there is not an overall blue cast to the photo. This was pretty much a grab shot as I was shooting from the bow of our sailboat as  we transited the city on the fair tide, which added a few knots to our speed.

Harry - Thanks for your comments. Try dimming your monitor a bit. I don't know how you set yours, but most people (myself included except when I'm processing or looking at photos)  tend to adjust their monitor at or very near the highest brightness setting (or leave it on auto adjust). I processed this photo in CS5 and LR. There is no clipping whatsoever. This was shot with a 200mm lens, so the sailboat was a fair distance away; a lot of white on white detail is not visible at the distance I was shooting from. The colors= palette is neural dominant, and they are there, rich and subdued  as the sun ducked behind a cloud. I will take another look at enriching the colors a bit based on your comments. Thank you for commenting!