My thoughts about this week's submissions. Study In Scarlet by Dan Mitchell This image definitely screams color! A lot of interesting variations in the color theme of Red. I am curious how much of this is due to the camera chip. The exposure works but the composition is weak for me, there isn't anything dynamic, no strength in the choice of angle or camera position. It's as if the photographer just stopped, took a shot and then moved on. Snapper Bob Lots of potential for viewer interpretation. $53 for the room? Is that a cheap motel or what? Is this the "stuff" of a wedding photographer? Or a professional wedding guest trying to earn a free shoot? The composition has plenty of support. The red light on the phone helps to balance out the hotel key fob. The design (don't ask what if first reminded me of) in what I assume is the wallet helps to hold the viewer from moving to far from center where the focus of the image resides. Exposure values are right on. This shot fails for me because of one glaring fact, it has that typical need for control look of a studio photographer. It is meant to appear or at least express a sense of random nature, but obviously staged. Trucks by Gregory david Stempel. I want to thank those who corrected my title. I was wrong calling these wheel assemblies Trucks. They're really pink by Emily L. Ferguson This image is confusing, primarily because it's cropped too tight. There is not enough of the subject to allow the viewer to relax. I feel cramped, shoved up to the subject and told to look. The frame is squeezing the perspective and in this case the subject is too busy to allow for this. Also, the colors bleeding into the cages and the snow are bothersome. Double Cross by David Thompson Interesting to say the least. We have a compositionally strong and moody image here. There are elements (the artificial leg with shoe for example) to spark imagination while leaving out definition, allowing viewers to make up their own minds. I don't quite feel mystery, but I do feel a bleak nature about this image and I am left curious about it's story. Well done. Foggy Morning by Jim Davis Classic high-key image. There are some strong points that carry the image while other parts have failed it. The upper right section is lost, the viewer is hopelessly drifting around in this area. I like the image but not completely. What would have saved the shot is to have added something to hold us in on the right. Quite possibly all that would require is a frame. After studying the scene, I began to wonder what could have been done by walking just to the left of the tree in front. Composing with the second tree on left border of the image and the distant trees across the water filling in on the right. Indian Paintbrush by jIMMY Harris A nice treatment in color and isolation. Unfortunately, the image has some areas where the cutting looks less than professional. There are areas of artifact that should have been cleaned and near the bottom, some of the petals look fuzzy. With that in mind, I wondered about the trim along where the photographer cut the flower out of it's original. Is the heavy treatment along the borders intentional? Composition is strong. There is a boldness about the image that works but unfortunately this is not enough to hold my interest for very long. Drinking Milk by Peeter Vissak Nice silhouette. The background is distracting unfortunately. Lines seem haphazard and confusing. There is just a hint of the eyes and this almost works for me. It is not a true silhouette and the area around the eyes does not have enough "intent" for me. Almost as if the exposure was not quite correct and the subject matter was used to carry the image. The color on the window is interesting but treated with such little prominence that it becomes more a distraction. Still, the image has a warm appeal and would probably be a hit with a lot of viewers. Fishing by Richard Cooper Interesting image with lots of humor and appeal. I would have rejected the person on the left, nothing of interest there. I would have focused my composition on the two sitting individuals allowing the man with the dog to be a playful addition to the other two as the main focus. A telephoto would have helped to bring the person sitting in the background a little closer allowing more prominence in their affect on the overall composition. This is the one weak area of the image, the person in the background is too small. I am also a firm believer in the horizon being straight when logic dictates it should, as in this composition. Fun image none the less. Street Seen by Jim Snarski This image had real potential. Unfortunately, the shadows are blocked up pretty severe, leaving two of the subject's hair completely lost. The top of the wagon is also lost in the highlights. A good capture of spontaneity though and this is where the potential of this image rested. There is a blocky nature about the exposure making me wonder if too much photoshop was used. Cropping seems tight. There is actually far more blue in this image than red which in fact, there almost isn't any, so I wonder about the caption. Quebec City-Roofs in the Old Town by Guy Glorieux My favorite this week. I really enjoyed the straight forward composition. All of the architectural lines are true to the frame, being perfectly straight as one might expect. Perspective it right on, not distorted from being shot in the wrong camera position. Exposure is excellent with colors more contributory than conflicting, there is detail everywhere, in both the shadows and the highlights. Everything works in this image except one thing. I have never liked the fact artists tend to sign their work right in the image itself. It has always been a distraction for me, taking away from the beauty we seen in this widow onto our world. Aside from that one little fact, an excellent image. Lambing at Bockets Farm by Christopher Strevens, LRPS This image doesn't work. The perspective is wrong in that we see the tail of a small animal but can't be sure what it's doing. The larger lamb is not presented clearly and movement or depth of field has rendered the bulk of the animal out of focus. The cropping here is also tight and pushes us too close with out adding clarity. Take care, Gregory david Stempel FIREFRAMEi m a g i n g
