My opinions on this weeks work. Marilyn Dalrymple: Chasing Shadows A fine art piece. I don't like it for personal reasons. The image itself appears well thought out, creative and fitting the world of art. But, I see it as stark, unfriendly and lacking purpose. The harsh lighting is devoid of any intimacy. The subject exemplifies bold uncaring definition. Elson T. Elizaga: Assassin Very dramatic and in your face look at what appears to be a dead bug. Technically well shot image. Detail of the invertebrate is clear and evenly lit. I wonder how a polarizer may have helped with the specular highlights. One note: This bug appears dead, but in fact was frozen. This is not only cruel, but considered quite taboo in some circles. Please, put these subjects into a small terrarium type setting. An old empty aquarium with a few grasses is all you need. Place a piece of glass across the inside of the tank to hold the subject close to one side. A far more humane approach to imaging living creatures. Rick Kessler: mmmm mmmm goood The perfect postcard image. A quality job done in stitching the images together. Sensual lighting, peaceful and inviting. The image is well balanced, palm trees to the left, large similarly dark forestry section on the right and darkened cloud formation finishing the peak of the symbolic triangle. King/Arthur: Shoe Repair An image that pushes. It pushes the colors, the sharpness, the compositional structuring and it's focus. Classic depiction of the power of any version of photoshop. I do believe the image fails in it's perspective. I doubt it was intentional, but the lights are crooked. The lines in the particle board ceiling are very apparent and also crooked. I can not find any purpose to this loss of control and therefore assume it is simply a oversight. Rich Mason Yet another rendition of our country's patriotic fervor. This shot is well done but lacks excitement. A good choice in leaving the reflective nature of the glass and juxtaposing the two flags. These two elements created a strong composition. The person in the larger flag's red band adds just a touch of completion in the setup of the scene. Dan Mitchell: Mill An almost mysterious look at a traditional scene. The artist's enhancements have created an awesome image. All of the elements in this image contribute to a melding of the viewer's paradigm of expecting the typical friendly ambience, with the darkness of the rem state in our world of sleep. A scene plucked from the film reel of our last dream. Kostas Papakotas: is that Dog Life? The scene is warm and friendly. Cute, but lacks excitement. The colors are muted and flat. There is a harsh specular highlight on the lower left corner of the frame that, once noticed is hard to ignore. Composition is comfortable. It does appear the dog has a good life and this is always fun to see. Robin G. Ramos: Ascending If this image was not staged, then it's a great shot. The very nature of what makes photography stand out in the world of contrived art. Here, the photographer was prepared, saw the development of a composition that beg to be photographed and took the shot. Classic Lee Freidlander, classic "seeing." Comp. is strong. It appears luck provided just enough color in the sky to hold the upper frame edge in place. The image carries itself without the need for words. David Small Another classic example of the power of photography over other mediums. We see here literally, a moment captured in time, the very essence of our profession. We can study frozen motion, simple human nature and the structures we have learned to take for granted. We see only a child's face, which in symbol represents the future. My two complaints are the large negative space in the upper right corner and lack of sharpness overall. Christopher Strevens, LRPS: Busker at Kingston I like this image, the casual nature of the brush strokes that create the framing of the image, especially the long stroke along the left column the musician sits next to. The lack of definition is the key to this image. There is not real detail, yet plenty of information. There are not distinct borders around the actual scene yet if feels complete. Photoshop did a great job._grin Just kidding. A sad story though, and typical of our economics these days. Lets hope Jane's future is as bright as this image. Jayanth Vincent: Indian Dance Typical stage shot. The image is sharp, colorful and well composed. The subject is interesting as well. The photographer gives us a good rendering of detail, but nothing for intimacy. We are close, but we do not feel. I am ignorant to this type of dance, and therefore can not comment intelligently on the story. The pose seems symbolic, but I do not know about the expression. Take care, Gregory david Stempel FIREFRAMEi m a g i n g www.americanphotojournalist.com
