Hi all, My thoughts on this weeks PF Gallery, http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html A first look at the thumbnails this week indicates mostly very good pictures, a few dull ones and a few almost successful ones. I write the comments as I open the larger versions, so let's see if my first impression holds. -------------------------------------------------- Robin G. Ramos - Heaven's Eye ohh, this is (almost) nice. The sky and the sea is excellent, dramatic and powerful. But the fill flash was a big mistake - it ruins the picture: first because it adds a bad balance to the image, and second because it looks like the headlights of a car (that you just jumped out of to grab a shot...). The foreground rocks are not important so why illuminate them, and spoil the dark, dramatic show of Mother Nature? Rich Mason - Aspen, Colorado Rushing through the night, senseless, meaningless signs and lights in a dark and strange world. Very good image. Nice and simple, powerful composition and use of only three colors. (a technical aside: did you use a tungsten film for this?) Christopher Strevens - Guilford Cathedral A nice quiet image... well almost. The subdued pastel tones create a wonderful mood, but the composition does not support that. Both the flowers and the steps are cut off at either side (and worst; the rope is not attached at one end! oh, horror 8-} ) I find it hard to make pleasing images from chuch interiors. Yours is a nice try. David Small - Street portrait Man, what a hangover... or is he just sleeping... or concentrating on some music he is listening to??? Well framed and taken, sparks interest in the person. How almost sculptural is his hair, beard and lines on the forehead. Bob Talbot - Passer-by Nice color composition, simple and powerful. But the tilt makes me sea-sick and I can't see the justification. The mood and the situation is of course well captured. Harvey A. Duze - Dupont Circle Fountain Same colors as previous image, and just as powerful. Except that I would like to see a symmetrical composition be _perfectly_ symmetrical. And maybe it lacks sharpness, but the image is to small to tell. Louis C. Smith - Springtime in Victoria I Almost surreal colors. A well framed photo although I'm through with it rather quickly. Just a few flowers, and that's it... and it's not that I don't like flowers, but there need to be more of them, or some additional content to sustain interest. D.L. Shipman - Happy herons, Venice Florida he, he, nice effect with the two birds mingeling into one Janus-bird. The forground is unfortunately obstructing a little bit. Nice saturated colors and good framing. But again, not much interest after the first visual punch. Dan Mitchell - Military Man OK image, although a bit ordinary. The background should have been much more out of focus, and the tiny spot of purple in upper right corner bothers me. Rubin Diehl Filho - Ticiana #32 Crucified! Vulnerable, innocent, exposed. Brilliantly captured mood. I think the background ought to be completely blurred. Maybe a bit more overexposure to enhance the highlights on her body. Oh, the white rectangle at upper left should not have been there! -- and don't mind the wanna-be-censors on the list; this is a free world! Bill Ellis - Traffic Jam on the way Home Untraditional low angle shot, but otherwise utterly dull. Sonny Labay - wtc site Classic cityscape, good saturated colors. The lit and sparkeling windows of the first row buildings and the darkness of the ones behind. You have to know the story though... and maybe you should not have cut through the building on the left. --------------------------------------------------------- That's all... And I don't think nudes are offensive! Consider goldfish in blenders, dissected animals and humans, and tortured & burned insects. That is called art these days... Free us from ourselves! Thomas
