PhotoForum gallery/exhibit space was updated 18 Oct. 03. Stuff now on display at http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html includes: Scott Thurmond - Bumble Bee Dahliance Bee, central. Flower, central. Background: very contrasty with many bright reflections, presumably off leaves. The image is presented not-quite-square. The shot was taken parallel to the petals: it's very colourful. The bee's antennae are sharp enough yet the body leaves me with the impression of lack of detail. It's not a DOF effect because the background is quite un-boken. I'm interested the shot but not enraptured with it. My memory whisper "polariser" but that would have given a slower shutter. I just wish the bits that should be crisp were crisper and the bits we didn't want to see were less prominent. Shawna Hanel - Little Red Bread Tie A square format shown square. Unusual subject matter: rubbish (US=trash). The subject id again presented centrally: I'm looking now at the foreground going out of focus and thinking that somehow bokeh is more acceptable behind the subject. If this was a portrait format shot then I'd have been tempted to keep it square but lose some of the base. On to the picture proper. Was it staged or an "objet trouves". I like the plain earthy background. I don't like the shiny white reflections on the right hand side of the tag. How was it lit? It's good to see mundane subjects being used as subject matter. Kostas Papakotas - Olympus-Naoussa Restaurant "This frame was scanned by accident as a color negative one, and I kinda liked the effect. Levels and contrast adjusted, but not sharpened awaiting your comments on the lost focusing point appearance. " Kostas: I like the scene and the "arrangement" of the photo. If you ask about the sharpness: no, I don't like it. It looks like everything is soft - partly the net curtains I'm sure (you used a tripod?). But scans just tend to be softer then the original and sharpening (unsharp-masking anyway) seems to put back what technology took away. No, can't rave about this as shown but if it had been sharp in places I may well have done. Tim Mulholland - Silhouette of the Present "This picture is a symbol of the past, present and future, and the history, hopes and progress of a country, a family and an individual " OK, before reading your explanation I was intrigued by the shot. You deliberately showed it with so much black surround instead of cropping in some as many would have done. I love the silhouetted head against the farmland. A simple but effective combination. As the text: it has mixed feelings for me. "All property is theft". Well, nothing proves that better than the USA. Stolen from the native Americans by force. There is no chance of them coming "back from Siberia and being able to repossess their lands. At one time Great Britain had an empire (mostly theft too) but we've had to let it go. The last vestige: Hong Kong returned to China at the end of the lease. In all upheavals there are personal tragedies. The Soviets believed in Collectives - maybe they were wrong. Now they're a spent force the free world can reduce it's arms spending because they are no longer a threat. People get their homes back and the children lose their school. Everything has consequences. The photo: I still like it ... Greg Fraser - Eve Yea right: you downloaded this from the internet somewhere to try to impress us? Vlad made you do it? Seriously: an absolutely brilliant portrait to my un-portrait-trained-eye. What were you doing a couple or so weeks ago? Showing us mediocre badly-lit, badly-posed portraits and asking for advise? Well, if this is yours you learned FAST. What do I like? The eyes have it: crystal clear both of them. Bella-donna or was the model in subdued light (to give the large pupils). The mouth? What, no teeth. Real or did you PS them out. It does not matter because the mouth, slightly open conveys emotion. Which emotion I'm not sure. Surprise? Question? Uncertainty? Don't know. The whole arrangement is class: the shown-as-black clothing frames her neck well. Brilliant shot Greg. Marilyn Dalrymple - Sarah "Santa Barbara Mission, Santa Barbara, CA Two kittens playing at the Cat/Canine Assistance, Referral and Education pet sanctuary. " Maralyn: this photo is of a woman: not two kittens. Is it really Maralyn's work? the woman in the portrait is central but facing from the side. Unlike Greg's shot the eyes just don't seem to be sharp and I'm told that always spoils a portrait (well, one of them should be). Sure, it's a nice enough portrait of the woman, uncluttered, I'm sure her mom would love it but for me it ain't working. Is the original sharper? I hope so. Emily L. Ferguson - That bright white strip of haze is bizarre. If you'd not have explained I might have thought is as a road with dust just kicked up by a now-gone car. The lighting is interesting for sure. The picture has a layered quality (three horizontal bands) but if it lacks anything it is something to break this repetition. The trees don't look sharp (despite a tripod) so I'm assuming it must have been the haze as well. Richard Cooper - Genesee River in Fall Colors What an odd place to find a rainbow: it isn't even raining. Lots of saturation in this shot. The foreground vegetation is definitely an important part of the whole image: so lush it gives depth to the valley and maybe even hides some buildings (???). The sky is summery-clear. the bridge, chimney and building work well together. It's sharp enough to my eyes. Could it be better? How about a red truck crossing the bridge 1/3 way across ? Nice picture. Don Draper - Saturation. Two flowers (tulips?)in direct sunlight: no doubt about it, they are RED. One is whole and intact: the other is part shown with two fallen petals. The lighting is hard and directional: sharp-edged shadows on the soil (US=dirt). I again think "polariser". Would it have removed those reflective highlights? If it had, would it have improved the shot or just flattened it? Thanks to all the contributors for getting me thinking about pictures again. No allowance was made for how good the original might have been relative to the scaled-down versions we are able to transmit over the web. That's life. Bob "My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: Those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition." -- Indira Gandhi
