I agree ----- Original Message ----- From: Qkano <wildimages@lineone.net> To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students <photoforum@listserver.isc.rit.edu> Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 5:54 PM Subject: Review of 2003-11-08 PhotoForum Gallery - Part 1 of 1 > After last week's brilliant gallery it's disappointing to see so many > mediocre offerings this week. What is photography coming to? > Technology over vision? Oh well, while I'm here I might as well slag > them off - it's no more than they deserve. > > > The collection of snapshots I'm referring to is located at > http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/gallery.html > > > Achal Pashine - > What a miserable photo. > > Actually this one's not as bad as I thought: I actually like it > *because* of the kid's pained expression. And there below I read - > exactly what Achal thought too. > > It's nicely presented to us - would like the image itself to be bigger > though. I don't mind the background features at all. maybe a > perfectionist would want a plain graded backdrop. > > Are the eyes in focus on the original? I'm conservative on eyes in > portraits: they are non-negotiable. At least one of them needs be > in focus, better two, or maybe all three .... > > > > > Peeter Vissak - The End > Dirty pictures? No, but for perfection you should have completely > valeted (cleaned) the car before staging this shot, especially the > windows. > OK, it wasn't supposed to be car-mag fare. it's a time of day / > moment. The twilight zone ... heck, even the horizon is level. > > This picture is about more than just the picture. The author is a > vagabond: so is the subject. It's about people who have shared the > same camera meeting in the flesh. > > Darn it - another shot I actually like a lot for one reason or > another. > > > > Just noticed the metadata: > <<TIME: 24. October 2003; 11:14>> > For clarity was this AM or PM? More confusing though: since Estonia > is in the Northern Hemisphere is why, if you had just missed the > sunset, it was 11:14. This time is confusing me ... easily done. > > > > Christopher Strevens - Skin and Blister > This is a family photo. A personal thing. Full-stop. > > On Rhyming slang: did you know that Cockneys are never born deaf? It's > impossible in an Oxymoronic kind of way. > > Another version of Rhyming Slang exists in the West of England: > Cornish Rhyming slang. Examples include > Fisherman's = goat [Fisherman's Boat] > Fisherman's = dope [Fisherman's Rope] > Fisherman's = w*nk*r [Fisherman's Anchor] > Fisherman's = "page the oracle" [Fisherman's Coracle] > > Obviously it's a bit harder to decipher than Cockney: context really > is everything. > > > > > Trevor Cunningham - Old Falucca Sail > A very different nautical shot: simple and graphic if a bit too dark > for my taste. > > I'm guessing it's about the highlight on the boom > > For me I'm not exited about it as a picture: nothing specific, I'm > just not connecting with it. > > > > > > Laurenz Bobke - Small boat on Daling River (China) > Could not have placed the oar better in the frame. > > A picture of a place: good decision to show two half-boats. More > interesting than placing one boringly central in the frame. > > Shame the light is not on the R.H. man's face more. If it were mine > I'd clone out the white camper-van/bus from the hillside. It's > attention seeking. > > > > > > > Mike Spillmann - cambodian lake > Yuk! > > I really cannot stand the colour cast in that sky, nor can I stand the > blown-out highlights. > > If this had been presented well, I'd have liked the scene/composition > but as it is it stinks. > > At least the horizon is level. > > > > Jeff Spirer - Alcatraz > << Inmate Shower Facility >> > Looks like a bog / dunny to me. Or is this yet another example of the > cruelty of the US state to people it regards as inferior: making them > shower while sitting on the throne? > > As an image: classic example of monochrome imagery of dilapidated > buildings. Would not work in colour (for me anyhap). Looks like it > holds loads of texture: far more than it is possible to convey over > the web. Exposure is spot on: composition is spot on. I'm almost > certain I wish I hadn't been given a title. > > Shots like this usually work best as part of a series .... > > > > Dan Mitchell - Winter comes > Fall in England is hardly a very English expression. > Give me "Autumn Colours" any day. > > The shot: pleasant enough composition. Shame about the lighting. The > bright triangle of grass top left is a distracting background element. > > > > > > Jimmy Kostiuck - > WTF is going on? What are all those papers and why so untidily > arranged? > > This was so nearly very well done. Was there vertical parallax in > the viewfinder? I don't want to see the strip of wall along the top > and I find myself cheated by not being able to see the man's feet!!!! > If the feet are on the neg., re-crop it. > > Lighting was hard. You wanted to keep detail on this side of the man > but it's resulted in the striplights tending to blow out a bit. > > If you can re-crop, I'd suggest losing the ziz-zag detail along the > left hand edge too, to clean up the image that is. > > > Interesting shot I should add. > > > > > Leslie Spurlock - Monk at Festival > It looks like there are three people in this shot: would have > preferred just two. > > I like the interaction of the subject and the OOF guy top right but I > find whoever it is behind the subject's face a distraction. > > Not a bad shot all said: like the lighting. > > > > Emily L. Ferguson - > <EM> Nice work Emily </EM> > > Just a simple still life study. > > Nice background: bit of a cast I don't take to, or maybe I want it > more high key, but I do like it. > > > So many possibilities here. In another shot I want to see the table > and the whole of it's shadow. Would that have to be square format? > > > Actually I'm not sure I want that basket in the frame at all. Maybe a > severed hand would add some colour .... > > > > > > Shawna Hanel - Petroleum Byproduct > Another WTF shot. Not a clue what it's of but I like it all the same. > > Shawna's been giving us trashy images of late so I'm guessing, helped > by the title, this is more trash / waste. I really can't work out > what it is though. Cellophane? Sweet wrapper. > > Whatever it is it's colourful. > > Something to think about: not just a snapshot to show your mum ;o) > > > > > OK, the deed is done. > If you think I've been harsh: you have not seen the bits I held > back!!!! > > Maybe no review is batter than a bad one after all ... > > Bob > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
